URC Round 17 - It's the final countdown

First topic message reminder :

Penultimate league round of the season and things are tight in the race for top spot and the race for the play offs. Some big games this weekend too.

Friday 17th May 2024

Zebre Parma v Scarlets
Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA
Live on: Sky Italia, BBC Wales, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Edinburgh Rugby v Munster
Hive Stadium, Edinburgh – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA
Live on: Premier Sports, TG4, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv


Saturday 18th May 2024

Vodacom Bulls v Benetton
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria – KO 13.00 IRE & UK / 14.00 ITA & SA
Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Ospreys v Dragons RFC
Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea – KO 15.00 IRE & UK / 16.00 ITA & SA
Live on: Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Emirates Lions v Glasgow Warriors
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg – KO 15.05 IRE & UK / 16.05 ITA & SA
Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Connacht v DHL Stormers
Dexcom Stadium, Galway – KO 17.05 IRE & UK / 18.05 ITA & SA
Live on: RTÉ, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Hollywoodbets Sharks v Cardiff Rugby
Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA & SA
Live on: SuperSport, S4C, Premier Sports, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Ulster v Leinster
Kingspan Stadium, Ulster – KO 19.35 IRE & UK / 20.35 ITA & SA
Live on: Premier Sports, TG4, SuperSport, Flo Rugby & URC.tv

Cardiff meanwhile got another one and leading 36-7. 5 points in the bag but neither side altering the final top 8 standings.

Next one up Ulster vs Leinster.....

Originally I didnt think Ulster would win this. But having seen the Leinster team I think they will win. If they do top 8 is assured. Leinsters bench looks a bit weak. Could be the difference that sees Ulster edge this.

Leinster do have some good starters but I cant see some of the returning stars doing a full 80.

Still will be tight as Ulster are not playing that well but they do need this more than Leinster.

I will say this Leinster selection to me looks like they are not worried about getting a home semi final. If they lose tonight I dont see them making the top 2.

Third time is the charm. Let's hope Ulster keep the pressure on

We need to finish the chances.

All Ulster but its 7-7. Aside from a charge down Leinster have shown nothing here.

Ulster should be further ahead and the last missed 3 on 1 should have been put away. Ulster can't blow these kind of chances and expect to win.

Welshmushroom wrote:

I enjoyed todays match between Ospreys and Dragons.  To be honest Hollis even though he was picked on the wing caused them problems when he popped up in midfield.  If Dai is smart he will move him to 12 and get a quicker bigger centre outside him.  Our back 3 today looked very good.  If we can get a good combo in the centre I reckon we would see a lot more broken play tries than we do.  But we lost that game up front which I have been saying is an issue for us for ages.  Also Arhip isnt the answer for us.  I hope Dai goes another route.  

I didn't get to watch the game, as I accidentally slept through most of it, in between nights.

I initially thought Hollis was going to be a 12 for us, but it seems like the chat is large winger. Him and the other new signing could be a powerful centre combo hopefully. I liked the sound of what Westwood did when he came on though as well and really want to see us push him.

TH issues are not a surprise and need to be addressed.

that will be 14-7 Leinster totally against the run of play.....but thats the difference. They get a chance they take it. Ulster had like 3-4 chances so far and most of them havent been finished.

Balls. Two chances two tries for Leinster.

RiscaGame wrote:

Welshmushroom wrote:

I enjoyed todays match between Ospreys and Dragons.  To be honest Hollis even though he was picked on the wing caused them problems when he popped up in midfield.  If Dai is smart he will move him to 12 and get a quicker bigger centre outside him.  Our back 3 today looked very good.  If we can get a good combo in the centre I reckon we would see a lot more broken play tries than we do.  But we lost that game up front which I have been saying is an issue for us for ages.  Also Arhip isnt the answer for us.  I hope Dai goes another route.  

I didn't get to watch the game, as I accidentally slept through most of it, in between nights.

I initially thought Hollis was going to be a 12 for us, but it seems like the chat is large winger. Him and the other new signing could be a powerful centre combo hopefully. I liked the sound of what Westwood did when he came on though as well and really want to see us push him.

TH issues are not a surprise and need to be addressed.

