Pro 12 plus maybe Friends 20/21

First topic message reminder :

As one season finishes it seems the new one seems to start sooner each year.  Here is the breakdown of teams over the last three years. Places (based on league points) and points are order 19/20, 18/19, 17/18

Leinster (Champions and clearly the team to beat)
Place 1, 3, 2, Average 2
Points 69, 76, 70 total 215
Always have finished top of their conference and winners for the last three years
Goal - Win, anything else is failure

Munster
Place 3, 2, 4 Average 3
Points 51, 77, 69 Total 197
Yet another table where Munster fall short yet again.  Each of the last three years have been knocked out by Leinster
Goal - Top Conference (2nd in league) to finally avoid Leinster in the playoffs to make the final

Glasgow
Place 7, 1, 1 Average 3
Points 38, 81, 76 Total 195
Was this year a WC hangover or is it the start of the slide back to the chasing pack.  Losing key players is taking it's toll. No longer the best team in Scotland.
Goal - Win back dominance in Scotland

Ulster
Place 4, 4, 6 Average 4.33
Points 44, 63, 62 Total 169
Improving each year and seem like one of the teams to challange Leinster.
Goal - Get back to the final

Scarlets
Place 4, 9, 3 Average 5.33
Points 47, 52, 70 Total 169
Last year killed them but on their day a match of anyone. Best team usually in Wales.
Goal - make the final

Edinburgh
Place 2, 10, 5 Average 5.66
Total 51, 51, 68 Total 170
Like Scarlets last year killed them.  Have conquered Scotland and have one of the best coaches in the league.  Possibly the 2nd best team for next season if Cockers has cracked rotation.
Goal - make the final

Connacht
Place 6, 5, 10 Average 7
Points 40, 61, 39 Total 140
Excluding the first year under Keane have been playoff contenders each year.  But they need to push on and not just be happy fighting for a playoff sport.
Have to push for Top 4

Benetton
Place 8, 7, 7 Average 7.33
Points 36, 57, 55 Total 148
Consistency has got them middle of the table which is a good place to build from rather than just the place to stay.
Goal - time to push for Top 6

Blues
Place 9, 8, 8 Average  8.33
Points 33, 54, 54 Total 141
Again consistent in their place but have fallen down and past by their peers.  Have to be looking over their shoulders at Dragons and Zebre.
Goal - time to get above 8th.

Ospreys
Place 12, 6, 9 Average 9
Points 17, 58, 54 Total 119
Which year was the anomaly, when they finished 6th or 12th.  An old team who live on past glories. Last year 6th may have been down to the drop in form of Scarlets and Edinburgh.
Goal - stop the rot

Dragons
Place 10, 11, 12 Average 11
Points 24, 26, 20 Total 70
Slowly improving.  No longer unable to win away from home and building nicely.
Goal - has to be 9th

Zebre
Place 11, 12, 11 Average 11.33
Points 21, 19, 36 Total 76
Have alot of young players coming through.  Last year wasn't great but the other two were improvements on previous years.
Goal - Finished 10th and pick up some big wins.

They f'd it. Knocked on in tackle in phaseplay. The scrum is solid, like few of them have been tonight given Treviso's cheating, but the Scarlets clear game over. 10-3. Good win all things considered. Crud game tho.

Another big result as Ospreys beat Glasgow.

I told you they'd shock a few people early on this season.

Irish team avoids another red card after a clear red card offence.

rugby racing and beer wrote:Were they reading tea leaves on Zoom?

That's an embarrassing reply.

A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

And what would you say has been key to that. 8 years of hiring decent coaches I imagine?

mikey_dragon wrote:

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

And what would you say has been key to that. 8 years of hiring decent coaches I imagine?

It's probably the €40m+ spent on wages before the tax break, in all fairness Mikey.

PhilBB wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

And what would you say has been key to that. 8 years of hiring decent coaches I imagine?

It's probably the €40m+ spent on wages before the tax break, in all fairness Mikey.

It's probably the €13m the branches spend on provincial contract non-test squad players and getting in some good coaches most of the time.

Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Pot Hale wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

And what would you say has been key to that. 8 years of hiring decent coaches I imagine?

It's probably the €40m+ spent on wages before the tax break, in all fairness Mikey.

It's probably the €13m the branches spend on provincial contract non-test squad players and getting in some good coaches most of the time.

The branches recharge, you mean?

€13m doesn't go far, Pot. It barely goes beyond Leinster's cost. I guess the other three must be playing for free.

