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
Yes.
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Hiddleston scores on dayboo!
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23 points ahead. Just over 4 minutes left. Think we might win this.
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Why do we make things so fecking hard for ourselves?
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Scotland looked really good, BB. Don’t fret. England, not so much. They continue where they left off before the France game.
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Good win for Scotland!
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Think the best rugby team on display yesterday were the Paraguayans.
What do you mean, they were playing football!?
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@deebee
Are the two Prendergast’s related?
Yes – brothers.
We had the the three Wallaces (Richard, Paul, David) in recent past
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Sent a pic of Guinness from Temple Bar
Hope he (?) can expense this – I’ve seen €10 or €11 for pints in Temple Bar
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Ryan was terrible today, as was Prendergast (S)
Ryan was mostly ok – but dim as hell to think he’d get away with that block on Valetini (then again Leinster get away with that stuff all the time – so why wouldn’t he?)
Prendergast was ok by his standards – at least trying to tackle, but you’d guess that the multiple line breaks that Aus made in the 1st half were at least partly related to the next defender standing too close to Prendergast. You could see Farrell in the half time dressing room pictures making a spacing gesture with his arms.
Sam had some nice out of hand kicks, and passed ok – even if in the main it was just to to the next man, even carried the ball a couple of times . 1 poor conversion attempt and telegraphed the intercept. His default – under pressure – is to get rid of the ball. We don’t always see that with Leinster but shows up fairly quickly with Ireland. Take for instance the 2nd (?) French try versus Ireland in this year’s 6N – Prendergast volleys the ball up the pitch and in field, puts everyone offside and gives France broken field to exploit. Correct option is get the ball off the pitch, set the defence and set up a defensive lineout. (Sort of thing you tell U14s)
Sam didn’t make the Leinster 23 vs UBB – which tells you what Leo Cullen thinks.
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Not very impressed with us so far
Better in the 2nd half – maybe Aus were better to have gone down the line with those 2 late pens by Donaldson – they had the advantage at the lineout, and their ball retention at ruck had been good.
Did well to get back from 24-12 down, the swing before half time was crucial – if we go in 31-12 down we don’t come back – Ireland can’t chase games.
Pity Baloucoune was injured – potentially back for Japan.
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Caught most of SA vs Eng – I came in at 17-0 (dangerous lead as Leinster can attest)
England did well to get back to 17-14, and a little unlucky with the last pass not going to hand just after half time but ultimately overpowered. Looked a bit dicey under the high ball.
Caught the last crazy mins of Scotland and Argentina – difficult to know what to make of it based on that short interlude
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We started poorly and finished poorly. The bits in the middle, however…
We lost Millar-Mills after about 10 munites, Tom Jordan was off for an HIA as well, Dobie got a yellow. Despite all that, we played some really fluid rugby. Rory Huthison was excellent, and Sione was better than he’s been for a while. Rowe was great at full back, so maybe Kinghorn needs to up his game to get back in. Maybe most important, we won without Finn!
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But none of that will help us on Saturday.
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Regarding the Temple Bar – I’m happy to report that when the pic was sent, she was on official business, paid for by the Irish government. So Trisk, I’d like to thank you and the rest of the Irish taxpayers for your largesse! A Guinness on tap here costs between 3 Euros and 3.50 Euros!
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BB here’s the Bok side for Saturday. 13 changes in personnel from last weekend. I dunno, I really hope Rassie hasn’t underestimated Scotland.
Haggis, Tatties and Neeps XV: Aphelele Fassi, Edwill van der Merwe, Jesse Kriel, Damian Willemse, Canan Moodie, Handré Pollard, Embrose Papier, Evan Roos, Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), Paul de Villiers, Ruan Nortjé, Cobus Wiese, Wilco Louw, Johan Grobbelaar, Boan Venter
4am deep fried Mars bar and Irnbru XIII: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Zach Porthen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Vincent Tshituka, Elrigh Louw, Grant Williams, Quan Horn
Fassi has had a mixed season at the back and I reckon he’ll come in for some testing under the high ball and for his sometimes lax positional play; Pollard has been awful off the tee and out of hand in recent weeks, but the rest of the backs should be okay. Wing is actually Moodie’s better position. Papier has been in excellent form for the Bulls at nine as well.
Evan Roos at 8 is probably approaching last chance saloon and if he doens’t rip it up this weekend is unlikely to get another look in, barring injuries. PSDT back to where he belongs at blindside and Paul de Villiers gets another crack at openside – he’s generated a lot of debate here, with supporters comparing him to an early Heinrich Brussouw for his poaching ability, and detractors bemoaning his lack of physicality (quelle surprise from Saffer supporters). Norts and Wiese should be okay in the second row and the front row is pretty good too.
