Guinness Pro14 - Round 3

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Osborne's try was sexy. Leinster went from 5-7 down with only 13 men on the field and facing an Edinburgh lineout to bagging the bonus point less than 15 mins later. Ruthless.

 

[Crags]

Glad Ospreys won. Their sending off helped. But 2 more injuries. Not good. I still think they will come good.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Glad Ospreys won. Their sending off helped. But 2 more injuries. Not good. I still think they will come good.

They and Glasgow are usually the two teams that suffer the most without their internationals. In the meantime, the Scarlets seem to be going from strength-to-strength this season.

 

[Amiga500]

Following on from me erm... bleeding the bookmakers dry last weekend... here's how to bankrupt yerself this weekend:

Cheetahs vs. Munster -- Def home win, with 4 tries and beyond 7. I reckon the fake cats* are looking good to go through the season with a 100% home record.
Dragons vs. Connacht -- The dragons will still be pished after celebrating a win on the road. Connacht to make the hangover hurt a bit. Away win.
Leinster vs. Edinburgh -- No contest, home win. Poor wee Richard will have to try extra hard to blame the referee for that crucial 7th try having a flat pass that looked forward to wee Richard.
Scarlets vs. Zebre -- Zebre got beat by the Dragons at home last weekend. Best chance of them getting a result out of the Parc y Empty this weekend is that Typhoon diverting from the Tokyo region to the West-Wales region.
Kings vs. Ulster -- Kings looked good enough to cause trouble last weekend. All they need is a flakey team that are defensively loose and can lose direction. Cue us. Perfect. Home win.
Glasgow vs. Cardiff -- Can Glasgow lose their first 3? Unlikely. Cardiff minus big Nick should be doable for them.
Ospreys vs. Treviso -- Treviso looked good week 1, not so week 2. Ospreys looked crap both weeks. On that basis away win.

*The real cats are Kilkenny. Everyone knows this.

Was I as bad as last week? Could hardly be worse!

Cheetahs win - easy prediction. It'll be a damn good side that goes down to the free state and gets a result this season. At least Munster have all that shopping to look forward to when they come up north.
Connacht - easier than I thought for the westies. It appears the Dragons really haven't turned a corner.
Leinster - Completely got this wrong. Leinster only scored 6, so wee Richard couldn't gurn about the flat pass for that crucial 7th.
Scarlets - ohh, Zebre, Zebre, Zebre. Hopefully the return of their international contingent will harden them up, but doesn't bode well for the years ahead if the squad is so thin.
Ulster - Ah, Kings flatter to deceive. They made us look very good without us doing an awful lot.
Glasgow - tight game, Blues couldn't haul it back.
Ospreys - Frank Murphy to thank for this. Didn't look a big collision for me and the defender more or less stood his ground. Despite playing 70 mins with 14 men, Treviso still came away with a losing bonus point. They wouldn't have done that in most seasons past. Still look likely to push for a playoff spot again, looking forward to seeing them take on Northampton and Lyon in the Heineken Cup in the Stadio Monigo, a win there will help cement their emergence as a genuine force.

5/7, bit better than 2.5! Based on that rate of improvement, I expect to get 7.5/7 right next week.

 

[Amiga500]

In the meantime, the Scarlets seem to be going from strength-to-strength this season.

Wayne Pivac doing a superb job there... I'm sure your delighted he's gonna be the next Wales head coach.

[/sarcasm]

 

[TRF_heineken]

That was the perfect start for the Cheetahs and a great send off for their coach Franco Smith. To win their first 3 games in such a convincing manner at home must do them a world of good.

But the real test for them begins next week when they play their first game abroad.

 

[Amiga500]

But the real test for them begins next week when they play their first game abroad.

Its gonna be how they go on the wet nights in Wales and Ireland that will define where they truly sit.

Its a big stretch coming up for them October/November (Connacht/Scarlets/Blues/Ospreys all away) & again in February (Leinster/Ulster/Dragons all away).

If they can come out of all that with 3 wins* and 3 losing bonus points, I think that'd be a great return for them.

*probably looking at wins in any 3 of Connacht/Blues/Ospreys/Dragons, with the latter two more achievable than the first two.


If the back three can work well under a high ball - both defensively and offensively, then with Ruan Pienaar steering the ship, they can really put it up to the Europeans.

If the back 3 cannot catch a cold, then they'll come undone.

 

[Crags]

Was I as bad as last week? Could hardly be worse!

Cheetahs win - easy prediction. It'll be a damn good side that goes down to the free state and gets a result this season. At least Munster have all that shopping to look forward to when they come up north.
Connacht - easier than I thought for the westies. It appears the Dragons really haven't turned a corner.
Leinster - Completely got this wrong. Leinster only scored 6, so wee Richard couldn't gurn about the flat pass for that crucial 7th.
Scarlets - ohh, Zebre, Zebre, Zebre. Hopefully the return of their international contingent will harden them up, but doesn't bode well for the years ahead if the squad is so thin.
Ulster - Ah, Kings flatter to deceive. They made us look very good without us doing an awful lot.
Glasgow - tight game, Blues couldn't haul it back.
Ospreys - Frank Murphy to thank for this. Didn't look a big collision for me and the defender more or less stood his ground. Despite playing 70 mins with 14 men, Treviso still came away with a losing bonus point. They wouldn't have done that in most seasons past. Still look likely to push for a playoff spot again, looking forward to seeing them take on Northampton and Lyon in the Heineken Cup in the Stadio Monigo, a win there will help cement their emergence as a genuine force.

5/7, bit better than 2.5! Based on that rate of improvement, I expect to get 7.5/7 right next week.

I am the expert re the PRO 14. If you want to get your predictions right, Back the Ospreys. They will get themselves
sorted now. Lucky decision in this weeks match. That is good. Now watch them go.....

 

[Jer1cho]

That was the perfect start for the Cheetahs and a great send off for their coach Franco Smith. To win their first 3 games in such a convincing manner at home must do them a world of good.

But the real test for them begins next week when they play their first game abroad.

How good has their back 3 looked!? Ryno Smith is an absolute machine atm, and Ox Nche is such a Bok incumbent, and arguably the most exciting prop we have had! Cheetahs are playing beautiful rugby, but as you say up North is a whole different ball game (pun intended).

 

[TRF_heineken]

How good has their back 3 looked!? Ryno Smith is an absolute machine atm, and Ox Nche is such a Bok incumbent, and arguably the most exciting prop we have had! Cheetahs are playing beautiful rugby, but as you say up North is a whole different ball game (pun intended).

Nche and Dweba are awesome up front, and it's their ball carrying that is so impressive, for big guys, they are very fast off the line, and they tend to run into the gap rather than taking on the opposition head on.

The back 3 is also electrifying, and I have been surprized by William Small-Smith's pace this season, he seems to be faster than the last couple of years.

 

[Al Bangor]

I was glad to see Glasgow get their first win. Had they started out 0-3 they probably would have been in trouble in regards to the playoffs.