The United Rugby Championship commences… plus emerging Ireland squad picked

Edinburgh vs. Leinster Match Preview:

Leo Cullen has picked three academy players to start their campaign in a tricky away fixture in Edinburgh. Charlie Tector was a good u.20 outhalf subsequently overshadowed by his successor, Sam Prendergast but is played slightly out of position at 12. Gus McCarthy and Conor O’Tighearnaigh were members of the Grand Slam winning u.20 team the season before last, but this is a big step up for them. I would be particularly worried about the prospects for the Leinster front row against an all international Edinburgh front row. A strong looking Leinster bench reserve front row may have to come to the rescue!

Edinburgh have outstanding wingers, a strong pack, and you would have to make the home team slight favourites against a Leinster squad containing only six members of the Ireland squad which toured South Africa, two of whom, Sam Prendergast and Jordan Larmour, didn’t even get a minute’s game time there. Leinster’s surfeit of riches at 10 is illustrated by the fact that three of them are in this match day squad, which, only one specialist centre, looks a little unbalanced. Still, Cullen has seen these players in training and pre-season, so must feel they are capable of doing the job.

Match Summary

Edinburgh repelled two early Leinster attacks into touch and then, as I feared, forced a scrum penalty against Clarkson through Schoeman who eventually increased his penalty win by getting to the line from close in. 7-0. But Leinster weren’t slow in responding and a good back-line move led to Tommy O’Brien scoring out wide, unfortunately injuring himself in the process. Rob Russell came on. 7-5.

Poor kicking had been a feature of Edinburgh’s game – why is Ben Healy on the bench? – and Tector picks off a high ball and canters to the line throwing a fine dummy on the way. No lack of confidence there! 7-12. Ryan disrupts an Edinburgh maul and Leinster seem to be on top in the scrum but Gibson Park knocks on and Leinster lose their shape in defence, allowing van der Merwe in. 12-12.

A Gibson Park dribbler forces another Thompson mistake on the line and Leinster run a penalty from in front of the post. It didn’t work out for them but they were the slightly better side for the first half. I’d like to see what Slimani, Healy & co. can do to this Edinburgh scrum in the second half! H/t 12-12

A lost line-out and a penalty leads to an Edinburgh line-out on the 5 metre line and a mauled try. The Leinster backs were looking on while Edinburgh backs added their weight to the maul. Leinster need to wake up. 19-12 .  Larmour gets on the scoreboard after another well timed Prendergast off-load. 19-19. You get the feeling that if Leinster are patient and take their points, they can win this.

The Slimani Healy co-op kill the Edinburgh scrum but strangely the ref doesn’t award a penalty. Not to worry, Gibson Park shrugs off a few would be tacklers and scores under the posts. 19-26. The co-op destroys another Edinburgh scrum – and Edinburgh make the mistake of competing for the line-out so Conan trundles over. The Leinster A listers are making their presence felt… 19 – 33 on 58 minutes.

A miss-match in the Leinster defence allows Van Der Merve in again 24-33. Not sure the Co-op are too happy with Piardi’s interpretation of the scrum laws, but Edinburgh are staying in the fight. Ross Byrne is yellow carded for competing for a high ball perhaps fractionally late, it seems a harsh decision. Ben Healy misses the long range penalty.  Cian Healy could have been done for a no arms tackle and then Leinster are penalised at a line-out and Vellacott creates a great try for Edinburgh. They deserve the two points for staying in the fight. Leinster will be happy with their five! 31-33.

Gibson Park gets man of the match. A class act who controlled the match well and was missed when he went off. I’m not sure Ross Byrne helped his chances of retaining the 10 shirt, but otherwise the Leinster players acquitted themselves well enough. Plenty to work on at the set piece and breakdown but they had the extra bit of quality when it mattered.

Leinster (v Edinburgh, Friday, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh, 7.35pm): Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Charlie Tector, Jordan Larmour, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Michael Milne, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Conor O’Tighearnaigh, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (capt).Replacements: John McKee, Cian Healy, Rabah Slimani, Brian Deeny, James Culhane, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Rob Russell.

