Rugby Union 2010 [Archive] - Page 2

Leeside Swagger

19/02/2010, 10:15 AM

That Myers article is like something a 10 year old would write, its embarrassing that a national newspaper would print that. Ronan has had worse things written about him by real experts and not responded, its funny that this ****ed him off so much. Myers seems to have an uncanny knack of getting under peoples skin.

SkStu

19/02/2010, 8:19 PM

Did you miss the link I put up or did it not work for you?

sorry for delay in replying SI - missed the post. I tried the link but it didnt work straight away so i went with the payment option... thanks anyway!

shakermaker1982

23/02/2010, 4:33 PM

O'Gara is often made the scapegoat. He has his weaknesses but he also has many strengths. I'm glad Sexton is starting this weekend because I think it's his time. O'Gara on the bench as insurance if things go pear shaped. I am a little surprised O'Leary is starting. Hopefully somebody has shoved a rocket up his a$$.

joeSoap

24/02/2010, 8:36 AM

I've always been Kidneys biggest fan, and still am, but he declared before the Autumn Internationals that players in form will be picked. Shane Horgan, Isaac Boss, Sean Cronin and Leo Cullen are all in better form than their selected counterparts. Best and Murphy are huge worries going into a game of this magnitude with so little game time under their belts.

England have won ugly in both their games to date. That worries me. Any side that contains the pace of Armitage, Monye, Tait, Flutey and Cueto, coupled with the power they have up front and a natural kicking machine to steer the ship has to be a threat. Luckily, Johnno seems to want to grind out games rather than let the backs loose and that will suit us.

We must limit the scrums. They WILL murder us in them. God help us if Tony Buckley has to come on. Sexton and O'Leary are crucial to this game. O'Learys box kicking has to improve 100% and he has to get back to his old game of being a ninth forward. Sexton, if he gets good ball, will use it.

I see the English targetting Earls under the high ball. He's not the biggest and could be suspect...Shane Horgan anyone???

I fancy us to win if England play the type of game they've played to date. If they start to move it, we're in trouble. Can't call it really.

endabob1

24/02/2010, 9:01 AM

Interesting selections I think Court is very unlucky to lose out, not even in the 22 considering he was one of the props to emerge with credit from Paris
O'Callaghan for Cullen is a mistake, cool heads required in Twickers, DO'C is not that.
Paddy Wallace is another one unlucky to lose out from the 22, I think he's been a real bright spot this season. I thought Earls would have gone to 15, Trimble or Horgan on the wing and Wallace as cover. Murphy's had very little game time but it could be argued he's very used to the opposition and has the experience, must have been a close call. Earls should be fine under the high ball, not the tallest but he played full back against the emerging Boks on the Lions tour in awful conditions and was probably the best player in a red shirt that evening.
No problems with Sexton for RoG although I agree with shakermaker, he's too often the easy scapegoat, in fact he's done very little wrong in the 2 games but Sexton's time is now.
O'Leary must in the last chance saloon, on current form he is arguably only the 4th best in the country at the moment.

Schumi

24/02/2010, 12:34 PM

Surprised to see O'Callaghan back in, I don't know how much more Cullen could have done.

shakermaker1982

24/02/2010, 1:51 PM

I think we missed DOC work around the fringes. He does a lot of the ugly stuff and I think he compliments POC. Cullen was a monster in the lineout and did well but it's good to see the Munster man back.

I thought we'd have brought Horgan in just in case. Useful player to have on the bench. He can play on the wing or at centre.

Big test for Kidney. His team have went from heroes to zeroes but his man management skills are second to none and I'm sure the players will try and prove a point to some of 'our' journalists. If O'Gara comes on I'm sure he'll be brilliant. I was as disappointed as anybody after the French game but the sign of a good team is how they react to adversity. Beating England gets us back on track. Fingers crossed. The last time we went to Twickenham was a nightmare. Let us avenge that for starters!

Youths4Ever

24/02/2010, 7:28 PM

DOC being back in is not a big shock Kidney is loyal to certain players type of manager he is. Cullen was excellent in the line out but as already said DOC gives you more at the breakdown which will be very important if England stick to what appears to have been there only plan to date bully there way forward using the pack.

TOL should not be starting he has been poor and very easy to read on games to date but who else Reddan having a bad season, Stringer not enough game time and if picking on form should be Boss best Irish scrum half last couple of Heinken Cup weekends for some reason though not even on bench. Maybe the rumoured move to Leinster will help him internationally.

