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RaboDirect Pro12 Round 7

Draggs

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Friday 26th October
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Saturday 27th October
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Munster team:
MUNSTER (v Zebre, Thomond Park, Friday, 7.45pm): F Jones; L O'Dea, C Laulala, JJ Hanrahan, S Zebo; I Keatley, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, M Sherry, S Archer, Donncha O'Callaghan, D Ryan, Dave O'Callaghan, P O'Mahony, P Butler. Replacements: D Varley, M Horan, BJ Botha, B Holland, T O'Donnell, C Murray, J Murphy, D Hurley.

Good to see Hanrahan start and Jones back at fullback.

ULSTER (v Dragons, Rodney Parade, Friday, 7.05pm): T Bowe; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; R Pienaar, P Marshall; T Court, R Best, D Fitzpatrick, L Stevenson, D Tuohy, I Henderson, C Henry (capt), N Williams. Replacements: N Brady, C Black, J Afoa, M McComish, R Wilson, P Jackson, L Marshall, J Payne.

Unfortunate Ferris hasn't made it but glad they're not rushing him. Good to see Fitzpatrick. Wonder if Bowe at fullback will have greater consequences?
 
I must say Bowe is good under the high ball, he's made some good catches from up and unders
 
The big question in the rugby world this weekend is.... can Edinburgh bounce back?! What do you think folks? Can Magic Micheal Bradley pull something special out of the bag or is the maverick coach up scheisse creek without a paddle?
 
Heart and Soul Rugby 23 for Edinburgh:
15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Morgan Stoddart, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Phil John, 2 Matthew Rees, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Sione Timani, 5 Tomas Vallejos, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 8 Rob McCusker (capt)
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Shaun Hopkins, 18 Deacon Manu, 19 Richard Kelly, 20 Kieran Murphy, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Owen.


Dragons 23 for Ulster:

Tom Prydie, Will Harries, Adam Hughes, Andy Tuilagi, Tonderai Chavhanga, Lewis Robling, Jonathan Evans, Owen Evans, Steve Jones (c), Nathan Buck, Adam Jones, Rob Sidoli, Tom Brown, Jevon Groves, Toby Faletau.
Replacements:
Sam Parry, Nathan Williams, Dan Way, Ian Nimmo, Nic Cudd, Liam Davies, Steffan Jones, Pat Leach
 
So Priestland is dropped by the Scarlets in his final game before the November Tests, hopefully Howley takes note and follows suit.

I'm a little disapointed that the Scarlets haven't given Rob Evans any game time while Rhodri Jones has been injured. I've been eager to see how he goes at regional level after a barnstorming display at the U20 WC. Can't remember if I've seen Shaun Hopkins play before, is he really a better option than young Rob Evans?

Still no Daniel Thomas at openside? I think they're missing a trick here. He's a very promising out and out 7, and that would suit the way the Scarlets try to play the game. Turnbull isn't even a 6.5, he's just a blindside playing at 7, and Jon Edwards is not very good really (had potential at one stage due to his pace).

Interested to see if Gareth Owen get's some game time. I was a big fan of his when he was with the O's, and personally believe that he never got a genuine chance over there. He sat on the bench every week, only thrown onto the pitch for the last 5mins as a last resort. How is a player meant to develop like that? Now and again I return to recordings of Wales v NZ and Wales v Aus at the 2007 U19 WC where Owen played at 10, so much talent, he really did posses all the skills, and it's a travesty that those are his career highlights! Injuries didn't help either mind.
 
Rob Evans has bee injured, Dull.
Thomas is a bit small right now, I still think he should be given 15 minutes or so. Maybe during the LV= Cup.
 
Bit more like it from Ulster - doesn't look like Court likes the Rodney crowd, although still can't agree with the gesture.
 
Haha did anyone see Court after he scored the try?

Edit: The bloody commentary is like 2 seconds ahead of the game, doesn't seem like much but it's very annoying
 
It wasn't too long ago that people were questioning the wisdom of signing Nick Williams in place of Pedrie Wannenberg. David Humphreys made the correct call once again.
 
Haha did anyone see Court after he scored the try?

Edit: The bloody commentary is like 2 seconds ahead of the game, doesn't seem like much but it's very annoying

Middle of a thunderstorm here and no sat TV signal at all so on to the net and can only manage the small screen so out of sync commentary not really a problem!!
 
It wasn't too long ago that people were questioning the wisdom of signing Nick Williams in place of Pedrie Wannenberg. David Humphreys made the correct call once again.

You wouldn't have questioned it given his fitness and alleged lifestyle problems at Munster? He's been fantastic and I'm delighted he has - and equally delighted at Humphreys' seemingly neverending row of correct calls - but it would be revisionist to say there was no reason to wonder what was going on.
 
You wouldn't have questioned it given his fitness and alleged lifestyle problems at Munster? He's been fantastic and I'm delighted he has - and equally delighted at Humphreys' seemingly neverending row of correct calls - but it would be revisionist to say there was no reason to wonder what was going on.
Not revisionist on my part. I posted this in June:

Williams isn't that bad. He's signed to back up Roger Wilson and primarily play in the Pro 12 I imagine. 10 tries in 31 games for Aironi is a damn fine record. He can be Ulster's Leo Auva'a. In my opinion, Williams and Wilson at 8 is a much better combo than Pedrie Wannenburg and Robbie Diack. Next season Ulster's best back row will be just as good as this season and the replacements will be far stronger.
http://www.therugbyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?25134-Transfers-2012-13&p=512897#post512897

I didn't think he'd be as good as he has been but I did think he'd be a very useful signing.
 
He's a quality player, still reckon he could lose some more weight. A classy player mind.
 
He's a quality player, still reckon he could lose some more weight. A classy player mind.
Unquestionably. If he raises his fitness levels, he could excel even more. Ulster took a chance on him when others were afraid of his conditioning. To paraphrase Billy Beane, they were looking for a rugby player, not a jeans model. So far it's working. I was never a fan of Pedrie Wannenburg. He was the embodiment of the phrase "look like Tarzan, plays like Jane".
 
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