Edinburgh: Wes Goosen; Darcy Graham, Mosese Tuipulotu, Matt Currie, Duhan van der Merwe; Ross Thompson, Ali Price; Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Paul Hill, Marshall Sykes, Grant Gilchrist ©, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Ben Muncaster. Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Boan Venter, D’Arcy Rae, Jamie Hodgson, Magnus Bradbury, Ben Vellacott, Ben Healy, Emiliano Boffelli

—oo0oo—

Munster vs. Connacht: Match preview

Munster give competitive debuts to Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell, and Billy Burns while welcoming back Jean Kleyn from long term injury. I doubt Tom Farrell will fill the gap left by Antoine Frisch but he did have his moments for Connacht in previous seasons. It will be interesting to see will Abrahams prove an able replacement for Zebo or Burns for Carbery. Otherwise it looks like business as usual for Munster.

Connacht give competitive debuts to Piers O’Conor, Josh Ione and Ben Murphy (son of Ulster coach Richie Murphy, and and outstanding prospect in the Leinster academy) and a lot will depend on how quickly they settle into the side. Mack Hansen is back from long term injury and Santiago Cordero fresh from his exploits for Argentina in the Rugby Championship and will hope to add their X-factor to a sometimes inconsistent Connacht side.

Connacht have gone for a 6:2 bench split, exploiting the versatility of David Hawkshaw on the bench and the potential impact of Jansen who had some outstanding moments last season. On balance, you would have to go for a home win, but this Connacht side could trouble any team on their day.

Match Summary

The match begins with an error strewn midfield morass with referee Chris Busby trying to impose  himself and taking no nonsense at scrum time. But then Ben Murphy gets a yard on Casey and passes to Hansen who flicks to Ione who makes the corner. A great start for Ione and Connacht. 0 –  5. More great off-loading by Connacht leads to a try for Ben Murphy. 0-12.

The Connacht defence has been been very physical and they scrambled excellently when Munster started to run, pass and off-load well. The Munster handling and line-out has malfunctioned on occasion, but they keep going forward and Cordero is yellow card for head on head contact on Casey. The mitigation was that the diminutive Casey was already on one knee.

Nankivell, Munster’s best back so far,  bounces off a Connacht tackle and scores unopposed 7-12. It’s all Munster now, Wycherley is held up over the line, and then Haley slices through the defence and scores. 14-12.  Bolton is injured in the process and Hawkshaw has to come on. Connacht may rue their 6:2 bench split yet.

Nankivell avoids a yellow card for a deliberate knock on preventing a score (the ref claimed it went backwards on review) but Connacht stay on the attack, and Ione and Murphy – both debutants – carve the Munster defence open again for Murphy to score his second.  The left footed Forde kicks the conversion from the left of the posts. 14-19 h/t.

This has been an entertaining match so far with both sides giving it socks. For me Murphy is a better, faster, 9 than Craig Casey, and Ione looks a find, even if his kicking isn’t always on the money. He complement’s Connacht’s fast passing back playing style perfectly, something Carty was never able to do.

Burns misses a penalty to touch from a tight angle and then a second one  and gets a cheer when he nails his third one after  Kleyn drew a penalty from Heffernan for retaliation by holding onto him in an off-side position. Hodnett finally gets over 21-19. Ione hits a post from in front of the posts and Hansen almost creates a try off the rebound. Connacht are ultimately held up.

Great off-loading by Connacht yields a bonus point try for Hawkshaw who is nominally a 10,12 0rn13, but fast enough to play on the wing. 21-26. Another collapsed scrum leads to a quick tap by Casey and Coombes is on the end of a quick backline move. Who says he lacks pace? 28-26. Piers O’Conor, Connacht’s other debutante has had some good moments and almost creates a try. Forde finally carries two defenders with him and makes the line. He has been a dominant carrier all day. 28-33.

More brilliant play by Munster yields a try for Daly and Butler nails the conversion giving Munster the lead once gain; 35-33. A rare mistake by Blade reminds us he now has two outstanding young 9’s snapping at his heals – Mathew Devine and Ben Murphy. Marmion is no longer being missed!

This was a brilliant match between tow excellent teams which neither side deserved to lose. It might have started with a lot of errors, but got better and better as it went on with a lot of skilful running and handling by both sides. There was no lack of endeavour or enterprise and both coaches will be pleased with the performance. The defence coaches will be looking at the 10 tries conceded, but many of them were the result of outstanding play.