Bench front row has 2031 written all over it – three really mobile, young front rankers, with BJD also looking to cement his place in the broader squad. Tshituka and Louw are also both mobile and good carriers, which we’ll need agaisnt a Scots side known for mobility and being a pain in the arse in contact. Williams is now a fixture, covering 9 and wing and Quan Horn can cover both 15 (his regular gig) and 10.
So overall, a decent side, but not one that’s played together very much and against a Scottish side that’ll be purring after their win on Saturday. As for Scotland, they love touring here; it gives them a good chance to catch up with family and friends!
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@deebee – €3.50 …. whoa….. probably €5.50 would be cheapest around the country and in my place I think 5.80 to 6.00 (for Guinness, Murphy’s or Beamish)
Temple Bar pubs have a charming practice of charging by the clock – prices goes up as it gets later
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Evan Roos at 8 is probably approaching last chance saloon
I remember seeing him play with the Stormers in Thomond Park in late 2021 – still had Covid restrictions – and very impressed and thinking Bok 8 very soon…
But daft pens galore, less than impressive handling, – I can see why it’s not come to pass
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Trisk, we had very high hopes for Roos, but it appears to more of a personality issue, from what I’ve read down here. It was rumoured that his old man was causing issues, then that he himself wasn’t popular and had issues. Throw in a temper that got him penalised a lot over the last couple of seasons and you can see why Rassie didn’t want him. However, this URC campaign he’s been very good – pretty much back to his best and seems (touch wood) to have got the discipline issues sorted. Let’s see!
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Scotland side for Loftus on Saturday. Looks like a pretty strong side to me. Very good backline – close to outstanding, in fact, with no real weaknesses there. Back row is good too and will give us hell at the breakdown, which could be crucial to unlocking the Bok defence with those backs, starting front row is decent too. Not too sure about the bench. Looks decent, but the Boks have actually picked a very mobile bench, which is pretty strong too. Last 20 minutes to make the difference?
Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Magnus Bradbury, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Stafford McDowall.
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Looks weak 😜
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Nice to see Ward winning a cap!
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@refit
Well, it’s an unusually experimental team – albeit only Jansen is a new cap in the starters.
Rolling out Henshaw once again proves what? Would have been better to put Osborne there.
Biggest issue is that we hit the usual janky performance with so many changes – and Farrell uses that to go back to the same old same old.
But upside, we are seeing – maybe – a few new faces
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Well, I woke up at 5am because of the heat. Might as well watch NZ vs Italy.
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Italy within 4 points at half time. 15 minutes into the second half, they’re within 28 points. Will Jordan, 56 caps, 50 tries. Just bloody ridiculous.
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France leave it until the 3rd minute before they score this week.
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Australia go in front, but don’t let the opposition score before half time. McReight with an amazing try saving interception.
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That was fun. Aussies run out of puff in the second half. France B (or C?) side too good.
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How come Ireland get to stay in Australia for Japan’s ‘home’ game? Scotland travelled to Argentina, then South Africa, then back home in successive weeks. Wales have played in Wales, then Argentina, then South Africa. England played South Africa, then back home, then Argentina. Ireland will have played 2 games in Australia, then one in New Zealand. Doesn’t seem fair.
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Good work from Ulstermen in the first half keep Ireland just ahead. Lots of unforced errors, though.
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And more good work from Ulstermen in the second half!
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We passed the Hill Dickinson stadium on the ferry, and wondered whose it was. Now we know!
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Fiji are very poor today. What’s happened to them?
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I get that kicking out at a player on the floor is FOUL PLAY, but I’m not sure it warrants a stronger punishment than the countless head-contact incidents over the past season.
That’s properly knackered it for Fiji.
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I sometimes think that the vision everyone seems to have of Fiji never matches up to the reality.
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They do seem to have regressed over the last couple of years. They’ve not even been particularly fun, just disjointed and sloppy.
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Right, time for Scotland to be ground to a fine paste (sorry BB & Ticht).
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Fiji played some great stuff last week!
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Thaum – it was only Wales, and they still got beat.
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I know, but I didn’t see anything of that today.
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Jesus, that’s a very big man running around with a spear!
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Right, here goes nuthin’
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Rampant forwards!
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Gwan!
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Okay, after the first 20mins, it did not look like the teams would be level at half time.
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Resisting the pasting! For now.
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What the hell is going on in this game???
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Don’t know Refit, but it’s bloody nerve wracking!
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Braythless!
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DAMN!!!!
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