AIL

LeeroyJones

With all the excitement of the Grand Slam, the latest Munster Leinster just gone, two Irish teams winning their H Cup quaters for another huge Munster Leinster match at Croker in prospect it's unfortunate for the AIL that it's getting a tad overshadowed, especially as it is the most exciting season in a long long time-but I could get used to it!

The final weekend before the playoffs and there are still 7 teams in with a shot I thought it deserved a thread,

So, who's it going to be,
Con?
Dolphin?
Shannon?
Garryowen?
Clontarf?
Marys?
Rock?

Beau

Woah! Just looked at the table, its bloody close. No idea who will win it. Was down at the AIB Cup final and Con didn't impress on the day.

chupacabra

COME ON GARRYOWEN!

Serenity Now!

I'd say Garryowen are the most nervous out of that bunch. Results haven't been going their way lately.

LeeroyJones

well they lost within 7 away to Dolphin, not great but Dolphin are a good side, Garryowen also trounced Ballymena before that, and won at Templeville Road before that against Marys.
I'd read more into Cons form, as mentioned before, their performence in the cup was under par, scraped past Belvo and lost well away to Rock

Aidric

Serenity Now! wrote: »

I'd say Garryowen are the most nervous out of that bunch. Results haven't been going their way lately.

How do you make that out? They were coming off the back of 8 straight league wins before that loss to Dolphin at the weekend.
I fancy them to win the league.

Sabre0001

chupacabra wrote: »

COME ON GARRYOWEN!

What this person said!

Sundy

Im going to tip Dolphin to beat shannon with clontart joining the top four with a BP victory.

madds

I'm not asking for much but I'd love to see Barnhall beat Rainey Old Boys with a bonus point to stay in the AIL.....please

Amazotheamazing

Con or Garryowen.

Peadar06

I'm a true Terenure supporter, but I would like to see St. Mary's winning it.

Peter

Serenity Now!

Aidric wrote: »

How do you make that out? They were coming off the back of 8 straight league wins before that loss to Dolphin at the weekend.
I fancy them to win the league.

They lost a big game vs Dolphin and were dumped out of the Cup previous to that.
Thats what I meant.

Amazotheamazing

Serenity Now! wrote: »

They lost a big game vs Dolphin and were dumped out of the Cup previous to that.
Thats what I meant.

Garryowen lost in the Cup after having to play 3 games in a week or somesuch.

bamboozle

Clontarf!

Digifriendly

Was at Dungannon vs Blackrock last Saturday and leaving aside the fact that this was Dungannon's best home performance all season, must say I was disappointed with Blackrock (Shane Bryne/Des Dillon/Gary Brown all playing) as they were well beaten. However maybe they had an off day and will get things right on Saturday.

Beau

Go on Navan!

The_Kew_Tour

cork con i think

louthandproud

there is an isle......


G'wan Shannon!

Digifriendly

To show the rather poor state of club rugby in Ulster at present - no AIL 1 games here this Saturday (Dungannon/Ballymena both away) and in Division 2 it's a choice of Malone (no chance of promotion) vs Old Crescent or Instonians (already relegated) vs Belfast Harlequins (still in danger of relegation). Looks like Ulster will have no teams promoted from Divisions 2/3 although Ballynahinch have outside chance. Also next season we won't have a single team in Division 1A of the AIL. Have been to a number of AIL games this season in both AIL 1/2 and crowds here (with notable exception of Ballynahinch) are somewhat paltry.

NTC

Digifriendly wrote: »

To show the rather poor state of club rugby in Ulster at present - no AIL 1 games here this Saturday (Dungannon/Ballymena both away) and in Division 2 it's a choice of Malone (no chance of promotion) vs Old Crescent or Instonians (already relegated) vs Belfast Harlequins (still in danger of relegation). Looks like Ulster will have no teams promoted from Divisions 2/3 although Ballynahinch have outside chance. Also next season we won't have a single team in Division 1A of the AIL. Have been to a number of AIL games this season in both AIL 1/2 and crowds here (with notable exception of Ballynahinch) are somewhat paltry.

