Rejoice, northern hemisphere rugby fans! For there is actually some rugby on the telly tonight, in the form of a pre-season ‘friendly’ between Ulster and Exeter. Scarlets v Bristol and Leinster v Harlequins are also tonight, but on some dodgy channels I’ve never heard of. On Saturday and Sunday, there are Rugby Championship and Top14 matches.
Ulster are putting out a slew of new/little-known faces, including five new signings. Jake Flannery (10) and Michael McDonald (9) start at half-back, with the other three newbies – Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Frank Bradshaw-Ryan and Sean Reffell – in the pack.
There’s a massive replacement list that will have to be whittled down before kick-off, but Jacob Stockdale is expected to make an appearance.
Ulster: Shea O’Brien; Aaron Sexton, Angus Curtis, Ian Madigan, Rob Lyttle; Jake Flannery, Michael McDonald; Callum Reid, Declan Moore, Jeff Toomaga-Allen; Frank Bradshaw-Ryan, Sam Carter; Harry Sheridan, Sean Reffell, Jordi Murphy (capt).
Replacements from: Eric O’Sullivan, Tom Stewart, John Andrew, Marty Moore, Gareth Milasinovich, Alan O’Connor, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, Marcus Rea, Greg Jones, Nathan Doak, Conor McKee, Billy Burns, Jacob Stockdale, Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy, Stewart Moore, Rory Telfer.
I can’t find any info on the Exeter side, but let’s hope it’s equally experimental. Perhaps Slade can enlighten us.
Onna telly this week
Friday 2nd September
| Ulster v Exeter | 19:00 | BBC2 NI / iPlayer |
| Scarlets v Bristol | 19:00 | recast |
| Leinster v Harlequins | 19:30 | 247.tv |
Saturday 3rd September
| New Zealand v Argentina | 08:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Australia v South Africa | 10:35 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Racing 92 v Castres | 14:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| England v USA (women) | 15:00 | ITV4 |
| Stade Français v Clermont | 16:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| La Rochelle v Montpellier | 20:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
Sunday 4th September
| Bordeaux v Toulouse | 20:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
Ovally Balls 
There are Exeter tears. As well there should be.
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Some magnificent play by Ulster, started by Stockdale (who has properly looked the business since he came on), which then sort of fizzles out, and Exeter get the ball.
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A rewind where Exeter are very much on the attack from the 5-metre line, Ulster defend bravely, then get a warning, then Exeter score.
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Skinner misses the conversion, and it’s 26-12 with 10 mins to go.
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Exeter looking to have the upper hand at the moment, but Ulster win a penalty. Everyone’s taking a breather.
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Was a scrum, and Ulster end up with a free kick. Back down the pitch.
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Embra’s game has been suspended for now, an alarm has gone off in the stadium, it was probably in response to Embra losing 26 – 34, six tries to five
They are hoping to play out the remaining minutes
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Stockdale with yet another fantastic take in the air.
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six tries to four, even
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Ticht – shit! I hope nothing serious is wrong. apart from Embra’s game.
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Ollie Leatherbarrow was about the only good thing about the Scotland U20s this year, he’s on at 8 for Exeter
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Seán Refell going off for an HIA at 76 mins. Think he might be the only one on the side to last that long. Is he MotM?
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… They can’t decide yet.
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STOCKDAAAAALLLLLLEEEEE furra line!
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… with a big grin on his face.
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Sounds like the crowd has been asked to evacuate the ground in Edinburgh
That’s not good
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Conversion is just wide, so it’s 31-12 at FT.
McDonald is MotM. That’s a bit of a puzzler to me; thought his half-back partner in the first half was more impressive.
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Ticht – that is really not good. *crosses fingers*
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Mind you, McDonald is easy on the eyes. That combination of dark hair and dark blue eyes is always good. :-)
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That was very encouraging for Ulster. In the first half, the youngsters/unknowns did very well indeed. In the second half when both sides deployed more seasoned players, we didn’t do so well.
We’re now looking like we have depths to plumb.
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Not seeing any breaking news items on either G or BBC for the Embra match, so hope it’s not anything serious.
