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 
Sharks must have scored a lucky try whilst I wasn’t looking. Sanele Nohamba, our fabulously live wire 9 replies to tie it up at 21 each with 30 to go.
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A nice little Irish regional rivalry brewing
There’s always an Irish provincial rivalry brewing….I guess posters here tend to keep it well out of sight …..
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I was always under the impression that the provincial rivalry was what what made Ireland tailor made for pro rugby.
Despite one or two hiccups professionalism has been managed well in Ireland
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@ticht
Yes – it was well established as a sporting structure from the beginning of the IRFU and also through the GAA
IRFU has been organised as 4 branches since early days – before the AIL the comps were the Munster Senior League/ Cup, Leinster Senior league etc etc
We were lucky the existing recognised structures mapped so well. Also lucky that – unlike Wales – rugby was geographically spread…. and in Limerick especially it had no real rivals in terms of soccer or (GAA) football (hurling yes but no overlap in seasons)
IRFU also took the decision to support the weakest club- Connacht- when everyone was telling them./assuming it would be closed or downgraded to a development team.
Bits or luck, bits of inheritance, and bits of good judgement….a lot has been gotten right
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Joburg has suddenly hit winter, with temperatures in single figures. Was wearing a jersey on Saturday! Luckily I’m in Lagos now for a week, with temps around 30° albeit fairly humid. Love this chaotic city!
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The Leinster 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 didn’t give or receive a pass to each other the entire match
Coming back to this. I thought those were the 2nd half figures – but Byrne passed 9 times all match….. but all very believable. Leinster first try came off lineout move back to Sheehan.
Ringrose isn’t much of a passer – he’s a fair old rep for ignoring overlaps – nor is Henshaw (it’s why Ireland’s best centre combo is probably Aki and one of the Leinster pair (Stu isn’t far off).
Gibson Park was mainly box kicking as did Byrne in 2nd half…..
In any case, Leinster are looking for lineouts to run their strike plays (which they are excellent at) . As I ‘ve said here any number of times – the rep for “Leinstertainment” doesn’t really belong with this particular version.
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Trisk, I watched the game for a second time looking out for that and it was right enough. Leinster would take the ball from a set piece or a ruck and either pass to Byrne to launch it into the air or to Lowe to punt the ball downfield.
Elsewhere a Leinster supporter said that it’s usually the back row for Leinster who do the distribution in midfield
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Trisk
Stu isn’t far off
Harrumph! Did you watch that highlights reel I posted some time ago? He has very superior off-loading skillz.
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I suppose Aki and McCloskey are similar in some ways: they both have a lot of bosh, and some steps and off-loading. Except I think (and it maybe my one eye thinking) that our Stu is better at all of it, and isn’t the penalty-magnet that Aki is. He was a bit when he was younger, but he’s cured himself now, and he’s clean as clean.
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To clarify, the stat “The Leinster 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 didn’t give or receive a pass to each other the entire match” held true for the whole match, not just the second half.
I got into a bit of trouble elsewhere for saying that on the second watch, after 15 minutes there only really looked to be one winner, because obviously watching it live it looked like Leinster were going to batter them.
However, when you know the result the jeopardy is taken out of it so you can see where the match turned. Once La Rochelle got their big ball carriers rumbling the momentum was very much in their favour.
17-0 down was a hell of a deficit to overcome against one of the top club sides in the world, so Leinster were always going to be in with a chance of pulling off the win and the decision towards the end of the game to not go for three points were a bit odd. One would think had Sexton been on the park the decisions may have been different.
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This week in ‘Being an ungrateful dipshit’
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Squidge on Ireland
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Can they?
Yes
Will they?
No
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Sadly, can’t disagree with that.
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Surely you’ll be backing the other team in green then, Thauma?
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Lagos has been it’s usual intoxicating mix of high octane traffic (paradoxically the more it grinds, the more hair-raising it can become), wonderful hospitality, boundless humour and energy, and fascinating insights into a country and market that appears to be wildly unstructured and hugely intimidating for the uninitiated, yet irresistible to those with the nerve to see it through. Two more days, and then back to the (relative) tranquility of Joburg. Gotta love this place!
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Sitting at the bar waiting for my client. Then we’re having pepper soup ad a starter for dinner. Pepper soup is not bell peppers, but Chilli soup.
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After 15 minutes there only really looked to be one winner
I guess during the match, you don’t know if LaR can keep up that endless assault…..
The pen after the YC on Danty was a series of calamities – firstly, refusing the pen (at worst its a 22 drop out), then Byrne makes hardly any metres with kick to touch. They’ve no hooker – and were lucky not to be called for not straight. Then they refuse the DG – Byrne is momentarily in position but Gibson Park never looms for him
Someone said Casey and Crowley win that game – Stringer and O’Gara win that game …..
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O’Gara did win that game! :-)
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Thaum, I was just about to say that :-)
Trisk, “I guess during the match, you don’t know if LaR can keep up that endless assault…..”
They did the same last year, it was exactly what the Leinster fans on another board were afraid of before this match. Even when they went out to a three try lead very early they were saying it’s not done yet, and they were proved correct.
