It’s a mystery to me, the game commences, for the usual fee, plus expenses, He could throw that ball by you, Make you look like a fool boy. As neither Mark Knopfler nor Bruce Springsteen actually sang. But this is it, after months of travel and travails, outlandish skill and outrageous decisions, flashy footwork and plodding power, sleight of hand, nothing bland, we arrive at the knockouts of the URC. The last eight sides still in with a shout, four matches this weekend that could produce some stunning upsets or predictable eye-rolling. Let’s see.
Glasgow Warriors vs Connacht sets the ball rolling in Scotland on Friday night, with 1st vs 8th on the log being about as deceptive as you’ll get. Glasgow are stacked full of internationals and top the table after a fine season, but they had a couple of notable wobbles later on, losing badly on their tour of South Africa, and sneaking past Ulster in the final fixture to guarantee top spot. Connacht really came out of nowhere after a slow start to the season, but arguably finished the league phase as the form side – a solitary loss to the Lions (of course) in Johannesburg their only defeat since the end of January. Eight wins from their last nine, including wins over the Stormers, Munster – and Glasgow underpinning their pedigree, despite the lack of big-ticket names. Can they pull off what would be one of the shocks of the season thus far? Unlikely – the Warriors have a 100% record at home this season and are fiendishly difficult to beat on their home patch.
Verdict: The Weedge by a whisker!
Bulls vs Munster gets Saturday rolling on the highveld at the ridiculous time of 1:30pm this side, when most parents and kids are still at schools for rugby. Oh well. Both sides had indifferent starts to the campaign, but both have gathered a head of steam lately. The Bulls have only lost two URC matches this year (both to the Stormers) and have scalped Munster, Cardiff and the Lions during that run (as well as Edinburgh to avoid outrage). Both home losses were against local opposition, with a perfect record against European teams. A helluva pack of forwards and some good outside backs along with Pollard’s boot has seen off most at Loftus for a couple of seasons now, but Munster ran them desperately close a few weeks back – 3 points in it. Munster? Won six of their first seven URC matches this season and folks were talking about them being back. Since then, though it’s five wins and six losses, which suggests a side still struggling to get on a run and to finish off the tight matches. Both sides are capable of winning, both have the odd brainfart to undermine them too.
Verdict: Bulls by bugger-all!
Stormers vs Cardiff has upset written all over it. But who is the underdog? Cardiff gave the Stormers a lesson in cohesive, quick-thinking rugby a couple of weeks ago and won’t fear Cape Town Stadium, close to Llandudno, a fabulous, overpriced beach community down there. The Stormers got off to a flyer this season, with eight wins on the bounce, bookended by Leinster at home and then four in Europe, with Munster the final one. After that, though, they’ve spluttered through a series of embarrassing performances, their defence more passive than a noun in a corporate training manual, and their attack more ragged than a tramp’s coat in a tempest. They’ve lost confidence and there are dark mutterings in the camp. The Diff gave them the stiff in the last round, but have been mercurial in their own right this season: two relatively heavy defeats to Glasgow and the Bulls aside, most of their matches have finished within a score – eleven out of the other sixteen. They’re difficult to put away, but can also be their own worst enemies, or perhaps are lacking a little on the bench? A wild ride in, with three wins and three losses, but crucially, all the losses were away, with two in South Africa.
Verdict: Stormers by a sailor’s stubble.
Leinster vs Lions: Obviously the rugby world is backing the Lions to slay the rough beast that slouches towards Scotstoun. Not as obvious is how the Lions will achieve this most magnificent of results. Leinster may be battered and bruised from their hammering by Bordeaux, but they still have pretty much a British and Irish Lions side there. Definitely an Irish international side. Despite whispers of Jacques Nienaber stitching them from the inside, they remain a formidable side, well oiled and with excellent depth. A few injuries for sure, but the Lions are without three key players too – and without anywhere near the squad depth Leinster have. The Pride of Joburg ran Leinster close three weeks ago, being within a score until the last 10 minutes or so, before falling away having tackled themselves to a standstill. They stayed in Ireland and have had two weeks to prepare, whilst Leinster have been battling for higher honours. The word is that they’ve taken the lessons on board from that last match and have a plan. But as Mike Tyson said, “everybody got a plan ‘til they get punched in the face.” I fear we’re going to get punched in the face.
Verdict: The Lions will be more brave, brave Sir Robin than Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog slayers. Leinster by a length.
Deliberations by Deebee7
Even Jack Murphy, who I normally rate, is having a nightmare.
