Pro 14 - General Thread

[John23]

Scarlets come away from Galway with nothing. Let's hope we leave there next week with more than null match points

[neill_m]

Dragons 16-5 Zebre on a wet night in Newport.

[neill_m]

Ospreys 27-10 Benetton. 4-0 MP

[neill_m]

Week 5:

Fri 28 Sep
7:35pm Cardiff Blues v Cheetahs Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 2
7:35pm Edinburgh v Benetton Premier Sports 2/Eir Sport 1

Sat 29 Sep
3pm Zebre v Ospreys Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 2
5:15pm Connacht v Leinster Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 1/TG4
6:30pm Scarlets v Southern Kings Premier Sports 2/S4C
7:35pm Glasgow v Dragons Free Sports
7:35pm Munster v Ulster Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 1

[Oldschool]

Two great games.
Cardiff v Cheetahs and
Edinburgh v Benneton
Both going down to the wire.

[tomthefan]

That last conversion miss gave the Edinburgh fourteen a huge lift.
When Treviso were 6 points down and camped on the opponents line with minutes remaining, why wouldn't they try and move the play to the middle so the kicker might have an easier conversion?

[blockhead]

Italy prop Panico arrested for alleged drug trafficking

Milan - Italy international Sami Panico has been arrested for alleged "possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking," according to Italian press reports on Sunday.

Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that Italian police seized 1.5kg of marijuana, 330 grams of hashish and €10 000 cash stashed in the garden of the 25-year-old's house at Torvajanica, south of Rome.

Prop Panico, 25, plays for Italian club Zebre Rugby and has 10 caps for the Italian national side, the most recent against Scotland in March 2017 in the Six Nations.

According to the police, this sum of money discovered "comes from illegal activities", writes La Gazzetta.

Panico was placed under house arrest pending further proceedings.

The player is still under contract with Zebre Rugby, one of the two Italian franchises playing in PRO14, but he was dropped a year ago after breaking the jaw of one of his team-mates, in a training ground bust up.

More publicity for the Pro14

[neill_m]

Week 6:

Friday 5th Oct
7:35pm Ulster v Connacht Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 1/Eir Sport 2
7:35pm Edinburgh v Cheetahs Free Sports
7:35pm Glasgow v Zebre Premier Sports 2

Saturday 6th Oct
3pm Scarlets v Ospreys Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 1/Eir Sport 2
5:15pm Dragons v Cardiff Blues Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 2
6pm Leinster v Munster Premier Sports 2/Eir Sport 1
7pm Benetton v Southern Kings Free Sports

[TrapperChamonix]

Jackman really needs a win this weekend v Cardiff 'cause other than a team in Romania the fixture list is not looking good running up to Xmas. Other than Edinburgh at home the rest looks a pretty tall order.

Cardiff H
Romanian team A
Northampton H
Ulster A
Connaght A
Edinburgh H
Leisnter H
Northampton A
ASM H
Cardiff A

[neill_m]

Jackman really needs a win this weekend v Cardiff 'cause other than a team in Romania the fixture list is not looking good running up to Xmas. Other than Edinburgh at home the rest looks a pretty tall order.

Cardiff H
Romanian team A
Northampton H
Ulster A
Connaght A
Edinburgh H
Leisnter H
Northampton A
ASM H
Cardiff A

A lot of expectations on the Dragons this year with some high profile signings.

The Romanians are Timisoara Saracens. One of the sides in the Sarries global network. Usually you have a double header in December, but Romanian Sarries need to get their home games played before Christmas and before the harsh Romanian winter kicks in.

Interestingly the Dragons are playing Russia during the November window. Other Pro 14 sides to play touring sides include Cardiff and Ulster who are both playing Uruguay.

[johng]

Think they are playing Hong Kong on a Monday in Ebbw too.

[neill_m]

Think they are playing Hong Kong on a Monday in Ebbw too.

Indeed. Oct 29th - likely to be an A side as the seniors are away to Ulster on Friday 26th. Helping Hong Kong out with a game before the repechage RWC Playoffs in Marseille from Nov 11th.

[Blue not red blood]

Know its early doors but looking at the tables for each group, both Munster and Ulster have a serious fight on their hands yo achieve a top 3 finish.

[rooster]

Know its early doors but looking at the tables for each group, both Munster and Ulster have a serious fight on their hands yo achieve a top 3 finish.

In the case of Ulster that will not be a surprise this season.

[blockhead]

Petrus du Plessis signs for Glasgow, bit of an injury crisis up beyond the wall.

[blockhead]

Scarlets, Fonotia banned for 3 weeks for something.

[paddyor]

Scarlets, Fonotia banned for 3 weeks for something.

Lead with the forearm into North(I think)s face/neck.

[blockhead]

Rugbypass

09 October, 4:52pm

Benetton Treviso and Zebre Rugby have secured their future in the PRO14 until at least 2023.

Italian rugby has been given a major boost with the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) to become a shareholder in Celtic Rugby “in the coming year” which has, in turn, handed guarantees to the two clubs over their participation.

Currently the PRO14 Rugby Championship and is owned equally by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

In a joint statement the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) and PRO14 Rugby say they have “an agreement in principle”, with the FIR having to fulfil “certain conditions”.

Both Treviso and Zebre have had an upturn in results, notably last season when Zebre achieved their highest ever number of wins in a season with seven, while Treviso registered 11 wins.

The deal will also means there will be increased investment in the teams with a statement saying there would be “commitments around increased funding and upgrading of facilities for the clubs”

[neill_m]

Round 7 Fixtures are below (KO Time - Irish Time):

Friday 26th October
6pm Southern Kings v Scarlets Premier Sports 2/Eir Sport 1
7pm Zebre v Edinburgh Free Sports
7:55pm Ulster v Dragons Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 2
8:05pm Ospreys v Connacht Premier Sports 2/TG4

Saturday 27th October
3pm Benetton v Leinster Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 1
5:15pm Munster v Glasgow Premier Sports 1/Eir Sport 1
6:15pm Cheetahs v Cardiff Blues Premier Sports 2/S4C

[blockhead]

Zebre gave Edinburgh a good oul rodgering tonight, 34-16. Level with Munster on points too.