La Roch also beat the Dubs the year before, but I don’t really remember what happened in that one.
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They’ve lost another one
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The Tories have lost two. Ah ha ha ha ha!
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Refit, most of that made me want to hurl, but the GoNads made me actually laugh out loud.
What a despicable bunch of fuckers, they should be in jail, the bastards.
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The text about Raab, at the end, made me laugh.
Cor, haven’t seen a Swedemason since Buttery Biscuit Base
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Tories are quickly catching up on Wales. Another one’s just quit.
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Those quitting Wales have a proud career to look back on though.
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Deebee – ha! Good point, well made.
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Uh-oh
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Not sure banning him from the World Cup is the right thing, but his verbal assault on Peyper was disgusting, by all accounts. Not the kind of thing you want in rugby – or any sport for that matter – when the officials already have such a gargantuan task on the field, picked over relentlessly by commentators and fans with the luxury of multiple camera angles and replays of everything, all match.
This is not a defence of Peyper’s reffing, just a defence of refs in general.
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Love the picture, by the way, with a Keep Rugby Clean logo juxtaposed against Sexton appearing to give him two fingers!
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The article says he was ‘mouthing’ obscenities. Is that seriously a crime?
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According to one of the papers here, he was heard saying to Peyper and his assistants “you’re all a fucking disgrace.” In their reports to the authorities, they also described his actions as intimidating.
In more intriguing news, I see Jean Kleyn has been added to the Bok World Cup training squad. A 6-2 bench could see him and RG Snyman replacing Etzebeth and Lood de Jager in the 2nd half. Would be fun.
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He’s not wrong about Peyper. Doesn’t mean he should have said so out loud.
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Yay, Jonny May in the training squad. Other deserving half surprises are Val Rapava-Ruskin and Ben Spencer. World cup warming up, in the meantime, the NRL is bubbling along nicely, and the second State of Origin game is this week too, if anyone needs an oval ball fix, some of the skills on show in Aussie rugby league are incredible.
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I still don’t understand why Spencer hasn’t been given a go crack at the England 9 previously.
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Jean Kleyn has been added to the Bok World Cup training squad
Munster fans p*ssed off because having lobbied since last RWC to have Kleyn in the Irish squad as a genuine THL – but seen him ignored.
We now see him added to SA squad – and theoretically he now becomes NIQ again….
Meanwhile – we also have the spectacle that the Leinster tyro McCarthy is in the Irish squad when Leinster preferred Jenkins to him in the Heino final, and Neinaber the incoming Leinster coach prefers Kleyn to both….
Go figure…..
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He’s not wrong about Peyper
We had one of our U18s red carded and banned for 4 weeks for exclaiming “this is a f*cking robbery” when an affiliate ref from our opponents gave a try that we figured was grounded short.
He at least was on the pitch ….
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Not the kind of thing you want in rugby – or any sport
Worst aspect is that it wasn’t spur of the moment – he had to come all the way down from the stand …. plenty of time to gather himself….
And fwiw – Peyper was even handed enough ….
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We’ve had years of shite like this https://twitter.com/thepenGW/status/721103879480414209?s=20
Not even a card on the night. I read from an Edinburgh supporter who was there that there was a Leinster sub taking his tracksuit off at the time, readying to come on, but he sat back down when he saw the replay as it was an obvious red card.
We’ve had all manner of shite like that in the Magners, Pro 12/14. The URC is much better, but still a ways from perfect and that prick has the gall to go and “mouth” ie shout obscenities at the ref.
I expect any ban will be laughably lenient
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For the avoidance of doubt, the Italian sides used to get routinely shafted when playing in Scotland too.
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Trisk – I agree that Peyper is even-handedly shit enough!
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Go figure…..
I have a sneaking suspicion that Nienies and Rassie will use Kleyn in the ‘B’ side to face Australia in the URC, whilst the ‘A’ side flies to New Zealand for the Test there a week later. I’m not sure he’s in the reckoning – at this stage – for a World Cup spot, with Etzebeth, de Jager, Snyman, Orie and Moerat ahead of him in the pecking order, with the likes of Mostert and du Toit being picked as ‘utility forwards’ both of whom started as locks before moving to the side of the scrum. I suppose that if he plays out of his skin he may force his way into the WC squad, but he’d be a bit of a bolter to be honest. A bloke like Jason Jenkins can probably feel a bit peeved at being overlooked too.
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On last night’s rant about Sexton, it was the fact that Sexton had a go at the ref when he wasn’t even playing that annoyed me, but on reflection and to be fair to him it’s a lot more difficult to watch a game than play in it.
However, Leinster very much got the decisions against Toulouse in the semi final.
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Not sure if there’s any truth to this. Sounds pretty off the charts, to be honest:
https://t.co/Y17DmsQFMW
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Bah! Not wrking properly, but on Twatter they’re saying that Sexton could face between 12 and 24 weeks out, including ‘meaningful matches’.
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Deebee, not a chance.
He may be banned for the matches he wouldn’t have featured in anyway, but I’ll eat my hat if he isn’t Ireland’s first choice ten going into the World Cup.
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Condiments with that, Sir ? I believe salt and pepper are traditional.
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