Now the world cup is over, more attention can be put on these 2 competitions.
Munster play Aironi in Cork Friday night and Leinster play in Edinburgh also on Friday night in the pro 12 but the big game is the following Friday in the Aviva when Munster play Leinster.
Despite missing their stars for the opening rounds of the pro 12 Munster and Leinster have started the season very well, and currently are 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Connacht ahead of their first ever season in the Heineken cup are just ahead of Ulster in the pro 12, in 7th place, 2 points ahead of Ulster.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 24/10/2011 16:02:24    1057888

Well it has been a promising start for Connacht, but again lots of what ifs already. We really should have done better against Leinster a couple of weeks ago and points went adrift away at Ospreys and Edinburgh. 2 big games coming up against Cardiff and Ulster. We could really do with winning both of them but if i'm being realistic we'll be lucky to win one and maybe sneak a bp in the other.

But then after the Ulster game comes what i'm sure everyone with a bit of western blood thought they'd never see happen. A Heineken Cup campaign...And i'm fairly confident we'll do ourselves justice and maybe get a couple of suprise results on the way. One problem with our first game is that it clashes with a certain play-off match but still, it does promise to be one hell of a season.......

Leinster and Munster will be a titanic battle and will probably be the first game when all the W/C players return. Leinster do seem to be in the best position of the Irish side at the moment and with the quality of the players coming back in will more than likely be in the final stages of both competitions at the end of the year. Not sure about Munster. I thought they would have strengthened over the summer and whilst they have brought some decent players in, they lack an X-factor signing in their backs. They'll still make a H-Cup 1/4 and maybe a Semi but i don't think they'd have enough to win it. Not sure what to make of Ulster yet as i don't think their season will properly start until their w/c contingent return.

tribeinbrum (Galway) - Posts: 4155 - 24/10/2011 16:26:43    1057907

Jared Payne's injury is big big blow for Ulster. Hadn't seen much of him, but you'd have to assume he would've made a big difference.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12427 - 24/10/2011 16:27:07    1057908

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 353

1057888 Now the world cup is over, more attention can be put on these 2 competitions.
Munster play Aironi in Cork Friday night and Leinster play in Edinburgh also on Friday night in the pro 12 but the big game is the following Friday in the Aviva when Munster play Leinster


Don't forget about the poor old Westerners playing Cardiff on Saturday!

abhainn (Galway) - Posts: 1000 - 24/10/2011 16:46:52    1057922

After a decent start we've fallen away and badly need the World Cup boys back, the amount of games Pienaar won single-handedly last year was unbelievable. Payne's a loss and so unlucky that it happened so early into his Ulster career. Very difficult group we've got but we'll get a few big wins as well, looking forward to the wet and windy Friday nights at Ravenhill. SUFTU

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 24/10/2011 17:25:23    1057966

Munster have named a 32 man squad ahead of their game against Aironi friday night, which will be cut before the weekend
Everyone who represented Ireland in the RWC quarter final are included in the squad.

The squad assembled for the first time since the RWC in Limerick yesterday and this morning trained in Thomond Park Stadium with indications being that most of those involved in the World Cup will see action on Friday in Cork.

Munster Squad:
M Horan, W du Preez, J Hayes, BJ Botha, S Archer,
D Varley, D Fogarty,
M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, B Holland,
D Leamy, N Ronan, P O'Mahony, T O'Donnell, D O'Callaghan, J Coughlan,

T O'Leary, C Murray, D Williams, P Stringer,
I Keatley, R O'Gara,
D Barnes, L Mafi, W Chambers
K Earls, D Howlett, D Hurley, J Murphy, S Deasy, (Where's Zebo?!)

Not considered due to injury: David Wallace, Troy Smith, Felix Jones, Jerry Flannery, Peter Borlase, Darragh Hurley, Mike Sherry.

I don't think all the RWC starters will start, the Leinster match will probably be the first start in red for a lot of them. They have had 2 weeks off though so I think it will be a mix between first and second string.

I'd like to see:
Horan, Varley, Botha, DOC, MOD, Ryan, O'Mahony, Coughlan;
Murray, Keatley, Earls, Mafi, Chambers, Howlett, Murphy

Bench: Fogarty, du Preez, Archer, POC, Leamy, Stringer, ROG, Barnes/Hurley

Will be interesting if chambers gets a run as many from munster will not have seen much of him

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 25/10/2011 19:17:19    1058572

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 356

1057888 Now the world cup is over, more attention can be put on these 2 competitions.
Munster play Aironi in Cork Friday night and Leinster play in Edinburgh also on Friday night in the pro 12 but the big game is the following Friday in the Aviva when Munster play Leinster.
Despite missing their stars for the opening rounds of the pro 12 Munster and Leinster have started the season very well, and currently are 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Connacht ahead of their first ever season in the Heineken cup are just ahead of Ulster in the pro 12, in 7th place, 2 points ahead of Ulster.