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

If only there were private owned teams who could pump in as much money as they wanted to get the people they want/need.

PhilBB wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

And what would you say has been key to that. 8 years of hiring decent coaches I imagine?

It's probably the €40m+ spent on wages before the tax break, in all fairness Mikey.

It's probably the €13m the branches spend on provincial contract non-test squad players and getting in some good coaches most of the time.

The branches recharge, you mean?

€13m doesn't go far, Pot. It barely goes beyond Leinster's cost. I guess the other three must be playing for free.

I mean the provincial branches pay for use of the senior players with provincial branch contracts. And secure commercial monies to add to those too. We know the IRFU union also pays some too - about €3m in grants per province for the full-time players.  The branch also pays for the development contract players themselves.  And their key coaching staff. Those are the players who play most of the games in the PRO14 and in EPCR comps.  
The 15 central contract test players are paid primarily by the Union.  

It’s the way it is.

Brendan wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

If only there were private owned teams who could pump in as much money as they wanted to get the people they want/need.

if only it was worth it.

One big thing this international window is how few internationals Munster and Ulster are losing (Connacht always have had that advantage)

Numbers will change as injuries/suspensions add up  but this window we have the following
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.
Ulster will have a massive 11 of their starting 15 which is amazing for a team either 2 or 3rd best team in the league.
Connacht will have 9 of their starting 15, losing their spine might be an issue but only Ulster and maybe Dragons will lose less.

Leinster will still have a great team so might see the Irish teams build a bit of a lead during the 5 games

Will be interesting to see how the other teams go.

Pot Hale wrote:

I mean the provincial branches pay for use of the senior players with provincial branch contracts. And secure commercial monies to add to those too. We know the IRFU union also pays some too - about €3m in grants per province for the full-time players.  The branch also pays for the development contract players themselves.  And their key coaching staff.  Those are the players who play most of the games in the PRO14 and in EPCR comps.  
The 15 central contract test players are paid primarily by the Union.  

It’s the way it is.

Why are you still making these basic errors?

The contracts are ALL held by the IRFU. You know this. It's been proven to you. The IRFU Annual Report just published proves it. "Provincial branch contracts" don't exist as they are all held by the IRFU.

You've fabricated the €3m figure based on a 5 year old newspaper report, whilst ignoring the larger sums the IRFU has noted itself it has pumped in since 2015.

The Branch doesn't contract any player or coach.

I've no idea why you are writing what you know to be completely untrue and what a GCSE Accounts student could tell you is untrue based on one set of accounts released in the last week.

Brendan wrote:
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.

They should smash a Cardiff side this evening that has only 5 first choice players in this evening's team

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

If only there were private owned teams who could pump in as much money as they wanted to get the people they want/need.

if only it was worth it.

What's the point of owning a sports team that loses money if not to win things.  If you want to make money don't go into sports investments.

Wray, Landsdown, etc seem to see winning and loving the team being the return on investment.

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.

They should smash a Cardiff side this evening that has only 5 first choice players in this evening's team

Good case in point.  There are plenty of Munster and Ulster lads who will be out to prove they should be in the Irish squad.

As a Munster man having so many first teamers is one of the few bright spots of Leinster dominance.

Brendan wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.

They should smash a Cardiff side this evening that has only 5 first choice players in this evening's team

Good case in point.  There are plenty of Munster and Ulster lads who will be out to prove they should be in the Irish squad.

As a Munster man having so many first teamers is one of the few bright spots of Leinster dominance.

Munster are missing
Kilcoyne, Scannell, John Ryan, RG Snyman, Beirne, POM, Tommy O'Donnell, Stander, Carbery, Murray, Farrell, Earls, Conway, Shane Daly. All of those are first choice except O'Donnell and arguably Scannell.

Brendan wrote:

Wray, Landsdown, etc seem to see winning and loving the team being the return on investment.

Do you reckon that's because their clubs don't play in the dreadful PrO'Not14 league?

Brendan wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.

They should smash a Cardiff side this evening that has only 5 first choice players in this evening's team

Good case in point.  There are plenty of Munster and Ulster lads who will be out to prove they should be in the Irish squad.

As a Munster man having so many first teamers is one of the few bright spots of Leinster dominance.

Especially with their old friend Andrea Piardi refereeing this evening

Do you think he may spot at least one Munster penalty offence this time around?

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Do you reckon Ackerman may be an outlier?

Larkham didn't go to Galway, for example. McBryde, Lancaster and Contepomi aren't in Dublin for the nightlife.

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Do you reckon Ackerman may be an outlier?

