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
Just shows there are different ways to lose to South Africa, and that was one of them. Just that wee bit of composure in the end did for us getting closer. I reckon SA might have gone up another gear if we had.
Well done Deebs!
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Well, that was a frustrating watch, a little bit of cool headedness and we might have pulled off a famous victory.
The Boks were worth the win in the end, though.
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Ah, right so I can comment on here – I haven’t been able to do so on my phone but the laptop works at least!
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Well, that was a match the Boks pulled out of the fire. Probably dominated for 20-25 minutes in total but scored when we did. Scotland were excellent for the most part, except finishing. Although those pop passes that opened up the Bok defence over and again were something else. And embarrassing.
Was always gonna be a tricky match. Boks looked out on their feet after 30 minutes and really clung in until the break. The bomb squad only kicked in properly after 55 or so minutes, but did enough.
Scotland? It would be easy to say they were great, played well, blah blah, but with the ball they had and the players they’ve got – that’s one that got away. Boks got away with one, Scotland blew a great opportunity.
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Just a wee thing that made me chuckle today. It’s Lifeboat Day here, it’s the main fundraising event for the service in the town, which is a fishing town.
So anyway I was walking along the pavement as the pipe band marched down the high street and I noticed that the tenement flats above the shops were festooned with Norway flags :-D
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Who they playing, Ticht?
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England, Deebs
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Not terribly optimistic for the Wales game, thought there were more worrying signs than anything else last week even though I very much enjoyed the win. Looks like there have been plenty of good games so far though I have to admit I’m getting a bit fed up with all these high scoring shootouts. That said I’d settle for a 96-95 win, but I’m really expecting Wales to get a bit of a hiding.
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CMW, I think you’ll be okay against Norway, although I may have the wrong sport by now.
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Beat them 4-1 last time we played them.
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I remember it not at all…
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Harmonica is an interesting choice for the anthems.
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Should be fine as long as they don’t kick the ball at all and waste most of their chances…
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There are things we are good at and things we are not good at. 7-7.
Probably should have had a turnover penalty in the build up to their try, never mind.
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What a catch!
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@Refit – It was a great catch, but I’m not sure he can do it if Costelow actually challenged for the ball (which should always have been his).
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It’s not the most exciting match we’ve seen today.
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TMO nonsense taking forever.
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Four of our boys got counter rucked off our own ball by one of theirs just then.
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Scored with our only two opportunities and Mee has done well under the high ball. Not sure that much else that’s positive can be said. We’ve missed enough tackles to lose several games and find a variety of unnecessary ways to invite pressure on to ourselves. Argentina have been a bit sloppy at times though obviously done some good things too. I wouldn’t call it a great game, but a repeat of the first half would mean it would end up as yet another ‘twelve try thriller’.
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These Carrereasses are good though.
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Josh Adams is getting visibly frustrated. I can see him ‘having a moment’ before this is over.
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Wales actually played quite well towards the end and the scoreline wasn’t disgraceful in the end. Realistically it was over as a contest from quite a long way out though.
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Doesn’t seem fair
@bb
It’s not – but apparently IRFU went into a strop about having to go Aus -> Japan –> NZ, so Japan came to Australia.
Didn’t get to see any games yesterday – but seems like France B (or was it C) beat Australia more handily than Ireland did the previous week.
General reports were that it was “uncohesive” – which is no surprise.
Down in this part of the world, because so many lads get swallowed up by gaelic football, our U14 panels are small and we rarely have enough players to support a separate U13 team.
To give the clubs an opportunity to play the younger/smaller players our comps are matches of 3×17 mins. Idea being – you take the score after 2/3s and play the younger players in the third “half” . Great idea but unless you are careful what happens is – the better players go off and the weaker players are then playing with lads who are barely ahead of them ansd the whole thing turns into a shambles – you have to put the “weak” players with the best who can guide/help etc
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Rassie wasting no time in getting this weekend’s side to face Wales in Durban out. 4 new caps, including Jaco Williams on the right wing, Vusi Moyo at 10, Ruben van Heerden in the engine room and Carlu Sdie at TH. Williams and Moyo have both shown great pedigree at junior international level and Moyo looked pretty good for the Boks in the uncapped match against the Barbarians a few weeks ago. Many think that van Heerden should have been capped some time ago, so he’ll be keen to show what he’s got, whilst Sadie is TH at Bordeaux and another fairly immovable object in the front row.
