Rugby

[Anvil]

It is the best I've seen Leinster in attack in a while.  Glasgow looked shell shocked coming off at half time. Also for a man of his age and a guy who is retiring in a couple of months, Cian Healy put in a hell of a 30 minutes. 

Saying all that given Leinster's recent history of losing finals and big matches, Toulouse, even without Dupont, are still the team to beat for me.

Would also love to see both Munster and Connacht win today.  Tough task to win in France two weeks in a row and that Bordeaux team is very good.  Interesting stat I saw, Bordeaux have scored 15 tries in the competition so far of turnovers or kicks, Munster have conceded zero tries from turnovers or kicks... I'll be glued to the box for it. 

Connacht have a great chance. They'll need to play better than they did against Cardiff,though, especially defense.  Defence has been poor for Connacht all year, your defence coach is stealing a wage. But it is great to see Ben Murphy, Hugh Gavin and Finn Tracy get the starts in such a big game as well.  Don't think it will be long before Murphy gets an Irish cap, and those other two have bags of potential. 

[Anvil]

Munster didn't perform on the day.  Their complete line out malfunction through out the game meant they didn't really have a chance.  Haven't watched much of Bordeaux in the Top 14 but that is two weeks in a row they got off to a flyer but looked tired in the second half.  If it is a fitness/mental thing, something you could exploit in the second half.

Watched Northampton v Castres as well.  Easy win in the end for Northampton. Northampton looked decent but some of their try scoring antics were a bit unsporting. I really hope Leinster batter them. 

Connacht just couldn't keep up with the French physicality and sheer size of their pack.  It just wore them down in the end and allow Racing to dominated the middle of the game.  Must say some of Connacht's attack in the first half was as good as any Irish team has produced this year.   Hanson looked world class.   Just unlucky in the end, needed another couple of minutes against 13 and they would have won it. 

[Carnage]

Munster weren't in that game at all but they were up against an awful ref too, he was throwing cards about like confetti. They woke up a bit at the end but it was too late by then.

Similar in Galway, Connacht ran away with it for the first half hour but then fell apart until the last 10 minutes. Farrell coming on for Racing turned it around for them but - of course - he had to commit a trademark foul on Jennings (he should not be allowed to play, it's ridiculous at this stage). If it happened earlier Connacht would have swung it back I think. Hansen was great for a while but flagged in the second half, I reckon he picked up an injury.

[Carnage]

Absolutely shit carry on from the Sharks there this evening, pure gamesmanship. Fair play to Crowley for holding it together until after he took the penalty. No way to lose a match but neither team was great, to be fair.

[Carnage]

Stuart Lancaster appointed as new Connacht head coach. That's big, and I didn't see it coming at all. Hopefully leads to an upturn in performance.

[Anvil]

He is a good signing, plus you have a new Director of Rugby and Attack coach, but can't remember their names.  With Tucker and Muldoon hopefully we will see Connacht play to their potential next season.     

New Ireland squad for the summer announce.  Nice to see Craig Casey made captain, but a few weird selections for me. 

Second time Munster have lost a penalty shoot out.  Hell of a performance by them though.   

[Anvil]

Well done, Leinster.  Hell of a performance from the forwards.  Now to look forward to the Lions and the summer internations.

[Carnage]

Return of the Mack or wha'? Hopefully they have the same momentum in the second half.

[Anvil]

The tries will get the headlines, but his all round performance was outstanding - he has some engine given his lack of matches and injuries so far this season.   His tach also deserves special mention, a beaut!

Massive game next week.   South Africa are on a different level to the rest of the world at the moment.

[Carnage]

Yeah, he's nearly bsck to his old form, all over the pitch at all times. They haven't a hope against the Springboks, but you never know.

[Cailleach]

This is the worst Australian side i have seen since i started watching Rugby back in the late 80s, so i wouldn't  read too much into this result .

[Carnage]

Jesus tuat was the worst performance I've seen from them in years. Discipline out the window, a woeful scrum (though the Boks' scrum was serious) and the usual handling errors. The ref didn't help, between all the stops and starts the game went over two hours FFS but I dunno, questions to be asked.

At least the lineout has improved...

[Anvil]

The game was lost with James Ryan's clear out.  Ridiculous play and perhaps should have been a straight red.  We had no chance playing against that SA pack with two relatively small seconds rows and a centre in the scrum.  Shows you how much we miss Joe McCarthy - we need another couple of him.

South Africa should be embarrassed that Ireland still had a chance of winning that game with 10 minutes to go.  They should have put 50 on us. 

[Anvil]

Also I'd recommend watching the France v Australia from this evening (even just the highlights).   Super game. 

[Carnage]

New stand in the Sportsground looks good with the crowd.