Tuesday, 27 December 2016

PRO 12 27-12-16

PRO 12 RUGBY
FRIDAY
TREVISO 23-12 ZEBRE
ULSTER 23-7 CONNACHT
ROSS TRY WINS MATCH FOR ULSTER
McCloskey's score helped his side to a 13-0 half-time advantage, with Ross crossing after the interval and Paddy Jackson adding 13 points with the boot.
Jack Carty converted his own try for Connacht's only points of the game.
This win puts Ulster back into the race for 4th spot and I wonder what can happen there
MONDAY
MUNSTER 29-17 LEINSTER
STANDER MAKES DIFFRENCE FOR MUNSTER
Zane Kirchner's try put Leinster ahead before Simon Zebo's well-taken score and a Ronan O'Mahony effort just before the break helped Munster move 14-10 up.
Helped by a greater complement of Ireland players, Munster dominated after half-time as Tommy O'Donnell and CJ Stander added further tries.
Richardt Strauss replied with a late try but it was Munster's evening.
Munster have shown in this match that they have the grit needed to get the win here and I think that that if they can keep their minds on the job anything can happen

EDINBURGH 12-25 GLASGOW
GLASGOW SHOW WHY THEY ARE BEST IN SCOTLAND
Junior Bulumakau was gifted an early try at Murrayfield and Josh Strauss crashed through a rolling maul to restore the visitors' lead.
Duncan Weir had kicked the hosts in front with two penalties and added two more but that was it for Edinburgh.
In a largely scrappy contest, Alex Dunbar finished off the best move of the game for Warriors' third try.
Glasgow have shown that they can beat anyone on their day and this has been proven here. I think that they can reach thee last 8 of the heniken cup
BLUES 27-16 DRAGONS
NAVADI SCORES TRIES FOR BLUES
Blues dominated possession and territory, but needed a Josh Navidi try on the stroke of half-time to make their advantage tell.
That followed an early score by man-of-the-match Steven Shingler and a close-range touchdown by Kristian Dacey.
Ashton Hewitt crossed for Dragons, while Blues' Shingler scored 17 points.
Shingler's fly-half rival Angus O'Brien kept them in touch with the conversion of Hewitt's try and three penalties.
After an incident-packed first half, neither team looked like adding a try in the second with Matthew Morgan's penalty miss the closest either team came to scoring after the break.
The hosts contained the Dragons' challenge, but failed to claim the bonus point which looked to be on the cards at half-time.

Cardiff have shown in this match that they are the best of the worst in wales and that they need things to happen for them so they can improve. I think mid table will be ok 

Friday, 23 December 2016

23-12-16 pro 12 rugby

FRIDAY

TREVISO V ZEBRE


Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Enrico Bacchin, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Jayden Hayward, 9 Chris Smylie; 1 Matteo Zanusso, 2 Ornel Gega, 3 Rupert Harden, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 Tom Palmer, 6 Marco Barbini, 7 Francesco Minto, 8 Alessandro Zanni (c)
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Teofilo Paulo, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Abraham Steyn, 22 Alberto Lucchese, 23 Samuel Christie.
Zebre: 15 Guglielmo Palazzani, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Ulrich Beyers, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Kayle Van Zyl, 10 Charles Reed, 9 Luke Burgess; 1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Tommaso D'Apice, 3 Dario Chistolini, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 George Biagi (c), 6 James Taylor, 7 Johan Meyer, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Guillermo Roan, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Jean Cook, 21 Giulio Toniolatti, 22 Matteo Pratichetti, 23 Edoardo Padovani.
This will be a fight as neither team are showing potential like they had done in the past I think that home advantage will make a huge difference in this fixture I think that Zebre will lose out on a bonus point but it will be defensive and Treviso will not get tries either

ULSTER V CONNACHT

Ulster: C Piutau; L Ludik, L Marshall, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; P Jackson, R Pienaar; A Warwick, R Best (capt), R Ah You; K Treadwell, I Henderson; C Ross, C Henry, R Wilson.
Replacements: R Herring, C Black, W Herbst, F van der Merwe, S Reidy, P Marshall, D Cave, T Bowe.

