URC 2022 / 2023 Round 1

[TRF_stormer2010]

Friday
Edinburgh Rugby v Dragons RFC

Saturday
Ulster v Connacht
Benetton v Glasgow Warriors
Zebre Parma v Leinster
Scarlets v Ospreys
Cardiff Rugby v Munster
Emirates Lions v Vodacom Bulls

Cell C Sharks v DHL Stormers **Feb 3/4

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Benetton top of the table due to the power of the alphabet. They really should be looking to beat Glasgow in Italy if they are to continue their development, but I can't see it happening.

Leinster could send half of Dublin on plane to SA and they'd still beat Zebre away.

Anything less than 5 points for Edinburgh at home to Dragons would be an I'll omen.

Overall a very nice set of fixtures with a lot of weaker teams hosting stronger ones.

 

[dullonien]

Anything less than 5 points for Edinburgh at home to Dragons would be an I'll omen.

Dragons have recruited really well, especially in the tight 5 where they've been historically weak + they now boastbsome depth to their squad to come off the bench and cover injuries. So hopefully they'll be much improved on last season! I'm quietly optimistic that they can get a W up in Edinburgh to kick things off... watch them ship 50 now!

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Dragons have recruited really well, especially in the tight 5 where they've been historically weak + they now boastbsome depth to their squad to come off the bench and cover injuries. So hopefully they'll be much improved on last season! I'm quietly optimistic that they can get a W up in Edinburgh to kick things off... watch them ship 50 now!

That's a pretty bold prediction even though Edinburgh have been incredibly inconsistent this calendar year. Do you think the relative power of any other Welsh side has fallen this off season as the Dragons have risen? It always seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul whenever Welsh players move.

 

[dullonien]

Dragons have mainly recruited from outside Wales, taking advantage of the salary cap reduction in England to pick up a few fringe, but quality players like Hanrahan and Max Clarke. They've also brought in a couple of players from other regions who had fallen out of favour, like Rob Evans and Rhodri Jones, both of which are quality internationals.

I'd say the Ospreys should be stronger, mainly because they've got some of their big names back from injury such as Tipuric, Anscombe and North who all missed most of last season.

Scarlets have recruited a couple of good overseas players, but are otherwise as they were. They've lost Liam Williams, but he barely played for them last season anyway. Their defense let them down last season, so as long as they improve that facet they should have a far better season this year.

Blues are mostly unchanged where is matters i.e. front 5, so I'd expect them to still stuggle against the bigger packs. They've made some quality signings elsewhere though, so you'd hope for some improvements from last season.

So realistically I'd hope that all the regions will be improved from last season based on playing personnel. Really depends if the coaching can utilise it properly! Jury's still out on that front at all the regions.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Thanks. Some rare Welsh optimism might not be misplaced then. I think that'll keep you ahead of the Italians, possibly Lions and Connacht and have you closing the gap on the seemingly stagnating Scots. I'm expecting an improvement from Munster with their backs coach so I think Welsh and Scots will be doing okay to even get one side each into playoffs.

I'm assuming Italy and Scotland will suffer more than Wales due to international extractions being shared by two teams in a RWC year (despite the URC schedule not overlapping as much as before) but hopefully that's not a critical variable.

 

[saulan]

Really fee for the Lions. Stormers kinda stagnated with a few additions. Bulls and Sharks expanded with some decent signings… and the lions absolutely gutted. That started team barely changes if at all after Springboks return. I really don't anticipate much from them this season.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I expect the big 3 from Ireland and SA are good shouts for top 8. I think the Stormers will swap out but should still be good enough for top 8. We have a decent draw, no stars as such but a consistent and deep enough squad- though here I am assuming we will focus on one front. Bulls might be the top SA team. That would be my expectation. Sharks ought to be but I'm unconvinced they have the coaching setup and culture to consistently win like one would expect.

Lions look in better shape than I would have thought given the quality of players they lost (Sadie and Tsituka specifically) with no real signing. One can say the Stormers didn't really recruit but I see it more as we are backing our youngsters to rise to the challenge.

Pity our game vs Sharks isn't happening seeing as the Lions and Bulls managed to schedule for the weekend. Sharks are set to get a lot more test players back but even so it'd have been nice to be able to compare apples with apples on the log rather than having to keep in mind different teams have played different numbers of games.

 

[big ginger 8]

Leinster team v Zebre

15. Max O'Reilly
14. Rob Russell
13. Jamie Osborne
12. Charlie Ngatai
11. Dave Kearney
10. Ross Byrne
9. Luke McGrath
1. Ed Byrne
2. Ronan Kelleher
3. Michael Ala'alatoa
4. Ross Molony
5. Jason Jenkins
6. Rhy Ruddock (captain)
7. Scott Penny
8, Max Deegan

Replacements:
16. John McKee
17. Michael Milne
18. Vakhtang Abdaladze
19. Brian Deeny
20. Alex Soroka
21. Nick McCarthy
22. Ciarán Frawley
23. Will Connors


Munster:

15. Shane Daly
14. Calvin Nash
13. Chris Farrell
12. Malakai Fekitoa
11. Liam Coombes
10. Ben Healy
9. Paddy Patterson
1. Josh Wycherley
2. Niall Scannell
3. Keynan Knox
4. Jean Kleyn
5. Fineen Wycherley
6. Jack O'Donoghue (captain)
7. Alex Kendellen
8. Jack O'Sullivan