Larkham didn't go to Galway, for example. McBryde, Lancaster and Contepomi aren't in Dublin for the nightlife.

I don't understand what point you are trying to prove by brining up how much Leinster spend constantly? There would be something seriously wrong if Leinster weren't 1. The biggest spenders in the league and 2. One of the top spenders in club world rugby. If a club like Leinster weren't able to comfortably spend big (in rugby terms), god help any of the others.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Do you reckon Ackerman may be an outlier?

Larkham didn't go to Galway, for example. McBryde, Lancaster and Contepomi aren't in Dublin for the nightlife.

I don't understand what point you are trying to prove by brining up how much Leinster spend constantly? There would be something seriously wrong if Leinster weren't 1. The biggest spenders in the league and 2. One of the top spenders in club world rugby. If a club like Leinster weren't able to comfortably spend big (in rugby terms), god help any of the others.

You don't understand the point that the coaches I mentioned are at Leinster, not Connacht, because Good Coaches work with Good Players (the point I made above)?

Ok.

Well, to understand, start reading the context of the posts you're replying to.

PhilBB wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Do you reckon Ackerman may be an outlier?

Larkham didn't go to Galway, for example. McBryde, Lancaster and Contepomi aren't in Dublin for the nightlife.

I don't understand what point you are trying to prove by brining up how much Leinster spend constantly? There would be something seriously wrong if Leinster weren't 1. The biggest spenders in the league and 2. One of the top spenders in club world rugby. If a club like Leinster weren't able to comfortably spend big (in rugby terms), god help any of the others.

You don't understand the point that the coaches I mentioned are at Leinster, not Connacht, because Good Coaches work with Good Players (the point I made above)?

Ok.

Well, to understand, start reading the context of the posts you're replying to.

I'm more replying in general but nice way to avoid answering the question.

PhilBB wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Do you reckon Ackerman may be an outlier?

Larkham didn't go to Galway, for example. McBryde, Lancaster and Contepomi aren't in Dublin for the nightlife.

I don't understand what point you are trying to prove by brining up how much Leinster spend constantly? There would be something seriously wrong if Leinster weren't 1. The biggest spenders in the league and 2. One of the top spenders in club world rugby. If a club like Leinster weren't able to comfortably spend big (in rugby terms), god help any of the others.

You don't understand the point that the coaches I mentioned are at Leinster, not Connacht, because Good Coaches work with Good Players (the point I made above)?

Ok.

Well, to understand, start reading the context of the posts you're replying to.

You mean like one of the Best coaches in the Premership right now who did go to Galway.  Who made stars out of normal players and upped the number of internationals playing for Connacht.

Who raised expectations so much his replacement was fired for achieving what old Connacht use to do which was no longer acceptable

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.

They should smash a Cardiff side this evening that has only 5 first choice players in this evening's team

Good case in point.  There are plenty of Munster and Ulster lads who will be out to prove they should be in the Irish squad.

As a Munster man having so many first teamers is one of the few bright spots of Leinster dominance.

Especially with their old friend Andrea Piardi refereeing this evening

Do you think he may spot at least one Munster penalty offence this time around?

No one at the time thought the ref was unfair just that he didn't give a penalty. When Kings are rubbish at the breakdown, under pressure for most of the match and rarely made it into Munster's red zone is it surprising they penalty count was so one-sided. King use to pick up plenty of yellows and reds so not surprised they struggled away to Munster. They couldn't do anything phyisical and either ran it or folded, not a great strategy v Munster.

profitius wrote:

Brendan wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Brendan wrote:
Munster will have 7 of their 15 starters including a WC winner.  With their strong squad they will seem like a full strenght team over the window.

They should smash a Cardiff side this evening that has only 5 first choice players in this evening's team

Good case in point.  There are plenty of Munster and Ulster lads who will be out to prove they should be in the Irish squad.

As a Munster man having so many first teamers is one of the few bright spots of Leinster dominance.

Munster are missing
Kilcoyne, Scannell, John Ryan, RG Snyman, Beirne, POM, Tommy O'Donnell, Stander, Carbery, Murray, Farrell, Earls, Conway, Shane Daly. All of those are first choice except O'Donnell and arguably Scannell.

Every team have injuries. Munster normally lose a few more to the national team.

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Yeah the best coaches usually make the best of what they have, thinking of Gatland and Lam here. The last two South African coaches have made a good difference to Munster, they look quite formidable up front. Ulster had some Kiwi coaches before the current one and they've consistently been a top team, although they look better now.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

Old Man wrote:Coaches certainly make a massive difference. That should be the number one priority for any Franchise/Club/Provincial team.

