Lady Luck! She wears green! She hates Connacht! The irony.
Almost with a sense of perversity, it must be pointed out that the Irish run cannot continue forever. Perhaps Ulster have not yet had the proverbial “rub of the green” in the Heineken Cup this season – and Connacht certainly haven’t – but neither Munster nor Leinster can claim that to be the case. Continue reading
Munster didn’t require any last minute heroics from Ronan O’Gara to seal a vital away win at Parc y Scarlets, but the Heineken Cup centurion controlled the shape of the game and won his personal duel with Welsh out-half Rhys Priestland. Continue reading
The Iceberg does some damage
In a very timely show of strength, Toulouse put the brakes on the Harlequins bandwagon with a 21-10 win at The Stoop. Quins have been rightly lauded for their very strong start to the season, but all too often the English rugby media can cheerlead without putting results in context. Continue reading
Ryan Caldwell tries to find the 'Off' button on Jonny Sexton
Over the last three seasons since Leinster have established themselves as European big hitters, their trips to England have always been tight games. There was the 25-23 victory over Saracens in Wembley last year, the 11-11 draw with London Irish in Twickenham at the end of January 2010, the 6-5 win over Harlequins [the infamous ‘Bloodgate’ game] in the 2008-09 quarter final in The Stoop, and a 12-19 loss to London Wasps in January 2009 in Twickenham. Games against English teams have long been tight affairs, and Sunday’s 18-13 win over Bath continued the trend. Continue reading
Come for the victory, stay for the John Wood the Younger showpiece of Georgian architecture that is the Royal Crescent
Leinster travel to the beautiful Somerset town of Bath in the first leg of their Heineken Cup double-header. Travelling fans are hoping for a smooth crossing in light of the recent hurricane force winds that have strafed the Irish Sea, and the team will be hoping to leave with the vital away victory which would put them in a commanding position at the top of the group. Continue reading
During Matt Williams’ time in charge of Leinster, the Women’s Auxiliary Balloon Corps revolted. If memory serves correctly it was in the lead up to a Heineken Cup semi-final against Perpignan and was one of the reasons that Leinster and Williams parted company. The WABC was composed of squad players who held tackle bags for the Galacticos but never got selected ahead of the established stars. Continue reading
Set Piece Pressure
Harlequins face Toulouse with a five day turnaround having travelled the short distance to Wasps last Sunday. Quins have set the pace in the Premiership this season as Conor O’Shea’s low-profile revival washes away some of the Bloodgate stain. Continue reading
Subtle.
The Ulster game against Aironi is pretty hard to get excited about. Aironi are a fairly brutal team, pinned to the bottom of the Pro 12 table; it’s all so different from last year, when they were pinned to the bottom of the Magners League table. Continue reading
Surely three-in-a-row is out of the question?
Munster’s forthcoming tie against Llanelli is an intriguing match-up, in that it looks to test the old adage “forwards decide who wins the game, backs decide by how much”. Continue reading
Mallinder is the swimmer
So now, after just two weeks, there are only seven teams left unbeaten and some of the Pools are being to look tasty. Toulouse are still France’s finest, whilst Harlequins hold the flag for St George. Munster and Leinster are still there for the ‘oul sod’, but the Welsh continue their great start with all three still unbeaten – even if it took a 50m last minute kick from 20-year old substitute Matthew Morgan on his Heineken Cup debut to keep Ospreys afloat in Italy against Treviso. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 