Sexton for O'Gara is not a shock Sexton offers more attacking option yes his game is lacking in some areas but Sexton is a more modern fly half with a better all round game than O'Gara. O'Gara is a great player for Ireland but his lack to go forward is being highlighted more and more often. O'Gara should not be made the scapegoat for France Ireland not good enough against France and that is what it boils down to several Irish players did not produce on the day not just O'Gara and it is unfair to blame him alone

endabob1

01/03/2010, 9:21 AM

Hat's off to Kidney, he got it spot on again. TOL stepped up his game and ROG did the business coming off the bench.

joeSoap

01/03/2010, 2:09 PM

Hat's off to Kidney, he got it spot on again. TOL stepped up his game and ROG did the business coming off the bench. I thought O'Leary was quite average again at best. His kicking is poor, and he's stepping before every pass now. Good defensively, but nowhere near the standards of Parra, Care, Cussiter t date in this tournament. Rog won the game for us I thought with his tactical kicking and more guarded outlook. That said, I thought Sexton had a massive game apart from his place kicking, and will retain his place against Wales. Heaslip was awesome. The boy's got some engine on him. Tony Buckley had a huge game around the field when he came on, and stole the ball at the end to put paid to Englands last chance. Bowe, well no comments required, and Earls had a great game also. We attempted 100 tackles during this game and made 99 of them...Hats off to Les Kiss!! They completely routed us possession wise, yet we won 3-1 on tries. This was as big a victory as I can remember.

SkStu

01/03/2010, 2:54 PM

if there is a better defensive outfit (especially in the rucks and mauls) in the northern hemisphere then id be surprised. That was an immense performance. Heaslip, Ferris, Bowe and Sexton all had superb games and the lineout disruption is a thing of sheer beauty. Thist eam is the real deal and Sexton is a WC winning outhalf - unshakeable even after missing a few kicks.

elroy

01/03/2010, 6:01 PM

Great result especially considering the territorial and tackle stats. Earls and Bowe were excellent, Murphy deserves a mention as well considering the match practice he has had lately. ROG did very well when he came on, decent game by Sexton though his kicking was poor. The experience will stand to him and these are the types of games (when the championship is realistically gone) to be blending in new players. Good to see Buckley come on and play reasonably well, the scrum is a concern and the likes of Hayes dont have long left in the tank and we need to see players stepping up to the mark in those positions. Lineout very strong, dont think we lost a single of our lineouts and was so often the start of good play by us.

Good win for the U20s as well, the future is bright for Irish rugby, as was noted in a few of the english papers yesterday, the provincial system does seem to be working much better than the premiership style system employed in England. Danny Care also getting a slating from the English papers yesterday as well from the overturned peno, twice in two years.

OwlsFan

02/03/2010, 1:09 PM

shakermaker1982

03/03/2010, 9:06 AM

Should Ireland not be worried though as to why we got so little possession? Teams more competent than England (e.g. France, NZ) would have beaten us with such possession. Does that mean that the forwards were well beaten or why did England have so much possession.

Great win though and enjoyed seeing Johnson suffering the pain of it. Teach him to stand on the wrong side of the carpet ;)

Ireland had all the possession against France and couldn't do anything with it 3 weeks ago.

This England side are slow, ponderous, predictable and don't take many chances so when in possession of the ball they soon rack up the phases but end up going backwards. This will eventually lead them to getting turned over or resorting to booting it back (they didn't do much of the latter for this match. Probably because of the stick they got after the Italy game.)

The only reason England were still in the game was because we kept giving away stupid penalties. We must stampt this out.

OneRedArmy

08/03/2010, 7:38 PM

The reason England were in the game was because our scrum was a disastrophy of epic proportions for nearly all the game. Taking my green tinted glasses off, we were lucky not to concede a penalty try, and had Care not been so boneheaded in getting the penalty reversed the game probably would've gone against us.

Our lineout isn't far off being excellent, but unless we get some semblance of parity with the top teams in the scrum we might as well write the script for the World Cup now. Packs win games, backs decide the score. An old stereotype, but never a truer phrase spoken.

Healy is having somewhat of a baptism of fire but I believe it will stand him in good stead, its a huge step up to international rugby and hopefully it will pay off next season. I was also disappointed in Buckley coming in in place of Court, who should have a brighter future ahead of him. That said, in his time on the pitch Mushy looked much more involved and up with the pace of the game than I've seen him for either Munster or Ireland.

