URC Play-offs

It's play off time, quarter finals up first this weekend.  Thread will be updated as we progress into the Semi's and final.

All games on Premier Sports, URC TV and SuperSport.

Quarter Finals
Ulster v Munster- 36-17
Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks- 30-27
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors- 76-14
DHL Stormers v Edinburgh Rugby- 28-17

Semi Finals

Leinster v Vodacom Bulls- 26-27
DHL Stormers v Ulster- 17-15

FINAL

DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls
Result- 18-13

Champions- DHL Stormers

Edinburgh have Frank Murphy reffing and Bennie Wennie as TMO

The Luvvies are Friar Tucked.

Ulster (15-9): Stewart Moore, Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ethan McIlroy, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8): Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, Iain Henderson (Capt.), Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen.

Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O’Sullivan, Gareth Milasinovich, Kieran Treadwell, Matty Rea, Nathan Doak, Ian Madigan, Ben Moxham.

Munster: Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Keith Earls; Joey Carbery, Conor Murray; Josh Wycherley, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley, Peter O’Mahony (C), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jason Jenkins, Thomas Ahern, Craig Casey, Ben Healy, Chris Cloete.

Great win for Ulster tonight, some lovely rugby played, albeit with the help of Munster being completely incapable of holding on to the ball.
A trip to Scotland or South Africa awaits.

That was pretty disappointing performance from Munster.  Van Graan looked the perfect picture of a beaten docket.  

Wonder if the same is going to happen to Leinster?

It was a strange performance from Munster, really struggled with knock ons. Carberys kicking out of hand in first half was poor, failed to find touch once but should have been a few more if our guys had of been a bit quicker to react.
They looked just a little of the pace for whatever reason.
That was a brilliant spot though by the touch judge for the knock on in Munsters ruled out try, no one in the ground saw that.

There was a huge moment in the first half when it all could have went very differently, when it was still 7-7.
Munster had a big overlap, looked a certain try but Baloucoune shot up out of the line and made a big hit. Then got up and won the pen for holding on.
Ulster scored shortly after that and I do wonder how the match could have played out if Munster had of got that try.

Ulster were value for money, the Munster players execution was terrible, they couldn't make a pass stick in that match, they tried hard, but ultimately failed in execution

Decent crowd in for the Bulls v Sharks Quarter final today, good to see.

Yeah 25 000 is decent, I suspect the Stormers match will have a bigger crowd by some margin

Are there still crowd restrictions in place Old Man? Think I heard the commentators make reference to them?

From what I heard the last time it is 50% capacity, might have changed, but haven't seen anything

Just checked, updated is 50% with proven vaccine certficate.

I think Curwin Bosch is the achilles heel of the Sharks

If there was a final in South Africa you reckon they might look to change the rule?

This is going to be a tight last 20

No idea Neil, government decisions here is a mysterymost of the time

That's no different anywhere I don't think lol our lot aren't any better

Judging by that supporter on the screen, Andy Brace might have bother getting out of the stadium lol

Bulls supporters are those staunch Afrikaners you hear about

What a finish that is, Bulls win it 3 mins after the 80 with a drop goal. Bulls off to Ireland or Scotland for the Semi's

Good match, Bulls playing direct rugby and Sharks still too many errors with ball in hand.

Tell you what Sharks really put him under pressure there too, that's a good kick

Yeah, overall a really physical derby

You can hear the crowd is happy to be back in the stadium

Definitely they were loving it, commentators seemed to be enjoying themselves too, felt like a realy positive atmosphere

Watched the first bit of the game and Glasgow were doing well and leading, comeback an hour later and Leinster have scored 52 unanswered points. How did that even happen.

Two yellow cards to Glasgow, and leinster not making mistakes.

Old Man wrote:Good match, Bulls playing direct rugby and Sharks still too many errors with ball in hand.

Yeah very decent game

Stormers win and thats the Semi Finals set, 2 South African and 2 Irish sides. Those should be 2 excellent games.

I thought Edinburgh put a lot of pressure on the Stormers who could have executed better and made some poor despcisions on attack at times. Gelant owes the Stormers a try for his selfish play when he decided to not pass to his inside or outside support runner.

When the Stormers were in frint by 15 points they decided to make a stupid play from inside their 22.

Butat least they pulled through.

Where were half the Leinster fans? On a sunny Saturday in the RDS I expected to see it packed. I guess seeing them lose one match has lost them their fair weather fans.

