Heineken Cup round three review

Halftime Report

So on Friday morning I was expecting one win and hoping for three losing bonus points on this cold Tuesday morning I have finished reflecting on three excellent wins for Connacht, Ulster and Munster. While Leinster for the first time in seventeen games failed to win but they put in a stellar performance against Clermont and brought home a losing bonus point which could prove crucial in their qualification hopes.

Connacht

For the second season in a row the Western province have upset the apple tart by beating French side Biarritz and in doing so have done Munster and Leinster a huge favour. Dan Parks is proving a very astute signing as he kicked seven points in another famous win for the province. What is critical know is they kick on in the Rabo Pro Direct and ensure they qualify for the Heineken Cup on their own this season. Their team had one teenager and one thirty year old with the rest in their twenties. If they can keep this bunch together and add a couple in the summer the future really is bright for the province. That teenager, Kieran Marmion  is another member of the fantastic under twenty side from last season and on my count he is already the fourth member of the side to make an appearance in the Heineken Cup this season.

Ulster

Ulster produced the most complete performance of the week and for many cemented themselves as a serious contender to win the competition but for me I think a little change in their game plan will be required to win it. I feel they rely on their defence too much and against the better teams who would be able to break them they won’t quite have enough. I would like to see them attack a little more as opposed to leaving the opposition have the ball and force mistakes. Next week’s game against Northampton should be interesting because Iain Henderson will play in the second row which I consider to be his best position. In the backs Trimble, Bowe and Cave were fantastic but for me Jared Payne was a class apart. It is going to be a long two years before we see him in a green shirt sadly.

Munster

Overrated English team come to underrated Munster team’s backyard Thomond Park wait I have read this book. In reality this wasn’t the case Saracens were overrated but they left the win behind them. Munster will need to learn from their mistake in a week to have a chance next week. This game highlighted where Munster are now in the middle group (6^th – 14^th) of European teams. Their fanatical supporters and media can say what they want about this win but in reality it was two teams from that middle group who will hope to sneak through into the quarter finals but won’t make a dent in the knockout stages. Given this is the provinces second season in serious transition qualifying for the knockout phase will be quite an achievement. The likes of Kilcoyne, Sherry, Ryan, Dave O Callaghan, Peter O Mahony, Zebo, Earls, Murray and Jones will play a major role in bringing the province back to the big time in the next three or four seasons but for now they lack at least four or five players to contend.

Leinster

I’ll openly admit I thought they would get pummelled on Sunday. I couldn’t see how they would handle the Clermont backs given the makeshift backline they lined out with but Kudos to Joe Schimdts men they stopped Clermont and will probably kick themselves for not grabbing at least a draw. For the second time in a year Schimdt completely out thought Cotter and will fancy his team’s chances in the Aviva. Leinster set piece moves are way ahead of everyone else in Europe and this along with another huge defensive effort will be key in defeating the French team. It is a different story for Clermont as Sunday will be hugely frustrating as they failed to kill of Leinster on their home patch again.

Irish six Nations selection

At hooker we had Best, Cronin, Strauss and Sherry who are probably are four best options lineout over the weekend. Best led his Ulster pack in destroying Northampton’s forwards and laying down the foundations for the win. Sherry done well in all aspects but is still a couple of seasons experience from being international standard. Sean Cronin was maybe an eyebrow raiser but given how poor Strauss’s throwing was when he came on he could finally be Leinster’s numbers one hooker.

The second row is a worrying position for me. Of the eight locks that started for the four provinces only three Dan Tuohy, Donnacha Ryan and Mike McCarthy will be in contention for the World Cup squad in 2015. Given Iain Henderson seems to be the only young lock getting regular game time it has to be a worry for the international management.

In the centres we had a mixture of the young and the old. Six of the eight who took to the field were Irish qualified, three over thirty with three under twenty five. Gordan Darcy his having best season sense 09 and is really showing us how much we are going to miss him when he retires. James Downey and Paddy Wallace put in huge defensive performances to help their provinces to wins. The younger brigade performed well too with McSharry really showing he can be a huge part of Connachts future. Keith Earls continues to impress as  a thirteen for Munster but for me Darren Cave was the best of the lot as he gave one of his best performances in an Ulster shirt on Friday night.

Lions Selection

This weekend the provinces players went head to head with many of the players they will battle against to try and make the tour in Australia. Dylan Hartley proved why he isn’t a Lions test hooker Friday night by losing the plot and will be rightly cited this week.

Lee Byrne reminded us why he was the number one fullback in 2009 and could make a potential late push to make it down under.

The Saracens back line had four of English backs that played against New Zealand but for many reasons none of them looked like Lions. Brad Barritt and Farrell are a lot of things but they are certainly not Lions test centres.

Foot notes

It came to my attention that Munster in the seventeen years of the competition have still failed to name one of the eight forwards that started the final in 2006 in a Heineken Cup match. That is staggering. Donnacha O Callaghan carried the flag on Saturday.

Watch this guy he is lethal if you like sprinting rugby players!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA5bwqVN5LM

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