Pro 14 - General Thread

[blockhead]

Yep. Round 20 last season. Including a win in the RDS. That's 4 Pro14 wins in a row for Zebre. Benetton have won 4 out of the last 5 games in the Pro14. The only defeat in that run? at home to Zebre!
Benetton look really good under Crowley, they looked like they expected to win away to Dragons last night.

[johng]

Doesn't everyone?

[wixfjord]

Doesn't everyone?

Dragons were 1/2 to win.

[tomthefan]

Tough station for Jackman. An Irish coach in Wales isn't going to be long getting it in the neck from the fanz if things don't go well.

[neill_m]

Week 2:

Friday 7th Sep
7:35pm Glasgow v Munster Premier Sports/Eir Sport
7:35pm Ulster v Edinburgh Premier Sports/Eir Sport

Saturday 8th Sep
3pm Dragons v Southern Kings Premier Sports/Eir Sport
5:15pm Connacht v Zebre Premier Sports/TG4
5:30pm Ospreys v Cheetahs Premier Sports/S4C
7:35pm Scarlets v Leinster Premier Sports/Eir Sport/TG4
7:35pm Benetton v Cardiff Blues Free Sports

[OTT]

Tough station for Jackman. An Irish coach in Wales isn't going to be long getting it in the neck from the fanz if things don't go well.

Jackman has always seemed like a good guy, I want him to do well as an ex-Leinster and Ireland player, I am rooting for him.

If I knew nothing of him and just went on what I saw of the Dragons last season then I would think that he had failed to make a team of them. Obviously they don't have the quality that is pretty evident but they also lacked what every team needs a bit of heart, they never looked like they were bothered, they always seemed to throw the towel in first chance they got. It is probably a culture he inherited but he needed to sort that bit out last season imo and then build on that this year.

I did not see any of their game at the weekend so maybe they did play well and kept playing till the end. I hope he can get them going the improving performances of the Italian teams and Edinburgh, three teams who have historically lacked quality and also usually the desired levels of effort has made things tougher for him.

In other news Kyle Godwin looks like he will do some serious damage for Connacht this season he cut Glasgow open a few times.

[brenno]

Week 2:

Friday 7th Sep
7:35pm Glasgow v Munster Premier Sports/Eir Sport
7:35pm Ulster v Edinburgh Premier Sports/Eir Sport

Saturday 8th Sep
3pm Dragons v Southern Kings Premier Sports/Eir Sport
5:15pm Connacht v Zebre Premier Sports/TG4
5:30pm Ospreys v Cheetahs Premier Sports/S4C
7:35pm Scarlets v Leinster Premier Sports/Eir Sport/TG4
7:35pm Benetton v Cardiff Blues Free Sports

What sh1te scheduling by Pro14 - two Ireland-Scotland games head-to-head against each other on the Friday. Could either of the Munster or Ulster games not be played on Saturday - say the 3pm slot when they could only competing against Dragons-Southern Kings

[RavenhillRaider]

The welsh discussing the irish "probelm" in the pro14. Not playing our star players to death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06kcswb


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[domhnallj]

The welsh discussing the irish "probelm" in the pro14. Not playing our star players to death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06kcswb


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

I listened to this earlier with half an ear and I think they were pretty balanced in their discussion (unlike the headline) with the general conclusion we have things right.

[johng]

The welsh discussing the irish "probelm" in the pro14. Not playing our star players to death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/p06kcswb


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

I listened to this earlier with half an ear and I think they were pretty balanced in their discussion (unlike the headline) with the general conclusion we have things right.

+1

[TerenureJim]

Off the ball and BBC Rugby union pods were also commenting on the Irish "problem" in the league mainly how it lets fans down as we want to see the "stars" don't know about you guys but I love the squad rotation and love seeing younger lads or old stagers like Bent, Fardy etc getting runs of games and pushing the "stars" for their places. If this didn't happen we wouldn't have Lamour, Carberry, Leavy, Porter, J Ryan all stepping up at a grand slam level.

