The main show in town - Guinness Pro14 - Round 2

[Amiga500]

Enough of the clowns "entertaining" on the way through the queues at the turnstiles - its time to get into the big tent for the main show... The Pro14 Round 2.



- Glasgow to bounce back from a beating in Bloemfontein? Scarlets to smash and grab again? Home win.

- Dublin minnows vs. wee region from Swansea... I suppose we'd have less to listen to if the O's won. It'd take a miracle though.

- Isuzu Southern Kings vs. Munster. Kings showed better last week, albeit still going down to the Blues. I have an Isuzu good motor, not as quick as some of these fellas in the back 3 mind - the air con doesn't work in it anymore which brings me to my postulation.... the Kings to take advantage of the afternoon heat and shock Munster? Aye, why not.

- Blues vs. Edinburgh. Two teams with wins against sides that are hard to place in competitiveness. Blues to win on a good Sat evening game in Cardiff.

- Zebre vs. Dragons. Both went down heavily away. Will go for Zebre as they looked good last year at times. Dragons never looked good. Ever.

- Cheetahs vs Ulster. We're f**ked - a rake of pasty Irish fellas from Dublin vs. tanned boks on the Highveld? As suspected by many, Ruan Pienaar looks a very smart move by them. No contest, 20+points gap. I'd be expecting the Cheetahs to really push for a play off spot this year - home form being crucial to that.

- Connacht vs. Treviso. Treviso could have won last week against our Noisy Neighbours despite being a man down. Connacht off a very disappointing showing in Parc y Empty. Treviso win signalling they are here for another push to the playoffs. Forza Italia!

 

[Crags]

Scarlets
Leinster
Munster
Edinburgh
Dragons YES DRAGONS TO WIN AWAY
Cheetahs
Treviso
Will all be the winners of this weeks PRO14 matches.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Again pretty confident this week. We'll see a bit of rotation as per usual (probably hooker, maybe lock, maybe centre/back three) but can't imagine any major changes.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I'm looking forward to Fridays game and seeing the future stars of Ireland's World Cup quarter final defeats in 2023 and 2027 take on the Ospreylians.

 

[ajwffc]

REFEREE APPOINTMENTS
ROUND 2



Friday, October 4
Leinster Rugby v Ospreys Rugby – KO 19:35
RDS Arena, Dublin
Referee: Stuart Berry (SARU, 25th Championship appearance)
AR1: Stuart Gaffigan (IRFU) AR2: Mark Patton (IRFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
Live on eir Sport 1, Premier Sports 2, DAZN, SuperSport 2, TG4,
Deferred: S4C – Sunday, 16:10

Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets – KO 19:35
Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 116th Championship appearance)
AR1: Ben Blain (SRU) AR2: Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Simon MacDowell (IRFU)
Live on eir Sport 2, Premier Sports 1, DAZN
Deferred: S4C – Monday, 22:05

Saturday, October 5
Isuzu Southern Kings v Munster Rugby – KO 15:00 (SA) / 16:00 (UK)
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Referee: Dan Jones (WRU, 26th Championship appearance)
AR1: Mike Adamson (SRU) AR2: Paul Mente (SARU)
TMO: Christie Du Preez (SARU)
Live on eir Sport 1 Premier Sports 2, DAZN Super Sport 2

Zebre Rugby Club v Dragons – KO 17:00 (ITA) / 18:00 (UK)
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma
Referee: Sean Gallagher (IRFU, 15th Championship appearance)
AR1: Andrea Piardi (FIR) AR2: Johnny Erskine (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Live on eir Sport 2, FreeSports, DAZN

Toyota Cheetahs v Ulster Rugby – KO 17:15 (SA) / 18:15 (UK)
Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 77th Championship appearance)
AR1: Craig Evans (WRU) AR2: Griffin Colby (SARU)
TMO: Johan Greeff (SARU)
Live on eir Sport 1, Premier Sports 2, DAZN, Super Sport 2

Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh – KO 17:15
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 25th Championship appearance)
AR1: Ben Whitehouse (WRU) AR2: Rob O'Sullivan (IRFU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)
Live on eir Sport 2, S4C, DAZN

Connacht Rugby v Benetton Rugby – KO 19:35

The Sportsground, Galway

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU, 1st Championship appearance)
AR1: Sam Grove-White (SRU) AR2: Ian Kenny (SRU)
TMO: Charles Samson (SRU)
Live on TG4 (exclusive), Premier Sports 1, DAZN, Super Sport 2


