United Rugby Championship

[Numbers]

I enjoyed the Dragons match other than the end result, I though Rhodri Williams was a bit hot and cold, Cai Evans was nowhere near as bad as I though he'd be at 10, Dee was very good and Wainwright and Carter put in a good shift ( I thought he was unlucky to see red as ity looked very much like the Connacht just ran straight into him and he didn't have time to react).

The Scarlets were much improved but their defence and general physicality is still sorely lacking, it seems Peel picks players on skill levels rather than making sure they are abrasive enough as a first priority, Lousi was very good, Rogers looked solid and Nicholas was Scarlets' best player on the night.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I enjoyed the Dragons match other than the end result, I though Rhodri Williams was a bit hot and cold, Cai Evans was nowhere near as bad as I though he'd be at 10, Dee was very good and Wainwright and Carter put in a good shift ( I thought he was unlucky to see red as ity looked very much like the Connacht just ran straight into him and he didn't have time to react).

The Scarlets were much improved but their defence and general physicality is still sorely lacking, it seems Peel picks players on skill levels rather than making sure they are abrasive enough as a first priority, Lousi was very good, Rogers looked solid and Nicholas was Scarlets' best player on the night.

Yeah, agreed on Carter's red. There seemed to be plenty of scope for mitigation eg the ball is passed a split second before impact so Carter isn't expecting that player to have the ball at all, the Connacht player provides all the speed to the impact, in fact he causes the impact.

More generally I think these decisions should be looked at in a different way if the tackled player causes the impact, with the possibility of no foul play or even the penalty & cards going against the tackled player.

Re Peel, do you mean his match selections or his signings?

[Sandydragon]

I enjoyed the Dragons match other than the end result, I though Rhodri Williams was a bit hot and cold, Cai Evans was nowhere near as bad as I though he'd be at 10, Dee was very good and Wainwright and Carter put in a good shift ( I thought he was unlucky to see red as ity looked very much like the Connacht just ran straight into him and he didn't have time to react).

The Scarlets were much improved but their defence and general physicality is still sorely lacking, it seems Peel picks players on skill levels rather than making sure they are abrasive enough as a first priority, Lousi was very good, Rogers looked solid and Nicholas was Scarlets' best player on the night.

Yeah, agreed on Carter's red. There seemed to be plenty of scope for mitigation eg the ball is passed a split second before impact so Carter isn't expecting that player to have the ball at all, the Connacht player provides all the speed to the impact, in fact he causes the impact.

More generally I think these decisions should be looked at in a different way if the tackled player causes the impact, with the possibility of no foul play or even the penalty & cards going against the tackled player.

Re Peel, do you mean his match selections or his signings?

Agreed, felt like a very harsh red. Carter simply had no time to react, that surely has to be a mitigation.

[Numbers]

I enjoyed the Dragons match other than the end result, I though Rhodri Williams was a bit hot and cold, Cai Evans was nowhere near as bad as I though he'd be at 10, Dee was very good and Wainwright and Carter put in a good shift ( I thought he was unlucky to see red as ity looked very much like the Connacht just ran straight into him and he didn't have time to react).

The Scarlets were much improved but their defence and general physicality is still sorely lacking, it seems Peel picks players on skill levels rather than making sure they are abrasive enough as a first priority, Lousi was very good, Rogers looked solid and Nicholas was Scarlets' best player on the night.

Yeah, agreed on Carter's red. There seemed to be plenty of scope for mitigation eg the ball is passed a split second before impact so Carter isn't expecting that player to have the ball at all, the Connacht player provides all the speed to the impact, in fact he causes the impact.

More generally I think these decisions should be looked at in a different way if the tackled player causes the impact, with the possibility of no foul play or even the penalty & cards going against the tackled player.

Re Peel, do you mean his match selections or his signings?

His match day selection I find puzzling at times and some of the signings aren't that great, I'm not convinced by Leatherbarrow for instance, I don't think a back row should be under 100KG.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I enjoyed the Dragons match other than the end result, I though Rhodri Williams was a bit hot and cold, Cai Evans was nowhere near as bad as I though he'd be at 10, Dee was very good and Wainwright and Carter put in a good shift ( I thought he was unlucky to see red as ity looked very much like the Connacht just ran straight into him and he didn't have time to react).

The Scarlets were much improved but their defence and general physicality is still sorely lacking, it seems Peel picks players on skill levels rather than making sure they are abrasive enough as a first priority, Lousi was very good, Rogers looked solid and Nicholas was Scarlets' best player on the night.