Intotouch wrote:Where were half the Leinster fans? On a sunny Saturday in the RDS I expected to see it packed. I guess seeing them lose one match has lost them their fair weather fans.

Bank holiday weekend. Lot of knockout matches back to back. And two more coming up. It'll be interesting to see if we get a better house next Friday.

I should imagine a lot of fans taking the time and money to travel to Marseille last weekend probably meant that they had to stay away for monetary/family reasons. It was also on at same time as the football which may not have helped either.

Ok that makes sense. I hope they show up on Friday. It’ll be crap for the competition if the fans don’t come for a semi against an SA side for the first time ever. I looked up the prices and they range from €20 which is great value to €60 which is a bit steep so maybe their pricing is an issue.

Ulster played some decent rugby but Munster were awful.

I see some people were asking why Ulster fans kept singing the French national anthem

As for Murray and Carberry they were utter pants.
How they get so close to the Ireland set up is beyond me..
Based on the last few games I have seen of Murray, if he came to Ulster he would be 3rd choice and even Shanners would give him a run for his money.
As for Carberry if he is the replacement for Sexton, Ireland are screwed.

Murray used to be the best, he hasn't been for some time, and is now way too slow, Cooney showed him how it is done.
Carberry I just dont get I'd rather have Harry Bryne, Carty or Burns and I dont rate any of them as being good enough for first choice Ireland 10.

geoff999rugby wrote:Ulster played some decent rugby but Munster were awful.

I see some people were asking why Ulster fans kept singing the French national anthem

As for Murray and Carberry they were utter pants.
How they get so close to the Ireland set up is beyond me..
Based on the last few games I have seen of Murray, if he came to Ulster he would be 3rd choice and even Shanners would give him a run for his money.
As for Carberry if he is the replacement for Sexton, Ireland are screwed.

Murray used to be the best, he hasn't been for some time, and is now way too slow, Cooney showed him how it is done.
Carberry I just dont get I'd rather have Harry Bryne, Carty or Burns and I dont rate any of them as being good enough for first choice Ireland 10.

He knocked it on, he knocked it on lol must have really confused the Toulouse fans a few weeks ago.

I'm up 15 points in my URC Superbru. I can't possibly blow it now, can I?
Picking Leinster and Stormers by a converted touchdown (though I am rooting for????).

Listening to off the ball, and another show, can't remeber the name, they reckon there isn't much the Bulls can do to beat Leinster, which I kind of agree with, but the arrogance is a bit too much to bear.

They are of the opinion that Stormers are favourites, but were complaing high and low about the Ulster match where the referee disallowed a try which cost them a home semi.

As if Ulster were the only team screwed out of a win.

Anyway, I don't think anyone can take the title from Leinster.

Bulls have structure and good pack with electric pace out wide, but I don't think Jake White can put together an attack to beat Leinster, Stormers have surprised many including myself, they don't play enough structured rugby, too flaky and risky at times, and finals rugby is all about having systems in place.

1 off matches, anything can happen, it's not like the Bulls are some sort of no hopers, they absolutely can beat Leinster.

Will they? Probably not but it doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to see how they would. Especially since Leinster can struggle v big packs

Stormers favourite for the other tie but I'm hoping Ulster have a big time performance in them somewhere to sneak a win.

Old Man wrote:

They are of the opinion that Stormers are favourites, but were complaing high and low about the Ulster match where the referee disallowed a try which cost them a home semi.

For the simple reason we dont like officials who are dishonest and the TMO in that game was dishonest - a disgrace to the game.
Anybody can make mistakes but point blank refusing to answer a question ask of him by the referee at least 3 separate times was unacceptable

Ulster wil lbe stronger this time - we have lost Lowry and M. Moore but when we played there last there was no
Baloucoune, Hume, McIlroy, Warwick, Henderson, Timoney

That 6 up and 2 down overall
Of the big changes its 4 big improvements and only 1 significant drop

neilthom7 wrote:1 off matches, anything can happen, it's not like the Bulls are some sort of no hopers, they absolutely can beat Leinster.

Will they? Probably not but it doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to see how they would. Especially since Leinster can struggle v big packs

Stormers favourite for the other tie but I'm hoping Ulster have a big time performance in them somewhere to sneak a win.

Except for the time Leinster soundly beat Montpellier in France with their 2nd team.

Old Man wrote:Listening to off the ball, and another show, can't remeber the name, they reckon there isn't much the Bulls can do to beat Leinster, which I kind of agree with, but the arrogance is a bit too much to bear.

They are of the opinion that Stormers are favourites, but were complaing high and low about the Ulster match where the referee disallowed a try which cost them a home semi.