Connacht: T O'Halloran; N Adeolokun, R Parata, D Poolman, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion; D Buckley, D Heffernan, F Bealham; Q Roux, J Cannon; S O'Brien, N Fox-Matamua, J Muldoon (capt).
Replacements: S Delahunt, T McCartney, JP Cooney, U Dillane, E McKeon, C Blade, C Gaffney, N Dawai.
This match is definitely a lot more even than it was a few years ago but I think that Ulster will win but I would not be surprised to see Connacht getting a bonus point here 

Monday, 19 December 2016

Pool 5 European Rugby Cup 18-12-16

SATURDAY

BORDEUX 12-20 EXETER

COWAN DICKIE SECURES WIN FOR EXETER

But the Chiefs led 7-6 at half-time courtesy of a Thomas Waldrom try, before Bordeaux wing Nans Ducuing was sent off for an illegal challenge on opposite number Olly Woodburn.
Returning hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie clinched it for Exeter with a late try.


Exeter showed that they have fight in this match and I think that this makes things interesting in the group for them as they think that they can finish second in this pool. I think that this will leave the matches between the three bottom sides very interesting

SUNDAY
CLERMOUNT 38-19 ULSTER
ABENDANON DOUBLE SECURES SIMPLE WIN FOR CLERMOUNT
Nick Abendanon built on Isaia Toeava's early try by scoring twice to give Clermont a 21-0 half-time advantage.
Camille Lopez's touchdown secured a bonus point, but Ulster mounted a stirring comeback with tries by Tommy Bowe (2) and Franco van der Merwe.
A penalty try ensured that Clermont remain in control of the pool.


Clermont are one team that are all but through in the European Champions Cup. Ulster has got two big matches which to me they have to win to reach the knockout stages. I think from what I saw in the start of the second half that they can do it and qualify

Team
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Bonus Points
Points Difference
Points
Clermount
4
3
0
1
5
+55
17
Bordeux
4
2
0
2
1
-3
9
Ulster
4
2
0
2
1
-16
9
Exeter
4
1
0
3
2
-16
6



18-12-16 pool 4 european rugby cup

SATURDAY

LEINSTER 60-13 NORTHAMPTON

ADAM BYRNE DOUBLE SECURES HUGE WIN FOR LEINSTER

 A breakaway Ken Pisi try left much-changed Northampton 13-5 up.
But Adam Byrne's second try and scores from Luke McGrath and Sean O'Brien saw Leinster move 29-13 ahead by the break.
Tadhg Furlong, Sean Cronin, Isa Nacewa (two) and Rory O'Loughlin added further tries as Northampton capitulated.
Leinster's second-half scores increased their run of unanswered points to an astonishing 55 as they inflicted a record European defeat on the struggling Saints.


Leinster look back to themselves at least right now as this win says to me that they can win the competition and this says to me that Northampton are on their way down A win should put Leinster through to the quarter finals where they be a force
SUNDAY

CASTRE 29-23 MONPELLIER

 AGULLA 19 POINTS  GIVES CASTRE A SHOT

Tries from Akapusi Qera, Jesse Mogg and Nemani Nadolo had put them in commanding position.
But Alexander Bias' score after Willemse's shoulder charge snatched victory for Castres, who stayed in the game thanks to a Horacio Agulla score and 19 points from the kicking tee.
This match was defined by one decision a sending off and that completely changed the momentum of the game as a whole. It made me think of how one moment can change a match complexly as we saw in this match. Montpellier if they had the right tactics from the start would have won it

Team
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Bonus Points
Points Difference
Points
Leinster
4
3
0
1
4
+86
16
Monpellier
4
2
0
2
3
+16
11
Castre
4
2
0
2
1
+4
9
Northampton
4
0
0
4
0
-110
0

Pool 3 European Champions cup 18-12-16

SUNDAY

SCARLETS 22-21 TOULON

WILLIAMS TRY SECURES WIN FOR SCARLETS

Scott Williams went over for the only try in the opening period and the hosts led 16-9 at the break.
Home fly-half Rhys Patchell kicked 17 points.
Halfpenny scored all of the visitors' points, but his late, long-range miss was one of four failed shots at goal.


This would be a famous win for the Scarlets as they were not expected to get anything against one of the best sides in the world. This defeat could have knocked Toulon out of the Champions Cup but we will learn this in January

SALE 10-24 SARACENS

EARLE TRY SECURES SARACENS WIN

The defending champions led 6-3 at the break through two penalties from England fly-half Owen Farrell.
Farrell and Nathan Earle crossed late in the second half to open up a 24-3 lead, before Bryn Evans' consolation.


