Nuovo Ordine Mondiale - Pro14: Round 6

[collace]

Ulster Rugby team to play Connacht (Friday 6th October, Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm):
(1-8): K McCall, R Herring, W Herbst, A O'Connor, K Treadwell, I Henderson, C Henry (captain), J Deysel;
(9-15): J Cooney, C Lealiifano, J Stockdale, S McCloskey, L Marshall, T Bowe, C Piutau;
Replacements (16-23): J Andrew, A Warwick, R Ah You, R Diack, S Reidy, P Marshall, P Nelson, L Ludik.

 

[Groundhog]

They didn't have their head coach of a flyhalf against Munster. They still don't have their head coach and had a third choice fly half while putting Leinster and Ospreys to the sword. They still have a lot of potential upside.

We had a team miles from being a first choice outfit and put them to the sword, went to Glasgow with a better side and got smacked down. I'm not saying they won't be genuine competitors at some stage, but this year is too soon and they need to perform home and away. This ain't France after all. They of course have a good chance at home against Glasgow, but favourites for the pool? I doubt it.

 

[munstermuffin]

Alpha. Presume you haven't watched much of Munster because Farrell is on great form at moment and Scannellis miles ahead of Reid and ROL being honest. Yes Henshaw at 100% is better but he's not more than 70%.

Overall the game isn't really nattering much. It's a warm up for Europe and no more.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Cheetahs team against Glasgow:

15 Sergeal Petersen, 14 Rosko Specman, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Oupa Mohoje, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais

Substitutes: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Johan Coetzee, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Nico Lee, 23 Luther Obi

Raymond Rhule has been ruled out after sustaining an injury in training.

Glasgow team:

15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Ryan Wilson (captain), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti

Substitutes: 16 George Turner, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D'Arcy Rae, 19 Brian Alainu'uese, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Niko Matawalu

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

About as strong as Glasgow could select with their injury situation. With Rennie's coaching team's experience at altitude there should be no excuse here for not competing strongly for the 80.

Edinburgh side similar to Leinster game (Kinghorn in for Bryce, sticking with the 7s lads). Zebre haven't selected one of their impressive singers, but the mighty international wing Venditti steps in, so no great loss. Good to see a strong side selected at home by someone hosting Zebre. Sign of the times.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Cheetahs always in with a shot at home no matter the opposition becuase the way they play makes it a bit of a luck of the bounce lottery if they chose to open it up. Win or lose here I fully expect the Cheetahs to make the play-offs. I do however expect them to do so from 3rd place in the conference and to bow out their first play off match on European soil.

They just aren't a championship side. They just don't have the resources. They only ever made the SR finals series (just) in 2013 with a whole raft of quality players (Strauss at his best, Nyakane, Brussow, Labuschagne, De Jager, Oosthuizen, Van der Merwe, Juan Smith and Van der Walt a world class pack, Piet van Zyl and Pretorius both quality scrummies alongside Goosen, Ebersohn, Sadie an assured center partnershi with a light but lethal back three in Nokwe, a young Rhule and Le Roux) and no real weak spots and with an actual defense specialist coach on staff all of which they lost the subsequent year and haven't been able to get back. If they have the money and the inclination to spend it then it becomes a question of would players of a certain caliber want to play in Bloem and can they keep it together long enough for the stars to align. All big ifs.

 

[CaledonCol]

Una cosa è certa: non c'è nessuna fermazione; gli italiani sono qui per rimanere. E per uno i nostri nuovi signori italiani. Vorrei ricordargli che, come personalità del forum TRF Pro 14, posso essere utile per arricchire gli altri per cedere al loro rugby superiore

I don't think that has come out brilliantly through translate but Simpsons fans will get it!

https://www.ultimaterugby.com/pro-14-2017-2018/matches

Edinburgh v I cavalli scuri - Edinburgh had improved last weekend against Leinster and were arguably robbed by some 'one sided' refereeing of the breakdown but Zebre are **** hot having given Ulster their first L of the season, this could really go either way. If Embra turn up at home they'll likely win, Zebre have been more consistent though and if they're given a sniff they'll take it home.

Cardiff v Dragons - Welsh **** v Stinking Welsh ****, expect Cardiff to take it home in the Arms Park in front of a man and his dog...

Ulster v Connacht - Ulster will want to bounce back after their lesson in rugby last week and Connacht could be given a similar description that I gave the aforementioned Welsh sides, their Ravenhill drought won't end.

Cheetahs v Glasgow - If there's a team to win in Bloemfontein it's Glasgow but with an eye on Europe next week scheduling is very much against them, for this reason I believe they'll join their Champions Cup pool three rivals with one loss before the start of the competition in a fortnight's time.