Saturday will be a good test. Wales are still a decent side and after last year they'll need little encouragement to get stuck into Ireland.

I think Earls and Ferris are settling into the team nicely and could go on fire in a big way on Saturday.

Charlie Darwin

08/03/2010, 8:35 PM

I think Ireland could have turned the screw at any moment against England. How long were we behind for, like three minutes? We basically played conservatively, taking what was in front of us. Even if they had got a penalty try, I think we were capable of stepping up a gear whenever we wanted, much like the French were against us.

Macy

09/03/2010, 1:03 PM

Healy is having somewhat of a baptism of fire but I believe it will stand him in good stead, its a huge step up to international rugby and hopefully it will pay off next season. I was also disappointed in Buckley coming in in place of Court, who should have a brighter future ahead of him. That said, in his time on the pitch Mushy looked much more involved and up with the pace of the game than I've seen him for either Munster or Ireland.
Healy is doing well, tighthead remains the issue. I also thought Court was unlucky, particularly as he did well against France when coming on and that he can play loose or tighthead. Tough on Hayes, but he's got to be looking dodgy for the World Cup, in which case we should be biting the bullet and blooding a tighthead - either Buckley or Court with the other on the bench. Not happening against Wales anyway.

juniorballer

09/03/2010, 2:05 PM

Healy is doing well, tighthead remains the issue. I also thought Court was unlucky, particularly as he did well against France when coming on and that he can play loose or tighthead. Tough on Hayes, but he's got to be looking dodgy for the World Cup, in which case we should be biting the bullet and blooding a tighthead - either Buckley or Court with the other on the bench. Not happening against Wales anyway.A 6 Nations game where a Triple Crown and outside chance of the championship is still on the line is no place to be blooding anyone. Buckley seems to be upping his game and is even scrummaging a little better so that is positive and in the longer term he is probably a more suitable replacement for the Bull. What really concerns me is how our lineout is going to suffer when Hayes does have to pack it in.

WexCar

09/03/2010, 5:24 PM

Good news Argentina in the Tri-Nations from 2012
http://www.trinationsweb.com/news/viewarticle.asp?id=24775

endabob1

10/03/2010, 6:31 AM

Good news Argentina in the Tri-Nations from 2012
http://www.trinationsweb.com/news/viewarticle.asp?id=24775

Thought this was decided already tbh. The Pumas 2nd/3rd string is playing in the Vodacom Cup (level below Currie Cup in SA) this season as the first step towards integration. A couple of Puma players have moved to Super 14 teams in advance of the change

OneRedArmy

10/03/2010, 9:24 AM

A 6 Nations game where a Triple Crown and outside chance of the championship is still on the line is no place to be blooding anyone. Buckley seems to be upping his game and is even scrummaging a little better so that is positive and in the longer term he is probably a more suitable replacement for the Bull. What really concerns me is how our lineout is going to suffer when Hayes does have to pack it in.Buckley will be 31 when the World Cup rolls around and regardless of whether he's good enough or not (and he isn't) he's not the solution.

Also, I can't help but thing the whole Hayes lineout thing has been built up to something bigger than it actually is. I've no doubt he's good at it, but these days you need two or three pods and a fair bit of variety to have a successful lineout.

shakermaker1982

10/03/2010, 10:03 AM

WexCar

12/03/2010, 1:56 AM

Thought this was decided already tbh. The Pumas 2nd/3rd string is playing in the Vodacom Cup (level below Currie Cup in SA) this season as the first step towards integration. A couple of Puma players have moved to Super 14 teams in advance of the change

All I know is this is the 1st I've heard of it being confirmed.

Its hard to stay up to date with all the rugby news out here where the only sport that exists is Ice-Hockey, it can get quite annoying and time consuming having to trawl the internet for all the bits of news floating around.....ah well I shall continue.

endabob1

12/03/2010, 6:10 AM

All I know is this is the 1st I've heard of it being confirmed.

Its hard to stay up to date with all the rugby news out here where the only sport that exists is Ice-Hockey, it can get quite annoying and time consuming having to trawl the internet for all the bits of news floating around.....ah well I shall continue.

Wasn't meaning to be an ar$e, sorry if it came accross that way...

