Ulster Bank League 2012-2013 talk/gossip/rumours

ormond lad

bamboozle wrote: »

the rule is (and i stand corrected!) that only two fully contracted players can be in an AIL squad of 20, and only one of those can be a forward. Furthermore, NIQ players are not allowed play in the AIL. Development and Academy players can play unrestricted.

Of course Cork Con seemed to skirt this rule last season by claiming Zebo was only a development contracted player...

My club Clontarf this coming season will have Furlong, Sherlock, Reid, O'Shea from the leinster academy and i'd expect them to be in the AIL squad most weeks.

Hopefully for the following season (2013/2014) the AIL format will revert to a top 4 play-off and more contracted players will be allowed get game time in the AIL, if used correctly it could be pretty effective in getting younger players good experience of playing in the trenches while keeping fringe fully contracted players match fit.

First good step from IRFU is announcing lots more friday night games for this coming season, they usually attract larger crowds to the game and into the clubhouse bars afterwards.

Yes you are correct wrt restrictions on contracted players. hopefully the irfu do decide to go back to playoffs as they give the club game a guaranteed final and rte a final to show the finale to the season.
friday night games are great, we had one last season and we have another this season

Gracelessly Tom wrote: »

I agree with you on the four team playoff, I still think it's the best way of running the league, even as a Marys member I still wanted the playoff's last season. Why not go back to the way it was in the late 90's, early 2000's when top of the table after the regular season got a certain prize fund, 2nd, 3rd and 4th got some as well. Then have a smaller prize fund for the winner and 2nd in the playoffs. Winner of the play off is the champ though.

The flipside to the friday night games is that the clubs lose out on pre match lunches which can be a decent earner.

dont think the impact on pre match meals is as big if clubs do things right and ensure big crowds are at games and maybe arrange post match entertainment and keep people in the clubhouses after games

phog wrote: »

Also, they have teams away from home in 2 consecutive game, this must have an effect in their cash flow.

2 away games in a row isnt that much of an impact on cash flow and there is no way of stopping some clubs not having at some stage of the season either 2 home games in a row or two away games in a row

bamboozle wrote: »

i noticed this also, wonder if it has something to do with the likes of lansdowne, Dolphin, Shannon & UL Bohs maybe not having access to Aviva, Musgrave & Thomand on certain weekends.

no dont think having access to those grounds is an issue at all like take div2b where we have a couple of away games in a row and its not like we wouldnt have access to our own ground during the season

Cookiemunster

bamboozle wrote: »

i noticed this also, wonder if it has something to do with the likes of lansdowne, Dolphin, Shannon & UL Bohs maybe not having access to Aviva, Musgrave & Thomand on certain weekends.

Shannon and Bohs played a lot of their games in Coonagh and Annacotty over the last few seasons when Thomond wasn't available. Musgrave is only used 4 times a season by Munster and the dates will only clash twice this season.
I reckon it just rubbish scheduling from the IRFU. I mean there's a full fixture list fixed for half 2 on Feb 2nd when Ireland kick off against Wales an hour earlier the same day.

phog

bamboozle wrote: »

i noticed this also, wonder if it has something to do with the likes of lansdowne, Dolphin, Shannon & UL Bohs maybe not having access to Aviva, Musgrave & Thomand on certain weekends.

UL Bohs and Shannon both use alternative grounds to Thomond Park.

ormond lad wrote: »

2 away games in a row isnt that much of an impact on cash flow and there is no way of stopping some clubs not having at some stage of the season either 2 home games in a row or two away games in a row

I haven't looked that closely at it but even if they do, they could have done better than this, probably a bit extreme but it was YM that caught my eye initially.