Good / top coaches only want to work with good / top players. Hence it's spend, spend, spend.

Not sure I would agree with that, When Johan Ackerman took over the Lions when they were kicked out of Super Rugby his squad was a list of no names.

Over a three year period he built them into household names. Jake White on the other hand loves to buy a squad.

Yeah the best coaches usually make the best of what they have, thinking of Gatland and Lam here. The last two South African coaches have made a good difference to Munster, they look quite formidable up front. Ulster had some Kiwi coaches before the current one and they've consistently been a top team, although they look better now.

Robertson is another who took a team underperforming to SR Dominance.

Plenty coaches do it once you start looking. Matt O'Conor is the reverse of this who couldn't do anything with Schimt's team yet Cullen has improved the team O'Conor had and got results. Tigers gig wasn't great either. Ian foster might be another.

Blues doing well to be in the game. Munster making hard work but have out a young team. Unless Blues up their performance in the second half, Munster will pull away in the second half with a BP.

Good to see so many West Cork players in the team, good work done in club level and Bandon Grammar.

Munster get the job done getting 5 pts and denying the the Blues any. Blues should be fairly happy. The silly yellow for the trip early in the game when 0 -7 up was a stupid decision by the Blue's player. They were chasing the game from then on.

Good running rugby with nice offload from Munster. Young players did well and nice to see Healy get some more time.

PhilBB wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:

I mean the provincial branches pay for use of the senior players with provincial branch contracts. And secure commercial monies to add to those too. We know the IRFU union also pays some too - about €3m in grants per province for the full-time players.  The branch also pays for the development contract players themselves.  And their key coaching staff.  Those are the players who play most of the games in the PRO14 and in EPCR comps.  
The 15 central contract test players are paid primarily by the Union.  

It’s the way it is.

Why are you still making these basic errors?

The contracts are ALL held by the IRFU. You know this. It's been proven to you. The IRFU Annual Report just published proves it. "Provincial branch contracts" don't exist as they are all held by the IRFU.

You've fabricated the €3m figure based on a 5 year old newspaper report, whilst ignoring the larger sums the IRFU has noted itself it has pumped in since 2015.

The Branch doesn't contract any player or coach.

I've no idea why you are writing what you know to be completely untrue and what a GCSE Accounts student could tell you is untrue based on one set of accounts released in the last week.

As I've explained to you before, Phil, I'm making a distinction between contracts made with IRFU (Branch Name) Contract i.e. Darren Cave stated his contract was with IRFU Ulster Branch, and the 15 central IRFU contracts whereby the player's salary is covered directly by the IRFU and does not come from the province's budget.

I haven't fabricated the €3m figure; I've estimated it based on the figure reported.  I'm also aware of and made reference to what the IRFU calls exceptional grants that they've made to one or more branches in a given year.  

I don't know what evidence you have that the Branch doesn't contract any player or coach when you were given a specific reply by Darren Cave on Twitter that his contract was with "IRFU Ulster Branch" and offered to "send you a photo of it".

I've given my estimation of what elements make up the Player and Management costs.  Your attempts to belittle what I've written are simply uncivil.   As I've asked you within the relevant thread, perhaps you can provide your own assessment and reasoning to support it.

Unlucky Blues. Thought they did okay, but you’re not going get far when:
1. The ref awards the Irish team tries that aren’t a try.
2. Doesn’t allow a fair contest at the breakdown - 2 seconds ‘holding’ for Blues, 5 seconds holding for Munster - yep I counted a few occasions.

Don’t know why there still hasn’t been any changes when it was said it was something they’d look at - years ago. Oh well.

And credit to Munster. Their forward power play is relentless and actually good to watch - despite what the nay-sayers say. Smashing rucks like their lives depend on it. Like I alluded to earlier it’s got a South African blueprint all over it.

Credit to Jarrod Evans. He can’t be far off a Wales call-up. His kicking from hand wasn’t great - a lot of the time it just handed the ball back to Munster.

One thing that is always frustrating is the use it call
In the match, scrimhalf rolls it back past two players leave it for a second and then kicks it. Wish the ref would just shout out when the time is up or put up their hands.

Brendan wrote:One thing that is always frustrating is the use it call
In the match, scrimhalf rolls it back past two players leave it for a second and then kicks it.  Wish the ref would just shout out when the time is up or put up their hands.

Otherwise known as the human centipede.