Give us a break ormond. The rugby world cup finished three days ago. Time to concentrate on the Premiership for a while. The Euro 2012 qualifiers are coming up as are the Compromise Rules games. Time to have a look at the rugby in a months time.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 26/10/2011 14:50:31    1058906

greengrass or in a decade's time!

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 26/10/2011 14:52:32    1058909

26/10/2011 14:50:31
Greengrass
County: Louth
Posts: 1755

1058906 ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 356

1057888 Now the world cup is over, more attention can be put on these 2 competitions.
Munster play Aironi in Cork Friday night and Leinster play in Edinburgh also on Friday night in the pro 12 but the big game is the following Friday in the Aviva when Munster play Leinster.
Despite missing their stars for the opening rounds of the pro 12 Munster and Leinster have started the season very well, and currently are 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Connacht ahead of their first ever season in the Heineken cup are just ahead of Ulster in the pro 12, in 7th place, 2 points ahead of Ulster.

Give us a break ormond. The rugby world cup finished three days ago. Time to concentrate on the Premiership for a while. The Euro 2012 qualifiers are coming up as are the Compromise Rules games. Time to have a look at the rugby in a months time.

No >;]
The Heineken Cup starts in a few weeks and the games this weekend and next are very important as you want to see how the lads who were away with the irish squad adapt and blend back in with their provincial squads before the european competitions start

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/10/2011 14:55:58    1058914

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 359

1058914 26/10/2011 14:50:31
Greengrass
County: Louth
Posts: 1755

1058906 ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 356

1057888 Now the world cup is over, more attention can be put on these 2 competitions.
Munster play Aironi in Cork Friday night and Leinster play in Edinburgh also on Friday night in the pro 12 but the big game is the following Friday in the Aviva when Munster play Leinster.
Despite missing their stars for the opening rounds of the pro 12 Munster and Leinster have started the season very well, and currently are 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Connacht ahead of their first ever season in the Heineken cup are just ahead of Ulster in the pro 12, in 7th place, 2 points ahead of Ulster.

Give us a break ormond. The rugby world cup finished three days ago. Time to concentrate on the Premiership for a while. The Euro 2012 qualifiers are coming up as are the Compromise Rules games. Time to have a look at the rugby in a months time.

No >;]
The Heineken Cup starts in a few weeks and the games this weekend and next are very important as you want to see how the lads who were away with the irish squad adapt and blend back in with their provincial squads before the european competitions start

Ormond I like rugby as much as the next man. I played it when I was a younger man.However I have had plenty of rugby for the time being thank you very much. The Pro12 League is a second rate competition. Munster and their supporters were very happy to tell Leinster and their supporters that when Munster won the Heineken Cup and Leister won the Magners League in 2008. It comes in a long way behind the Heineken Cup and the Zurich Premiership. We will have the Six Nations after Christmas. Plenty to be getting excited about further down the line . Following on a world cup what happens in the Pro12 League is of absolutely no consequence. Like I said give us all a break fron rugby for a while. The club championships are winding up and the Premiership is also taking shape. Oh and before I forget there is the small matter of our Euro 2012 qualifiesr to see. And did you know that the Champions League has kicked in to gear too ? Now where does the Pro 12 rank in all of that ?

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 26/10/2011 18:00:03    1059068

What an idiotic comment. There are numerous people on here who are Rugby fans and they'll be able to discuss Rugby on this thread, whether that be locally, provincial or European. Feel free to ignore this thread

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 26/10/2011 18:09:48    1059078

26/10/2011 18:00:03
Greengrass
County: Louth
Posts: 1757

1059068 ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 359

1058914 26/10/2011 14:50:31
Greengrass
County: Louth
Posts: 1755

1058906 ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 356

1057888 Now the world cup is over, more attention can be put on these 2 competitions.
Munster play Aironi in Cork Friday night and Leinster play in Edinburgh also on Friday night in the pro 12 but the big game is the following Friday in the Aviva when Munster play Leinster.
Despite missing their stars for the opening rounds of the pro 12 Munster and Leinster have started the season very well, and currently are 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Connacht ahead of their first ever season in the Heineken cup are just ahead of Ulster in the pro 12, in 7th place, 2 points ahead of Ulster.

Give us a break ormond. The rugby world cup finished three days ago. Time to concentrate on the Premiership for a while. The Euro 2012 qualifiers are coming up as are the Compromise Rules games. Time to have a look at the rugby in a months time.

