Stormers v Leinster Sat 30 Apr KO 5:15pm RTE 2

[ronk]

It happened to Alex Soroka.

It's not usual for Leinster to be thinking about needing a losing bonus point.

[Oldschool]

It happened to Alex Soroka.

It's not usual for Leinster to be thinking about needing a losing bonus point.

Hope you're not suggesting we get more practice at it.

[hugonaut]

I was very impressed by the resilience our young players showed over in South Africa over the two games. They were very close to winning it against the Sharks and really dug deep with an even more inexperienced team to hang in against the Stormers.

This might be presumptive, but I'm looking forward to playing one of those teams again on home soil. They play a game with a lot of biff in it down in South Africa, and both sides did their best to bully our nippers down there. Sometimes you're the hammer, and sometimes you're the nail. We'll see how it goes for them in Dublin against a team full of internationals.

[Laighin Break]

I'd like to think some of our more experienced players would give Roos the welcome he deserves back in Dublin

[Xanthippe]

The lack of awareness of the league situation by the RTE commentary team was shocking.

You’re hardly surprised by that.

I only caught a snippet of Stephen Ferris on Premier Sports but I think the general gist was Leinster will be ultimately disappointed by the tour as they lost 2 games.

No awareness that top spot and number one seed was in general peril prior to going to SA considering the squad that was travelling.

To have the 1 seed sown up with a game to spare taking the last 2 weeks in context Is outstanding work.

We play cliche bingo when Ferris commentates. Super player, not the shrewdest. As an analyst he tends to talk in cliche driven s%ite. He's very different talking about Ulster on BCC NI and on RTE, shows a frightening lack of awareness of the fact if its free to air rugby there is significant audience crossover for both channels, certainly south of the border.

RTE dropped a serious ball on the league positions, think Jacqui Hurley would have copped it in fairness to her had she been on the broadcast, very surprised Heaslip didn't realise the import of the bonus point.

Not sure Jamie was certain what sport he was watching - he claimed we went down to 10 players twice in the game!!!!

[Up Wexford]

Really really enjoyed the SA tour this year even though we lost both. It’s the first URC/Pro 14 games that have captured the imagination since probably the 15/16(?) season at the six nations gap when VDF, Tracey et al got their chance. Looks like the South African expansion is a success, as above the Sharks and Stomers in Dublin will be a proper fixture. There’s no respect for us in SA which is what we need

[propertymad]

Leinster should easily sell out RDS for sharks and stormers next season ..... and could potential bring one of those games to Lansdowne road with the right marketing approach

Roos is being spoken about as a potential springbok, but he's nothing but a malignant shitehawk imposter

can't wait to see him up against a Leinster backrow featuring Conan, Doris and VDF, as he'll be shown up as a flat track bully and his dodgy temperament (and proper TMO-ing) will see him getting carded

[Long time lurker]

The S.A teams are certainly competitive. I think they're going to be a force. The Welsh regions look lost and it's bad for the league.

[Theleinsterlad]

The S.A teams are certainly competitive. I think they're going to be a force. The Welsh regions look lost and it's bad for the league.

Actually I disagree we now have at least 8 good to strong teams in the league to compete and then it drops but you have the likes of a Connacht etc who can cause upsets on their day. This change in fortune will have to cause a stir in wales, bad enough being hammered by irish teams but add SA, it should force them to sort their sh!t out

[blockhead]

Stormers Head Coach John Dobson

Speaking to reporters, Dobson made a very honest admission after his team failed to score a fourth try for the full house of points.
“There is a feeling of anti-climax,” Dobson said, adding: “A coach, I think it was Tony Booth [of Ospreys], told me earlier in the season that the best team in the competition is Leinster, and the second-best team is Leinster B, and I don’t think he was joking.

[riocard911]

The S.A teams are certainly competitive. I think they're going to be a force. The Welsh regions look lost and it's bad for the league.

Actually I disagree we now have at least 8 good to strong teams in the league to compete and then it drops but you have the likes of a Connacht etc who can cause upsets on their day. This change in fortune will have to cause a stir in wales, bad enough being hammered by irish teams but add SA, it should force them to sort their sh!t out

+1. We live in hope.....

[blockhead]

The S.A teams are certainly competitive. I think they're going to be a force. The Welsh regions look lost and it's bad for the league.

Actually I disagree we now have at least 8 good to strong teams in the league to compete and then it drops but you have the likes of a Connacht etc who can cause upsets on their day. This change in fortune will have to cause a stir in wales, bad enough being hammered by irish teams but add SA, it should force them to sort their sh!t out

+1. We live in hope.....

Everyone in the media is talking about how the Saffers are gonna get better in the away games as they get more familiar. But does that not apply to the Euro teams too?
I think it will be a few years yet before we see teams winning regularly in the other hemisphere.
Also, Heino games will force the best South African teams to compromise team selection from time to time.
All things considered, South Africa is a rugby giant and should be a constant force in the URC and Heino as we move forward.

[blockhead]

Actually I disagree we now have at least 8 good to strong teams in the league to compete and then it drops but you have the likes of a Connacht etc who can cause upsets on their day. This change in fortune will have to cause a stir in wales, bad enough being hammered by irish teams but add SA, it should force them to sort their sh!t out

+1. We live in hope.....

Everyone in the media is talking about how the Saffers are gonna get better in the away games as they get more familiar. But does that not apply to the Euro teams too?
I think it will be a few years yet before we see teams winning regularly in the other hemisphere.
Also, Heino games will force the best South African teams to compromise team selection from time to time.
All things considered, South Africa is a rugby giant and should be a constant force in the URC and Heino as we move forward.

Another thing. Get the feeling the Saffa fans like the idea of their teams winning lots of games at home! Some of the home attendances have been fairly impressive compared to Super Rugby in the past years.
This URC thing might just catch on!

[Long time lurker]

I think the S.A teams can win in both tournaments. They are giants in rugby! Look at how many South Africans play for teams in Europe and they can still field teams like they do.

[wixfjord]

Nice little clips package on Soroka.

His defensive lineout jumping is incredible.

https://twitter.com/bernardjackman/stat ... 3093209088