Fassi needs to up his game a bit – didn’t do much wrong against Scotland, but didn’t do much with the ball either. Familiar faces in Kriel, de Allende, Arendse and Reinach round out the backs. Strong loose trio with Jasper Wiese back at 8 and du Toit and de Villiers on either side of the scrum. Van Heerden forms a pretty callow 2nd row with Jasper’s brother, Cobus Wiese, who looked good before going off against Scotland with a niggle. Marx and Steenekamp round out a strong front row.
Replancement front row is strong, although tere are still questions about back up hooker, Venter, where LH Wessels also plays. Dixon gets another go off the bench, along with van Staden who does good dirty work, but nothing flash. Jantjies, Libbok and Willemse could really turn on the taps later in the game, when they enter the fray.
Starting: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Jaco Williams, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Vusi Moyo, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Damian Willemse
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Thought the Argentina vs England rugby was meant to be on Saturday.
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Either way, I’m metaphorically raising a glass of Malbec to Argentina. ;-)
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Your metaphorical glass of Malbec worked! Unfortunately, you will now need to raise another one on Saturday.
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Wales side to take down the Boks on Saturday (given that the Boks have been hanging around above for a week just twiddling their thumbs. Probably rusty by now.)
Wales: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Teddy Williams, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 James Botham, 22 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 23 Joe Hawkins.
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Tuchel asked England to park the bus for 40 minutes. They appear to have asked Mr Bean to do the honours in his Mini.
More seriously, Tuchel has to put his hand up, he got it badly wrong thinking that England could simply play rope-a-dope for 40 minutes against a side with Argentina’s ability.
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Kiwis to face Ireland: Some new faces and some new-ish players in Moorby and Love in the run on side, whilst I’m not familiar with some of the replacement forwards, having 64 caps between them – and 34 of those are Fletcher Newell’s. Scott Barrett out injured (and apparently out of the Bok tour as well), so perhaps a bit thin in the 2nd row, although Vaa’i is more lock than flank. No room for Beauden Barrett either, so only one of the clan in the 23. Long time since we’ve seen that!
Verdict? Looks weak.
New Zealand: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Anton Segner, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Caleb Clarke.
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England team to play Argentina: Individually, they’re very good – or better – but just don’t seem to be able to put the foot down when it’s needed.
M Smith; Freeman, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Heyes, Coles, Martin, Chessum, Pepper, Earl. Replacements Cowan-Dickie, Iyogun, Opoku-Fordjour, Curry, Pollock, Curry, Spencer, Van Rensburg, Caluori.
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Reckon the atmosphere at that game might be a tad….. spicy.
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BB, I think so too! Probably a good thing that Borthwick has continued with Pollock off the bench.
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For some reason, the IRFU did not email me the team sheet for tomorrow’s match, so I’ve nicked it off Auntie:
Ireland: Keenan; Baloucoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, J O’Brien; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; O’Toole, Sheehan (capt), Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan, Beirne, Van der Flier, Conan.
Replacements: Kelleher, Loughman, Clarkson, Timoney, Jansen, Casey, Frawley, Aki
I don’t know what Timoney has to do to get a starting berth, but in any case he’s a strong replacement too.
Frankly surprised that Frawley is in the 23 at all after last week, but I suppose he’s a utility replacement.
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Prendergast does look like he stepped out of the hairdresser’s chair, halfway through the cut.
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Frawley on, catches Keenan’s knee to the head and is back off again.
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Ireland not at the races. Massive difference between the two sides with ball in hand.
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Some top comms on this match
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Wonder how they’re going to talk torpedoing over a ruck, into an Irish player’s head down from a red? Ah, it’s a yellow & review.
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That shoulda been a straight red.
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They need to start giving red for any head contact, unless it’s clearly accidental, until they all stop being dickheads.
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Why did he not give it to Baloucoune? Aaaargh!
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Fucking hell – staying yellow.
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I’d love to know what mitigation they found, to keep that a yellow.
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Oh, that’s a kick inna nuts for Ireland, straight after scoring.
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Straight red for anyone not wearing a black jersey or named Owen Farrell
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Maybe they saw the Irish player (on the wrong side of the ruck) starting to stand up as the NZ player came in? His right arm clearly hits that player which means it can’t wrap. Still a yellow and dangerous, but that’s the mitigation.
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I think the law now is, unless the other player dies, it’s only a yellow – 20min at most. Look at Freeman’s incident the other week, a couple of years back a red, now just a yellow.
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Prendergast’s hair somehow looks worse from every camera angle.
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