First a nod to the retirees. *Nods*
Tonight we have the Little Cup Final, Glasgow v Toulon. The French side are half-way down their league table while Glaes are fourth in the URC, and have home advantage … but I think it will be a close-fought affair all the same. The Home of the Big Yin by 4.
Then tomorrow there’s the Big Cup Gladitorialism of Leinster v La Rochelle. Ronan O’Gara will be rubbing his hands at the prospect, especially after his club side beat the Blue Meanies last weekend in the URC semi-final. But Leinster have made 12 changes to the B-team they put out last week – mostly to concentrate on this Cup, one assumes. BUT Sexton is still injured, which could be a big factor; one of they Byrne brothers is in instead.
It’s a tough one to call too, but I think home advantage will tell again. The Home of Leopold Bloom by 5.
Onna telly this weekend
Friday 19th May
| Glasgow v Toulon | 20:00 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 20th May
| Leinster v La Rochelle | 16:45 | ITV1 / STV / BT Sport 2 |
Ovally Balls 
I’m not pissed and you’re probably right!
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Good game by Toulon. Weak opposition but still.
BB, the T14 teams must have a minimum of 16 JIFF (basically France qualified players from the academies) players, out of 23, on the pitch over the entire season, as an average. Or they face financial sanctions and 6 points deducted at the start of next season. To comply with the rule last week Toulon although still in the run up to the play offs had to field a B team composed of 20 babies vs Stade Francais (?).
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he spent so long viciously attacking all thing Scottish in rugby
Can’t think where he’d have gotten the time to do that when he appeared to spend all his time attacking Irish rugby…….
Anyway…. going to read back now…..
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Wish I could argue the point about weak opposition, but sadly I can’t. Both last week against Munster and this week, the team that wanted it most won the game. We almost looked as though we were surprised to be in that position.
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I can think of some people from the old blog, that would absolutely hate this 😁
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*Raises hand*
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My main memory of the Ashton discussion was the possibility of Sag running about, swan diving in Kelvingrove Park, amidst plumes of weed smoke, demonstrating that he had a pretty secure hold of the ball when he scored that way.
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Super excited for the match today. Hope it lives up to its billing. Absolutely neutral, so no sweats for me, just enjoy the spectacle .
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This morning the assistant in my local Gedimat (french rugby sponsors) store said he hoped “that LA would shut the Irish mouths” ………………feelings running quite strong in the SW of France
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Not quite sure who I want to win this. On one hand, there’s an Irish side, and on the other hand, it’s Leinster.
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Well, that didn’t take long!
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Straight off the training paddock
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You stole my line Thaum!
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Decent start by Leinster. That was the rugby equivalent of being nutmegged!
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And now a 50-22. Never face a pissed-off Leinster.
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Leinster are absolutely flying
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If LAR don’t pull themselves together, this could be an absolute bloodbath.
2 tries in 5 mins?!??!
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LAR are a dug*-and-a-bit heavier than Leinster in the pack.
*Dug is 22 kilos of pure muscle..
And Leinster score again. It’s gonna be 2 pts a minute at this rate.
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Nah, he’s missed the conversion, or it would be.
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For the huge distance he gets, Lowe doesn’t seem to put a huge effort into his kicks.
Oh, LAR down a man? That’s not going to help.
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I think I am going to retire from predicting scores.
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Game over after not quite 12 minutes gone.
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If Leinster score here it’s gonna near impossible for LAR to get back into it. And they do. They’re just slightly quicker to react to everything at the moment.
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I expect LAR will have a purple patch. It just may be too late when they do.
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Comeback is on! Danty, unsurprisingly. Although I thought he dropped it.
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Nah, he did ground it.
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LAR really can’t let Leinster score again this half if they’re to keep in touch. 13 points is a long way back when Leinster are in this mood.
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Getting a wee bit feisty.
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Scrum half inspired feistiness :-)
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The best sort! 👌
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Botia is amazing
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Lovely LAR try!
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Well, that was quite the half of rugby.
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Missed the second LA Rochelle try serving up dinner. Can they build on it? Still a long way back.
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Jeez, LA Rochelle won’t go away and Leinster keep chipping away!
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Peyper is awful
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Shift in the game? Leinster under the cosh a bit. No idea whose bench is stronger, imagine they’re both pretty good!
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Whoever wins, this is a great match!
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Who’d have thought it would be Leinster hanging on at the end, after that first half?
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Oooh … can they convert it?
Card is given!
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This is tense
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And LAR are in the lead for the first time!
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A try for LAR and Leinster down a man for the last 8 mins.
26-27 to LAR
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Danty in trouble here.
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Well, that looked like a shoulder straight to the chin. Even numbers now. Lucky it’s only a yellow.
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Blue Meanies are gonna take this, aren’t they?
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VdF must have been practising his line-out throws. That was good.
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Holy fuck, this is tense.
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Very, very tense but now there’s what looks like a bad injury. Not sure who it is yet; hope he’s okay.
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LAR 18 clobbered in the head by Ala’alatoa. That’s a red all day.
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