Having done some research it looks like they were invited in September pending the meeting of some guidelines, one of which was financial which is why the IRB have stepped in now.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/argentina-invited-to-sanzars-four-nations-20090914-fnot.html

They still have be confirmed though, the players playing in Europe seems to be the major stumbling block
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/3433471/Pumas-still-no-guarantee-for-Four-Nations

The Sharks signed Juan Martin Hernandez, but he's missed most of the season with injury, it was supposed to be the first of a few Pumas moving to Super 14 clubs in advance of the Pumas move.

Macy

12/03/2010, 8:26 AM

Also, I can't help but thing the whole Hayes lineout thing has been built up to something bigger than it actually is. I've no doubt he's good at it, but these days you need two or three pods and a fair bit of variety to have a successful lineout.
I'd agree with that - it's a cover for the scrummaging. However, he/Ireland did put more emphasis on the line out role. I didn't realise that Buckley was that old, in which case he isn't the future.

I do take the point about the Triple Crown to some degree, but then that does kinda show limited ambition. Something that people were quick to criticise O'Sullivan for in fairness.

On the puma's, possibly the six nations missed a trick here by not inviting them into the Championship.

Charlie Darwin

12/03/2010, 8:37 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5UKF6BQhGU&feature=player_embedded

2:21 in this video

2 Italy forwards needed to lift Carlo Del Fava. Hayes lifts O'Connell by himself.

OneRedArmy

12/03/2010, 10:50 AM

Whats your point though? However strong he is he can only lift one jumper and be in one place in the lineout at the one time. Whilst lifting quick and high is important, having three or four jumpers for variety, accuracy of throw and the timing between jumpers and thrower is more important in having a successful lineout.

Don't get me wrong, Hayes is a class act in the lineout, but I don't see all the credit being dished to the French and Italian props for Harinordoquy and Parisse's aerial ability (two of the best lineout operators in the world IMO).

Charlie Darwin

12/03/2010, 11:04 AM

Probably should have mentioned, I wasn't saying you were wrong. He is just freakishly strong.

SkStu

13/03/2010, 2:26 PM

good performance so far. Opportunistic anyway! But whats happened to Sextons place kicking? Nightmare and we could and should be out of sight...

OneRedArmy

13/03/2010, 9:13 PM

I'm not sure what to think of our performances this year. On the one hand, you could look at the results and say a probable Triple Crown next week, so the end justifies the means and its another successful year.

But if you look a bit closer the story isn't as positive IMO. Firstly, the only halfway decent opposition we faced was France, and they beat us at a canter. Italy, Scotland, England and Wales are really poor sides and if getting to a World Cup semi-final is our aim, its not these sides that we'll need to beat.

In terms of our play, we're making too many tackles (twice as many as the opposition for the second match in succession), aimlessly kicking too much possession away and showing no improvement in the scrum.

We are still a potent side with a great lineout, backrow and good pace, but we really need to see a big step up to compete on the Summer Tour.

OwlsFan

14/03/2010, 9:58 AM

Agree with the above. If we give away that much possession (as we did in the English game), better teams will crucify us. The scrum is also a serious issue but enjoy the victories. Triple Crowns don't come round that often so let's concentrate on the Scottish game and try and win that before looking too far ahead.

joeSoap

16/03/2010, 9:44 AM

I'd say its safe to assume that we will win the crown again and finish a respectable second behind an awesome French side that will make a serious challenge for the World Cup if they continue to progress as they have been.

The Summer tour down under is vital to the World Cup next year. It is vital that we look at Earls as a 13 for this, with Drico as 12 inside. Luke Fitzgerald will slot nicely on the left wing. Once Sexton improves his place kicking with Tainton he'll be fine. If he doesn't, he'll have to go. Good and all as a footballer he is, we can't carry any out half who cant kick his goals. Tight head prop will be a problem, so working on Buckley over the Summer and Autumn internationals is vital, as he seems to be the future in that position.

All in all, things look good.

Mr A

20/03/2010, 12:33 PM

The fact that absolutely no one is giving the Scots a chance today is making me a little nervous. We should beat them, but they are awkward customers and if our men believe too much of their own press it could all go horribly wrong.

I'll probably be in work and will miss it anyway though :(

Charlie Darwin

20/03/2010, 5:59 PM

Well then.

OneRedArmy

20/03/2010, 7:26 PM

old git

20/03/2010, 7:48 PM

endabob1

21/03/2010, 6:31 AM

Well done Scotland. They wanted it more, right from the whistle and they beat us comprehensively in EVERY facet of the game.

