Babbling 'brook

Even if the Bulls lose to Sharks, they end up on 66 points (69-70 if they beat them). Glasgow will end up with about 68 points. We end on 68 if we lose to Stormers but win all the other games, including beating Ulster away the week after a hypothetical European final and week before the URC quarter-...

Based on remaining fixtures, Leinster would do well to get third ahead of Munster. To break the top two, Leinster will definitely need to beat Ulster away right after a possible European Cup final and before the URC 1/4 final. The Bulls' remaining fixtures are all at home except one away fixture aga...

Based on remaining fixtures I still think we're now looking at a Glasgow-Bulls 1-2 at the top of the table, with Leinster in 3rd, possibly only very narrowly ahead of Munster in 4th. Would mean a lovely trip to altitude in Pretoria for a hypothetical Bulls-Leinster semi-final

Paddy McC is so young and so good that there isn't really a need for him to move. Ed Byrne and Deegan I can understand, good though Deegan is especially.

A Will Connors tackle mix conveniently uploaded just two weeks ago...let's hope for more of the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBITC6eZhno

Latu is beast with international calibre unfortunately, but not as mobile or influential as Bourgarit. I think not having Colombes and Wardi will hurt them, including from a bench impact perspective.

We're gonna win this, the 2009 vibes are flowing. Nienaber pulled off some controversial but ultimately inspired team selections in the world cup with South Africa, so I trust him now too.

It means that too many people are backing La Rochelle and they want to balance their risk by incentivising people to put money on Leinster.

Logorrhea wrote: ↑April 8th, 2024, 6:08 pm Prefer Dickson over Carley to be honest.

+1. Carley is a fusspot who favours fat defensive teams. Always a high penalty count with him and no flow.

Ireland win bronze in Hong Kong after beating Australia who had Michael Hopper in team 14-5 Second place in the standings, 8 points behind Argentina. It's incredible that we have a realistic chance of winning the overall series with just two rounds to go. Unimaginable until very recently. An Olympi...

We need a massive improvement to have any real chance. In a weird way, it's the opposite of the last three years, when Leinster came in as strong favourites vs. La Rochelle, looked imperious for months, and then got sucker-punched. Obviously it doesn't work like this, but you'd hope the lack of 100%...

I think we go 6:2 split on the bench. You could either start Connors or have him on the bench and bring him on on 55/60 minutes - around the time in the last three knock-out games against La Rochelle where they've really turned the screw physically. Imagine as their fatty front-row subs come on and ...

I feel bad for Stormers as they scored good tries. All three dour La Rochelle tries basically came down to, "We're bigger and fatter than you, and so are our subs."

You can't deny he has a point and the stat about having a similar record as Clermont during their 'making European finals' era is pretty damning. We really need to get over the line. Luke Ftizgerald thinks if Leinster can win one trophy it might trigger a mini-glut of trophies like 2009-2013, or Tou...

The schedule of knock-out games in the two competitions this season (assuming we progress) is more amenable to not rotating than last year. I agree with the general idea of rotating less than in the business end of the season last year, but targeting the Lions game in South Africa before sending mos...

1. Jake White’s post-match press conference on YouTube is good if you’re a Leinster fan who needs a belly rub about the whole Leinster set-up. 2. So many pleasing aspects to the performance last night. One detail not mentioned, Jamie Osborne’s body shape upon hitting the deck and his ball presentat...

Can anyone explain why the RDS can’t be used for a URC quarter-final? Is it purely a financial thing?

Scotland's summer tour is of the Americas, with Tests against USA, Canada, Chile and Uruguay. I wonder if this is beneficial getting such an easy ride? Kudos to them though for supporting some of the up and coming teams. Scotland haven't played a test match in New Zealand since 2000 and their last ...

If he does sign I'm hoping for a Van Der Merwe rather than a Van Der Linde prop. To be fair, coming off the 2007 world cup, CJ van der Linde was the best tight-head in the world. Huge man, rock solid scrummaging, and very athletic and powerful ball carrying. It's a real shame he developed the chron...

When Tupou was fully fit, the Wallabies scrum was generally rock solid. A huge unit/athlete and an abrasive ball carrier as well. A step up from Big Mike realistically. He is a very good player and is still only 27/28. I think it's a good bit of business, have him and Snyman hopefully as 'finishers...