Date Day Time Home Visitors Venue
28/09/12 Fri 19:30 Shannon Young Munster Away
06/10/12 Sat 14:30 Young Munster St. Mary's College Tom Clifford Park
27/10/12 Sat 14:30 Cork Constitution Young Munster Away
03/11/12 Sat 14:30 Young Munster Clontarf Tom Clifford Park
09/11/12 Fri 19:30 U.L. Bohemian Young Munster Away
18/11/12 Sun 14:30 Young Munster Garryowen Tom Clifford Park
01/12/12 Sat 14:30 Young Munster Lansdowne Tom Clifford Park
05/01/13 Sat 14:30 Young Munster Old Belvedere Tom Clifford Park
26/01/13 Sat 14:30 Dolphin Young Munster Away
02/02/13 Sat 14:30 Old Belvedere Young Munster Away
16/02/13 Sat 14:30 Young Munster Dolphin Tom Clifford Park
23/02/13 Sat 14:30 Clontarf Young Munster Away
02/03/13 Sat 14:30 Lansdowne Young Munster Away
16/03/13 Sat 14:30 Young Munster Cork Constitution Tom Clifford Park
22/03/13 Fri 19:30 Garryowen Young Munster Away
29/03/13 Fri 18:00 Young Munster U.L. Bohemian Tom Clifford Park
13/04/13 Sat 14:30 Young Munster Shannon Tom Clifford Park
20/04/13 Sat 14:30 St. Mary's College Young Munster Away

ormond lad

Interesting pre season comp being played saturday. Thomond, Old Crescent, Shannon and Garryowen will compete for the 'Estuary Cup' this Saturday in Estuary RFC at 3pm.
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/domestic/news/10671.php?

ormond lad

Charity cup started in Limerick tonight.
Young Munster beat Old Crescent 36-21. Match Report available here.
Rest of games are played saturday
Shannon play Thomond, Bruff play UL Bohs and Garryowen play Nenagh

madlad88

bamboozle wrote: »

My club Clontarf this coming season will have Furlong, Sherlock, Reid, O'Shea from the leinster academy and i'd expect them to be in the AIL squad most weeks.
.

Sherlock has signed back for his old club Skerries in 2B this year i think!

ormond lad

ormond lad wrote: »

Charity cup started in Limerick tonight.
Young Munster beat Old Crescent 36-21. Match Report available here.
Rest of games are played saturday
Shannon play Thomond, Bruff play UL Bohs and Garryowen play Nenagh

Limerick Charity Cup results
Shannon beat Thomond 26-21
Garryowen beat Nenagh 24-10
Bohs beat Bruff 17-6

Cork Charity Cup Results
Highfield beat Sundays Well 20-0
Dolphin beat Cork Con 31-21

bamboozle

roycon wrote: »

is ciaran ruddock just playing ail next season for marys does anyone know. he was playing in that 7s tournament last week i think

signed for Neath.

roycon

marys have lost a few big backrow players in hogan and ruddock

Winters

Prop Rob Sweeney is back at Marys this season.

bamboozle

Winters wrote: »

Prop Rob Sweeney is back at Marys this season.

he was there last season.

Winters

bamboozle wrote: »

he was there last season.

Ah, I thought he was with Connacht last season?

ormond lad

Round up of Leinster senior league games played over the weekend
http://www.knockon.ie/2012/08/27/leinster-senior-wrap/
Some interesting results. big wins for marys over lansdowne in the league cup and for seapoint over suttonians in the league shield

bamboozle

Winters wrote: »

Ah, I thought he was with Connacht last season?

that was 2 seasons ago...time flies!

himself and his brother are great players for Marys

ormond lad

ormond lad wrote: »

Limerick Charity Cup results
Shannon beat Thomond 26-21
Garryowen beat Nenagh 24-10
Bohs beat Bruff 17-6

Cork Charity Cup Results
Highfield beat Sundays Well 20-0
Dolphin beat Cork Con 31-21

Limerick Charity Cup semis are next weekend
Young Munster play Garryowen at 6.45 on Friday night in Tom Clifford Park while Shannon play Bohs in Coonagh on saturday at 2.30

the perfect ten

bamboozle wrote: »

signed for Neath.

