• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Guinness Pro 14: Round 2

Kings lacking firepower up front. Worrying if they are getting beaten up by Connacht (who don't have a reputation for grinding down teams with their pack). I still think coach Keane has made a great start with Connacht.

Scarlets ten points up at the half against a fairly resilient looking Zebre - it's a reasonably strong Scarlets lineup too (Gareth Davies, Patchell, Steff Evans etc). Happy with what Bradley has done with Zebre so far.
 
profitius said:
And concedes 2 tries in the last 5 min before half time...
Click to expand...
Sad. Unfortunately our handling is poor and we are getting molested in the scrums. Hopefully we get some possession in the second half.
 
Right, rant time....

Ospreys:
What the hell has happened over in Swansea? I know they haven't got the personnel of 10 years ago, but on paper they've got a decent enough squad who 7 months ago were playing some scintillating rugby, scoring try's for fun and were odds on to win the Challenge cup and seriously challenge for the Pro12 gong. Ever since the Challenge Cup quarter final defeat to Stade Francais they've looked disorganised and lost. Despite having plenty of possession today, they struggled to do much of anything really, aimlessly throwing the ball out wide way behind the advantage line, and ultimately with Sam Davies forcing things and making mistakes. I still think that Sam Davies is a quality player, but he's pretty poor atm, as are the rest of the Ospreys players. How many times did Keelan Giles touch the ball today? By my count no more than 2 or 3 times!

Tandy didn't earn the head coaching gig, and I don't think he's up to it either. They're progressively getting worse, and I think a change should be made before there's a mass exodus of players.

Cardiff Blues:
Blues are garbage at the moment. I just don't think they have the calibre of players to compete with the best in the league, but they're also so low in confidence that even against sides they should be on par with/beating. Look Leinster have great squad depth, but for 70min. last night they were terrible, but they Blues were equally poor and couldn't capitalise.

I was thinking during the game, how many of the current Blues squad would make the Scarlets starting 15? Rhun Williams at fullback would fit in nicely with the Scarlets style, but he wouldn't yet be ahead of Steff, NcNicholl or Halfpenny; but he'd have a chance of making the bench. Halaholo maybe, but he'd struggle to get in ahead of Davies, Williams or Parks. A fully fit Warbs maybe, but even then the Scarlets wouldn't select him ahead of Davies at 7, so he'd have to challenge Shingler at 6. Dillon Lewis has shown potential, and could slot onto the bench. That's all I think, so maybe 2 player, possibly none? Shows why there's such a difference between the two sides!
 
Bruce_ma_goose said:
Scarlets ten points up at the half against a fairly resilient looking Zebre - it's a reasonably strong Scarlets lineup too (Gareth Davies, Patchell, Steff Evans etc). Happy with what Bradley has done with Zebre so far.
Click to expand...

Weather is terrible, but Scarlets still playing some good stuff and unlucky not to be 3 try's up after a dubious referee decision to disallow a try in the first half.

Been impressed with Zebre though. Far, far more competitive than last season. Good shape in attack and defence and some ambition despite the conditions. Encouraging for the league.

Good BP win for the Scarlets in the end. Another impressive performance, especially in the conditions out there.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, depressing viewing in the end with the Scarlets starting to run riot. I don't think it'll just be Kings and Zebre fans that will left feeling a little blue once the Scarlets have finished with them. They have started off with the same intensity and ability as they showed at the end of last year. Very impressive, for example, compared to the second year slump of Connacht. Scarlets completely underrated upfront too and I'm not sure what Patchell has to do to become a top two choice for Wales at fly half. Very accomplished and controlled.

Another bad weekend for the South Africans, compounded by one Irish commentator calling them the "Sporting Kings" half the time, and another's accent leading to a rather unfortunate "She-tahs". Perhaps not inappropriate given the lack of testicular fortitude shown by them.

But of course, the biggest news of the week is that Treviso have consolidated their stranglehold on 5th place in Conference A with their losing bonus point!
 
profitius said:
Kings look much better than the Cheetahs so far.
Click to expand...
Cheetahs are a side just waiting and praying for a side to be stupid enough to kick to them all game.

...least that's how they were in Super Rugby.

Which to me reads as "worst possible pick for converting to Pro 14". Because despite more willingness to use the boot in the NH, they tend to scout and make adjustments than most non-kiwi teams down here.

Hard luck was they played Ulster in Week 1 and Leali'ifano is familiar with them.
 
snoopy snoopy dog dog said:
Whoever scouted him did a good job. In general Munster have done excellently at reinforcing their squad with players born outside the province. They've now got a quality squad of up and coming players who'll complement the home grown talent.

The last couple of weeks have been an eye opener for the SA teams. Thought the Cheetahs had a good shot at winning in Ulster and didn't think they'd be so comprehensively outplayed today. Nearly 100 points conceded is dreadful. I'm sure they'll improve drastically. Hopefully the improvement starts after Leinster's visit to Bloemfontein!
Click to expand...
Both Alex's parents families are from Munster. And was put through Exiles route. Has been with is 5 years now I think it is or 4. Was scouted through IRFU system.

@ALPHA Conway is here to stay. And can see him really get in to an Ireland 23 more often than not.

Competition building nicely especially when you look at backrow of O'Mahony Cloete and Stander to come.
 
