[2013/14 Pro12] Round 5

[big ginger 8]

This Heaney looks like a good player.

Yeah good handy player.

No questions about Jackson off the tee tonight.

 

[Peat]

Yeah good handy player.

No questions about Jackson off the tee tonight.

No sir. Probably his best professional kicking performance to date and one delivered under a fair bit of pressure. Don't want to go ahead of things, but that standard will see the questions cease.

Very impressive last thirty from Ulster in terms of intelligence and composure. The fifty before slightly worrying.

Shock of the night - Deccie Fitz doing 80 minutes.

 

[big ginger 8]

Hook turning a discussion on PO'M leadership qualities to Heaslip's lack of them, no agenda there...

 

[Feicarsinn]

Hook getting his arse handed to him over the revisionist history that's so popular regarding the development of Johnny 10.

 

[Draggs]

Yes, Ill certainly trust George Hook when a Munster player is in question...
I think James would be a better person to ask!

 

[big ginger 8]

Hook getting his arse handed to him over the revisionist history that's so popular regarding the development of Johnny 10.

He only needs to see a player once to see if he's up to standard? What a load of ****.

 

[Feicarsinn]

He only needs to see a player once to see if he's up to standard? What a load of ****.

I was more annoyed by the fact that he thinks that no one had been aware of Sexton before the semi final. He'd been a key part of Leinster's drive for the league the year before.


Mads puts the first kick over. D'arcy's beard is magnificent.

 

[big ginger 8]

I was more annoyed by the fact that he thinks that no one had been aware of Sexton before the semi final. He'd been a key part of Leinster's drive for the league the year before.


Mads puts the first kick over. D'arcy's beard is magnificent.

People prefer to romanticise things, he'd done a lot before but in fairness that would have been when he first came to the attention of a lot of casual fans.

 

[big ginger 8]

That was really stupid by Madigan.

And it's Keatley orchestrating it.

 

[lynam1104]

Kearney's defense has really gone down hill, he should've been able to put a hit on Earls before he got over, he did all the hard getting there but then stopped disappointing. As I say theres almost nothing in it very interesting and physical 2nd half coming up for sure.

 

[big ginger 8]

How the hell was that a knock on? That could well have been a try.

 

[lynam1104]

Agree on that BG8, Munster deserved a win, but i'm pretty sure that was't a knock on in which case Leinster may have been able to win it but unlikely.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

**** that was uninspiring.

 

[dullonien]

Just watched the Scarlets v Glasgow match. Pretty poor standard overall, although Glasgow were certainly the ones who showed some attacking flair. The Scarlets' basic skills are dreadful atm. They can't keep possession for more than a few fazes, and even then it's slow ponderous stuff. What's happened to the quick, zippy Rhodri Williams we saw for the Wales U20's, he's taking an age to get the ball out, or is it that he's having to re-organise the Scarlets forwards before he can do so?

There just seems to be so much wrong atm down there. They have a solid scrum platform that they've been missing for years, but their attacking flair that they were once renowned for is gone, and it's horrible to watch, almost cringe worthy. Confidence seems to be low, with Jordan Williams being a prime example. No confidence to go for the try line with no-one in front of him, and no confidence to counter attack, even in the dying seconds when there was nothing to lose.

They lack ball carriers in the pack who can generate some go forwards ball, solely relying on Ken Owens. Even when they do get into good positions on the field their lineout or scrum malfunctions.

Their defence is still very poor on occasion. They apply no real pressure on their opposition. Even when Glasgow were fumbling ball behind the gain-line they had time to re-gather their attacking structure and find some space down the middle or out wide.

Yes the Scarlets are missing an 8 of any quality, but they do have quality in other areas, but are incapable of utilising it. To me it looks like the coaching is to blame. I have no idea what their game-plan involves. The only thing they do on a consistent basis is shovel slow ball out to static one-up runners who either struggle to keep the ball, or deliver even slower ball, followed by passing it back to an under pressure Prietland or Jon Davies to hastily put in a clearing kick. Now and again Priestland will put up a high ball, but that's about it. Couple that with a passive defence, especially out wide and it's a recipe for disaster. There's no real attacking patterns behind, there's no organised forward drives, it's just utter drivel, and it's sucking the life out of the players, the supporters and anyone else who's watching.