Are you sure about Ciaran Ruddock? I thought he played for St. Mary's last Saturday against Lansdowne.

ormond lad

ormond lad wrote: »

Limerick Charity Cup semis are next weekend
Young Munster play Garryowen at 6.45 on Friday night in Tom Clifford Park while Shannon play Bohs in Coonagh on saturday at 2.30

Young Munster won 26-17
Bohs won 38-9

ormond lad

cork charity cup semis were played yesterday
Midleton 17-39 Dolphin
Highfield 24-23 Cashel

ormond lad

Cork Charity Cup final
Highfield 9 Dolphin 3 at halftime
Limerick Charity Cup final
UL Bohs 15 Young Munster 0 halftime

ormond lad

Munster Senior Cup first round is this weekend
All games kick off at 2.30pm tomorrow.
Underlined sides are who i tip to win
Bruff v Cashel
Cork Con v Dolphin
Garryowen v Thomond
Highfield v Old Crescent
Midleton v Shannon
Nenagh v UL Bohs
Sundays Well v Clonakilty
Young Munster v UCC

Any games in the other provinces?

CIARAN_BOYLE

Not sure what the best place to ask this is but I decided to ask here but what effect has the five second rule had on the club game.

There were worries that club teams would struggle to live with the increased tempo of enforced by the 5 second rule

ormond lad

ormond lad wrote: »

Munster Senior Cup first round is this weekend
All games kick off at 2.30pm tomorrow.
Underlined sides are who i tip to win
Bruff v Cashel 7-13
Cork Con v Dolphin 43-6
Garryowen v Thomond
Highfield v Old Crescent 8-11
Midleton v Shannon off today due to death of ex President and Shannon stalwart Dr.Daragh Little
Nenagh v UL Bohs 12-18
Sundays Well v Clonakilty 32-14
Young Munster v UCC 37-3

Any games in the other provinces?

Results of Senior Cup games are in red

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Not sure what the best place to ask this is but I decided to ask here but what effect has the five second rule had on the club game.

There were worries that club teams would struggle to live with the increased tempo of enforced by the 5 second rule

Hasnt really affected any games ive seen so far. Havent played a game yet so cant really comment until i play under the rule

ormond lad

Munster Senior Cup
Saturday 22nd Sept
1st round
Midleton v Shannon, Towns Park, 2.30;
Quarter Finals:
Cashel v Old Crescent, Cashel, 2.30;
Cork Constitution v Garryowen, Temple Hill, 2.30;
Sunday's Well v U.L. Bohemian, Musgrave Park, 2.30;

Munster Senior Plate Quarter Finals:
Bruff v Highfield, Kilballyowen Park, 2.30;
Clonakilty v Nenagh Ormond, The Vale, 2.30;
Dolphin v Thomond, Musgrave Park, 2.30
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/domestic/news/10813

ormond lad

Connacht Senior League
Galwegians in control at the top of the league after defeating Bucc's. Div2A side Corinthians were big winners away to div2B side Connemara.
Galwegians 15, Buccaneers 11
Connemara 0, Corinthians 55

In the Leinster Senior League Cup
Lansdowne and St Marys qualified for the semis from Section A with wins yesterday. Lansdowne beat Terenure 17-13 and Marys beat Bective 55-8
In complete contast to Section A Section B has everything to play for after winless Blackrock shocked a Clontarf side, who had been unbeaten before yesterday, 17-16. Belvedere beat Greystones 16-12 to go into 2nd place behind Clontarf on points difference.

In the Senior League Shield
Naas had already qualified from Section A and won with a 4th straight try bonus win aganst Suttonians. result 44-19
NUIM Barnhall beat Wesley(17-13) and look likely to qualify in 2nd place behind Naas
In Section B Skerries beat DLSP(21-19) to qualify for the semis as group winners.
Boyne play Navan next week to decide the other semi final qualifier

bamboozle

Irish U20 props Furlong & Merry starting for clontarf against Belvo tomorrow in castle avenue

Both started last weekend against Blackrock, 2 rock props went off injured and the game finished with uncontested scrums.

I'm hoping Schmidt will give Furlong this season to learn the propping dark arts at AIL level.

bamboozle

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Not sure what the best place to ask this is but I decided to ask here but what effect has the five second rule had on the club game.