I fail to see how we disrespected the league or Cardiff with our selection, we got a bonus point win away from home yes it was lucky but there were few ref quibbles and it showed incredible strength in depth.

[Oldschool]

Off the ball and BBC Rugby union pods were also commenting on the Irish "problem" in the league mainly how it lets fans down as we want to see the "stars" don't know about you guys but I love the squad rotation and love seeing younger lads or old stagers like Bent, Fardy etc getting runs of games and pushing the "stars" for their places. If this didn't happen we wouldn't have Lamour, Carberry, Leavy, Porter, J Ryan all stepping up at a grand slam level.

I fail to see how we disrespected the league or Cardiff with our selection, we got a bonus point win away from home yes it was lucky but there were few ref quibbles and it showed incredible strength in depth.

+1 to a lot of that.

[Peg Leg]

The irish "problem" as they call it, is their problem. There is no problem fielding whatever team we want if the end result is a trophy.

[fourthirtythree]

Simple fact is we have to blood the youngsters in the early rounds or they won't be ready during the 6N and we won't get into the pointy end of the league.

As our last manager demonstrated.

[paddyor]

In Leinsters case we've the best academy in the league. Of course we use it, if they had it they'd use it too.

[TerenureJim]

Simple fact is we have to blood the youngsters in the early rounds or they won't be ready during the 6N and we won't get into the pointy end of the league.

As our last manager demonstrated.

I'd go further and argue that the league was founded with the idea of giving younger lads more game time so they'd be ready to step up to euro and international rugby. Playing front liners week in week out isn't what this league was set up for and should never be what it's about.

I'd rather see youngbloods getting a chance than 75% fit stars getting flogged in September, let's never get like the prem flogging lads in bloody pre season

[Dave Cahill]

I'd go further and argue that the league was founded with the idea of giving younger lads more game time

It absolutely wasn't. It was founded as a replacement for the standalone Interprovincial Championship and Scottish Irish competition (in Ireland and Scotland), a level between the Welsh Premiership and the European Cup (in Wales) and as a way of restarting the district sides (in Scotland). In every countries case it was tasked with providing a level of competition to international players that wasn't available in their respective domestic leagues. The idea of giving younger lads more game time wasn't on the radar. It was only when EOS established enough control to regularly withdraw international players from their provinces in the aftermath of the 2003 RWC that the necessity of selecting younger players by the Irish provinces came to pass.





I don't know what Whits has to do with it either by the way

[nc6000]

All home wins this week.

[neill_m]

Week 3:

Fri 14th Sep
7:35pm Edinburgh v Connacht Premier Sports/Eir Sport
7:35pm Munster v Ospreys Premier Sports/Eir Sport/TG4

Sat 15th Sep
5:15pm Leinster v Dragons Premier Sports/Eir Sport/TG4
5:15pm Scarlets v Benetton Premier Sports/Eir Sports/S4C
6:30pm Cheetahs v Glasgow Free Sports/Eir Sport
7:35pm Zebre v Cardiff Blues Premier Sports/Eir Sport

Sun 16th Sep
1:15pm Southern Kings v Ulster Premier Sports/Eir Sport

[TerenureJim]

Week 3:

Fri 14th Sep
7:35pm Edinburgh v Connacht Premier Sports/Eir Sport
7:35pm Munster v Ospreys Premier Sports/Eir Sport/TG4

Sat 15th Sep
5:15pm Leinster v Dragons Premier Sports/Eir Sport/TG4
5:15pm Scarlets v Benetton Premier Sports/Eir Sports/S4C
6:30pm Cheetahs v Glasgow Free Sports/Eir Sport
7:35pm Zebre v Cardiff Blues Premier Sports/Eir Sport

Sun 16th Sep
1:15pm Southern Kings v Ulster Premier Sports/Eir Sport

Anyone else just loving having weekly rugby back