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TRY Ward (Z)!
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TRY McCann! We might get a LBP if we’re very lucky!
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Well, maybe not a LBP, but a try BP if we can get one more.
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TRY to one of the newbies! Who knows?
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That’s the TBP, and it’s 26-34.
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With a penalty, 2 bonus points for Ulster at the mo. Less than 5 mins to go.
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Well, 29-34 at FT. That’s a big relief in the end!
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Has everyone caught the big news of the evening?
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Stormers win in Galway! Looked iffy until the last few minutes, but ended up 15-29 with a 7 pointer on the hooter.
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Deebee’s Lions giving Leinster a run for their money, helped by the fact that the unknown they have kicking goals can’t kick for toffee.
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Refit – is that Hooray Henry Pollock, or the one who got booed for looking like him?
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Thauma, Lions defence has been fairly poor at times, but they’re still in it. Been a bit scrappy too but I suppose first match for both sides!
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Lions nail the penalty to take the lead! Into the last quarter which is where we traditionally rip loose or fall apart. And on cue, 5m from the Leinster line, we spill it.
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Lions simply have to collect 7 points here. 5m lineout. Botch the maul and Leinster flood downfield! But knock it on. 5 minutes to go, Leinster a man down, but still giving it a real go!
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Lions score! 25-19 with the kick to come…. Over! 27-19 into the last minute! Lions win! Hooter gone, can Leinster get a couple of bonus points? Penalty 5m out. Waiting for a potential head to head contact. Yip. Yellow for Lions 17. He’s had a royal battle with Andrew Porter. Eventually! 20 odd phases of pick and go but get over. Lions win 27-26. Great start!
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How did you let Leinster get two bonus points???!
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Thaum – that is Pollock. He played really well, but looked like a pillock while doing so.
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Gloucester doing a bit of a number on Exeter, 7-19 up coming up to half time. And NZ Women beating England 5-12 at half time in that match.
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Bloody hell, Glaws have scored 7 tries against Exeter! And won!
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Wallabies 24-17 up at the break. Pretty scrappy, lots of knock-ons, unforced errors on both sides.
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Remember when Aus were a complete basket case 12 months ago???
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Absolutely chaotic last 15 minutes! Aus were 42-17 up, cruising against a listless, disjointed Bok side, with the match meandering from one TMO mobile call to another, as the comms failed again. Suddenly, Wilson was yellow carded for a shoulder to head, and three more Aussies followed him to the bin in short order. Lonegran, who was superb at 9 all afternoon, should have been binned a couple of minutes before he was, and the Boks awarded a penalty try, but wasn’t.
The Boks got back to 42-38 with one last chance, but in a moment that pretty summed up their day, got penalised for obstruction when trying to find space in the Wallaby defence.
It wasn’t a great match by any stretch, but the Aussies thoroughly deserved the win, playing better structured and smarter rugby. For the Boks, the end of a helluva long SH season, and hopefully a few weeks of fishing before getting back to their clubs.
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Toulouse doing Toulouse things
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helped by the fact that the unknown they have kicking goals can’t kick for toffee.
@thaum
You’re referring to the Leinster 10 ? Not Chris Smith – who is unspectacular but a decent enough 10
Leinster 10 is Casper Gabriel – much touted – originally from Austria, so hadn’t been qualifed to play for Irish U20s but would be available soon – if not already – for Ireland.
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Munster had a bright enough start – but ran into issues after 55 mins, when sub LH/TH came on. Straightaway – “penalty ladders” from scrums.
Hopefully, with Loughman and Aungier available on Sat – front row issues which were a plague last year will be lessened.
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Trisk, Munster face a Bulls side that has a very spotty travel record – after a great win over Zebre, they’ll probably be awful against Munster. Ditto the Stormers in Edinburgh. But then, having picked up the wooden spoon in Round One on Superbru, what do I know?
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@deebee
Stormers seem to go from sublime to the ridiculous and back again, so who can tell?
Last time Bulls came to Thomond, we had the farrago with Piardi and the substitutions rules. Lost by three points playing with 14 men for 15-20 mins (and it was the 2nd time in the season)
As mentioned, a good deal of last week was good – so need to build on that.
CEO Ian Flanagan is departing – I guess that was expected after the Randle mess. Plus although engaged to increase non-matchday revenue …very few big deals emerged. There have been expectations of stadium naming rights to bring in cash – but although Musgrave Park in Cork was renamed Virgin Media Park – nothing for Thomond.