In one way this is a blessing as we've flattered to deceive all tournament IMO.

Kaplan was a joke, but I don't think he helped either side in the end. Unless the IRB sort out the scrum the game is in danger of dying. It's unacceptable in any form of entertainment that 99% of spectators consistently don't understand the rationale for a referee's decision.

Don't think that's fair on Ireland, Scotland were (worringly) much more organised and denied us space but we made 2 good trys and almost a 3rd but for a close call on a knock-on (I haven't seen it back yet so not sure on the call)
They targetted the line out but despite being consisently warned about closing the gap Kaplan never punished them, he has no idea how to ref a scrum, never did when he doesn't know he blows and seems to punish the wrong team. Admitedly it's a tricky one yo call right all the time but he's been the most inconsistent ref at the scrum for years.
The breakdown was a joke, the laws seemed to change during the game, I got the feelig the Ireland were afraid to contest ball because he was punishing everything, Scotland just didn't bother contesting and sprayed 12/13 accross the park and defended for their lives.

OneRedArmy

21/03/2010, 9:33 AM

we made 2 good trys.Watch them again. Two suspect tries.

They targetted the line out but despite being consisently warned about closing the gap Kaplan never punished them,.Scotland had the best lineout stats in the tournament coming into the game.
he has no idea how to ref a scrum, never did when he doesn't know he blows and seems to punish the wrong team. Admitedly it's a tricky one yo call right all the time but he's been the most inconsistent ref at the scrum for years..He's completely inconsistent, but what is consistent is that Hayes has taken it down multiple times in every match. Healy too has been under a lot of pressure.

The breakdown was a joke, the laws seemed to change during the game, I got the feelig the Ireland were afraid to contest ball because he was punishing everything, Scotland just didn't bother contesting and sprayed 12/13 accross the park and defended for their lives.There's no doubt we sat back at the breakdown and there was one shocking decision given against O'Connell, which couldn't have been the new interpretation of the tackle and release rule as he wasn't the tackler, was on his feet and came straight through the gate to steal.

That said yesterday's game wasn't decided at the breakdown. We missed more tackles than we've done in a long time (sliding down tackles, allowing huge gains by failing to bring players down after the initial tackle like for the Scots try and flat out missing them). Add that to woeful kicking, lineout and scrum and a lot of unforced errors in possession (spilling balls and misplaced passes).

The best team on the day won and it would've been a travesty had we gotten anything out of that match.

shakermaker1982

21/03/2010, 11:27 AM

I think complacency and a bit of overconfidence had a part to play in that woeful performance.

We've been suspect all tournament when it came to scrum time but when our lineout falls apart then we're going to struggle. Hopefully it's a wake up call. We must have also given away the most penalties in the 6N.

BigfeetBigsocks

22/03/2010, 9:22 AM

Kidney, O'Connell , O'Gara, O'Driscoll , O'Callaghan , Hayes , Sexton , O'Leary , Darcy, Earls , Bowe , Jack Charlton , Keano , Robbie , Ruby Walsh , Harrington, McIlroy, Bertie , Cowan , De Valera , Bono...... the whole Irish Nation... YOUR BOYS JUST GOT A HELL OF A BEATING :doctor::dance::victory:

Macy

22/03/2010, 9:59 AM

The breakdown was a joke, the laws seemed to change during the game, I got the feelig the Ireland were afraid to contest ball because he was punishing everything, Scotland just didn't bother contesting and sprayed 12/13 accross the park and defended for their lives.
Seems to me they're attempting to make it rugby league with lineouts... Nonsense rule changes anyway, but to introduce them mid tournament was ridiculous. No excuse for the perfomance though. Can they not leave the bloody game alone, without messing. If they can't get the elv's passed, they start back door changes with "interpretations".

The scrum's been a long running issue for Ireland, but seems to have been totally found out this tournament. I'd be more worried about the lineout tbh. And even if Flannery is better at the lineout, Best is considered the better scrummager so even that isn't necessarily the ideal solution. Did I hear right that Leo Cullen still has the best line out stats of the tournament?

Youths4Ever

06/04/2010, 7:23 PM

what did people think of the game last Friday good result for Leinster but can still problems on Friday night? Munster qf looks tough enough as well Northampton playing some very good rugby at the moment should both be good games

joeSoap

07/04/2010, 2:50 PM

I think both Irish sides are in considerable danger of going out.