Yeah, agreed on Carter's red. There seemed to be plenty of scope for mitigation eg the ball is passed a split second before impact so Carter isn't expecting that player to have the ball at all, the Connacht player provides all the speed to the impact, in fact he causes the impact.

More generally I think these decisions should be looked at in a different way if the tackled player causes the impact, with the possibility of no foul play or even the penalty & cards going against the tackled player.

Re Peel, do you mean his match selections or his signings?

His match day selection I find puzzling at times and some of the signings aren't that great, I'm not convinced by Leatherbarrow for instance, I don't think a back row should be under 100KG.

I don't follow the Scarlets closely enough . . . which players do you think he should be selecting more often, to give them a harder edge?

[Numbers]

Yeah, agreed on Carter's red. There seemed to be plenty of scope for mitigation eg the ball is passed a split second before impact so Carter isn't expecting that player to have the ball at all, the Connacht player provides all the speed to the impact, in fact he causes the impact.

More generally I think these decisions should be looked at in a different way if the tackled player causes the impact, with the possibility of no foul play or even the penalty & cards going against the tackled player.

Re Peel, do you mean his match selections or his signings?

His match day selection I find puzzling at times and some of the signings aren't that great, I'm not convinced by Leatherbarrow for instance, I don't think a back row should be under 100KG.

I don't follow the Scarlets closely enough . . . which players do you think he should be selecting more often, to give them a harder edge?

He could pick Craig or Tuipulotu at 6, maybe things will pick up now Plumtree is back. Unfortunately we haven't replaced Kalamafoni and are sorely missing his carrying, Fifita has been good but he's not in the same mould. Our defence and attack this season have been shambolic, I would rather have Pivac or Mooar back as I don't think Peel is up to the job.

[Son of Mathonwy]

His match day selection I find puzzling at times and some of the signings aren't that great, I'm not convinced by Leatherbarrow for instance, I don't think a back row should be under 100KG.

I don't follow the Scarlets closely enough . . . which players do you think he should be selecting more often, to give them a harder edge?

He could pick Craig or Tuipulotu at 6, maybe things will pick up now Plumtree is back. Unfortunately we haven't replaced Kalamafoni and are sorely missing his carrying, Fifita has been good but he's not in the same mould. Our defence and attack this season have been shambolic, I would rather have Pivac or Mooar back as I don't think Peel is up to the job.

How do you replace Kalamafoni? Excellent as Fifita and Lousi are, Kalamafoni is/was on a different level, just carrying the rest of the team. But (and this is not a new thing) the Scarlets look like they need a bit more of their budget spent on the forwards.

Defence is where the Scarlets are failing - they need a good defence coach. I think that was a big part of the Scarlets' success under Pivac (although Beirne and McNichol made a big contribution).

[Son of Mathonwy]

Another whitewash weekend for Wales. I guess none of the results were a surprise but I'd hoped for closer scorelines for the Ospreys and Cardiff matches. The second half capitulation by the Ospreys was particularly sad, even though it was against Leinster, at home.

[Sandydragon]

Just when you have a bit of confidence that then Ospreys were starting to look like they might challenge for the playoffs, boom.

They can have big games but not consistently. It must be a depth thing.

[Son of Mathonwy]

The Ospreys did what they had to do to keep their hopes for the playoffs theoretically alive* (sorry Dragons). Cardiff and Scarlets did well against weak opposition.

* it's not going to happen. No point in getting my hopes up.

[Numbers]

The Ospreys did what they had to do to keep their hopes for the playoffs theoretically alive* (sorry Dragons). Cardiff and Scarlets did well against weak opposition.

* it's not going to happen. No point in getting my hopes up.

The Ospreys are the only region that have looked remotely competitive this season against decent opposition, Toby Booth is concentrating on getting the pack right which would not be a bad idea for some of the other coaches to take on board, a bit of English style pragmatism.

[Sandydragon]

The Ospreys did what they had to do to keep their hopes for the playoffs theoretically alive* (sorry Dragons). Cardiff and Scarlets did well against weak opposition.

* it's not going to happen. No point in getting my hopes up.

The better team won, although it wasn't an advert for Welsh rugby. I'm disappointed from a Dragons perspective that our discipline let us down badly at the end of the 1st half.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I'm still trying to get my head around how the Ospreys got into the playoffs. Did it really happen?

[Sandydragon]

I'm still trying to get my head around how the Ospreys got into the playoffs. Did it really happen?

Apparently so. Given the bookies weren’t confident that all the results would work out it’s a shame I didn’t have a flutter on that, but fair play to them. On an overall shyte season they have shown up.