If Dai doesnt move Hollis to 12 he will make a mistake again. Hollis doesnt really have the pace for wing. And we have plenty of young quick talent coming through so we dont need to push people into our back 3. Our centres (specifically 12) have struggled to get us go forward. Almost every 12 in the league are monsters and just from a defensive point of view we need to have a big man there. He looks as if he has a offload as well so if we can run off him it should open the field for our quicker players....

Ulster take 3 to go back to 10-14 to Leinster......

How on earth are Ulster behind here.....I think once Leinster pull their forward bench on they wont be as good in defence i reckon.

Burns showing why its important to have a experienced 10. His kicking is totally opening Leinster defence up. Couple of lucky bounces and Ulster could have had a couple more scores as well.

Keenan is class but if they pull him (which I think they will) might end Leinster good defensive backline play.

Am I the only one who thinks Leinster dont actually scrum legally? I dont even think its subtle at this point.

That said Ulster are not good in that area to exploit it.

Watching this I do wish we could finally have refs train professionally so you could get them to watch game tapes on all the club sides.

That way you wouldnt get these trained tactics to kill the ball. Because if every ref knows what each team does they can actually stamp the behaviour out of the coaching. And for me this stuff is clearly coached.

Half time Leinster lead 14-10 still.......but Ulster really should have wrapped this game up with the chances they had.

The fact they havent probably shows where their confidence levels are at. I dont doubt the effort as there is plenty of heart on show tonight but confidence usually plays a big part in converting chances. They just look a little shy on self belief.

Great drama though.......I still think Ulster will win this if Cullen empties his bench which I think he will as i imagine he needs Ala'alatoa, Healy, Conan and Keenan. That said he only has one back to come on but the forwards will probably get replaced.

Ulster penalty- they go for goal. Should be 3. to make it a 1 point game.

He converts - 1 point it is

3rd try Leinster - have done nothing in attack other than the 3 tries. Ulster getting a lesson in converting chances.....

Stockdale goes the length to keep them in this......

Crazy decision from Leinster to kick to corner. First team I would understand but they have been losing the physical battle since the props went off. Ulster penalty to clear their lines.

Penalty Ulster. Long kick but this I reckon would win it.

To be fair Leinster are dangerously offside on some of their line defence. Ulster crowd picked up the last one but ref said no. But they have been offside on a fair few of the last sets.

Cooney gets the 3 though. Ulster lead.

Well that game was a bit close

Ulster hold out - I think that's them for the top 8 now. Massive result for them. Should have been a easier win. Leinster bench had no impact really and they fell away quite badly in the last 20. I did think that would happen.

Surprised Cullen kept some of his bigger names on for the full 80.

Ooooooooooooooo

Ulster did the double
Ulster did the double

Na na na na

Think that will prove costly for Leinster for a home semi. I reckon Glasgow might put a big score on Zebre and 5 points as well. But Munster might top the league now and unless Bulls lose in R18 top 2 will be nailed on. Bulls have Sharks who are playing for nothing so can't see them putting up much of a fight.

Worse still is if Leinster finish 4th (which I'm not sure has ever happened in the league before) because then they will have Stormers in the qtrs which is the worst of the 4 teams to get in my opinion.

If Cullen keeps this up it might be a while before Leinster win a URC title.

I do wonder now there are far less games and even less games to rotate youth in how this will impact future Leinster development.

Welshmushroom wrote:I think Scarlets are in a worse position than the Dragons.  They need a total overhaul from what I have seen.  And I don't think they have that much youth at U21 level coming through either.  I know their U18's look promising but they are 4-5 years away before they can really look at that batch.

I enjoyed todays match between Ospreys and Dragons.  To be honest Hollis even though he was picked on the wing caused them problems when he popped up in midfield.  If Dai is smart he will move him to 12 and get a quicker bigger centre outside him.  Our back 3 today looked very good.  If we can get a good combo in the centre I reckon we would see a lot more broken play tries than we do.  But we lost that game up front which I have been saying is an issue for us for ages.  Also Arhip isnt the answer for us.  I hope Dai goes another route.  

Lions somehow turned being behind to Glasgow and ended up putting up a big score.  Not great news for Glasgow as that result might have cost them top spot at the end of the season.  Glasgow will however still back 5 points against Zebre so most teams will know what they need to do to overtake them.