Leinster v Munster - Another tough one to call, Munster have undoubtedly been in better form but Leinster's season has started with this fixture since the Joe show took over back in 2010. With Johnny 10 having had his 'warm up game' he needs to get back to best 10 in the world level and the return of Robbie Henshaw to sure up the frailties in midfield Leinster's structured game should come to the fore and the Lansdowne Road unbeaten streak should be stretched until Exeter's visit in December. Other factors to look at are a broken Jean Kleyn, Rory O'Loughlin's likely return to the wing and Sexton v Bleyendaal being the biggest gulf in class in sport marginally ahead of the Harlem Globetrotters v the Washington Generals.

Ospreys v Scarlets - One of these sides can play rugby... Your guess as to which is as good as mine!

La Champions eletti v Southern Kings - The end of the Currie Cup can't come soon enough for the Kings, playing powerhouses won't help them at all!



Edinburgh /Zebre: Embra under rated and have failed to produce . Tovey at fly half adds more to options than does Dunc Weir. Embra better than the stats indicate . Home win and bonus .
Cardiff / Dragons: Home win for sure
Ulster/Connaught: Home again - Ulster will be out to prove a point
Cheetahs/Glesca : Glesca taking this seriously - Jonny Grey back in harness and very competitive Been training at Jo'burg since Sunday. Should be tight but Rennie is making his presence felt. On Alba Friday night . Warriors to win !
Leinster /Munster : Homesters should overcome the men from Cork. Sexton looked jaded against Embra .Anticipate a tight one .
Ospreys/Scarlets : Scarlets to take this one .

 

[CaledonCol]

Edinburgh /Zebre: Embra under rated and have failed to produce . Tovey at fly half adds more to options than does Dunc Weir. Embra better than the stats indicate . Home win and bonus .
Cardiff / Dragons: Home win for sure
Ulster/Connaught: Home again - Ulster will be out to prove a point
Cheetahs/Glesca : Glesca taking this seriously - Jonny Grey back in harness and very competitive Been training at Jo'burg since Sunday. Should be tight but Rennie is making his presence felt. On Alba Friday night . Warriors to win !
Leinster /Munster : Homesters should overcome the men from Cork. Sexton looked jaded against Embra .Anticipate a tight one .
Ospreys/Scarlets : Scarlets to take this one .

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Alpha. Presume you haven't watched much of Munster because Farrell is on great form at moment and Scannellis miles ahead of Reid and ROL being honest. Yes Henshaw at 100% is better but he's not more than 70%.

Overall the game isn't really nattering much. It's a warm up for Europe and no more.

I believe you have assumed rather than presumed that I haven't watched much of Munster. Scannell is in no way, shape or form "miles ahead" of Noel Reid, a better player? Yes, he's a better runner, stronger tackler and gets himself more time on the ball but it's not as if Reid can't do those things and Reid has a better range of passing. We're talking about two players here who have been on the fringes of Ireland squads and have a couple caps, Scannell might finish his career with about 5-10 stuck behind Henshaw, Ringrose, Marshall, Payne and Aki, probably Farrell and possibly RO'L in time and Olding if what I hear is unlikely to happen happens while Reid won't add his cap being a further man or two back but we're not talking about massive margins here. Scannell isn't miles ahead of any player in top level professional rugby by virtue of not being much better than average, it does make him better than the bang average Noel Reid, who to be fair to him has been the only one to keep any sort of shape in inexperienced Leinster's backlines. Farrell too is slightly above average and nothing more than an emergency at international level and neither would be picked ahead of Henshaw at 70% and I have no reason to believe Henshaw is at 70% because he came in and made an impact in this fixture last year having not played previously. Again I don't think it'll matter because Leinster's should give Munster nothing to work with due to the superiority in the front five.

 

[profitius]

I believe you have assumed rather than presumed that I haven't watched much of Munster. Scannell is in no way, shape or form "miles ahead" of Noel Reid, a better player? Yes, he's a better runner, stronger tackler and gets himself more time on the ball but it's not as if Reid can't do those things and Reid has a better range of passing. We're talking about two players here who have been on the fringes of Ireland squads and have a couple caps, Scannell might finish his career with about 5-10 stuck behind Henshaw, Ringrose, Marshall, Payne and Aki, probably Farrell and possibly RO'L in time and Olding if what I hear is unlikely to happen happens while Reid won't add his cap being a further man or two back but we're not talking about massive margins here. Scannell isn't miles ahead of any player in top level professional rugby by virtue of not being much better than average, it does make him better than the bang average Noel Reid, who to be fair to him has been the only one to keep any sort of shape in inexperienced Leinster's backlines. Farrell too is slightly above average and nothing more than an emergency at international level and neither would be picked ahead of Henshaw at 70% and I have no reason to believe Henshaw is at 70% because he came in and made an impact in this fixture last year having not played previously. Again I don't think it'll matter because Leinster's should give Munster nothing to work with due to the superiority in the front five.