However, it’s a poisoned chalice – firstly half the cash would go to the IRFU while the Thomond Park redevelopment monies are paid back (albeit this is a financial dance as Munster is a branch of the IRFU not a separate entity – so it’s just the IRFU lending to itself and getting a valuable asset / facility back)
Secondly, I can guess there’d be a kick back against any naming that involved losing “Thomond” from the title – so there’s probably a limited number of potential sponsors who’d play second fiddle in the name and those probably wouldn’t “pony up” the sort of cash Munster are looking for.
Other thing to add about Flanagan was he had very little background in rugby and in truth always seemed a little stilted in public – probably better as a commercial director and leave the ‘front of house’ stuff to someone with a little more presence.
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Is it just me, or in the age of professional sports, do way too many of hte administrators seem like rank amateurs?
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Probably the opposite with Flanagan – had worked with Leicester City (in their glory days) and had a good track record but wasn’t a ‘front of house’ guy in the way that Cullen is/was at Leinster (or Flanagan’s own predecessor the late Garrett Fitzgerald)
I recall sitting – in my committee days – through a presentation by Flanagan and he neatly identified the issue – too much reliance on matchday revenues – tickets, beers, burgers, visiting fans etc
And he had a good few ideas – external sponsors, media hookups, dedicated match streams, naming rights etc but very few came to fruition or reached the levels expected.
Maybe Munster are a harder sell than Leicester City
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God, Finn Russell makes rugby look like the easiest game in the world.
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Trisk
I recall sitting – in my committee days – through a presentation by Flanagan and he neatly identified the issue – too much reliance on matchday revenues – tickets, beers, burgers, visiting fans etc
And he had a good few ideas – external sponsors, media hookups, dedicated match streams, naming rights etc but very few came to fruition or reached the levels expected.
I am on the opposite side here! I hate changing names for sponsors, etc, but think that lowering ticket prices to improve concession revenues is a good idea (are you listening, Deebee’s Lions?).
Then again, that is maybe why I won’t be on the rich list any day soon.
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Ellis Park is in one of the most dangerous parts of Joburg: not just the stadium, but getting there. You’re literally risking your safety going there and I haven’t for a while now.
As for the Stormers, losing 11 or 12 lineouts on the bounce and you’re not winning any match. And losing 15 or 16 in total, including the one that could have stolen the game at the end.
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Anyone need something to read?
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Cork – I could imagine.
Surprised to see that – if not AI’d – in Limerick. His comments about Garryowen weren’t well received in certain parts (mainly Garryowen…. whio have a high opinion of themselves)
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Wonder if Squidge will buy loads of copies to go along with his multiple Andrew Porter books.
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Ellis Park is in one of the most dangerous parts of Joburg: not just the stadium, but getting there. You’re literally risking your safety going there and I haven’t for a while now.
Wuss. I used to work in the ghetto in Detroit, and get out at midnight when I had the choice of taking the main road to the freeway with its strip clubs and people out of their heads, or the back road where the bodies got dumped.
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Pfft. I used to walk from Ellis Park through Hillbrow back to my flat in Braamfontein as a student, dodging dealers, addicts, pimps and hookers, who were all fine. But in Jozi, you get shot or stabbed for your mobile without a thought – and that part of Joburg is one of the worst. Mate of mine got stabbed outside the stadium after the Test against the Kiwis last month walking to his car.
Problem is, the guy who owns the stadium is also the largest shareholder in the Lions, so won’t move to one of the stadia in better areas. University grounds generally hold 20K or 25K fans which would be perfect.
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Jeebus – is he okay?
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Lions romp home after a dodgy first half! Top of the log, baby!
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My mate is fine, Lions owner is an arsehole.
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Luatua back for Bristol, that’s going to be a boost against Saints.
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Jesus there are some truly terrible mullets in the Prem this year.
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I am getting really fed up with EVERY commentator on TNT making excuses for head contact. I still maintain that any head contact should be a permanent red – that will change player’s behaviour.
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Healey was just more adamant that two comments to the ref should have been an instant yellow, but head contact is nothing.
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Bugger, the half ends with van Rensberg knocking himself out on Pollock’s knee.
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They’ve taken 10mins to put him into a stretcher and the TV will not show a replay. He was at least applauding back to the crowd, when he was carried off.
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That’s a relief, he was walking around the dressing room at half time.
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I did not expect Bristol to be leading 29-14 with 55mins played.
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And now it feels like Bristol have run out of puff on 65mins. Just a little slower to the gainline and breakdown.
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