Replacements:

16. Diarmuid Barron
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. Roman Salanoa
19. Tom Ahern
20. John Hodnett
21. Neil Cronin
22. Jack Crowley
23. Rory Scannell

Cardiff:

15. Liam Williams
14. Owen Lane
13. Rey Lee-Lo
12. Max Llewellyn
11. Josh Adams
10. Jarrod Evans
9. Tomos Williams
1. Rhys Carré
2. Kristian Dacey
3. Dillon Lewis
4. Josh Turnbull (captain)
5. Seb Davies
6. James Botham
7. Thomas Young
8. Taulupe Faletau

Replacements:

16. Liam Belcher
17. Rhys Barratt
18. Dmitri Arhip
19. Matthew Screech
20. Lopeti Timani
21. Lloyd Williams
22. Rhys Priestland
23. Uilisi Halaholo

Referee: Mike Adamson [SRU]

 

[big ginger 8]

CONNACHT RUGBY MATCHDAY SQUAD VS ULSTER RUGBY

Saturday 17th September 2022, 19:35 @ Kingspan Stadium



Number/Name/Caps ( * denotes uncapped)

15. Tiernan O'Halloran (206)

14. Byron Ralston *

13. Tom Farrell (79)

12. Tom Daly (61)

11. John Porch (59)

10. Conor Fitzgerald (53)

9. Kieran Marmion (209)

1. Peter Dooley *

2. Dave Heffernan (165)

3. Jack Aungier (31)

4. Gavin Thornbury (63) (C)

5. Leva Fifita (15)

6. Josh Murphy *

7. Conor Oliver (41)

8. Paul Boyle (73)

16. Dylan Tierney-Martin (6)

17. Denis Buckley (208)

18. Sam Illo (2)

19. Niall Murray (35)

20. Shamus Hurley-Langton *

21. Caolin Blade (150)

22. David Hawkshaw *

23. Oran McNulty (9)

(15-9): Stewart Moore, Rob Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, Nathan Doak;

(1-8): Eric O'Sullivan, Tom Stewart, Marty Moore, Alan O'Connor (Capt.), Sam Carter, Matty Rea, Marcus Rea, David McCann.

Replacements: John Andrew, Callum Reid, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Cormac Izuchukwu, Jordi Murphy, David Shanahan, Angus Curtis, and Aaron Sexton

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Lions

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Quan Horn, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruhan Straeuli, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel (captain), 4 Ruan Venter, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sithembiso Sithole

Substitutes: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Pieter Jansen van Vuren, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Gianni Lombard, 23 Zander du Plessis

Bulls

15 Wandisile Simelane, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 David Kriel, 11 S'bu Nkosi, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Mihlali Mosi, 7 Ruan Vermaak, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp

Substitutes: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Stedman Gans


Good for Bulls to have Marco van Staden back. Sbu Nkosi making his Bulls debut. Interesting to see Hendricks and Simelane at 14 and 15 but I expect when Moodie and Arendse are available for the Bulls again we'll see a different configuration. Its just odd to see Hendrick back at 14 at his age on top of the fact that he was in superb form at 13 for the Bulls end of last tournament. Simelane at 15 is intriguing. I expect the Bulls should be too strong for the Lions but the Lions can upset anyone on their day and 1st game of the season is the perfect spot for an ambush.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

are people watching this? is frank Murphy's understanding of physics demonstrative of the average Irish persons? is this why Ryan air is so ****?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

are people watching this? is frank Murphy's understanding of physics demonstrative of the average Irish persons? is this why Ryan air is so ****?

No but I got delayed by 8hrs by Ryanair on Monday. I got sick af as a result, I don't think the EU mandated €400 compo will even be worth it.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Glasgow humiliated by Benetton 33-11. Not sure what to make of that.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Didn't watch but I love the Italians doing well! Hope it's a sign if things to come.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Didn't watch but I love the Italians doing well! Hope it's a sign if things to come.

That's what I am asking though - was it more a case of the Italians doing well or the Scots doing badly? (Glasgow were pretty awful for much of the latter half of last season).

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Glasgow didn't have a pre-season (games against Worscester and Ulster were apparently cancelled) and stuck a lot of their internationals on the bench. Although I've been saying elsewhere I think they'll do worse than the 8th they got last year under Wilson, so this isn't a huge surprise.

I'm still happy with Benetton though. Such a comprehensive win should give confidence and hopefully Bortolami continues to grow into the head coach role. Also promising sign of early impact from defensive coach Calum McCrae.

Boy I've never been so ready for another false dawn in Italian rugby. Bring it!

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Glasgow didn't have a pre-season (games against Worscester and Ulster were apparently cancelled) and stuck a lot of their internationals on the bench. Although I've been saying elsewhere I think they'll do worse than the 8th they got last year under Wilson, so this isn't a huge surprise.

How come you are so pessimistic about Glasgow?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

First season round one Stormers lost to Benetton and won the ***le at the end. TBF we lost that game rather than that Benetton beat us.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

How come you are so pessimistic about Glasgow?

Basically I think the squad is considerably weaker in the last couple of years than those Townsend and Rennie had. They've always been a bit light up front but now they don't even have the backs to compensate. Plus I don't think Franco Smith is much of an upgrade over Danny Wilson. I'm the only guy in Scotland who thought Wilson did alright and if Glasgow finish 9th or worse I'll be vindicated.