There were worries that club teams would struggle to live with the increased tempo of enforced by the 5 second rule

well certain teams whose tactics whenever i saw them last season (cough cough YM) was to slow down the ball at the bases of rucks, will not enjoy these new rules

ormond lad

Munster Senior Cup results
1st round
Midleton 12 Shannon 24
1/4 finals
Sundays Well 6 UL Bohs 22
Cork Con 16 Garryowen 6
Cashel 49 Old Crescent 20
Shield results
Only 1 game was played
No ref turned up to Nenaghs game against Clonakilty
Thomond had conceded to Dolphin and Bruff beat Highfield 20-13

bamboozle

bamboozle wrote: »

Irish U20 props Furlong & Merry starting for clontarf against Belvo tomorrow in castle avenue

Both started last weekend against Blackrock, 2 rock props went off injured and the game finished with uncontested scrums.

I'm hoping Schmidt will give Furlong this season to learn the propping dark arts at AIL level.

Clontarf beat Belvo 27 - 6. Merry & Furlong started with Royce Burke Flynn coming on and impressing. With Merry, Furlong, Burke Flynn & Barclay available to prop the tarf scrum will be fearsome...

maybe Burke Flynn is doing a jackman and hoping a good season at AIL will earn him a provincial deal.

ormond lad

AIL starts this weekend
Division 1A starts with 3 games on friday night including a limerick derby and dublin derby
round 1 fixtures
friday night. all kick off 7.30pm
Garryowen v Dolphin
Old Belvedere v Lansdowne
Shannon v Young Munster
saturday 2.30pm
Cork Con v Clontarf
St Marys v UL Bohs

Can see Garryowen, Lansdowne, Young Munster, 'tarf and Marys winning
Good to see plenty of friday night games. Theyre a great idea

div 1B
friday night 7.30pm
Malone v Dungannon
saturday 2.30pm
Belfast Harlequins v UCD
Bruff v Ballymena
Buccaneers v Ballynahinch
Dublin Uni v Blackrock College RFC

Im predicting Dungannon, UCD, Ballymena, Buccs and Trinity to win

Div 2A
friday night 7.30pm
Old Wesley v Seapoint
saturday 2.30pm
Bective Rangers v Highfield
City of Derry v UCC
Corinthians v DLSP
Greystones v Banbridge
Midleton v Cashel
Old Crescent v Queens Uni
Terenure College v Galwegians

Seapoint, Bective, UCC, Corinthians, Banbridge, Cashel, Queens and Terenure to win
Div 2B
saturday 2.30pm
Clonakilty v Armagh
Connemara v Boyne
Instonians v Skerries
NUIM Barnhall v Naas
Rainey OB v Nenagh Ormond
Sligo v Navan
Sundays Well v Thomond
Suttonians v Ards

Clonakilty, Connemara, Instonians, Barnhall, Nenagh, Sligo, Thomond, Suttoninas to win

bamboozle

ormond lad wrote: »

AIL starts this weekend
Division 1A starts with 3 games on friday night including a limerick derby and dublin derby
round 1 fixtures
friday night. all kick off 7.30pm
Garryowen v Dolphin
Old Belvedere v Lansdowne
Shannon v Young Munster
saturday 2.30pm
Cork Con v Clontarf
St Marys v UL Bohs

Can see Garryowen, Lansdowne, Young Munster, 'tarf and Marys winning
Good to see plenty of friday night games. Theyre a great idea

div 1B
friday night 7.30pm
Malone v Dungannon
saturday 2.30pm
Belfast Harlequins v UCD
Bruff v Ballymena
Buccaneers v Ballynahinch
Dublin Uni v Blackrock College RFC

Im predicting Dungannon, UCD, Ballymena, Buccs and Trinity to win

Div 2A
friday night 7.30pm
Old Wesley v Seapoint
saturday 2.30pm
Bective Rangers v Highfield
City of Derry v UCC
Corinthians v DLSP
Greystones v Banbridge
Midleton v Cashel
Old Crescent v Queens Uni
Terenure College v Galwegians

