This week has seen the shocking death of a national icon, and our heartfelt condolences go out to family, friends, former sparring partners, and the general public who will miss one of those who best understood the subtle nuances of international debate, and who intoned those nuances in the most mellifluous of voices.
Eddie Butler – we raise a glass to ye. You entertained us and, most importantly, you told us what was going on with the minimum of bias.
For anyone who’d like a trip down memory lane with FakeEddie, feast on this.
But Eddie would not want us to forget about the rugby that’s on this weekend. (It’s always convenient to assign our own wishes to the departed, but I suspect this is actually true.)
Deebee7 is really excited about the URC kicking off, although he’s picked some strange teams to obsess about. Me, I’m looking forward to Cardiff v Munster (although I bet the mister isn’t) and Ulster v Connacht (often our Nemesis – hopefully not this time).
Meanwhile, most of the English Premiership matches aren’t on normal channels again, although you can watch Evil Quins v Evil Sarries if you subscribe to BT Sport, or Bankrupts v Exeter on Sunday.
There is also some Rugby Championship and Top14 action.
Onna telly this week
Friday 16th September
| Treviso 33 – 11 Glasgow | 17:30 | Premier Sports 1 |
Saturday 17th September
| Zebre v Leinster | 13:00 | RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Harlequins v Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Cardiff v Munster | 15;05 | BBC2 Wales / RTÉ2 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Lions v Bulls | 15:05 | FreeSports |
| Scarlets v Ospreys | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Ulster v Connacht | 19:35 | BBC2 NI / TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| Edinburgh v Dragons | 19:35 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Argentina v South Africa | 20:10 | Sky Sports Main Event |
Sunday 18th September
| Worcester v Exeter | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Toulon v Clermont | 20:05 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
“Well, hopefully McCloskey will get his chance for Ireland.”
Farrell is a big carrying centre
just kidding, either of them would be good in Ireland’s midfield.
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Ha, I was wondering who Debbie was, and assumed I’d missed her in an earlier post!
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Connacht getting frustrated by Bulls turnovers every time they get close to the opposition line
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I hadn’t clocked, or had forgotten that Grant Stewart had gone to Connacht from Glasgow
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Ulster and Cardiff matches scheduled at same time again! Arseholes.
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Fuck. All Ulster for the first 7 minutes, and then Leinster get the damn ball….
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Watching Brizzle against Newcastle. Will be interested in seeing how Big Magnus goes.
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Ulster line-out to the corner and seem to have gone over, but TMO checking….
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Nope. >:-(
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Cooney lands a pen, though. 3-7.
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Bloody Leinster score again, mauling over.
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Bristol are penalised, after Uren fannies about at the back of a ruck for too long. A couple of scrums later, Carreras goes over in the corner, for the Falcons.
Conversion missed, 5-3 after 18 mins.
I’m all here for refs cracking down on time wasting.
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Now Bristol are down to 14, after Holmes hit a Newcastle player late, with a shoulder.
Muppets.
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The penalty leads to a lineout and there’s a huge gap the 7 bursts through to score their 2nd.
10-3 21mins.
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That Hensaw is rubbish, get McCloskey in for Ireland
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just back from spagbol to see Hensaw drop a pass in the pissing rain
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Lightning too, apparently.
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why does Mac autocorrect think Hensaw is more correct than Henshaw?
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Given Jobs’s fondness for woo, I’m surprised it doesn’t correct to Henbane.
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3rd try for Newcastle. A nice lineout move in the corner leads to good pressure and eventually they get over the line.
17-3
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Switched over since it’s HT at Kingspan, even the 4G at Newcastle looks muddy as fuck
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3-17 at HT. Hope we can think of something in the second half.
6-3 at Arms Park. Not quite HT yet.
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Oh wait! Cardiff score!
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Half time, utterly dire by Bristol. On this performance, you would think the teams were the other way around in the table. Fingers crossed Bristol wake up in the 2nd half.
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Good half for Newcastle. Not good from Bristol. Loads of mistakes from them, Sinkler dropped the first three passes he got. Reckon Pat might have a few strong words at half-time.
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Debbie for Deebee might be the best one, though.
Saw that. Been skirting around it.
Bulls ultimately too physicsl for Connacht. Aki got what he deserved, Lions just about holding on in Cardiff, don’t expect it to last though. Hope Ulster are sticking it to Leinster. Red wine is a beautiful thing.
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Is Deebee going to Dallas any time soon?
Ulster are getting hammered. The beginning of the second half definitely not an improvement.
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We do have quite a few players poached by ‘Emerging Ireland’, mind you. Doak, Baloucoune, Moore, Stewart, McCann, McDonald, Flannery….
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Thought Leinster were mauling over the line again, but Ulster defend well and win the ball.
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Collett in the bin for Newcastle, in at the side of a ruck, after lots of pressure by Bristol on the Falcons’ line.
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2nd yellow for Newcastle. Bristol opt for a scrum and get the ball out to Purdy, on the wing, to score in the corner.
17-8 52mins.
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Sustained attack from Ulster, and Leinster get a card.
Probably too little, too late though. Benches are going to be emptied soon, and Leinster have the likes of Johnny Sexton on theirs, but………….. TRY Ulster!
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10 – 20, less than 20 mins to go. And the bench thing.
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Cardiff have gone behind, 13-17.
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Ulster with a penalty kick to the corner!
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Oh shit, J Sexton on.
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Is Deebee going to Dallas any time soon?
Ouch! Nope, but Cardiff may be sent to Coventry if they lose to the Lions! 13-17 to the Lions and the ‘Diff in a bit of bother. Lions not doing much more than defending stoutly and bashing hard, but it’s working for them. Still think it’ll end in tears though.
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The other (Ulster) Sexton scores in the corner!
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Bristol right back in it – Lane, the fullback, scoring with 2 Newcastle players unable to stop him.
17-15
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Good run from Magnus and Bristol eventually get the try. Sinkler taken off before Pierce “gets rid of him.”
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Or maybe not :-(
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Had the ball in the wrong hand and it got dislodged by a Leinster player.
That was probably our last chance.
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Well, Cooney slots a penalty, so as things stand we have a LBP.
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Ulster win a penalty at the scrum, and Burns puts it … not very far.
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Cardiff defend a 5m lineout maul brilliantly, but they’re getting stuffed up front. They’ve conceded 12 penalties to 3, with most of those being in the tight stuff. That said, the Lions aren’t punishing them properly. Lots of time in and around the ‘Diff 22, but still only 4 clear.
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Then the blue fuckers win a penalty.
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Ulster win a scrum from the resulting line-out. It’s all very much up in the air.
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And then, frustratingly, Ulster give away a penalty.
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With a couple of seconds left on the clock, Ulster win a penalty. Scrum.
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And Leinster win a penalty and kick the ball off the pitch.
Could be worse. We have a LBP, and Leinster didn’t get a TBP.
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