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The GOAT League - R.20

Thoughts on actual individuals.

Richardt Straus was one for my favourite players in the world five years ago but he's completely and utterly past it at this point.

Jack McGrath outside the 6N off the bench is having a shockingly average season to the point where Kilcoyne should probably be ahead of him on in Australia. Massive climbdown from last year where he was one if the top LHs in the world on form. I thought he'd get his spot back from Healy fairly quickly but I can't see him getting back by Japan anymore.

Dunno why Ian Nagle and Mick Kearney are in the squad. We'd be better off giving some academy hotshot a chance at this point. Ross Molony has been a bit of a letdown given his talent. Seán Ó'Brien was clearly not fit. Deegan might be the only player in the pack who acquitted himself well. (Maybe Nordi.)

JGP is not good enough at all. Way too inconsistent for a 9. Talented but makes too many errors. Should be offloaded given we can't pick him for big games anymore. Joey needs more time at 10 but at least he tried tonight. Noel Reid is utterly pointless. We'd do well to sign a decent overseas centre who can play 12 and 13 and cover for Henshaw/Ringrose. Nacewa won't be round much longer and doesn't play Pro14 anymore.

Despite all the hype during Christmas our squad depth is nowhere near where it was under Schmidt. Having said this, it'll be forgotten if we win next week.
 
We really screwed our friends up north, they now need to beat either 1st or 2nd in Conference A away to get the Euro qualification spot.

While yesterday was good for the league I'm totally embarrassed as a Leinster's fan and that loss is the second in 12 months that really damages our RDS record. There was no reason for that XV not to win at home, a lot of players had absolute howlers, while I'm grateful for JGP because he fills a pretty huge hole in our squad yesterday showed why he loses out to Fardy and Lowe despite there being significantly more second row and wing depth in the squad.

Treviso played rugby and caught us off guard, a 10 win team from Scotland or Wales would have garnered more respect from us so both teams got exactly what was deserved.
 
Well it's a good reality check for Leinster, who to be honest have looked very beatable at times when their stars aren't playing a good few times this year, but in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal. I do think that despite Leinster's depth, there's still some distinctly average players in their squad. There's zero need to rush Sean O'Brien back, and I hope that's not the case. I'm sure no Leinster fan would begrudge Treviso a historic victory, it's great for Italian rugby. Ulster fans on the other hand may have a reason to......
 
A bit more sober now, and yes, it was effectively a dead rubber against a second string, but not to be sniffed at.

Not sure what my favourite bit of the highlights is. Is it the commentator saying Treviso are "going to be in for a long night"? Or is it woman facepalming and then hiding her face when the poster boy for the Italian rugby renaissance crosses for the winning score? :p

*is only being so unbearable because Edinburgh and Ulster got it in the neck for losing to Benetton*




Great to see Edinburgh rediscover a bit of attacking flair, even if it was only against a pitifully weak Scarlets XV. Edinburgh needed to rediscover the try scoring touch of mid-season if they end up needing to beat Glasgow on the final game.

Zebre winning their fifth of the season rounds out a very satisfying weekend on a personal level. I could get used to this.
 
Quite a big deal quietly happened in Italy. Zebre played in L'Aquila rather than Parma (about 200 miles south of Parma and relatively near Rome). A crowd of 5,800 turned up for a dead rubber to watch their struggling home side against arguably the least appetising visiting side.

That crowd is larger than the capacity of the stadium in Parma. I would imagine that this won't have passed unnoticed by Pro14 and the Italian union. L'Aquila is a small city of some 70,000 (smaller than Parma) so this is not a simple equation. A developing headache, but a good problem to have.

 
Bruce_ma_goose said:
Quite a big deal quietly happened in Italy. Zebre played in L'Aquila rather than Parma (about 200 miles south of Parma and relatively near Rome). A crowd of 5,800 turned up for a dead rubber to watch their struggling home side against arguably the least appetising visiting side.

That crowd is larger than the capacity of the stadium in Parma. I would imagine that this won't have passed unnoticed by Pro14 and the Italian union. L'Aquila is a small city of some 70,000 (smaller than Parma) so this is not a simple equation. A developing headache, but a good problem to have.

Click to expand...

Does the name Zebre have any relevance to Parma? Could they split matches between the two? It's about three times the distance from Limerick to Cork so not exactly the same but it's not unprecedented to have two home stadiums in the Pro14 in different cities.
 
The Alpha Bro said:
Does the name Zebre have any relevance to Parma? Could they split matches between the two? It's about three times the distance from Limerick to Cork so not exactly the same but it's not unprecedented to have two home stadiums in the Pro14 in different cities.
Click to expand...

No link to my knowledge (but happy to be corrected). Splitting between Cork and Limerick makes sense given they are in the same provence. Lazio / Roma and Parma are complete chalk and cheese culturally so I think it might be more challenging. Half the voters in Parma will have voted for a party that wants Rome and Parma to effectively be in different countries!

The good thing about Zebre (and about the name change to Benetton) is that it opens up the potential for some geographic flexibility though. If only there was more depth in the player base to support a third franchise. But barring any sensible, forward thinking charity from the Irish, Scots and Welsh unions in donating players it is impossible to see a third Italian franchise being supportable on the pitch.

On the flip side, cutting your losses in the affluent and large NW Italy by moving Zebre is not exactly without its downside.
 
Bruce_ma_goose said:
No link to my knowledge (but happy to be corrected). Splitting between Cork and Limerick makes sense given they are in the same provence. Lazio / Roma and Parma are complete chalk and cheese culturally so I think it might be more challenging. Half the voters in Parma will have voted for a party that wants Rome and Parma to effectively be in different countries!

The good thing about Zebre (and about the name change to Benetton) is that it opens up the potential for some geographic flexibility though. If only there was more depth in the player base to support a third franchise. But barring any sensible, forward thinking charity from the Irish, Scots and Welsh unions in donating players it is impossible to see a third Italian franchise being supportable on the pitch.

On the flip side, cutting your losses in the affluent and large NW Italy by moving Zebre is not exactly without its downside.
Click to expand...
You'd be surprised at how divisive even the Limerick Cork issue is....
 
Zebre has no link to any geography.
The difference is Munster Rugby always had a strong foundation in both areas from the start. Would Zebra manage to move some games to a new stadium successfully while
A) retaining support in existing spot
B) developing new fan base in 2nd location.

Let's not forget I'm sure financially they need to not take a bit either
 
Cooney leading Ulster to that home Euro playoff, 10 up at home to Glasgow, looking forward to meeting an Ospreys team who are currently getting smished by Zebre. Ulster could slavage something yet!
 
The Alpha Bro said:
Cooney leading Ulster to that home Euro playoff, 10 up at home to Glasgow, looking forward to meeting an Ospreys team who are currently getting smished by Zebre. Ulster could slavage something yet!
Click to expand...

To be fair, qualifying for a competition you've always qualified for is hardly something to sing and dance about.
 

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