Babbling 'brook

The biggest single factor in the Stormers vs LAR game will be the availability of players for LAR. They're almost definitely without Bourgarit and Wardi which is two of their front five. Skelton has been wrapped in cotton wool after hurting his calf in the first week of February (similar to what he ...

Well that's a relief. I'd like to think we will integrate a number of guys back into the 23 in advance of the Bulls and Europe thereafter. We're short on game time to gel especially with such a kamikaze defensive system.

Jordan Larmour and Ronan Kelleher were at a charitable trust photo shoot earlier which suggests they weren't training. Could be a very depleted squad that we're putting out this Friday. If so, I don't think we'll be winning. Not only to the Bulls have a decent team but I'm not sure there's another t...

Is there anything to suggest that Ryan and Keenan won't be available at this point in time? I haven't missed something have I? If he has torn his bicep (and all imagery suggests he has done significant damage to it having underwent surgery already), I'd be more curious as to whether Ryan will play ...

Was he? From what I can see Herbst left Ulster after the 2018/19 season That was Herbst's last appearance for Ulster. He was released by mutual agreement in the days after the game as he had an offer with the Bulls on the table. I'd imagine there was an agreement that he'd remain with Ulster as lon...

Is there anything to suggest that Ryan and Keenan won't be available at this point in time? I haven't missed something have I? If he has torn his bicep (and all imagery suggests he has done significant damage to it having underwent surgery already), I'd be more curious as to whether Ryan will play ...

If (and it's quite a significant if) we can get Tupou fit both in terms of injuries as well as conditioning (which is suspect too), he would be a great signing. At 135kg+ he has the physical profile that we lack generally (Ala'alatoa is the closest thing at 125kg+). He has a loose game that no prop ...

Rewatched the game yesterday and I thought RB was comfortably better than his brother who contributed very little until the last 10 mins before going off. HB was very soft defensively as they blew past him repeatedly in the first half. No costly misses but he posed no threat to their carriers at all...

McGrath has a lot of value to give but I would certainly see him as having regressed in the last couple of years. Passing was never his strong point but, at his best, it was at an acceptable level. At its current level, he delivers close to double digit ropey passes in a game which really isn't acce...

Cardiff will be up for this. They have a young team and play a fast attacking game. I seem to recall they picked our pocket last year so the players need to put in a big one. Cardiff apparently haven't had any players released for the game. The only game they've won since November was at home to th...

I'd rather lose Ed Byrne than Milne, who really looked like he was improving a lot last season. Boyle is going to become a real option in the next 12 months, and I would hope that Paddy Mac may well end up at TH as he fills out. Is there any truth to the rumour that Porter may be moving back to TH?...

Jackman works largely in the media and is required to generate and maintain a profile to ensure he has an income. He very much plays to the audience with a lot of his commentary depending on what way the wind is blowing. It's to his own benefit which is fair enough once people can put context to wha...

Murray was very poor last week at home to Bayonne. I recall he threw 4 passes to the ground in the opening quarter. And then he came on yesterday and had a fairly brutal time of it again. Kick on the full, knock on in their 22 and the intercept. A truly painful 20 minutes for him. Whilst a bad coupl...

ROG has won the European title twice with a team that was in the ProD2 less than a decade ago. Even if they don't get out of the pool in Europe, they'll finish 5th (SF are done) and be odds on to win the Challenge Cup. He'll need to have back to back seasons of utter dross before they consider movin...

I was at that game and got a free trip on one of the Guinness buses which stopped for a pint in Horse and Jockey on the way, it lashed rain all game and the bodhrán didn't make it back home. Great match report which seems to show we started the game with 13 players, I guess that makes it an even mo...

The number of times that Skelton got in people's faces in previous meetings and no one challenged him was ridiculous. Baird decided that he had enough and did the right thing. Skelton was being an absolute grub at the rucks. In that instance, he was lying on Connors, then sat up on him and then kne...

There comes a point though where you have to think that the other guys are just the better bets long term than Larmour. I'd look for TOB to usurp him in the 23 right now if they wanted a back three player on the bench. Larmour has gone through these blips a number of times and in a fairly low profil...

After two defeats to Samoa and Japan in July, Tonga this morning completed a double victory over the touring Canada side in the early hours. Today's victory at 36-12 was an improvement in performance from the first game 28-3 result (when Tonga played with 14 men for the second-half) but some commen...

McCarthy doesn't need versatility. He's our only specialist tighthead lock. He frees up Ryan or Henderson to play loose lock where they seem to be more effective. That allows Baird or Beirne to go to the backrow. They're better backrows than Prendergast or Coombes at the moment. Hence Prendergast o...

JOB should be nailed on at this point. He was very smooth in his 40 minutes against Italy. Positionally, he was solid (although the kicks from Italy were poor and made life easy on him). But he showed a willingness to step in at first receiver on more than one occasion and his passing was actually l...