How well they will do in the playoffs is another matter. They are capable of beating very good sides but equally are capable of under performing.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I'm still trying to get my head around how the Ospreys got into the playoffs. Did it really happen?

Apparently so. Given the bookies weren’t confident that all the results would work out it’s a shame I didn’t have a flutter on that, but fair play to them. On an overall shyte season they have shown up.

How well they will do in the playoffs is another matter. They are capable of beating very good sides but equally are capable of under performing.

I doubt they'll get any further but at least I can picture them beating Munster. A trip to SA would have been a no hoper.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Quality work from the URC organising an Irish ref for Munster.

[Sandydragon]

Quality work from the URC organising an Irish ref for Munster.

Yeah. Is it that hard to find an impartial officials team for these games at least. It’s a bad look and unfair on the ref.

That said the better team won. Ospreys too limited

[Son of Mathonwy]

Quality work from the URC organising an Irish ref for Munster.

Yeah. Is it that hard to find an impartial officials team for these games at least. It’s a bad look and unfair on the ref.

That said the better team won. Ospreys too limited

Yeah, it was always going to be tough out there but we'd like to have seen normal things like Munster getting yellow for
a deliberate knock on.

The linesmen were both six nations referees - Italians Andrea Piardi and Gianluca Gnecchi. They could have been neutral refs, so there's simply no excuse to give the key position to an Irish ref.

And the TMO was Scottish but born in Ulster.

[Sandydragon]

Quality work from the URC organising an Irish ref for Munster.

Yeah. Is it that hard to find an impartial officials team for these games at least. It’s a bad look and unfair on the ref.

That said the better team won. Ospreys too limited

Yeah, it was always going to be tough out there but we'd like to have seen normal things like Munster getting yellow for
a deliberate knock on.

The linesmen were both six nations referees - Italians Andrea Piardi and Gianluca Gnecchi. They could have been neutral refs, so there's simply no excuse to give the key position to an Irish ref.

And the TMO was Scottish but born in Ulster.

It’s like the Ulster v Cardiff game. A mistake by the ref comes across very differently when there is even a hint of national bias.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Yeah. Is it that hard to find an impartial officials team for these games at least. It’s a bad look and unfair on the ref.

That said the better team won. Ospreys too limited

Yeah, it was always going to be tough out there but we'd like to have seen normal things like Munster getting yellow for
a deliberate knock on.

The linesmen were both six nations referees - Italians Andrea Piardi and Gianluca Gnecchi. They could have been neutral refs, so there's simply no excuse to give the key position to an Irish ref.

And the TMO was Scottish but born in Ulster.

It’s like the Ulster v Cardiff game. A mistake by the ref comes across very differently when there is even a hint of national bias.

If it's not acceptable in an international it shouldn't be acceptable in a URC match, unless it's completely unavoidable.

I'm not saying the refs are necessarily doing anything deliberate but no one is immune to unconscious bias. I certainly wouldn't be.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I'm feeling optimistic and predict that at least one Welsh team won't lose this weekend. You read it here first.

[Sandydragon]

I'm feeling optimistic and predict that at least one Welsh team won't lose this weekend. You read it here first.

From such levels of optimism, our new season begins. Realistically Cardiff have a good chance as well and could get a bit of momentum going with a raft of home games before Christmas. Hard to tell with the scarlets they have essentially a new pack which could change things a lot, although I suspect Peel is in last chance saloon.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I'm feeling optimistic and predict that at least one Welsh team won't lose this weekend. You read it here first.

From such levels of optimism, our new season begins. Realistically Cardiff have a good chance as well and could get a bit of momentum going with a raft of home games before Christmas. Hard to tell with the scarlets they have essentially a new pack which could change things a lot, although I suspect Peel is in last chance saloon.

Cardiff start the season in an impressive 2nd place in the table by virtue of the alphabet and they have an excellent chance of staying high with the easiest possible match in the competition. Scarlets have a tough start vs Benetton (how times have changed) and although I'll back the Ospreys against the Dragons, they were outclassed in the same fixture last year.

You have to sympathize with the coaches though, having so little to work with. The Dragons have been through a string of coaches with no change to the result. What can Flanagan (or Peel) do? 'Best coach in the world' Andy Farrell would struggle to get a win out of those teams.

[Sandydragon]

I watched the second half of the Cardiff game and it was definitely first game of the season syndrome. Cardiff got the job done but that was far from a classic.

Meanwhile awesome effort by the dragons to do the ospreys over at the death.

[Sandydragon]

2 wins and a draw on the opening weekend. On paper that’s not bad but considering a draw away to an Italian team anything like a success shows how much they have improved and we haven’t.