"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."
.............
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.
Getting even more convinced a week later that the Pro 14 League will continue to improve as each coach gets more familiar with their Squads. Both Italian teams winning is good for the League as is Cheetahs victory. Ulster's recovery is good for Irish rugby as is Cardiff's for Welsh rugby. Edinburgh is a purgatory for Cockerel at present but he can still resurrect them like Bradley did a couple of seasons ago.
Connacht were not as bad as some commentaries made out and we should expect to see the wily Keane tweak the game plan to suit the player skills in the coming weeks. He has found a No 10 who provides optimism for the coming weeks.
Anticipate that many results will tighten up and away victories will become like hen's teeth.
Edinburgh prop got a red against Scarletts on Saturday evening. There was no clear evidence of contact with the head, in fact the evidence seemed to point towards a clean out to the chest.
It really looked as if ref guessed and guessed wrong. Hope Edinburgh appeal.
the spoofer wrote:Edinburgh prop got a red against Scarletts on Saturday evening. There was no clear evidence of contact with the head, in fact the evidence seemed to point towards a clean out to the chest.
It really looked as if ref guessed and guessed wrong. Hope Edinburgh appeal.
the spoofer wrote:Edinburgh prop got a red against Scarletts on Saturday evening. There was no clear evidence of contact with the head, in fact the evidence seemed to point towards a clean out to the chest.
It really looked as if ref guessed and guessed wrong. Hope Edinburgh appeal.
Totally. Loose head prop v a scrum half who was looking the other way. Brave stuff. He actually stood him up backwards from a lying position with a shoulder to the face.
Deliberate shoulder charge against someone in a head down position, making contact to the head/neck area, should be looking at a 4 week ban in my eyes.
the spoofer wrote:Contact appears to be with the chest, not the head. The scum half goes down holding his head. Yellow card, certainly. Red, not for me.
For me it is quite obviously in the face. You can see his neck tilt backwards as he comes up which it would not do if he hit chest.
"Scotland fly-half Finn Russell has been linked with a high-profile move to Racing 92 as a long-term replacement for All Black great Dan Carter." planet rugby
hmmmmmmm
Retired from babbling. Can be found on twittter @okeeffesimon
simonokeeffe wrote:"Scotland fly-half Finn Russell has been linked with a high-profile move to Racing 92 as a long-term replacement for All Black great Dan Carter." planet rugby
hmmmmmmm
4 French sides and 1 English side in for Russell apparently. Racing have signed Pat Lambie from the Sharks. Arriving on Nov 1, early release from his contract.
simonokeeffe wrote:"Scotland fly-half Finn Russell has been linked with a high-profile move to Racing 92 as a long-term replacement for All Black great Dan Carter." planet rugby
hmmmmmmm
4 French sides and 1 English side in for Russell apparently. Racing have signed Pat Lambie from the Sharks. Arriving on Nov 1, early release from his contract.
More the semi inferred grandiosity of the Carter replacement angle I was hmmmming at but not surprised he has big money suitors. Plus not only do Scots not mind emigres but he is more safely first choice than when Wallace and Staunton backed up ROG.
Retired from babbling. Can be found on twittter @okeeffesimon
simonokeeffe wrote:"Scotland fly-half Finn Russell has been linked with a high-profile move to Racing 92 as a long-term replacement for All Black great Dan Carter." planet rugby
hmmmmmmm
4 French sides and 1 English side in for Russell apparently. Racing have signed Pat Lambie from the Sharks. Arriving on Nov 1, early release from his contract.
More the semi inferred grandiosity of the Carter replacement angle I was hmmmming at but not surprised he has big money suitors. Plus not only do Scots not mind emigres but he is more safely first choice than when Wallace and Staunton backed up ROG.
In fairness Racing are probably interested because he thoroughly outplayed Carter in the two games last season.
FLIP wrote:Deliberate shoulder charge against someone in a head down position, making contact to the head/neck area, should be looking at a 4 week ban in my eyes.
FLIP wrote:Deliberate shoulder charge against someone in a head down position, making contact to the head/neck area, should be looking at a 4 week ban in my eyes.
Excellent coaching display by Edinburgh and Cockerill deserved some reward for the display of his much changed team
Their attacking,especially from Tovey and Johnson, in the first quarter was very sharp and incisive. Their defence all evening contrasted very favourably with that of Leinster. However, in two real specialist areas they excelled. Attacking the ball won at line-out and sacking / disrupting the Leinster maul. Both are specialist areas for Cockerill and he introduced both in Toulon in the last third of their season.
Looking at results this evening and scanning the match reports makes it very evident that the quality of coaching is rapidly improving in this league - Leinster, on the other end of the spectrum looked bereft of ideas and lack lustre in execution.
Disappointing night at the RDS for Cockerill and most Leinster fans. Better days ahead for both.