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Glad to see Flannery had what seemed a good day…. was seen as surplus to requirements in Munster with Carbery, Healy, and Crowley lining up at 10
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LI beat Munster 19 -14. Similar to last week…. very poor in first half… change at 9-10-12 from Cronin-Healy-Scannell to Patterson- Crowley-Fekitoa seemed to be marked improvement
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Thaum, apparently a fire alarm was accidentally set off by a member of the public.
Airse of a thing to do, but at least it was nothing serious
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What an eejit! Glad all is well.
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Pissing it down in UnZud, lots of rucksy-dropsy so far.
NZ open the scoring with a Mo’unga pen, then on 10 mins, de Groot smashes over from short range, for the first try.
10-0
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Lovely try by the ABs. Mo’unga puts a grubber through in midfield and Jordan fields the ball to J Barrett. Quick hands by Cane gets the ball wide, Ioane draws his defender and passes to Clarke who scores in the corner.
17-0 21 mins
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3rd try for the ABs. They put the ball in the corner, but Arg manage to stop the maul from starting. Cane peels off and makes some ground and Arg concede a penalty. Savea takes quickly and makes ground. They recycle a couple of times and Savea is driven almost to the line. Taukeiho is squeezed over the line and Lavanini is binned for not back 10 on the initial pen.
Ref has spotted an AB knock on though and the try is scrubbed.
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ABs opt for the scrum, from the earlier penalty. They roll over the Arg scrum and Smith passes to Havili. He pops the ball to Ioane, who splits the defenders and scores under the posts.
24-3
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The half ends with an Arg knock-on, from a maul in the AB half.
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ABs have been dominant across the board, but I think there was a mistake for the yellow card, Lavanini’s tackle wasn’t dangerous and it was after the knock on
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First points of the second half to the ABs, Mo’unga kicking a pen after Lavanini goes off his feet at a ruck.
27-3 46mins
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@Ticht – it probably shouldn’t have been a knock-on in the first place, there was an Arg hand involved.
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Refit, I thought the Arg hand hit the Kiwi arm, but maybe not
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Newell, the replacement AB prop, gets a yellow for a maul infringement.
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Good AB defence, against the Arg maul – mainly from Rentaghost, who’s just come on – ends with a knock on by Arg. Lots of pressure, for no points.
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That’s a peach
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Oh my. NZ scrum in the middle of their own 22. They get a pen advantage, but Ioane just decides to put on the afterburners and run through the defence. Arg scramble the defence well and stop the ABs in the 22.
ABs recycle well, Cane is almost through and passes to J Barrett, who scores.
34-3 63mins
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Savea, captain now Cane’s off, gets a well deserved try. After a bit of a conference, the ABs put a pen in the corner. Arg bring the maul down, Coles peels off the back and pops the ball up for his captain to score.
39-3 67mins
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Rentaghost gets a try. Just relentless pressure from the ABs, on the Arg line, and eventually they push over.
46-3 75mins
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In the 82nd minute, the ABs get a pen in front of the posts. They opt for the scrum. Savea pops the ball the B Barrett, coming in on the angle, and he dives over to score.
Final score 53-3. It was a proper shoeing.
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ABs back? Jury still out. Lots of great stuff, very few mistakes despite the rain, but Argentina had little gas left in the tank after their wonderful win last week.
Ticht, Lavanini’s YC was for not retreating by 10 m, therefore preventing a potential try .
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Flair, yes I understand that, but because it happened after the knock on I thought anything after that doesn’t count, unless it is dangerous or violent play.
The try was chalked off because of the knock on, I thought the yellow should have been chalked off too.
I’m prepared to be corrected on the law on this.
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Refit, I brought Lavanini’s record up elsewhere last week and I was told that his conduct has been very good over the last couple of years, since a really stupid sending off for Argentina.
The yellow that I’m questioning wasn’t dirty, it was for not retreating ten or to his own line before making the tackle, almost every player in that situation would be making that tackle.
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Apparently Lavanini is off to Clermont and will be playing with Vahaamahina. That’s just a recipe for trouble.
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White’s getting booed at every ruck.
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Just relentless pressure from SA. Aus can’t get out of their half. SA get a pen near the Aus line and Hendrikse taps and goes. He’s stopped, but illegally. SA move the ball towards the centre and de Allende eventually breaks the line and scores.
Philip (Aus 5) in the bin. 7-0 SA
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10 mins in and both teams are on a warning for handbags.
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Not a huge amount happening. Aus knocking on, SA not quite making the break through required.
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