Pro 12 so far....

Just a little thread looking into the first 4 games thus far. First thing I must say having watched a lot of the rugby is that the teams are just getting far more physical. I'm not sure if teams have bulked up in the off season but the intensity from the forwards from most teams is impressive. It's been amazing to see how close some games have been. For me the intensity of the league is already clear to see. The Italians are all at sea at the moment though even with Zebre's win over Ulster at home. It could be a long old season for those sides.

Anyway here are my thoughts so far of what I have seen and particlar highlights:

Ospreys - My view going into this season was that they would struggle a bit. Proving me wrong. Baker, Webb & Biggar are the spine in the side and Nicky Smith at loosehead already looks a great find. Hassler impresses me everytime I see him with his sheer commitment to the team. To be fair the pack have done a lot of unseen work as well and have provided the platform for the backs to play with. Evans looks like he has added something from full back and reinforces my view that Fussell was holding that team back (at the end of the day he should have stayed on the wing). Right now I would say confidence is high too and it will be mighty interesting to see how they go in Oct. Ospreys fans have to be happy so far though and with the style they are playing with.

Blues - I tipped the Blues to do well this year. I still think this team needs time to bed in the new players so we cant expect to much at this stage. That said the pack is playing really well and even though the scorelines havent favoured them (despite some of the games being fairly even for large periods), the pack have provided paritiy. The main issue for me from what I can see is they lack creativity in centre (primarily at 12) and Dan Fish isnt good enough at this level. I hope when Anscombe arrives they will continue with Patchell at 10 becaue they look much better with him there over Davies. Hammett knows if he can add some finesse to this side they may very well develop into a top side quickly. I still think he needs to cut some dead wood and bring some creative options in at 12 because some of his backs dont look like they are good enough at this level of rugby.

Dragons - My side promised so much. Granted we have been struck with injuries and I've been pleased to see a rather young backline holding their own. That said with a growing injury list its not looking good for us. I've still got major quesiton marks about our pack but in fairness its not like their are many options out there on the market and most will be gambles at any rate. I sense unless our injury list eases this might be a very difficult season for us in the Pro 12 given the comptitive nature already of the league.

Scarlets - Fans have got to be frustrated. Both Ulster and Edinburgh are games that should have been won. Enough chances and a failure to close them out. That said what I do like is they still have a few players to come back into the team. Pitman already looks a brilliant signing. They really do have some really class backs though and Priestland is showing his ability at the moment in terms of controlling the games in most parts. So in terms of results it has been frustrating but when you look at some of their general play its been impressive. Given a fair few forwards are still out at the moment they should be comptitive throughout once they are all back in fully match fit. Main thing for them is to control the games a little better and of course their discipline (in particular Liam Williams - who in attack has been outstanding but still is a hot head at times).

So those are my views so far with the Pro12. Feel free to add your own country/team assesments or just in general regarding the Pro 12 in general. Wouldnt mind hearing from our other Celtic cousins to see what their views of the season are as well.

Pro 12 has been of pretty high quality, better than beginning of previous season although we have been blessed with the weather so far..

It's still early doors yet but far all the talk of teams closing down the gap between the top 5 and themselves, well i haven't seen it apart from Connacht who impressed me with their defense and resilience though with that style of play i have a hard time imagining them finishing in the top 6, they will need to create a bit more.

The Blues have been a big flop so far, still think they haven't replaced Owen Williams but they do have the potential to get better.
The Dragons have improved but not to the extent i expected them to, their pack is now ok scrum isn't going backwards as much as it used to and Landman has been a great signing, a proper enforcer of a lock with a good pace to him. Have to say jury is still out on them as they have been devastated by injuries in the backs but Brew has looked average enough which must be disappointing.
Scarlets have been very similar to previous season, some absolute great play but a very soft defense to go with it.

Edinburgh have added a lot of steel to the pack but apart from the usual suspect Tim Visser not much to see in the backs unfortunately. They should thrive in poor conditions.

Treviso have been poor but arguably not much worse than last year, coach said they will have to wait till October to see significant improvements.
Zebre have looked similar to last season if a little less spectacular and more forward oriented.

Not much to say about the top 5 teams but i would say Ospreys look very good both in the forwards and backs. They look very well drilled.
Glasgow have started their season better than ever but their pack has showed some signs of weakness and it could get tough once it gets heavy and wet.
Ulster despite losing some key players doesn't look weakened which is nice to see, they will be very hard to beat again this season.
Leinster looks very similar to last season and should be there or thereabout at the end of the season.
Munster have been the big disappointment so far, their backline apart from Zebo is very lacklustre and the pack has yet to shine, maybe Penney wasn't a bad coach after all.