Seapoint, Bective, UCC, Corinthians, Banbridge, Cashel, Queens and Terenure to win
Div 2B
saturday 2.30pm
Clonakilty v Armagh
Connemara v Boyne
Instonians v Skerries
NUIM Barnhall v Naas
Rainey OB v Nenagh Ormond
Sligo v Navan
Sundays Well v Thomond
Suttonians v Ards

Clonakilty, Connemara, Instonians, Barnhall, Nenagh, Sligo, Thomond, Suttoninas to win

Lansdowne have lost their 10 Ronaldson to Bath (unless his trial is up) YM have lost Willie Staunton to Terenue of all places, although Shannon are looking weak and Old Belvo looked at sea last weekend.

I'd never predict against anything other than a Cork Con win when they're at home. We (Clontarf) should have a serious pack this season but are missing 3 or 4 in the backs to injury.

I reckon Skerries will romp 2B, best of luck to Ormands, is Trev H coaching again this season?

ormond lad

bamboozle wrote: »

Lansdowne have lost their 10 Ronaldson to Bath (unless his trial is up) YM have lost Willie Staunton to Terenue of all places, although Shannon are looking weak and Old Belvo looked at sea last weekend.

I'd never predict against anything other than a Cork Con win when they're at home. We (Clontarf) should have a serious pack this season but are missing 3 or 4 in the backs to injury.

I reckon Skerries will romp 2B, best of luck to Ormonds, is Trev H coaching again this season?

Thanks. Trev is coaching again
I dont see Skerries romping home in 2B. Rainey, ourselves and Barnhall will all be contending for promotion and it will be tough to see who gets up automatically and who gets a playoff place. The game this weekend between us and Rainey should be an excellant game
Shannon have struggled and will have quite a young team but you never know about them and i cant see them getting relegated anyway

Digifriendly

Some info. on Ulster teams in 1B - Dungannon in mini-injury crisis at present and Malone have bolstered their squad having won promotion so with home advantage they may shade their encounter. Ballymena have lost some players in close season so they may struggle away to Bruff while Ballynahinch look a lot stronger on paper than last season having made some key signings over the summer so I would pick them to win in Connacht.

roycon

UCD look to have jordan couglan starting at first centre for them this weekend against Belfast Harlequins. The lad is massive - about 6'5 and 17stone. Belvo always seem to struggle at the start of the season. Theyve lost auvaa and risdon but they have brought in jack conan. Who is a quality player and easily up to the physicality of AIL. Clontarf always have a strong front row but they often lack the quality out wide and they tend to play a negative brand of rugby which works against them I think. They have also lost barry o mahoney who was one of their key players over the last two seasons. Clontarf have a good few of their players coming towards the end of their careers or who have just reached the end of their careers so it will be tough for them this season I think. Its grand at the moment when the pitches are dry but when thinks get dark and mucky in december, january and february they'll miss the old lads even though tafhg furlong is a quality player

Podge_irl

Interesting. Schmidt must have had a word with the lads at UCD, seems this Coughlan to 12 thing is at least semi-serious.

bamboozle

roycon wrote: »

UCD look to have jordan couglan starting at first centre for them this weekend against Belfast Harlequins. The lad is massive - about 6'5 and 17stone. Belvo always seem to struggle at the start of the season. Theyve lost auvaa and risdon but they have brought in jack conan. Who is a quality player and easily up to the physicality of AIL. Clontarf always have a strong front row but they often lack the quality out wide and they tend to play a negative brand of rugby which works against them I think. They have also lost barry o mahoney who was one of their key players over the last two seasons. Clontarf have a good few of their players coming towards the end of their careers or who have just reached the end of their careers so it will be tough for them this season I think. Its grand at the moment when the pitches are dry but when thinks get dark and mucky in december, january and february they'll miss the old lads even though tafhg furlong is a quality player

Apart from Crawford & Dundon and the retired Treston there's no one i can think of over the age of 26/27. Agree with you about our backs, we've signed Fitzpatrick at 10 from Rock and he's been one of the best 10's in the league over the last few seasons and that's where our weakness was last season - however he's not available for another while & Lett is also injured. We've got Ryan and Lane out wide who've won the AIL and Collie O'Shea & Noel Reid (as a 12 i'd expect by request from HQ) so there's plenty of talent, what i reckon is needed is consistency from the half-backs.
I reckon Tarf need some luck to get through the first 4 or 5 games thereafter injuries will have cleared up.

