[2018-19 Guinness Pro 14] Round 2 (07 & 08/09/2018)

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

If Edinburgh lose this, I won't hate to be in the Edin changing room after.

 

[General Melchett]

Yeah I imagine Cockers would have been giving out the hairdrier treatment. Two tough games to start with for Edinburgh but they really should have closed out last night's game given their lead.

Brilliant display from Glasgow against Munster in the first half. Looked like a completely different pack.

 

[big ginger 8]

Class finish by McFadden, pass was way too loopy.

EDIT: 3 pulled it down and I'm giving him a yellow but yeah not gonna bother with a penalty try because reasons.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Was Davies not offside there? PT imo.

 

[munstermuffin]

We were awful poor last night but had some positives. Unfortunately Neil looks like its bad.

On Leinster here. Its vomit feeling to say it but they look to be even better than last year in terms of depth and squad management. They must be easily the best squad development club in Northern Hemisphere and possibly the world. And I do put alot of this on Lancaster

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Scarlets win over Leinster was a great game. Easily the top two teams in the competition.

While disappointed at Leinster's loss, it was a far better performance than last week. Ross Byrne is really stepping up. His decision making and passing were top notch while he also made a couple of big, important tackles and attacked the line really well. Jordan Larmour looked superb at 15. We all know about his attacking game which was on point again but it was his tactical kicking which pleasantly surprised me. Great length on the kicks and very accurate.

On the flipside, Tadhg Furlong looked rusty, Ian Nagle made a few errors after a good start and Robbie Henshaw didn't really impose himself.

 

[anderton46]

Scarlets win over Leinster was a great game. Easily the top two teams in the competition.

While disappointed at Leinster's loss, it was a far better performance than last week. Ross Byrne is really stepping up. His decision making and passing were top notch while he also made a couple of big, important tackles and attacked the line really well. Jordan Larmour looked superb at 15. We all know about his attacking game which was on point again but it was his tactical kicking which pleasantly surprised me. Great length on the kicks and very accurate.

On the flipside, Tadhg Furlong looked rusty, Ian Nagle made a few errors after a good start and Robbie Henshaw didn't really impose himself.

Larmour is great, I think he'll be a star. I just would love to see him playing for a team who play a slightly more open brand of Rugby. His chances to shine are limited playing behind that Leinster pack.

 

[munstermuffin]

Scarlets win over Leinster was a great game. Easily the top two teams in the competition.

While disappointed at Leinster's loss, it was a far better performance than last week. Ross Byrne is really stepping up. His decision making and passing were top notch while he also made a couple of big, important tackles and attacked the line really well. Jordan Larmour looked superb at 15. We all know about his attacking game which was on point again but it was his tactical kicking which pleasantly surprised me. Great length on the kicks and very accurate.

On the flipside, Tadhg Furlong looked rusty, Ian Nagle made a few errors after a good start and Robbie Henshaw didn't really impose himself.

Henshaw is developing this trend where he has 2 bad games after layoff then really ups it. Agreed on the game and quality

In first 2 games JGP has really outshined McGrath too I feel

 

[Leinster Fan]

Larmour is great, I think he'll be a star. I just would love to see him playing for a team who play a slightly more open brand of Rugby. His chances to shine are limited playing behind that Leinster pack.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017–18_Pro14

For the sake of accuracy, it's worth noting that Leinster scored 83 tries in the regular season last year, more than anyone else and a lot more than the 'all out attack' Scarlets at 69. I can see where you're coming from though, although I'd say the main reason he wasn't particularly involved was because him and Lowe's early involvements scared the Scarlets out of kicking to him. If he can do that regularly he'll be a huge asset compared to Kearney who everyone is willing to kick at all day in the knowledge that he won't offer an attacking threat.

Larmour did look great, you've got to love the way he always looms to find space and attack in every situation. Hus kicking, defence etc. all looked improved on last season as well. If he keeps that form up I'd back him to start for Ireland in November, although I couldn't say who he'd be replacing.

I'd disagree about our halfbacks, I didn't think they were great last night in all honesty. Overall I'm pretty happy with our start to the season, I'd have taken 6 points from our first two games two weeks ago and we've played relatively well in both games so far.

 

[bushytop]

Have enjoyed the first two weekends immensely, the competitiveness and quality seems to have increased considerably since the changes to European qualification a few years back.

Great to see the Italians side's improvements but the SA side's still look off the pace... maybe that's as much to do with their preseason as anything else.

