Pro 14 - General Thread

[blockhead]

Cockers gets stiffed by Treviso!
Edin 17-20 Treviso. The Italians were 14-0 down at one point.
Jackman gets his first win 21-8 v Connacht

[Dave Cahill]

Sure all Edinburgh had done this season is beat Cardiff and Drago...

[Peg Leg]

Sure all Edinburgh had done this season is beat Cardiff and Drago...

Trevisio..... the coming team!

[Ruckedtobits]

So the first Conor O'Shea dividend - presented by shrewd Kiwi and former Canadian Coach Kieran Crowley. A wily operator who knows how to develop a pack and grab a victory.

Michael Bradley's Zebre will follow shortly. Brads wouldn't have taken this post without the expectation that he could deliver improvement if not success. His experiences in the past, but most particularly in Georgia, will have convinced him that the raw ability is available and he is just the man to harness it.

Bernard Jackman is a neophyte, in coaching terms, beside Crowley or Bradley but the Top14 is the A stream in terms of coaching education and he has benefitted hugely from that experience.

Connacht and Edinburgh will both improve from performances like tonight, their respective Coaches Cockerill and Keane are too experienced for it to be otherwise, but the Pro14 has beguns to ignite as the good coaching and team preparation begins to merge with confidence in the teams who are normally below the radar.

Ulster's result this evening was a surprise to some but Benetton's victory was a bigger surprise to many more. Long may the improvements continue and our league move out of the footlights up onto the stage dominated by the Premiership and Top14 for so long.

[simonokeeffe]

Top 3s are largely looking sewn up

Only question in our conference is if us or Scarlets top it. And how close to blowing 3rd Ulster come.

Munster and Glasgow a lock in the other one. Ospreys near certain to take 3rd. Connacht look too flakey.

[blockhead]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... hs+v+zebre
Cracking game and atmosphere at the Cheetahs v Zebre game.
Could be fun next week.

[TerenureJim]

One for discussion; why do elements of the media, especially print and radio seem to have it in for the league it's rare that an opportunity is missed to give it a kicking and its virtues are rarely extolled. What I can't understand is how some don't realise that the league is the only game in town for supporting the professional game here it's employs hundreds, gives us weekly professional matches and indirectly gives them something to write/talk about. I doubt many of us would be arsed buying the IT to read about Sarries v Newcastle but it seems that some journos would like to see the league collapse and that happen?

[simonokeeffe]

I think its about lazily maintaining a narrative and club not provincial allegiances

We had the H Cup first and everyone got on board with that quickly as it was a success and Irish teams were successful in it. Plus there was the glamour of playing famous French and English clubs

League comes along. It ends glory days of AIL and some journos eg that Dolphin guy in Indo who hated anything past Limerick junction or Corkery or Hook had big ties to clubs even if they liked Munster playing 10 or 12 times a year. So a lot of journos and pundits resented the league.

Plus when the league started it was a bit ropey. No title sponsor for ages, bad tv coverage, IRFU didnt row behind it properly, we were soon playing new Welsh and Scottish regional teams, 2 of which folded soon, that nobody had heard of.

Youd think more people would be behind it as its a long term competition and its dominated by Irish sides

[sunshiner1]

Youd think more people would be behind it as its a long term competition and its dominated by Irish sides

Big fan of the league and have being for years. I think it's one of those cases were there is a disconnect between the fans on the terraces and what the journos say. As for Irish team dominating that might have being the case a few seasons ago but with the likes of Scarlets and Glasgow looking strong and teams like Connacht surprising people there is a genuine competition as to who will win it every season.

[ronk]

One for discussion; why do elements of the media, especially print and radio seem to have it in for the league it's rare that an opportunity is missed to give it a kicking and its virtues are rarely extolled. What I can't understand is how some don't realise that the league is the only game in town for supporting the professional game here it's employs hundreds, gives us weekly professional matches and indirectly gives them something to write/talk about. I doubt many of us would be arsed buying the IT to read about Sarries v Newcastle but it seems that some journos would like to see the league collapse and that happen?

They are paid trolls and they only really know how to piss on things. They do the same with soccer, sitting there complaining about being paid to talk about football in an unprepared way. But some people love that.

Contrarians like Hook are Myers are so used to saying any old inflammatory guff that they get caught out.

[TerenureJim]

Thornley's piece today is possibly one of the best pieces on the Pro14 so far, great writing, well balanced, well argued and just plain old comom sense (a trait much needed in today's world)

[scentofgunpowder]

The quality of the content on the Pro14 YouTube page is extremely poor and makes the league look bad, who on Earth thought uploading this was a good idea (listen with sound on).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVoQ71PB-p8

[kermischocolate]

Well. Tonight has been fun!

Really didn't see that Glasgow performance coming at this stage of the season.

[Ruckedtobits]

Well. Tonight has been fun!

Really didn't see that Glasgow performance coming at this stage of the season.

Dave Rennie is the best coaching addition to this league this season but not the only good one. Franco Smith & Rory Duncan in Cheetahs demonstrated tonight they are quick learners and can coach improvement. As previously mentioned, Kieran Crowley in Treviso is also a top Coach and Jono Gibbs has Top14, European and Celtic League titles on his CV, none of them by accident.

Pro14 is a long way from being the best competition in Europe but with the quality of coaching, it has the potential to grow to that status, if the Clubs can hold onto those guys. Players will go where there is quality coaching and that is an axiom that NFL has demonstrated for decades.

[blockhead]

Blackrock boy Nick Timoney got 2 tries and MOTM award as Ulster hammered the Dragons. Cooney didn't play.
Treviso won again, beating Ospreys 16-6, McKinley getting 8 of their points.

[TerenureJim]

It'll be interesting to see the narrative on the "troubled league" in the media after this weekend's round of matches. Treviso with a back to back win against one of the better sides, Cheetas beating the biggest team in the league, it's just one round but then again they were quick to write off the league after two rounds so......

[blockhead]

It'll be interesting to see the narrative on the "troubled league" in the media after this weekend's round of matches. Treviso with a back to back win against one of the better sides, Cheetas beating the biggest team in the league, it's just one round but then again they were quick to write off the league after two rounds so......

They'll ignore it. Focus on the "appalling" attendances of the SA teams instead. Cheetahs averaging over 10k BTW. Ospreys will likely get a tanking next week at the Cheetahs and they will be in the top 3 after 5 rounds.
These SA teams are worse than the Italians!

[simonokeeffe]

Cheetahs had a sounder financial and fan base. Plus their players had guaranteed contracts. Glad to see theyre prioritising pro14 over CC, may cause problems back home but not our problem

Really good to see Treviso having a good start

[TerenureJim]

Good to see Zebre hopefully get a result against Kings, Kings are a mess right now but they have potential in terms of large player base to draw from and I think next season they'll be a challenge.

[Made Of Ale]

Question for the stats experts like Xanthippe - is that the first weekend in Pro12/14 history that both Italian teams have won in the same weekend?
Seeing as they rarely beat anyone other than themselves, there must be a good chance.