Mary's have lost Hall, Hogan & Ciaran Ruddock in their pack but will still be up there.
Lansdowne will as ever flatter to decieve, Ronaldson will be a big loss at 10.
Old Belvo cant be worse than last season & can call on Marshall & Conan in their back row.
YM have lost Staunton & their tactics will suffer from the 5 second ruck rule.
Shannon seem to be in turmoil.
Garryowen have picked up Barry O'Mahoney & TJ anderson but i dont think they've a big enough squad.
Dolphin's season will depend on whether Condon will be playing much for them, with a strong scrum they'll win most of their home games.
Cork Con - will probabaly have some of John Ryan, Scanlon, Dineed & Nagle available, great 7 in O'Hara and they rarely lose at home.

i reckon its Cork Con's season with Clontarf, Marys and maybe Old Belvo challenging....dare i say it shannon will be fighting relegation.

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny

Garryowen have also brought in Matt Jarvis (Connacht 10), dunno how much he'll play with them with Nikora the only other 10 there really. Scanlon signed to Garryowen as well but is out with a serious back injury, believe he had an epidural in it the other day!

Ul Bohs ave a backline to match any team in the league but their pack aren't the biggest or most physically dominant without Tommy O Donnell there.

YM recruited very very heavily after losing a substantial amount of players, Out goings, Staunton, Liam Og Murphy, Ray Moloney, James O Neill, Aaron Carroll and more, Incoming Gareth Quinn McDonagh (Shannon), several players from junior clubs, and an English winger Dominic LeSpierre who looks to be starting tomorrow night

Shannon may seem to be in dire straits but somehow pull it out of the bag for AIL every yr, but i feel it may be a bridge too fair for them and 1B could be looming, especially if Paddy Butler and Luke O Dea are considered by munster

I'd be looking to Tarf/Mary's for 1st and 2nd again with YM, Con and G'owen 3rd 4t and 5th

roycon

Id be looking towards cork con for the title. I dont think marys have the desire or the brute force this season to take the title for a consecutive season. will be interesting to see how YM do this season. Id say they will stay up. I think belvo and shannon again may be the teams likely to go down

Clontarf have a problem at outhalf that has now been solved by the arrival of fitzpatrick who is a classic outhalf. Last season they hadd matt darcy,dufficy,noel reid, evan ryan, killian lett and collie oshea filling in at various times. they have a pretty solid team but richie lane is a distinctly average attacking player at this stage. they lack a bit of fire power out wide and maybe a bit of experinece up front this season. they could do with getting michael keating back from england.

Its interesting that eric elwood is letting a lot of the connacht players play for munster clubs to get exposure to 1a and 1b rugby. in the past they had to play for connacht clubs but since a few connacht teams have been relegated he doesnt want them playing at a much lower standard. this could really streghten a few of the munster clubs this season.

Im going to risk it and say belvo will go down this season with UL and shannon struggling with them.

division 1b is a lottery. UCD can now field an entire leinster academy team from 1-15 and theyve streghtened their front row so id say theyll be pushing for promotion. Buccanneers will have a very strong pack and probably dungannon are the favourites for promotion. Bruff and Malone probabaly will be relegation contenders although bruff tend to win games at home because they have the worst pitch in the country and grind out wins.

