Now that the anguish of the World Cup is behind us, we can all* pretend that it was all a horrific nightmare and concentrate on the leagues. Ulster have got their international players back at last, although very (very, very) sadly, Munster don’t have Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Tadhg Beirne or Dave Kilcoyne back yet.
*Except Deebee, obvs. I expect he’ll mention once or twice over the next four years that the Boks have won it twice in a row.
So sit back, pour yourself the beverage of your choice, and relax with a nice friendly match.
Onna telly this week
Showing matches that are televised in the UK and Ireland or on popular subscription services. Bold indicates free-to-view.
Friday 10th November
| Zebre v Sharks | 17:30 | Viaplay Sports 2 |
| Cardiff v Bulls | 19:35 | BBC2 Wales / iPlayer / Viaplay Sports 2 |
| Ulster v Munster | 19:35 | BBC2 NI / iPlayer / Viaplay Sports 1 |
| Gloucester v Bath | 19:45 | TNT Sports 1 |
Saturday 11th November
| Toulouse v Perpignan | 14:00 | Viaplay |
| Treviso v Stormers | 15:00 | Viaplay Sports 1 |
| Leicester v Harlequins | 15:05 | TNT Sports 1 |
| Lyon v Stade Français | 16:00 | Viaplay |
| Ospreys v Glasgow | 17:15 | Viaplay Sports 2 |
| Scarlets v Lions | 17:15 | S4C / iPlayer / Viaplay Sports 1 |
| Edinburgh v Connacht | 19:35 | TG4 / Viaplay Sports 2 |
| La Rochelle v Bayonne | 20:00 | Viaplay |
Sunday 12th November
| Dragons v Leinster | 13:15 | S4C / RTÉ2 / iPlayer / Viaplay Sports 1 |
| Northampton v Exeter | 15:00 | ITV1 / STV / TNT Sports 1 |
| Toulon v Racing 92 | 20:00 | Viaplay |
Ovally Balls 
Thanks so much for the new AtL.
I just discovered that a) Kolisi has join Racing 92 b) Conway has been forced to retitre and c) LC-D is in Sale’s 23 this week-end.
Happy rugby, everyone………………………………..
LikeLiked by 2 people
BB – re Jonny Gray – I have no news, sorry. Personally, I think Exeter might want the new players to kick on and give them the opportunity to move him on as he is very injury prone – great tackler, but not a great carrier – which may not now fit Exeter’s new all-action style.
LikeLike
Kolisi at Racing? Uh-oh. Hope they’re not in our pool in the European Cup.
LikeLike
Just checked. Of course they fucking are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers Thaum.
Slade, I’m not sure I could name half a dozen locks who are good carriers in the whole of the sport.
The last one I remember was Jason White, but he was a six as much as he was a lock, they are completely the wrong shape to be effective boshers, even the likes of Etzebeth isn’t a great carrier, terrific player but he doesn’t sit people down.
LikeLike
Munster have scored two tries to Ulster’s one penalty so far. Even being a man down. Grr.
LikeLike
Also, McCloskey must have switched hairdressers. To a butcher.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I chose Glass Bath tonight, just coz Finn v Harris
LikeLike
fucks sakes
Glaws
LikeLike
TRY Stockdale! It was lovely, too.
LikeLike
8-14 at HT. Ulster playing much better in the second half of the half.
LikeLike
I’m switching over, since BT became TNT it’s become unwatchable on Virgin, there is a huge lag in the sound v pictures and it’s always freezing. I never had that before.
So, Ulster v Munster it is.
LikeLike
It’s been a good match so far.
LikeLike
Ticht, much to my disgust Viaplay have had the despicable Craig Gilroy doing colour commentary so far this year. I wonder if they’ve had a lot of complaints (I certainly considered complaining), because we’ve got Tommy Bowe today.
Trimble’s been doing it the past couple of years, and was pretty good, I thought. Bowe is fine too!
LikeLike
In Cardiff, it’s 5-12 as the second half starts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thaum, I watched the highlights of the Leinster Edinburgh game last week and even the three Edinburgh tries were commentated on in terms of Leinster players and where they were in the moves.
It’s really amateurish.