The Scarlets board need to wake-up and send Easturby, Mark Jones and co. to earn their coaching credentials with the Llanelli youth side and employ some coaches who at least have some experience. They only have to look at what a set of half decent coaches have managed to do with a limited Dragons side to realise that the least that should be accepted is an organised side in attack and defence who do the basics well. Get that foundation right and then the rest might follow.

 

[Bluemoon]

Blues with ample possession but no go forward at all. The backs need the forwards to build a bit of momentum or the defence will continue to hold them out.

Edinburgh not putting any pressure on the blues breakdown, which is how Zebre won two weeks ago. But look dangerous on the counter considering Cardiff's fragile defence.

6-6 at the moment. Dire game.

 

[Bluemoon]

Blues winning 29-12. Couple of nice tries and the back line firing now that Edinburgh are tired.

Edinburgh have been absolutely awful. No pressure at the ruck and their attack consisted of a Laidlaw box kick and chase. Zebre looked much more threatening.

 

[dullonien]

Copeland made the difference in that second half. Demonstrates the importance of a genuine ball carrying 8.

Thought Cory Allen had a good game for a first start, he and Owen Williams could form a very exciting midfield. Both are intelligent in both attack and defence.

So some promising signs, although accuracy is still lacking. I wish Halfpenny would counter attack a little more instead of putting high balls up all the time. They started to counter later on in the game, but I thought there were opportunities earlier in the game.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

On Munster's performance yesterday, I was very impressed with their replacement loosehead James Cronin in both the scrum and open play. He's looked like a real find so far this season. From what I've seen, he could challenge Dave Kilcoyne strongly for the first choice spot later in the season.

 

[Bluemoon]

Copeland made the difference in that second half. Demonstrates the importance of a genuine ball carrying 8.

Thought Cory Allen had a good game for a first start, he and Owen Williams could form a very exciting midfield. Both are intelligent in both attack and defence.

So some promising signs, although accuracy is still lacking. I wish Halfpenny would counter attack a little more instead of putting high balls up all the time. They started to counter later on in the game, but I thought there were opportunities earlier in the game.

I think it is a tactic that Phil has stuck by all season so far. Kicking long from deep to force the kick back. The stats probably say that move has been 60/70% effective, but the Blues have been very poor at executing it in previous weeks. Its frustrating at the arms park when they do it so often. Of course thats also misleading when there are other options which may lead to a strong counter attack from deep.

We all knew the Williams-Allen would be a great young partnership. Its interesting that 2 weeks after Baber moves on (although, I know he is still there) a certain Gavin Evans disappears off the team sheet.

If Exeter target the pack and the break down next week then the Blues are in trouble. Copeland has to start after two weeks making a huge impact from the bench.

Not a good time to be an Edinburgh fan. They kicked away far too much and seemed very tired second half.

 

[Groundhog]

Pretty happy with that performance. The two sides had near the best sides available to them put out and playing Leinster is always a good status check. Leinster were poor, but I'm pleased with our pack, and was cuffed with the chances our backline created. Although I rate Cronin Snoop, Ross had played 50+ minutes of rugby when Cronin came on fresh to scrum against him. I rate Kilcoyne very highly as a scrummager. George Hook is some eejit downplaying Keatley before he plays 80 great minutes.
With Cronin, Kilcoyne and Cotter another great scrummager coming through we are sorted for looseheads but like the other provinces have no real prospects at Tighthead. We saw yesterday that Ross is no longer holding his own in the scrum and that is very worrying for Ireland, as he offers little else, but we have no one else. Archer had a nice game, and maybe the new scrum laws are playing in his advantage but he is not international standard as it stands. John Ryan can apparently play both sides but I'm sceptical.
Anyone else notice Leinster were playing keep away from Tiquiri? Leinsters backrow really wasn't great and with a couple of their big names missing they didn't have enough depth to play the rugby they did against Cardiff.