Pro14 Final Leinster v Scarlets Sat 6PM Aviva Stadium

[Peg Leg]

Leinster looked like they were running on fumes, Scarlets looked more than comfortable soaking up Glasgows best then hitting them with a few classy sucker punches. Scarlets are a better far more dangerous team than Munster, unless Leinster can find that extra European intensity for Sat they will most likely lose.

If they lose, they lose.

We are in bonus territory.

Says you. Have you not listened to any of the players and staff? Your goal might have been to see an erc cup, theirs it would appear is very different.

[Laighin Break]

“Every time Sexton gets the ball put him on the deck. Even if he’s passed and it’s a little bit late put him on the deck all the time," Davies told the Scrum V show on Sunday.

"He’s the key and the man who orchestrates everything. He runs the show, gets the ball in his hands on so many occasions. Once he passes you don’t have to be really late because he does play flat and takes the hits.

“Once he takes it, if you’ve a chance to have a shot on him, put a shot on him put him on the floor and you stay on top of him for a couple of seconds. And when you’ve got the ball run over him and target him because he likes a tackle.”

Jonathan Davies.

Guy's an absolute tool, IMO. Of all the commentators, I think he's the worst. He spends his whole time screaming "go wide, go wide" and pointing out where players and teams have taken the wrong - in his inestimable opinion - option. He must be carrying an awful chip on his shoulder, that he continuously feels the need to regale us with his superior (sic) rugby knowledge.

I presumed mildly was talking about Fox not Jiffy?

It is hardly ground breaking, it is what teams have been doing to Sexton for years, Saracens most recently were at it the whole game. He is complimenting Sexton if anything.


EDIT:It seems it was Jiffy.

I thought he was talking about Fox too, which really surprised me as he seems like the nicest guy in the world doing his punditry this year. Ridiculously unbiased and complimentary of the opposition.
Jiffy, however, is a tool.

[mildlyinterested]

Stuart Berry appointed to ref PRO14 Official final

Berry, who has refereed 11 international games, will be assisted by Marius Mitrea (FIR) as Assistant Referee 1 and Mike Adamson (SRU) as Assistant Referee 2. Neil Paterson of the SRU will serve as the Television Match Official.

[ChrisUppy]

Stuart Berry reffing again. I guess with an Irish-Welsh final, the options for ref were slim pickings. Mitrea one of the only other viable options? Thought he was mostly fine though.

But perhaps terrifyingly, Neil Patterson will join him again as TMO

[mildlyinterested]

Mitrea would have been my choice.

[brotheroffrank]

Jurie Roux, Head Of S.A. Rugby issued a statement to say Berry will represent S.A.Rugby with a plomb on Saturday. ....a plomb is any inert material inserted into a body cavity for therapeutic purposes..............!


(but not sure that is the words I would use for an earpiece connected to the T.M.O.)

[curates_egg]

Berry looked a bit clueless, scared to make a big decision (which is a bit understandable) and lost total control of the breakdown.
All that would be mitigated by having a decent TMO and assistants.
Patterson's performance was very worrying on Saturday though. His involvement in the Kleyn flying headbutt was a disgrace. He was trying to lead the referee away from the right decision on a couple of occasions.
Mitrea is a good ref IMO, so I hope he is an influential assistant.

[wixfjord]

Bar the obvious (try and Kleyn incident) I thought Berry was grand at the weekend. His lax breakdown approach will suit us if we can muster up the same rucking energy as we did for the last Scarlets game. Plus it may suit us to have learned about his style 7 days ago.

[riocard911]

Good interview with Stuart Berry on this week's episode of The Hard Yards for anyone who's interested:

https://soundcloud.com/thehardyardssportsjoe

[curates_egg]

Scarlets as big as 4/1. Handicap around 11 points.
Huge odds, which defy our recent league form.
If we can summon up our European form, then they make more sense.

I hope McGrath is fully fit, because we are going to need Lowe to help us score tries...and that means PGJ missing out.

[neiliog93]

Munster had numerous opportunities out wide but weren't skilful enough to take them. I'm worried that when the Scarlets get those opportunities, the passes and offloads will stick and they could have a field day (much like in the knock-out stages of the Pro 14 last year against us and Munster). This is especially the case sans Ferg and (probably) Isa. Also, our team is weaker than in the Champions' Cup semi-final, and theirs is stronger. It's going to take a big effort, hopefully our forwards can do a number on them again.

[wixfjord]

Munster had numerous opportunities out wide but weren't skilful enough to take them. I'm worried that when the Scarlets get those opportunities, the passes and offloads will stick and they could have a field day (much like in the knock-out stages of the Pro 14 last year against us and Munster). This is especially the case sans Ferg and (probably) Isa. Also, our team is weaker than in the Champions' Cup semi-final, and theirs is stronger. It's going to take a big effort, hopefully our forwards can do a number on them again.

Barclay being out is a big loss to them, McNicholl and Prydie probably balance that out, but other than that their team is pretty much the same.

I'd be a lot more worried about our wide defence though. Ferg and Isa with Henshaw at 12 is waaaay more solid than Larmour and Lowe with a half fit Isa at 12.