You might be underrating Scannell a bit there. Reid is 27 while Scannell is 23 and still improving.


I've been very underwhelmed by Henshaw this year. He is a good defender and impressive athlete but he will have to do something about his attacking game because it's seriously limited. He looked a far better player when he was with Connacht. But Schmidt is a defensive coach so he is probably guaranteed his starting spot.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Who de **** is Noel Reid?

Leinster Rugby (Leinster caps in brackets):

15. Joey Carbery (26)
14. Adam Byrne (27)
13. Rory O'Loughlin (26)
12. Robbie Henshaw (13)
11. Barry Daly (13)
10. Johnny Sexton (137) CAPTAIN
9. Luke McGrath (78)
1. Jack McGrath (114)
2. James Tracy (46)
3. Tadhg Furlong (68)
4. Devin Toner (201)
5. Scott Fardy (3)
6. Rhys Ruddock (135)
7. Josh van der Flier (50)
8. Jack Conan (55)

16. Seán Cronin (133)
17. Cian Healy (176)
18. Michael Bent (91)
19. Ross Molony (48)
20. Jordi Murphy (89)
21. Jamison Gibson-Park (32)
22. Ross Byrne (28)
23. Fergus McFadden (153)

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Don't love the wings, would have had Ferg in. Tasty pack, strong bench. Would want a better starting outfit for Montpellier though.

 

[munstermuffin]

As expected from both of us. It's shadow boxing before next week.

 

[Groundhog]

Who de **** is Rory Scannell?

15. JJ Hanrahan
14. Andrew Conway
13. Chris Farrell
12. Tyler Bleyendaal
11. Keith Earls
10. Ian Keatley
9. Conor Murray

1. Dave Kilcoyne
2. Niall Scannell
3. John Ryan
4. Robin Copeland
5. Billy Holland
6. Peter O'Mahony (captain)
7. Tommy O'Donnell
8. CJ Stander

Replacements:

16. Rhys Marshall
17. Liam O'Connor
18. Stephen Archer
19. Mark Flanagan
20. Jack O'Donoghue
21. Duncan Williams
22. Rory Scannell
23. Alex Wootton

Kinda weird experimental side...... We'll see, but at the end if the day pints and Europe> rugby and meaningful relationships with people and loved ones who you keep pushing away.

 

[FrenchFan]

This ain't France after all.

yeah but then we don't field watered down sides for our derbys even before a Champ league game....

 

[Groundhog]

yeah but then we don't field watered down sides for our derbys even before a Champ league game....

You've reacted to my comment nodding at how dominant French sides are at home and not away from home (a fact), but... Show me the watered down side mate. Please.

 

[Groundhog]

I've seen North Korean news broadcasts less biased than Ulster Rugby live on BBC NI. Also the main reason I'd prefer to watch S4C in Welsh.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I've seen North Korean news broadcasts less biased than Ulster Rugby live on BBC NI. Also the main reason I'd prefer to watch S4C in Welsh.

Yeah, BBC NI commentary lacks class. Decent commentator but needs to keep the one eyed comments out of it. He was incredibly disparaging about Zebre's win last week, as if it was purely down to a bad day at the office for Ulster. "Their worst performance in years" I think was the terribly illl informed summary.

Cheetahs really bossing a strong Glasgow lineup, particularly at the set piece. Glasgow looked surprised by the physicality and Fraser Brown is hopeless at the lineout so far.

 

[Groundhog]

Yeah, BBC NI commentary lacks class. Decent commentator but needs to keep the one eyed comments out of it. He was incredibly disparaging about Zebre's win last week, as if it was purely down to a bad day at the office for Ulster. "Their worst performance in years" I think was the terribly illl informed summary.

Cheetahs really bossing a strong Glasgow lineup, particularly at the set piece. Glasgow looked surprised by the physicality and Fraser Brown is hopeless at the lineout so far.

They're all nice lads, a feature of Ravenhill and know the teams playing well generally, but they're very protective of Ulster. Will readily call out perceived bad calls against Ulster all day while being blind to Ulster's own wrongdoings. They're commentating for an Ulster crowd, but calling offsides as they see them must be commentator tabboo. It's mainly Neilly by the way, Humphs is pretty reasonable.
EDIT: Although it must be said "Jack Carty is a good kicker" must be the most one eyed pro Connacht comment I've ever heard.

 

[FrenchFan]

You've reacted to my comment nodding at how dominant French sides are at home and not away from home (a fact), but... Show me the watered down side mate. Please.

an experimental side for a derby?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Up Zebre, Up Ridin'