LikeLike
Was Gilroy part of the group with Jackson?
LikeLike
McCloskey is also wearing Barbie-pink boots. I’m going right off him. The new 12 seems pretty handy.
LikeLike
Ulster are planning to find the tallest tree in the forest and cut it down with a Herring.
LikeLike
Ticht – I’m currently watching Bath/Glaws on a hooky stream, because the Discovery+ app (that replaced TNT, that replaced BT Sport) just doesn’t work.
LikeLike
I’ve not really got any complaints about Viaplay except for the Gilroy thing, which they seem to have fixed after two weeks. And maybe that it’s single-user, ie we can’t watch two matches at the same time – at least we couldn’t at first; they may have fixed that.
LikeLike
Refit, I’m sure someone has eked out more profits for someone along the way on all this, but the service has taken a huge dive in terms of quality
LikeLike
Via play is better than – what was it called before?
My only complaint is that Stevie Ferris now sounds reasonably neutral compared to a lot of the comms
(to be fair to him he has moderated a lot of his views)
LikeLike
Oh dear, Herring got caught there, so to speak
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ulster had a penalty with a chance to equalise (11-14), and went for the corner instead. Herring did a dummy throw and gave away the penalty.
LikeLike
Cardiff have a near-identical situation (12-15) and have also gone for the corner – and got bundled into touch.
LikeLike
Ticht – yes, the one before – oh yes, Premier Sports – was fairly crap.
I think Stevie has had a telling-off and wants the dosh for commentating. :-)
LikeLike
Taum, Ferris and John Barclay are good. Have you heard Ryan Wilson yet? He’s a right laugh.
LikeLike
I am not a fan of Frank Murphy as a ref, and wasn’t before this match either.
LikeLike
Ticht – agree on Barclay. Don’t think I’ve heard Ryan Wilson yet.
LikeLike
I also like Trimble
LikeLike
Hendo is playing really well now he’s come on. You don’t often see him running with the ball, but he has.
LikeLike
Johnny Sideways going, erm, sideways….
Ran right across the field then gave away the penalty.
LikeLike
Ulster equalise with a penalty!
Ticht – I’m sure I’ve said this before, but we were watching an Ulster match with Trimble commentating at my youngest sibling’s (not really a rugby fan) place, and they did a double-take and said, Is that Andrew Trimble? We said yes, and they said that they’d caught the same school bus for years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oof, the lineout was take in front of the mark, so fair enough
LikeLike
TRY Ulster from a scrum-maul! Looks like Timoney is the hero.
LikeLike
Great scrum from Ulster, you don’t often see Munster getting battered like that
LikeLike
I loaded Discovery+ onto the firestick I use and it seems to be fine. I only watch the sports part of it, not all the other crap. It is still TNT Sports, I think that’s the package you would get with Virgin and Sky, whereas Discovery is the app you can download onto devices. That’s how I see it anyway.
LikeLike
Cooney on for Ulster.
LikeLike
And Flannery on for Burns.
LikeLike
McCloskey has grown a horrible moustache as well. And given away a stupid penalty.
You know what they say about cutting your hair (Delilah).
LikeLike
Phew! It was a very dangerous penalty, putting Munster in our 22, but we won the ball back.
LikeLike
He hasn’t done anything wrong as far as I can see, but a guy with a strong Cork accent like Murphy shouldn’t be refereeing Munster
LikeLike
Not so phew – they are back in our 22 after the line-out.
LikeLike
Ticht – I think there have been some dodgy decisions against Ulster. That may be my one eye.
But in general, I think he’s a terrible ref.
LikeLike
Iain Henderson holds up a Munster try and it’s a goal-line drop-out.
LikeLike
Have you any nails left Thaum? That was a great watch at the end there for the neutral
LikeLike
Very tense finish! Ulster looked in control, but Munster nicked the ball and went on the attack; a converted try would have produced a draw. But Ulster finally won a penalty, so it’s 21-14.
LikeLike
Ha, have I answered your question, Ticht?
McCann gets MotM, and no argument from me. He’s a fantastic ball carrier.
LikeLike
You know, I’m not sure this is Glaws’ year after all.
LikeLiked by 1 person