Darmabum

Anyone any idea about Division 2A?

ormond lad

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny wrote: »

Garryowen have also brought in Matt Jarvis (Connacht 10), dunno how much he'll play with them with Nikora the only other 10 there really. Scanlon signed to Garryowen as well but is out with a serious back injury, believe he had an epidural in it the other day!
Ul Bohs ave a backline to match any team in the league but their pack aren't the biggest or most physically dominant without Tommy O Donnell there.
YM recruited very very heavily after losing a substantial amount of players, Out goings, Staunton, Liam Og Murphy, Ray Moloney, James O Neill, Aaron Carroll and more, Incoming Gareth Quinn McDonagh (Shannon), several players from junior clubs, and an English winger Dominic LeSpierre who looks to be starting tomorrow night

Shannon may seem to be in dire straits but somehow pull it out of the bag for AIL every yr, but i feel it may be a bridge too fair for them and 1B could be looming, especially if Paddy Butler and Luke O Dea are considered by munster

I'd be looking to Tarf/Mary's for 1st and 2nd again with YM, Con and G'owen 3rd 4t and 5th

Bohs pack is only alright but if they can get their backs just about enough ball Bohs will do well and if they have the likes of Brian Walsh in the backrow theyll do that. Cant see a Leinster 1-2 in div1A as i think YM will be 1st or 2nd
Both Quinn McDonagh and the english winger Dominic Lespierre(who is very quick and scored 2 good trys) played against us(Nenagh) in the Munster 2nds league last weekend and looked very very good

roycon wrote: »

Id be looking towards cork con for the title. I dont think marys have the desire or the brute force this season to take the title for a consecutive season. will be interesting to see how YM do this season. Id say they will stay up. I think belvo and shannon again may be the teams likely to go down

Clontarf have a problem at outhalf that has now been solved by the arrival of fitzpatrick who is a classic outhalf. Last season they hadd matt darcy,dufficy,noel reid, evan ryan, killian lett and collie oshea filling in at various times. they have a pretty solid team but richie lane is a distinctly average attacking player at this stage. they lack a bit of fire power out wide and maybe a bit of experinece up front this season. they could do with getting michael keating back from england.

Its interesting that eric elwood is letting a lot of the connacht players play for munster clubs to get exposure to 1a and 1b rugby. in the past they had to play for connacht clubs but since a few connacht teams have been relegated he doesnt want them playing at a much lower standard. this could really streghten a few of the munster clubs this season.

Im going to risk it and say belvo will go down this season with UL and shannon struggling with them.

division 1b is a lottery. UCD can now field an entire leinster academy team from 1-15 and theyve streghtened their front row so id say theyll be pushing for promotion. Buccanneers will have a very strong pack and probably dungannon are the favourites for promotion. Bruff and Malone probabaly will be relegation contenders although bruff tend to win games at home because they have the worst pitch in the country and grind out wins.

Could UCD not name an entire academy side anyway as academy players were not stopped from playing. It was only development/fully contracted players who were subject to the 2 playes rule.
Bruffs pitch isnt that bad and they have some young players coming through who did very well at 2nds level last season and will be ready to step up
Con will be limited very much so by contracted players issue

Darmabum wrote: »

Anyone any idea about Division 2A?

Division 2A weekend preview www.irishrugby.ie/ulsterbankleague/27224
Division 2B weekend preview www.irishrugby.ie/ulsterbankleague/27225

bamboozle

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0928/1224324534313.html

looks like GT is using boards as a source of information...

apparently Mick McGrath is fit to start for Clontarf on the wing tomorrow, brilliant super powerful winger who was with Plymouth for most of last season until they went bust, he'll add cutting edge in the backs with Collie O'Shea and McCoy.

Am still going with Cork Con to pip Clontarf and Mary's for 1A, Shannon or Young Munster to go down, most of YM's points last season came from Willie Staunton's boot, with at least 3 games won with his late kicks, without him & 5 second ruck rule they will struggle.

1B - would like to see Buccs win it, with Belfast harlequins pushing them...if only to see all 4 provinces represented in 1A next season. UCD will have the big names but i'm not sure if they have the grunt up front to slug it out.

2A Terenure & Galwegians to challenge for promotion. Willie Staunton's kicking might see Terenure to top spot.