Minor nit-picks would be Ione’s lack of accuracy off the tee, and Burn’s kicking from hand. But Connacht have moved on from some fitful performances last season, and Munster have once again proved their resilience in Thomond Park. Connacht will be pleased with their new additions, but the jury is still out on Burns. Farrell had a solid enough debut for Munster but not much was seen of Abrahams.

A great start to the season for both.

Munster: M Haley; T Abrahams, T Farrell, A Nankivell, S Daly; B Burns, C Casey; J Loughman, D Barron (capt), J Ryan; J Kleyn, F Wycherley; R Quinn, J Hodnett, G Coombes. Replacements: N Scannell, J Wycherley, O Jager, A Kendellen, J O’Donoghue, E Coughlan, T Butler, S O’Brien.

Connacht: S Cordero; M Hansen, P O’Conor, C Forde, S Bolton; J Ione, B Murphy; D Buckley, D Heffernan, J Aungier, J Joyce, D Murray, J Murphy, C Oliver, C Prendergast (capt). Replacements: D Tierney-Martin, P Dooley, S Illo, O Dowling, S Hurley-Langton, C Blade, D Hawkshaw, S Jansen.

Referee: C Busby (IRFU)

—oo0oo—

Ulster versus Glasgow: Match Preview

On the face of it opening your season against the champions is a tough ask, but this is precisely the sort of home match which Ulster need to win if they want to be in contention for the trophy at the end of the season. Ulster have named a reasonably strong team but are missing the likes of James Hume and  Stuart McCloskey in the centre, Robert Baloucoune on the wing, Rob Herring and Tom Stewart at hooker, Marty Moore at prop and John Cooney at 9, and so may not have quite what it takes to beat a Glasgow team also missing a few front liners like Scott Cummings, Allan Dell , Jack Dempsey, Huw Jones,  and Rory Sutherland.

I would fear for the Ulster front row, where Corrie Barrett makes his debut, and a lack of cohesion in the backs, where Aidan Morgan makes his first competitive start. The Glasgow centre paring of Sione Tuipulotu and Stafford McDowall will be a particular threat against the relatively inexperienced Stewart Moore and Jude Postlethwaite. However, if Ulster can hit the ground running, they should be in with a shout.

Match Summary

Glasgow made persistent early pressure pay with a line-out maul try.  Doak kicked a close in penalty after concerted Ulster attacks, but it felt almost like an admission of defeat after repeated failures to breach the Glasgow line. But then Aidan Morgan scored a good try on his debut.  10-5. Alas,  Glasgow come storming back for another close in try. 10-12.

Glasgow seemed marginally on top in a lot of the forward exchanges – particularly the set pieces – and so Ulster will probably be happy to go in at half-time just 10-12 down. Tom O’Toole, Harry Sheridan, and Cormac Izuchukwu may be able to change that when they come off the bench, but Ulster will need to find an extra 5-10% to win this match.

Another two scrum penalties go Glasgow’s way. Tom O’Toole can’t come on fast enough, although Ulster seem to be having problems on both sides of the scrum! Ulster  escape when a Glasgow try is disallowed for a forward pass, but the signs are ominous. Do Ulster have another gear?

A third scrum penalty against Ulster’s new front row doesn’t bode well. Ulster can find no way past a strong Glasgow defence. Tom Jordan gets away with a yellow for a shoulder on head clear-out at a ruck, but is it enough to turn the tide? Ulster’s close in drives seemed to lack organisation and conviction and they lose the ball over the line. Glasgow concede a second yellow to Riche Gray,  but manage to hold Ulster up over the line.

It’s all Ulster now, but they don’t seem to b able to score. Taking a three pointer from one of their penalties would at least have given them the lead, or going wide against 13 man Glasgow might have yielded better dividends. But the pressure is telling. Glasgow concede a crooked throw at a line-out, but can Ulster capitalise on a scrum? Finally Ulster get it over the line from what must have been their thirtieth close in drive in the match. Aidan O’Brien doesn’t seem to be a great goal kicker though… 15-12.