This win for me was a disappointment as Saracens had shown in other world right now but this was a disappointment.  They could play a lot better than this. A win would seal qualification to the quarters but you wonder with a performance like this whether they can do it as if they play like this they will lose to a big boy


Team
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Bonus Point
Points Difference
Points
Saracens
4
4
0
0
2
+91
18
Toulon
4
2
0
2
2
+18
10
Scarlets
4
2
0
2
0
+11
8
Sale
4
0
0
4
0
-100
0

Pool 2 Rugby European Champions Cup 17-12-16


SATURDAY

TOLOUSE 54-15 ZEBRE

PREEZ DOUBLE SECURED EASY WIN FOR TOULOUSE

Hooker Tommaso d'Apice set things on fire for Zebre with a second minute try allowing fly-half Carlo Canna to add the extras.
However, Toulouse responded with a try of their own in the fifth minute with Gillian Galan crossing over and the scores were levelled when Toby Flood added the conversion.
Canna helped Zebre reclaim the lead with a ninth minute penalty but what transpired after that was an absolute carnage from Toulouse.
Wing Paul Perez (15'), fullback Yoann Huget (19'), wing Arthur Bonneval (22') and Flood (24') scored four tries in less than 10 minutes while the fly-half converted three of it to take Toulouse to 40-10 lead by half-time.
Even though flanker Johan Meyer started the second half positively for Zebre, Perez strolled past the post for the second time in the game in the 56th minute and five minutes later replacement Yann David capped off a fantastic game for the French team with the eighth try.


Beating Zebre tells us very little about how Toulouse are doing at the moment as it shows just what a French side can do when they are on form. Italian Rugby needs to look at itself but we see performances like this every week.

CONNACHT 20-18 WASPS

DAWAI GIVES CONNACHT UNLIKELY WIN

A try by scrum-half Joe Simpson gave Wasps the lead before the hosts edged ahead when Carty's clever kick was gathered by Danie Poolman.
The visitors dominated the second half and when Josh Bassett touched down in the corner, the result looked assured.
But Naulia Dawai went over from a maul and Carty converted from the touchline with the last kick of the game.


This group is still open between 3 teams and this win showed me that Connacht could reach the quarters in the next few years. I think that this was a g match for the Irish side as it says to the rest of the world we are here and we will be hard to beat


Team
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Bonus Points
Points Difference
points
Wasps
4
2
1
1
3
+81
13
Tolouse
4
2
1
1
3
+71
13
Connacht
4
3
0
1
1
+40
13
Zebre
4
0
0
4
0
-188
0

Pool 1 European Champions cup 17-12-16

SATURDAY

LEICESTER 18-16 MUNSTER

WILLIAMS HALF WAY KICK KEEPS LEICESTER DREAM ALIVE



The score was 6-6 at half-time, courtesy of two penalties apiece from Williams and Tyler Bleyendaal.
When Simon Zebo was sent to the sin-bin with 15 minutes remaining, Williams kicked Leicester into a six-point lead.
Niall Scannell went over to put Munster ahead, but Williams held his nerve to keep Tigers' Champions Cup hopes alive.


With this type of rivalry I think that you always knew that an angry Leister would comer to fight and that was what happened but Munster did not have their kicking boots and that was a huge problem at least the way that I see it. Munster against Racing both home and away will be a huge factor in this group.
FRIDAY

GLASGOW 23-7 RACING

STRAUS SCORES TRY TO PUT GLASGOW IN POLE POSITION


Josh Strauss and Fraser Brown powered over for first-half tries after fine work from fly-half Finn Russell, who kicked two penalties.
Scrum-half Ali Price fizzed in for a third score after 47 minutes.
Glasgow has shown that this year they can be a force and maybe even reach a quarter final. They strong and ready for any team this season and in Europe this is not a thing said that often as for Racing they have a lot to change at the end of this season if they are to do as well as last.

Team
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
Bonus point
Points difference
Points
Glasgow
4
3
0
1
1
+26
13
Munster
3
2
0
1
3
+58
11
Leicester
4
2
0
2
0
-55
8
Racing
3
0
0
3
0
-31
0