2B - Am contradicting myself here by saying Skerries, even though they may not have the grunt up from (though Ross McAuley at 8 is a class act) they have a back line that could grace 1A, in the 2 Hewitts, Conal Keane, Chris Keane and Mickey Sherlock who walked off the Leinster academy this backline will cause serious damage.

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny

"Out-half Craig Ronaldson is available following a trial with Bath, along with Connacht-contracted players Matt Healy and Kyle Tonetti. Full-back Ross McCarron will again skipper the side."

There gonna be tough to beat this yr! Add Jordi Murpy, John Cooney et al into the mix and you've got to consider them contenders! Ronaldson is the key for them

bamboozle

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny wrote: »

"Out-half Craig Ronaldson is available following a trial with Bath, along with Connacht-contracted players Matt Healy and Kyle Tonetti. Full-back Ross McCarron will again skipper the side."

There gonna be tough to beat this yr! Add Jordi Murpy, John Cooney et al into the mix and you've got to consider them contenders! Ronaldson is the key for them

Throw in Tadhg Beirne, Jack O'Connell, Tom Sexton, Neilus Keogh, Willie Walsh, Sean Carey and they've a serious squad - thing is though they seem to have no steel or team spirit, struggled to get promoted from 1B 2 seasons back with the likes of Eoghan Hickey, Stephen Keogh, Keiren Lewis, they should have romped that league yet only got promoted when Bucc's lost their last 4 games.

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny

Sensational squad, if they'd some togetherness they'd be right up there. Foster Horan is a loss no doubt but have more than able replacements. Definitely ones to watch, especially on the Aviva Astro, play super rugby

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny

YM 36 Shannon 3. Shannon look like a club in trouble, think they'll struggle! 5second rule helped encourage YM to spread the ball with 13 scoring twice and was excellent overall. Lots of improvement to do but a good start.

Any other results folks?

Digifriendly

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny wrote: »

YM 36 Shannon 3. Shannon look like a club in trouble, think they'll struggle! 5second rule helped encourage YM to spread the ball with 13 scoring twice and was excellent overall. Lots of improvement to do but a good start.

Any other results folks?

Malone 36 Dungannon 13 in 1B. Dungannon completely outmuscled outthought and outran by very impressive Malone side.

DIV 1A Garryowen 19 - 3 Dolphin
Old Belvedere 9 - 16 Lansdowne

Not Playing Tiddlywinks Vinny

Great game in templeville rd. Marys came out on top 17 14. Bohs played wel. Mary's are a bit weaker than last season but is early days yet so we won't jump to any verdicts on them just yet. Bohs should have enough to be mid table finish, definitely could cause a few shocks with a very threatening backline! Was very impressed by them

bamboozle

Clontarf lost to Cork Con in the 7th minute of injury time down in Cork. Hard to believe we didnt come away with the win in a game where Clontarf's lineout and scrum had Con under serious pressure for the whole game. On the stroke of full time Clontarf had a scrum 5m from the Con line...it was marching forward, wheeled and ball skewed out the side, another ref would have given a penalty under the posts unfortunately the ref allowed the game to play on and 7 minutes later Con snatched victory.

On the plus side Tadhg Furlong's first AIL performance proved why so much is expected from him.

Con will be up in the top 2 this season.

roycon

great to hear furlong played well.

what was the lineup in the forwards for tarf. i didnt get to see any of the games unfortunately

bamboozle

roycon wrote: »

great to hear furlong played well.

what was the lineup in the forwards for tarf. i didnt get to see any of the games unfortunately

Burke-Flynn, O'Flynn, Furlong, Reilly, O'Keefe, Crawford, Darcy, Garvey.
Barclay came on, Flanagan, Dundon, Coogan were unavailable

some of Furlong's tackles could be heard from the sideline, Reilly destroyed the Con lineout.

ormond lad

In my preview of the weekend games i tried predict the winners of each game. didnt do too bad in Div 1A and 2A but did poor in my predictions of 1B and 2B
Div 1A 4/5 predictions correct
Div 1B 2/5
Div 2A 5/8
Div 2B 2/8
weekend review is below
http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/27246.php