Kyle Steyn scores almost from the re-start and Hastings kicks a good conversion. . Ulster are making this very hard for themselves. 15-19. Ulster’s only tactic, when the chips are down, seems to be crash ball from close in. But finally, in the 85th.  minute Shanahan crashes over after what seems like 50 crash balls in the match. The very definition of a hard fought victory! Aidan Morgan misses again…  2o-19 f/t.

Ulster: Ethan McIlroy, Mike Lowry, Stewart Moore, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale, Aidan Morgan, Nathan Doak; Eric O’Sullivan, John Andrew, Corrie Barrett, Iain Henderson (C), Kieran Treadwell, James McNabney, David McCann, Nick Timoney. Replacements: James McCormick, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Harry Sheridan, Cormac Izuchukwu, Dave Shanahan, James Humphreys, Werner Kok.

Glasgow: 1 Jamie Bhatti (106), 2 Johnny Matthews (73), 3 Sam Talakai (0); 4 Max Williamson (19), 5 Richie Gray (115); 6 Matt Fagerson (111)’ 7 Rory Darge (48), 8 Henco Venter (22); 9 Jamie Dobie (68), 10 Tom Jordan (50); 11 Kyle Steyn (C) (77), 12 Sione Tuipulotu (55), 13 Stafford McDowall (78),14 Sebastian Cancelliere (38), 15 Josh McKay (49)Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston (9), 17 Nathan McBeth (42), 18 Zander Fagerson (149); 19 Alex Samuel (15), 20 Gregor Brown (20); 21 Euan Ferrie (20), 22 Ben Afshar (8), 23 Adam Hastings (53)

—oo0oo—

Emerging Ireland Squad

The Emerging Ireland Squad to play the Pumas on Wednesday, October 2nd (3pm Irish time), Super Rugby outfit Western Force on Sunday, October 6th (12pm Irish time) and defending Currie Cup champions the Cheetahs on Wednesday, October 9th (6pm Irish time) has been named and includes quite a few academy players (in bold), some of whom have yet to make their senior debut.

It looks a tough task unless their opposition field under strength teams, but clearly these players have been ear-marked for greater things ahead. Twelve members of the 2022 Emerging Ireland Squad have since been capped for Ireland. I am surprised the squad contains only two specialist 10’s and I suspect the provinces kicked back against losing some of their key players while the URC is ongoing.

(Backs – 15): Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Ethan Coughlan (Shannon/Munster), Matthew Devine (Corinthians/Connacht), Cormac Foley (Lansdowne/Leinster), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht), Jack Murphy (Clontarf/Ulster), Tommy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Munster), Ben O’Connor (UCC/Munster), Andrew Osborne (Naas/Leinster), Jude Postlethwaite (Banbridge/Ulster), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster), Rob Russell (Dublin University/Leinster), Zac Ward (Ballynahinch/Ulster/Ireland Sevens).

(Forwards – 18): Jack Aungier (Lansdowne/Connacht), Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster), James Culhane (UCD/Leinster), Jordan Duggan (Naas/Connacht), Sean Edogbo (UCC/Munster), Ronan Foxe (Garryowen/Munster), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Sean Jansen (Connacht), Alex Kendellen (UCC/Munster, capt), Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster), Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht), Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemian/Munster), Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD/Leinster), Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Harry Sheridan (Dublin University/Ulster), Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley/Leinster), Alex Soroka (Clontarf/Leinster), Scott Wilson (QUB/Ulster).

PS – since my last update Martin Moloney, whose career has been blighted by injury, has left Leinster to join Exeter where he will join ex-Leinster lock Jack Dunne, ex-Ulster under age pathway scrum half Niall Armstrong, and Ex- Munster academy lock Eoin O’Connor. Former Munster centre Dan Goggin and Ulster backrow Greg Jones have joined a St Mary’s club side newly promoted to division 1A of the AIL. Ulster have signed Corrie Barrett, a former Schools’ Cup winner with Royal Belfast Academical Institution in 2015/16 who played most recently with Doncaster, to supplement their meagre resources at prop.

 

Summary

Hard fought victories for Leinster, Munster , and Ulster and two points for a gallant Connacht is about as good as it could get for the opening week-end. No one can fault the commitment of all the Irish teams, but some smarter play and better defence will be required against the top teams at the sharp end of the season. As a special bonus, Ireland regain their no. 1 world ranking after South Africa’s narrow defeat to Argentina