I hope Leavy, Fardy and whoever we play at 8 are energised, because we'll need them to make a lot of wider tackles I'd say.

[ChrisUppy]

Patchell at 10 will make a huge difference for them off the bat.They will also be wisened up to how we target them and will have revenge on their mind. While we will be weaker than the euro semi we should be stronger than last weekend. We'll justifiably be favourites but 11 points is too big a spread IMO, I think it will be very close

My thoughts and prayers are will Will Connors who faces another week in training of being beaten up with his blue scrum cap on.

[glenageary]

Bar the obvious (try and Kleyn incident) I thought Berry was grand at the weekend. His lax breakdown approach will suit us if we can muster up the same rucking energy as we did for the last Scarlets game. Plus it may suit us to have learned about his style 7 days ago.

Sound like "what have the Romans ever done for us..." type statement, these were the two biggest calls of the day. Overall he was ok I guess - based on our win we have rose tinted glasses - there have been far worse Ref performances this year, poor Nigel is having a few mares at the moment.

[wixfjord]

Indeed, they were obviously big calls (and influenced by TMO). But my point was in general play he was fine.

[mildlyinterested]

Sexton, Kearney, Nacewa & Leavy pictured at training.

[Triskaidekaphobia]

Scarlets players suffering from 'Carpet Burn' and unable to train apparently - http://www.scarletfever.org/forum/scarl ... 44582.html

Joking aside, I suppose these artificial pitches do bring their own problems. Do players suffer the same after playing in Donnybrook or is that pitch of higher quality?

[wixfjord]

That is mad! Looking at some of Steff Evans' wounds they look pretty sore! Hopefully the Aviva is bone dry on Sat!

[domhnallj]

The complaints made by Scarlets concerning the artificial surface appear to be supported by some recent research. I've added the abstract to the study below but it seems that playing on artificial turf can really impact on recovery - exactly what the Scarlets were complaining about.


Williams et al. (2016). The influence of an artificial playing surface on injury risk and perceptions of muscle soreness in elite Rugby Union. Scand. J. Med. Sci Sports, 26, 101-108.
This prospective cohort study investigated the influence of an artificial playing surface on injury risk and perceptions of muscle soreness in elite English Premiership Rugby Union players. Time loss (from 39.5 matches) and abrasion (from 27 matches) injury risk was compared between matches played on artificial turf and natural grass. Muscle soreness was reported over the 4 days following one match played on each surface by 95 visiting players (i.e., normally play on natural grass surfaces). There was a likely trivial difference in the overall injury burden relating to time-loss injuries between playing surfaces [rate ratio = 1.01, 90% confidence interval (CI): 0.73–1.38]. Abrasions were substantially more common on artificial turf (rate ratio = 7.92, 90% CI: 4.39–14.28), although the majority of these were minor and only two resulted in any reported time loss. Muscle soreness was consistently higher over the 4 days following a match on artificial turf in comparison with natural grass, although the magnitude of this effect was small (effect sizes ranging from 0.26 to 0.40). These results suggest that overall injury risk is similar for the two playing surfaces, but further surveillance is required before inferences regarding specific injury diagnoses and smaller differences in overall injury risk can be made.

[curates_egg]

The complaints made by Scarlets concerning the artificial surface appear to be supported by some recent research. I've added the abstract to the study below but it seems that playing on artificial turf can really impact on recovery - exactly what the Scarlets were complaining about.


Williams et al. (2016). The influence of an artificial playing surface on injury risk and perceptions of muscle soreness in elite Rugby Union. Scand. J. Med. Sci Sports, 26, 101-108.
This prospective cohort study investigated the influence of an artificial playing surface on injury risk and perceptions of muscle soreness in elite English Premiership Rugby Union players. Time loss (from 39.5 matches) and abrasion (from 27 matches) injury risk was compared between matches played on artificial turf and natural grass. Muscle soreness was reported over the 4 days following one match played on each surface by 95 visiting players (i.e., normally play on natural grass surfaces). There was a likely trivial difference in the overall injury burden relating to time-loss injuries between playing surfaces [rate ratio = 1.01, 90% confidence interval (CI): 0.73–1.38]. Abrasions were substantially more common on artificial turf (rate ratio = 7.92, 90% CI: 4.39–14.28), although the majority of these were minor and only two resulted in any reported time loss. Muscle soreness was consistently higher over the 4 days following a match on artificial turf in comparison with natural grass, although the magnitude of this effect was small (effect sizes ranging from 0.26 to 0.40). These results suggest that overall injury risk is similar for the two playing surfaces, but further surveillance is required before inferences regarding specific injury diagnoses and smaller differences in overall injury risk can be made.

Scarlets are complaining about burns - this study is muscle recovery.

My experience with muscle soreness is that it is related to pitch hardness. I play touch rugby (no tag in Belgium) in the summer months, and your muscles would be more sore after playing on a non-watered grass pitch than a good quality artificial surface.

I've had burns on both. Got a pretty serious one on an artificial pitch last year. The difference is that - while you might not want to slide on the burned area, and there is an infection risk - it has no real impact on your ability to play.