Pro 12

[AbidingPond]

Not a particularly exciting opening weekend.

Though 3 out of four wins for the Irish teams is a good start but none of them really set the place on fire.

Unfortunately Connacht took quite a hammering which was a bad way to end the weekend. I didn't really see that scoreline coming. They just looked a little under cooked and rusty. They probably needed more pre season friendlies to get themselves up to speed. Plenty of rugby to be played yet so I don't think there should be any panicking .

I think all the Irish teams will have to improve on these showings if they want to seriously compete for silverware this year or even get out of their pools in the champions cup.

[willie wacker]

Never saw that coming tbh.
Lots of players injured and not up to speed yet.
Might be the kick up the ass they need.
They could not have picked a worse game to start off their defence.
Well 3 wins out of 4 is not too bad to start with.

[AbidingPond]

Never saw that coming tbh.
Lots of players injured and not up to speed yet.
Might be the kick up the ass they need.
They could not have picked a worse game to start off their defence.
Well 3 wins out of 4 is not too bad to start with.

They were off their game alright. Probably because a few influential players left at the end of the last season so that has obviously had an impact. They will get better as their replacements step up and find their feet.

I just hope that they do it sooner rather than later before they dig themselves into a hole. These early games do tend to have a real impact on the standings at the end of the season.

I think your right that it could be a kick up the arse that they needed. Just to keep them grounded after the success of last season.

[The D Man]

Never saw that coming tbh.
Lots of players injured and not up to speed yet.
Might be the kick up the ass they need.
They could not have picked a worse game to start off their defence.
Well 3 wins out of 4 is not too bad to start with.

Willie I was surprised that they didn't play more pre season games. Some of the other teams played 2 or 3 games. What you think of the suggestion of sharing with Galway United?

[The D Man]

2nd weekend of the Pro 12 is here. Munster will be hoping to keep up the winning start against Cardiff in Cork tonight. Rassie now sees what is typical pro 12 weather here. In the conditions at the moment expect a tough bruising encounter Munster to scrape a win.

Connacht at the Sportsground on Saturday night. Would be expecting a much improved performance. Injuries are not helping. Hard game in prospect. 2 losses in a row wouldn't be the ideal start to the defence of the title. On that basis Connacht to win.

Interesting choice of Lancaster to join the Leinster backroom team. How will the dynamic of Lancaster a previous national coach and Cullen still a rookie club coach work out? Interesting times ahead for Leinster.

Pienaar wanted to stay at Ulster. They wanted him to stay but he isn't allowed. Relations between Ulster and Nucifora may be a little cold at the moment.

[willie wacker]

Willie I was surprised that they didn't play more pre season games. Some of the other teams played 2 or 3 games. What you think of the suggestion of sharing with Galway United?

United don't own terryland , Galway FA do.
Good idea for both to share a good stadium in the right location.
Say a 15k all seater. It will cost the Connacht 8 mill to buy out the dog track, there is behind the scene talks going on to see what's available , could be rumours

[The D Man]

United don't own terryland , Galway FA do.
Good idea for both to share a good stadium in the right location.
Say a 15k all seater. It will cost the Connacht 8 mill to buy out the dog track, there is behind the scene talks going on to see what's available , could be rumours

8 million that is alot of cash. Yeah I would say that there is behind the scenes talks going on alright.

[AbidingPond]

2nd weekend of the Pro 12 is here. Munster will be hoping to keep up the winning start against Cardiff in Cork tonight. Rassie now sees what is typical pro 12 weather here. In the conditions at the moment expect a tough bruising encounter Munster to scrape a win.

Connacht at the Sportsground on Saturday night. Would be expecting a much improved performance. Injuries are not helping. Hard game in prospect. 2 losses in a row wouldn't be the ideal start to the defence of the title. On that basis Connacht to win.

Interesting choice of Lancaster to join the Leinster backroom team. How will the dynamic of Lancaster a previous national coach and Cullen still a rookie club coach work out? Interesting times ahead for Leinster.

Pienaar wanted to stay at Ulster. They wanted him to stay but he isn't allowed. Relations between Ulster and Nucifora may be a little cold at the moment.

I think Cullen needs all of the help that he can get. He should never have been promoted to head coach so soon. I mean he had like 1 year of experience as a coach and suddenly he was at the top of the pile juggling a great deal of responsibility and fan expectation. That would be a huge challenge for anyone with so little experience

No wonder Leinster did so badly in the Champions Cup last season. I think he just didn't really know how to prepare a team from a coaching perspective.

He was a good player and captain but that doesn't mean that he'll be a good coach. We'll have to wait and see how he develops.

And I agree that Ulster are probably fuming that they are not allowed to keep Pienaar. At times he just carried that team, particularly Paddy Jackson, he was very reliant on him when he was younger. Though I think that the players and the team have developed well enough that they will be able to cope without him. Though he is a class act and any team would miss him.

[willie wacker]

Shite shite not good

[AbidingPond]

Oh dear

Ulster struggled to put away a weak and demoralized team.
Leinster couldn't handle a fast paced game when that was what they used to be known for.
Munster lost all the progress they made from last week.
Connacht in a mini crisis.