No >;]
The Heineken Cup starts in a few weeks and the games this weekend and next are very important as you want to see how the lads who were away with the irish squad adapt and blend back in with their provincial squads before the european competitions start

Ormond I like rugby as much as the next man. I played it when I was a younger man.However I have had plenty of rugby for the time being thank you very much. The Pro12 League is a second rate competition. Munster and their supporters were very happy to tell Leinster and their supporters that when Munster won the Heineken Cup and Leister won the Magners League in 2008. It comes in a long way behind the Heineken Cup and the Zurich Premiership. We will have the Six Nations after Christmas. Plenty to be getting excited about further down the line . Following on a world cup what happens in the Pro12 League is of absolutely no consequence. Like I said give us all a break fron rugby for a while. The club championships are winding up and the Premiership is also taking shape. Oh and before I forget there is the small matter of our Euro 2012 qualifiesr to see. And did you know that the Champions League has kicked in to gear too ? Now where does the Pro 12 rank in all of that

Yes, some munster fans did mock leinster winning magners when we had just won our 2nd European Cup in 08 but leinster had only won a few magners and it was before leinster had won anything in europe...
I dont know how you can rate the Zurich premiership higher than the celtic league, the celtic clubs(mostly the irish and some welsh teams) have done considerably better than their english counterparts in the last few years in europe as well as internationally
This thread is also about the heineken cup and these pro 12 games are very important as we can see how everyone reacts back in the clubs after the highs/lows(depending on their country) of the world cup
Whats wrong with posting about rugby, if you are tired of reading about it dont open the thread, ignore it
The pro 12 is of real consequence after a world cup as it can give players who are disapointted with their preformances in the world cup a chance to recover form etc as well as give newer/younger players a chance to compete for game time against the lads who had been away at the world cup

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 26/10/2011 18:26:35    1059094

The pro 12 is of real consequence after a world cup as it can give players who are disapointted with their preformances in the world cup a chance to recover form etc as well as give newer/younger players a chance to compete for game time against the lads who had been away at the world cup

So what are you saying ? The Pro12 is a nursery and a nursing home at the same time ? Outside of an Irish team name a single Pro12 team that has made a Heinekin final ? I seem to remember a Premiership team in the final this year. Point taken about not getting involved in the thread if I don't feel it's discussing something of any consequence whatsoever.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6181 - 26/10/2011 19:42:50    1059166

I don't know why the merits of the Pro12 are being questioned here??

It's the domestic league we play in. If it is so poor then why have so many recent Heineken Cup winners come from it. It doesn't atter a jot if they were all Irish, they all played in that league set up, which is where form, tactics and performances came from.

Rugby isn't everyone's cup of tea, i get it. I mean when you get people backing against their own country it shows the disdain some people have for it. But a lot of people do like it. A lot of people are getting excited over the coming games and if some people don't like it, well there's plenty of other threads.

If backing your province in the League or the Heineken Cup isn't your thing fair enough. But leave those alone who do want to talk about it.

tribeinbrum (Galway) - Posts: 4155 - 27/10/2011 10:39:49    1059324

Anyone watch or watching either the leinster or munster games??
Munster beating Aironi 9-3 at half time, good enough game been dampened slightly by peter o mahony going off due to injury, he was playing well up to that and was really pushng for a place in squad for HEC games coming up soon.

Leinster beat Edinburgh 36-28. Lots to work for Leinster to do but lots of promise too. Good win at a ground they normally struggle at

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 28/10/2011 21:28:11    1060165

impressive win for treviso at the weekend

stranmillis29 (Antrim) - Posts: 788 - 30/10/2011 17:32:26    1060636

pplocal
County: Tyrone
Posts: 4186

1059078 What an idiotic comment. There are numerous people on here who are Rugby fans and they'll be able to discuss Rugby on this thread, whether that be locally, provincial or European. Feel free to ignore this thread
This is a GAA website. I am sure ther are plenty of goys sites to post on.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 30/10/2011 17:44:26    1060644

um, what part of "Non-GAA" are you struggling to comprehend?

stranmillis29 (Antrim) - Posts: 788 - 30/10/2011 21:18:28    1060804

I'm surprised at the attitudes of some posters on this thread. Its a thread about the Pro12, its as valid as any other thread on the board. If you don't like it, don't post. Its fairly straightforward. Let admin decide what threads are appropriate or not.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12427 - 01/11/2011 11:55:56    1061332

Breffni39
County: Cavan
Posts: 6219
Let admin decide what threads are appropriate or not.

Now there is a quandry!

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 01/11/2011 12:39:16    1061355