There is still good potential in some of their current crop, but as I alluded to, they’re not running the show very well.

I found it amusing that some of our fans thought dragons played well. They did some things well, but as usual there’s a lot of mistakes like dropped balls and also a lot of penalties. We were well beaten up front, so for me they were crap. Agree Arhip isn’t the answer, we need someone better. Reed looked like a rabbit in the headlights again. I’ve been saying for a while why don’t we try Rio at fullback as Cai is too average. He actually moves the younger Rosser there and he does very well! Glad we’ve found more talent in the backline. I think Hollis is meh, but playing on the wing behind our pack at this point in the season isn’t going to help. Ospreys need better backs, it would be good if they nabbed Sio. I don’t like that we’re letting him go, he looks a cut above most around here.

14-man Lions pretty much demolished Glasgow, bit of a surprise but the Lions are good.

Welshmushroom wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:

Welshmushroom wrote:

I enjoyed todays match between Ospreys and Dragons.  To be honest Hollis even though he was picked on the wing caused them problems when he popped up in midfield.  If Dai is smart he will move him to 12 and get a quicker bigger centre outside him.  Our back 3 today looked very good.  If we can get a good combo in the centre I reckon we would see a lot more broken play tries than we do.  But we lost that game up front which I have been saying is an issue for us for ages.  Also Arhip isnt the answer for us.  I hope Dai goes another route.  

I didn't get to watch the game, as I accidentally slept through most of it, in between nights.

I initially thought Hollis was going to be a 12 for us, but it seems like the chat is large winger. Him and the other new signing could be a powerful centre combo hopefully. I liked the sound of what Westwood did when he came on though as well and really want to see us push him.

TH issues are not a surprise and need to be addressed.

If Dai doesnt move Hollis to 12 he will make a mistake again.  Hollis doesnt really have the pace for wing.  And we have plenty of young quick talent coming through so we dont need to push people into our back 3.  Our centres (specifically 12) have struggled to get us go forward.  Almost every 12 in the league are monsters and just from a defensive point of view we need to have a big man there.  He looks as if he has an offload as well so if we can run off him it should open the field for our quicker players....

Does Westwood have enough pace for wing? Long-term he’s probably a 12 but he could learn the trade a bit by playing on the wing. What was his primary position during age grade?
Dai seems reluctant to have the Rosser brothers on the pitch at the same time. Strange call as they both have the pace required for international level.

I wonder if Ulster fans call recall a few weeks ago when I said something like, hey it’s not looking bad for Ulster and the only way is up!

Don’t Munster and Bulls overtake Leinster and Glasgow now? I haven’t seen an updated table yet. You have to say, Munster have been annoyingly good and efficient at this end of the season; whilst Bulls are relentlessly good on their own patch.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Does Westwood have enough pace for wing? Long-term he’s probably a 12 but he could learn the trade a bit by playing on the wing. What was his primary position during age grade?
Dai seems reluctant to have the Rosser brothers on the pitch at the same time. Strange call as they both have the pace required for international level.

So he mostly played full back at age grade. Also played a bit of 10 at youth level.

He looked pretty good in terms of carrying and offloading. He could make a good 13. But 13 is a tricky defensive position but I would rather see him get a season under his belt playing there so he can learn the patterns. I think he is quicker than most centres so 13 may be a good place for him. I'd probably like to see him play with Hollis at 12. I suspect our lack of physicality in the centres has cost us a fair bit.

The younger Rosser looked quite good at 15 as well. So I would like to see him stay there keep Dyer and his brother on the other wing.

I'd think if we can get O'brien in at 10 with some powerful centres that backline would do ok.

But it's all academy if Dai doesnt sort his front 5 out. Hopefully that Tongan will do a good job on carrying for us next season.

Suppose the scrum law changes might do us some favours but I really hope we address the prime issue of the pack instead.

mikey_dragon wrote:Don’t Munster and Bulls overtake Leinster and Glasgow now? I haven’t seen an updated table yet. You have to say, Munster have been annoyingly good and efficient at this end of the season; whilst Bulls are relentlessly good on their own patch.

Yes they have. Basically unless Bulls and Munster both lose I cant see Leinster getting a home semi. And given how both those are playing at the moment I think they will secure home semis in R18.