Surprised by the level of the Munster performance on Friday night but apart from that the theoretical top 10 side's have all looked very competent. The scarlets vs Leinster game was always going to have a lot of expectations on it and I think it lived up to them all. Considering it was only the second weekend, it was a great advert for the league as well as both outfits

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Ster lacked a bit of fluidity that won them game after game last season but the first three or so games of the season always act as a bit of a pre-season for us. We always start slow so I presume it's by design to be at our worst when points are that bit easier to pick up. The Dragons should be the start of a win streak that takes us to the end of the first two Euro games at the very least!

 

[Amiga500]

Really liking the competitiveness of the league this year.

All right, I expect that the usual suspects will end up at the top and the bottom - and it'll probably roughly even out between leagues but so far we've had, what...

5 matches decided by 3 points or less.
9 matches decided by 7 points or less.


Contrasting that to the PremierHype:
2 matches decided by 3 points or less (or drawn).
5 matches by 7 points or less.

Or the Tripe14 (with an extra game week):
6 matches decided by 3 points or less (or drawn).
10 matches decided by 7 points or less.



Guinness... sponsor of arguably the best league in the world.

 

[FrenchFan]

Really liking the competitiveness of the league this year.

All right, I expect that the usual suspects will end up at the top and the bottom - and it'll probably roughly even out between leagues but so far we've had, what...

5 matches decided by 3 points or less.
9 matches decided by 7 points or less.


Contrasting that to the PremierHype:
2 matches decided by 3 points or less (or drawn).
5 matches by 7 points or less.

Or the Tripe14 (with an extra game week):
6 matches decided by 3 points or less (or drawn).
10 matches decided by 7 points or less.

Guinness... sponsor of arguably the best league in the world.

how many teams are genuine ***le contenders in the Pro14?

 

[Amiga500]

how many teams are genuine ***le contenders in the Pro14?

In the last 4 years, there have been 4 different winners, same as Top14.

In the last 10 years, there have been 6 different winners. In the Top14, there have been 7 different winners in the past 10 years.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Lots of quality at the top end of the Pro 14.

Leinster and Scarlets are the main ***le contenders. Glasgow will be close and Munster could be finalists. Ospreys, Cardiff, Ulster and Edinburgh will be hopeful of making the playoffs. The Italian teams are improving. If there are to be surprise packages this season, they'll be Benetton and Connacht. The South African teams and Dragons are going backwards though.

 

[FrenchFan]

In the last 4 years, there have been 4 different winners, same as Top14.

In the last 10 years, there have been 6 different winners. In the Top14, there have been 7 different winners in the past 10 years.

It's never been more open here. There are EIGHT contenders this season with Toulouse Clermont Racing SF Castres Toulon Lyon Montpellier

Lyon are the fastest growing club and got to their first 1/2 final last season. MOntpellier have never won it but they were top of the league before the play-offs last season so can't be discounted. All the others are past winners.

 

[dullonien]

Hopefully the Blues get a deserved W next weekend, because they've looked sharp at times in their opening two defeats. They probably deserved to win v Leinster, but Benetton were good value for their win last weekend to be fair.

There's been some defensive lapses which is worrying, and they've struggled aerially, especially v Leinster. Depth up front could also prove a weakness with their scrum looking frail after Arhip departed. Manoa will be a welcome addition, because they've struggled without Williams on the pitch in both games.

Their attack play has been very good though with Jarrod Evans carrying on where he left off. Maybe need to be a little more patient after making breaks, a little too eager putting foot to ball sometimes trying to force a try instead of recycling and being patient.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I'm only getting time to watch extended highlights, but blimey there were some hum dingers this week. Sadly Zebras prefer the African savannah to Galway.

Some cracking play by Benneton, a wonder try from the Kings and entertainment in surprising corners of the league.

Could be sour grapes on my part but I think the obstruction rule is questionable if that late try by Ulster is allowed to stand.

"Picks" (i.e. intentional obstruction) is part of basketball and American football and is fairly easy to execute with practice - but I don't want them in rugby. If I'm a rugby coach I'd be getting my players to practice running intentional lines from a borderline offside position that don't change direction but are aimed at taking out defenders. If a team masters that they'd be devastating.

Oh, and Tommaso Allan gets another season as my avatar after his match winning kick. Great to see so much enthusiasm in an Italian club crowd.

 

[Amiga500]

Could be sour grapes on my part but I think the obstruction rule is questionable if that late try by Ulster is allowed to stand.

Agreed.

If it were me refereeing, I wouldn't have allowed the try to stand.