I think the call “ball is out” should be called as soon as the scrumhalf touches rhe ball, whether with his feet or hands.

Old Man wrote:I think the call “ball is out” should be called as soon as the scrumhalf touches rhe ball, whether with his feet or hands.

That would speed up every scrum-half for sure.

Pot Hale wrote:

Old Man wrote:I think the call “ball is out” should be called as soon as the scrumhalf touches rhe ball, whether with his feet or hands.

That would speed up every scrum-half for sure.

It would also mean that boxkicks aren't done just cause of where they are on the field and would make the scrum half actually have to think.

PhilBB wrote:

rugby racing and beer wrote:Were they reading tea leaves on Zoom?

That's an embarrassing reply.

No, it's witty banter. You seem utterly humourless and desperate for constant arguments so you can insult people with a false sense of superiority. A bit of levity seems like the perfect cup of tea in the circumstances.

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

League's been stitched up, that's why.

Oh, check out the commentary on this btw. While it doesn't directly impact results it was one of the things mentioned a few weeks back with regard to Irish bias/how dispirited Welsh supporters are with Pro14 broadcasting given its status on a non entity subscription service.

Blues carve up Munster; apathy.

Munster finally score a decent try that isn't a Schmidt-screaming 1 yard wonder; comms go mental.

Terrible product. Biased and terrible.

rugby racing and beer wrote:

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

League's been stitched up, that's why.

Oh, check out the commentary on this btw. While it doesn't directly impact results it was one of the things mentioned a few weeks back with regard to Irish bias/how dispirited Welsh supporters are with Pro14 broadcasting given its status on a non entity subscription service.

Blues carve up Munster; apathy.

Munster finally score a decent try that isn't a Schmidt-screaming 1 yard wonder; comms go mental.

Terrible product. Biased and terrible.

Think Irish teams can make it 15 from 16 next week?

Who knows. What we do know is the coverage will be consistently terrible, exclusive, and pro-Irish.

Imagine a main commentator literally celebrating a try. F me, amateur hour.

rugby racing and beer wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

rugby racing and beer wrote:Were they reading tea leaves on Zoom?

That's an embarrassing reply.

No, it's witty banter.

Three accounts in and still a lad with sh/t bants.

rugby racing and beer wrote:

profitius wrote:A win for munster tonight will mean 11 wins from 12 for the Irish provinces.

League's been stitched up, that's why.

Oh, check out the commentary on this btw. While it doesn't directly impact results it was one of the things mentioned a few weeks back with regard to Irish bias/how dispirited Welsh supporters are with Pro14 broadcasting given its status on a non entity subscription service.

Blues carve up Munster; apathy.

Munster finally score a decent try that isn't a Schmidt-screaming 1 yard wonder; comms go mental.

Terrible product. Biased and terrible.

I think you will find Munster's style of rugby has been one out runners and up the jumper stuff when Joe was just a school teacher wanting to just focus on basketball.

The longer a move goes on the more the commentator must talk about it and match the pace of the move.  If a commentator can't get excited from a backs move with offloads, starts well outside the 22 (unlike the the other tries) then when can you.  The Blues tries were one pass, through gap and score.  Commentator was more excited about those than the Munster 1m scores.

These were two of the forms teams in the Conference to date. If the comenator cant get excited about a try that looked to deciede the winner in a game that swung constantly during the game then when should they get excited.

Might the issue be not the commentary of the try but the upset that an Irish team won.  It seems that the Irish Bias seems to be less and less tied to the IRFU and more and more down to the rugby ideology that the stronger team always get the 50/50 decisions or even the 40/60 ones.

Maybe the league isn't Irish Bias but more of a Northern Teams v Southern teams in the league or an anti Welsh bias.  It was Irish Bias when the Irish refs did the matches.  Now non Irish refs are reffing Irish games we still have Irish "bias". The more fans use Irish Bias as the reason they are failing the less the team will need to take responsibility.

All 4 provinces have had coaching teams being held accountable for failures by both the fans and the IRFU. Munster had to bring in the better coaches and players because they were poor and people were upset. There was no blame on Leinster bias.

I guess it was anti Scottish bias that Ospreys have only got points against Scottish teams or that the two Scottish teams lost to the Kings.

There is no bias and I for one am totally fed up with the welsh whinging

You have as much money to play with as anyone else ( Bar leinster) and more than some

there is no stuctural bias against the welsh

There is no structural bias towards the Irish

Stop blaming others and look in the mirror.

Compete with a R60 million player cap, then you can complain.