Leinster have improved their defence incredibly over the past couple of seasons and now are not getting as easily intimidated as they did. The yellow streak has been removed. But, this Clermont side is a serious unit all over the park and Sextons kicking average of 61% since the 6 Nations began will haunt them Friday night unless it seriously improves. If he brings his kicking game they win, but I have my doubts as to his temperament that I've expressed here before, and have a sneaky feeling Clermont will do it.

Munsters match day squad will include at least a dozen guys over the age of 30. It seems to be beginning to show lately. There is serious doubts as to the fitness of O'Connell, and Munsters back row hasn't functioned as a unit without Leamy. Wallace is a top class 7, but not a very good 8. Northamptons front row will cause us problems, thats a gimme, and if you cast your mind back to the first group game, the main reason Munster won was because of Geraghtys nerves and ineptness. They will have learned from this, and are in much better form than Munster.

My heart tells me wins for both Munster and Leinster, but my tenner says a double on Clermont and Northampton (just in case...)

Macy

08/04/2010, 8:39 AM

If he brings his kicking game they win, but I have my doubts as to his temperament that I've expressed here before, and have a sneaky feeling Clermont will do it.
I'm not so sure it's temperament - he's nailed some kicks when under serious pressure, straight off the bench in the HC semi last year, and during the scotland game when ROG was waiting to come on come to mind. But I'd agree, whatever the reason he needs to bring up his percentages in what will probably be a close game.

The money seems to be on both Irish games being within a score, but I wouldn't be that surprised if there was a run away winner in one of them, but it could be any of the 4 teams!

joeSoap

12/04/2010, 2:03 PM

Sexton did the business for Leinster and his kicking was very good with 7 kicks out of 8 made. This won the game for Leinster, who were outplayed for most of the contest by Clermont. Unfortunately he had to have surgery on his jaw yesterday and is a major doubt for the semi now. I'd imagine Brock James was the toast of Donnybrook on Friday night, what with his 5 misses and 2 glaringly easy drop goal chances at the end.

Munster weren't much better for most of the game against Northampton, but O'Gara had a super game and steered them home.

2 huge asks now in the semis, but if you're not in you can't win and all that... Toulouse v Munster final I think.

Real ale Madrid

12/04/2010, 2:15 PM

[QUOTE=joeSoap;1345982]
Munster weren't much better for most of the game against Northampton, but O'Gara had a super game and steered them home.
QUOTE]

I think you are being over critical there big time.

Munster dominated for large spells and outscored Northampton 4 tries to 1 .

People get onto Munster about the scrum but credit where its due on Saturday Munster didn't dominate by any means but stood toe to toe for the whole game and it was incredible to see Ewan Murray leaving the pitch in the 2nd half given what happenend in the group stages.

Munster have a great chance against Biarritz in the semi final - Biarritz were lucky to get past Ospreys on Saturday. Ospreys are not a great team and only a dodgy penalty decision in the end got them home. Definitely nothing to be afraid of.

Missed the leinster game but they won't fear Toulouse - but Toulouse look in great form at the moment.

Fair played to Connacht as well in the Challenge Cup - have a huge task in the semis, but a home draw - you'd never know.

joeSoap

12/04/2010, 2:51 PM

I know Munster outscored them 4 tries to 1, but don't believe I'm being overly critical when I say they struggled for large parts of the game. A better, more clinical side than Northampton will use their possession more wisely.

tetsujin1979

12/04/2010, 3:07 PM

thought O'Gara's place kicking was poor, but his kicking out of hand (especially in the second half) was excellent. He constantly found touch on the far side, right by the corner flag.

Youths4Ever

12/04/2010, 7:32 PM

O' Gara kicking from hand won the game for Munster kept Northampton at bay in the second half. Munster may have out scored them 4 tries to 1 but as said better teams would have used there posession better than Northampton and better defense as well. Munster dominated in the scrum.

Leinster were lucky and Brock James was the toast of Leinster fans Friday nights (at least ones I was with anyway) Sexton did well and delighted he got his kicking game back but now question is will he make the semi?

Neither Irish team will have anything to fear when then go to France but I do think it may will be an all French final. Toulouse looked very impressive in their semi and in the super 14's yes Biarritz lucky to get in but Osperys are not a bad a side as some people seem to think but one game away from a final in your home country who knows should hopefully be two good games.

Fair play to Connacht would be great to see them go all the way