As if Ulster were the only team screwed out of a win.

Anyway, I don't think anyone can take the title from Leinster.

Bulls have structure and good pack with electric pace out wide, but I don't think Jake White can put together an attack to beat Leinster, Stormers have surprised many including myself, they don't play enough structured rugby, too flaky and risky at times, and finals rugby is all about having systems in place.

Stormers have been my favourite SA team since they entered this competition. They play good rugby. The former Sevens player at 13 and Evan Roos are revelations.

I think it's Ruhan Nel at 13? I would say he is good enough to play for the Boks but he is probably considered too old now, and nobody can displace Am.

Old Man wrote:Listening to off the ball, and another show, can't remeber the name, they reckon there isn't much the Bulls can do to beat Leinster, which I kind of agree with, but the arrogance is a bit too much to bear.

They are of the opinion that Stormers are favourites, but were complaing high and low about the Ulster match where the referee disallowed a try which cost them a home semi.

As if Ulster were the only team screwed out of a win.

Anyway, I don't think anyone can take the title from Leinster.

Bulls have structure and good pack with electric pace out wide, but I don't think Jake White can put together an attack to beat Leinster, Stormers have surprised many including myself, they don't play enough structured rugby, too flaky and risky at times, and finals rugby is all about having systems in place.

Bulls will have to play well and them being under dogs probably will take the pressure of them a fair bit which is a good thing. The main issue is in the old Pro14 and URC this season, home advantage is usually a big factor in knockout stages. Not many sides have managed to win away in playoffs historically.

It can be done though. Scarlets did it multiple times in their title winning season including beating Leinster on the way.

Main thing Bulls will have to do is limit mistakes to avoid giving away to much field position. They have the forward power to trouble Leinster over 80. But they really need to limit those errors and really target the 10 channel to keep their Fly Half tied into a defensive game. If they can keep it close, Leinster might struggle with nerves to get over the line.

Looking forward to it though, should be a good watch either way.

[quote="Old Man"]Listening to off the ball, and another show, can't remeber the name, they reckon there isn't much the Bulls can do to beat Leinster, which I kind of agree with, but the arrogance is a bit too much to

Don’t give up on Off the Ball Old Man. It’s regularly a really interesting podcast with good analysis. Figure out which guests you don’t like and then they’re easy to avoid. Matt Williams usually bugs me and Alan Quintan easily slides into pessimism and can be extremely critical. I recommend listening to Keith Wood, O’Dricoll, O’Gara and Gerry Thornly though.

AP Kronje gave great insight I thought into the SA sides on the Left Wing (hit and miss show imo with huge Leinster bias) The RTE rugby podcast can be fun and informative. Donal Lenihan is very much worth listening too and is the main analyst.. None of the other Irish ones really grabbed me.

Take the arrogance with a pinch of salt. RTE hit a winning formula with their sports analysis that has become a template for success copied by most in Ireland. This involves an even tempered, balance, intelligent analysis from a respected former player or two and at least one extreme/ passionate character, who throws out controversial, often extreme and unjust criticism/ praise that engenders debate on the panel and among fans. It’s sometimes hilarious, sometimes infuriating. But it is entertaining. Most people like hearing debate and not just bland views. Since Joe Brolly was fired this trend is diminishing.

Old Man wrote:Listening to off the ball, and another show, can't remeber the name, they reckon there isn't much the Bulls can do to beat Leinster, which I kind of agree with, but the arrogance is a bit too much to bear.

They are of the opinion that Stormers are favourites, but were complaing high and low about the Ulster match where the referee disallowed a try which cost them a home semi.

As if Ulster were the only team screwed out of a win.

Anyway, I don't think anyone can take the title from Leinster.

Bulls have structure and good pack with electric pace out wide, but I don't think Jake White can put together an attack to beat Leinster, Stormers have surprised many including myself, they don't play enough structured rugby, too flaky and risky at times, and finals rugby is all about having systems in place.

The confidence probably comes from head to head results (1 match v Bulls which Leinster won by 30 points - https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/leinster-vs-blue-bulls/100361) and the fact that Leinster topped the league and that it is in Dublin which is understandable. Im sure the Bulls will challenge and could win as Leinster have lost playoff games before but I also think Leinster will win.

Bulls giving this a great rattle, quality deception for their try.

Another Bulls try, Coetzee gets it, Bulls coming to Dublin for the win

Well they are at least going to try

What is this ref on.

Great game so far, great for the league.