Interesting response from Dave Rennie in the aftermath of Glesca's 4 tries to 1 defeat of the Ospreys . " Was pretty disappointed with the first 40 - they ( Ospreys ) did a good job slowing our ball down and we lost a lot of races in the contact area . It was a bit better in the second half , but we have got a lot of strides to make ". What is becoming apparent is the fitness level of Glasgow is in probability higher than the opposition and the last quarter sees a scoring burst . With a number of players still to make onto the park , it looks promising in the longer term .
 
Dammit, the young Zebre fullback who caught my eye isn't Italian. Ciaran Gaffney from Connacht. At least they have some cover for Padovani leaving.
 
CaledonCol said:
Interesting response from Dave Rennie in the aftermath of Glesca's 4 tries to 1 defeat of the Ospreys . " Was pretty disappointed with the first 40 - they ( Ospreys ) did a good job slowing our ball down and we lost a lot of races in the contact area . It was a bit better in the second half , but we have got a lot of strides to make ". What is becoming apparent is the fitness level of Glasgow is in probability higher than the opposition and the last quarter sees a scoring burst . With a number of players still to make onto the park , it looks promising in the longer term .
Click to expand...

He is a top flight coach, even his old assistant is doing well with Connacht. I think Glasgow need these bonus point wins against Conference rivals as their ability to pick up points in the international windows is highly questionable as their squad will be decimated.

A reasonable start for both Scottish sides with potential for further improvement as stated by both coaches. Cockerill is good copy, pretending to be ignorant and bumbling while effectively saying to the SRU "give me your 7s players to bolster my squad". He'll be keeping the powers that be on their toes.
 
munstermuffin said:
Both Alex's parents families are from Munster. And was put through Exiles route. Has been with is 5 years now I think it is or 4. Was scouted through IRFU system.

@ALPHA Conway is here to stay. And can see him really get in to an Ireland 23 more often than not.

Competition building nicely especially when you look at backrow of O'Mahony Cloete and Stander to come.
Click to expand...
It was more tongue in cheek to be honest, guys like Lowe, O'Loughlin, Larmour, McFadden and the Kearney's probably fit our back three better (three of them being part of the reason he's down there) but he's made huge strides in the last 9 months of his career which has me hugely impressed.

Looking forward to seeing Ulster and Munster tested against the two good Welsh sides next week and unless there's drastic improvements from the Saffas Leinster should have max points after round 4 heading into a more difficult run of fixtures. Connacht's next two fixtures will show if they're here to compete or make up numbers.
 
snoopy snoopy dog dog said:
Leinster were poor for around 65 minutes in their 37-9 win over Cardiff Blues. Turned on the afterburners in the last 15 minutes with Barry Daly and Nick McCarthy scoring a couple of fantastic tries.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Isa Nacewa cited for his clothesline tackle which saw him sin binned. Could and perhaps should have been a red card.

Rob Kearney looks unlikely to make the trip to SA. If Nacewa is also out, it leaves Leinster short of fullback options. Joey Carbery if fit will likely fill in there. Dan Leavy also limped out. Given the backrow depth, may be wiser to leave him at home for the next two games also.
Click to expand...

Lancaster said on the BBC that Leinster won't be bringing 2 players to SA whose partners are due to give birth. Any idea who the players are?
 
The Alpha Bro said:
It was more tongue in cheek to be honest, guys like Lowe, O'Loughlin, Larmour, McFadden and the Kearney's probably fit our back three better (three of them being part of the reason he's down there) but he's made huge strides in the last 9 months of his career which has me hugely impressed.

Looking forward to seeing Ulster and Munster tested against the two good Welsh sides next week and unless there's drastic improvements from the Saffas Leinster should have max points after round 4 heading into a more difficult run of fixtures. Connacht's next two fixtures will show if they're here to compete or make up numbers.
Click to expand...
Leinster issue will be only 28 guys going and preparation will be hampered.
On Lamour he's looked impressive to be fair.
 
Fingal said:
Lancaster said on the BBC that Leinster won't be bringing 2 players to SA whose partners are due to give birth. Any idea who the players are?
Click to expand...
Devin Toner and Scott Fardy. James Ryan, Mick Kearney and Ross Molony will likely be the second rows to travel. Possibly Ian Nagle too although I suspect Rhys Ruddock will cover in case of emergency.
 
snoopy snoopy dog dog said:
Devin Toner and Scott Fardy. James Ryan, Mick Kearney and Ross Molony will likely be the second rows to travel. Possibly Ian Nagle too although I suspect Rhys Ruddock will cover in case of emergency.
Click to expand...
Have they got Fardy at second row or playing 6?
 
Bruce_ma_goose said:
Some entertaining rugby, and well executed skills - albeit in some relatively one sided encounters. Round 3 looks far more competitive with arguably the potential for an upset in every fixture.
Click to expand...
Yeahhhh not the most competitive round overall. Should be two bell ringers next week though for Ospreys v Munster and Connacht v Scarlets. Based on Ospreys fairly timid performance I'm confident though. Good game to get out of the way early in the season.
 

Similar threads

Groundhog
URC 2024/2025 - Round 2
2
Replies
30
Views
986
munstermuffin
M
T
URC 2023/24 Round 14
2
Replies
32
Views
1K
Tooting Carmen
T
TRF_stormer2010
URC 2023/2024 Round 2
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
Bluemoon
Bluemoon
Leonormous Boozer
URC: Round 1
2 3
Replies
51
Views
2K
munstermuffin
M
Leonormous Boozer
URC 2024/25: Round 6
Replies
14
Views
717
The Seeker
The Seeker

Latest posts

Top