Read more at https://www.pro14rugby.org/match-centre/referee-appointments/#hVVIo503Qb6iAbCv.99

 

[Leinster Fan]

Leinster Rugby Squad vs. Ospreys (senior caps in brackets):

15. Hugo Keenan (6)
14. Fergus McFadden (178)
13. Rory O'Loughlin (62)
12. Joe Tomane (14)
11. James Lowe (30)
10. Ross Byrne (72)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (71)
1. Peter Dooley (62)
2. Rónan Kelleher (3)
3. Michael Bent (125)
4. Devin Toner (232)
5. Scott Fardy (44) CAPTAIN
6. Josh Murphy (22)
7. Will Connors (6)
8. Caelan Doris (17)

16. James Tracy (93)
17. Michael Milne (1)
18. Vakh Abdaladze (8)
19. Ross Molony (83)
20. Max Deegan (47)
21. Rowan Osborne (0)
22. Harry Byrne (1)
23. Conor O'Brien (17)

Why did we go to the trouble of getting Cian Kelleher back from Connacht?

He's not injured, but we've named two completely different back threes in two weeks and he hasn't made either. Throw in that Kearney and Larmour are in Japan and he's 9th choice? Probably even worse because O'Loughlin and Tomane are probably ahead of him in the back three queue as well. I know he considered a decent loss of talent when he left but he showed nothing in two years at Connacht to suggest he was anywhere near good enough for us. I hope it works out for him but don't see how it can, I wouldn't take him over any of our current options and other than Kearney x2 and McFadden they're all in their mid 20s and won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I'd rationalised his signing as a move to get fill the squad fullback role that we didn't have last year but I really like the look of Jimmy O'Brien and Keenan has looked good in his appearances so far as well.

On the other hand things seem to be going completely in the opposite direction for his brother, two starts in a row in a position where we have established Pro14 players is a big vote of confidence. Not everything went for him last week but he showed a lot of promise. Looks like he's being fast tracked which given that hooker is the weakest position in the pack is the right move. If this stretch of games go well for him he might even be pushing for gametime in Europe by the end of the season.

Other than that, great to see Fardy and Lowe back. Deegan only on the bench is pretty disappointing but I get wanting to give Murphy a start and Doris was good last week, I'd back Doris to kick on big time this year.

Edit: forgot about Barry Daly as well, make that 12th choice. Hope I'm wrong but surely Kelleher will be back in Galway or abroad in a few years.

And yes, I only bothered to write all if.this because I desperately want to forget the Irish rugby team exists.

 

[bushytop]

Josh McCloud having a big game so far for the Scarlets.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Decent first half from Leinster.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Call up Ronan Kelleher Joe.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Ospreys are after throwing in the towel, this could get ugly.

Kelleher looks really good, as I said can see him getting European gametime this season.

Connors looks good, it's always hard to know how guys will come back from an injury as serious as his but doesn't look like it's getting to him. Tomane is coming good.

Fardy is just too good for this level.

 

[Leinster Fan]

That's a really annoying away to throw away the nil.

 

[Amiga500]

Ah, hard to know how good Leinster were when the Ospreys were that bad.

Also puts into perspective our win last week.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Ah, hard to know how good Leinster were when the Ospreys were that bad.

Also puts into perspective our win last week.

Ah, hard to know how good Leinster were when the Ospreys were that bad.

Also puts into perspective our win last week.

The Ospreys are bad but I'd say both Leinster and Ulster can be pretty happy with themselves regardless.

 

[profitius]

Call up Ronan Kelleher Joe.

Joe won't but Andy might.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Joe won't but Andy might.

Give it a few years and I'd say Andy definitely will.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

While Ospreys were useless, you can only beat what's in front of you and Leinster did so very impressively.

I'll echo what has already been said about Ronan Kelleher. He was outstanding . The first step for him is to get into European 23 man squads and become an impact sub. He offers more with ball in hand than either James Tracy (an excellent defender) and Bryan Byrne (good all rounder but has lineout wobbles).

 

[bushytop]

Like that high(ish) viz Munster home shirt... very nice! Should be sponsored by Dynamo-rod though.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Good win for the Scarlets.

 

[bushytop]

Good win for the Scarlets.

Very... I know Glasgow got pumped last week but they don't lose many at home.

Very impressed with McCloud, Asquith and Hughes.

 

[bushytop]

So have the Dragons beat the Scarlets' record for the amount of sponsors that they can fit on a shirt.