Welcome to my world, from Munster live in Galway. Was at the Galwegians game last Saturday and at most 50 people there. Only Bucc's playing at home this week, but at least Corinthians got promoted.

Digifriendly

NTC wrote: »

Welcome to my world, from Munster live in Galway. Was at the Galwegians game last Saturday and at most 50 people there. Only Bucc's playing at home this week, but at least Corinthians got promoted.

50 is indeed very low- maybe the club game is part of the reason why both Ulster and Connacht are struggling. BTW I remember seeing Dungannon vs Galwegians in a AIL play off (around 1991) and Galwegians (who included Warren Gatland AFAIK) had literally hundreds of travelling supporters. Sad that things have changed so much for the clubs in both provinces as the clubs are surely the lifeblood of the game in Ireland. I know a lot has changed since professionalism came in and the Celtic League/European Competitions but I feel the IRFU has neglected the game somewhat at club level.

Digifriendly

Went to Instonians vs Belfast Harlequins (37-40) and while it was a high scoring thriller, I have to admit both defences were all over the place and a lot of missed tackles. Glad to see Ballynahinch can still make it up to AIL 1B for next season but hammerings for Dungannon and Ballymena show the rather poor state of club rugby in the province.

madds

madds wrote: »

I'm not asking for much but I'd love to see Barnhall beat Rainey Old Boys with a bonus point to stay in the AIL.....please

Didn't need the bonus point in the end but Barnhall were 28-21 winners away to ROB today to secure another season in Div 3. Well done lads and fair play to "veteran" Eoin Burke who came off the bench to score the winning try!! Congrats to Old Wesley who hung on against Sundays Well to win 17-12 and gain promotion to Div 2 in Donnybrook earlier.

Serenity Now!

Digifriendly wrote: »

Glad to see Ballynahinch can still make it up to AIL 1B for next season

Wasn't the skipper cited for an incident in the AIB Cup final? Heard he got a lengthy ban.

Anyone know how Navan did yesterday? They do the biz?

Serenity Now!

Digifriendly wrote: »

I know a lot has changed since professionalism came in and the Celtic League/European Competitions but I feel the IRFU has neglected the game somewhat at club level.

How have they neglected the club game?

Beau

Serenity Now! wrote: »

Anyone know how Navan did yesterday? They do the biz?

Yeh, a 40 - 20 win over Monivea. Started off a bit cagey but opened them up in the second half. Delighted, finally we've done it.

Serenity Now!

Beau wrote: »

Yeh, a 40 - 20 win over Monivea. Started off a bit cagey but opened them up in the second half. Delighted, finally we've done it.

Congrats!

Rattlehead_ie

Yep much better performance in the 2nd half once the nerves were put a side, great team performance and see you AIL ppl in the new season

[Jackass]

As an Old Belvedere fan, wouldn't like to see Marys or Rock win it. But would like to see a Leinster side win it and 'Tarf have a big Belvo school contingent, some come on the 'TARF!

delta_bravo

What division do you need to win to get promoted into Div 3 and what happens to the relegated sides of Div 3?

faigs

Fair play Navan, was going to happen eventually. And well done Boyne on Towns Cup, super final!

Beau

delta_bravo wrote: »

What division do you need to win to get promoted into Div 3 and what happens to the relegated sides of Div 3?

You have to win your Junior Division 1 provincial league and then qualify through the All Ireland League Round Robin where you play the winners of the other provinces league. The winner of the round robin replaces the last team in Division 3 (this year Waterpark are relegated in place for Navan) and the second team in the round robin play the team who are second last in Division 3 in their gorund for a promotion relegation play off (this year its Sundays Well fighting to stay up against Cashel. Its very tough to get up! Hard to come back down.

Digifriendly

[Jackass] wrote: »

As an Old Belvedere fan, wouldn't like to see Marys or Rock win it. But would like to see a Leinster side win it and 'Tarf have a big Belvo school contingent, some come on the 'TARF!

'Tarf are only Leinster side left and they face Cork Con this Saturday (live on RTE 2) while Shannon face Garryowen in other semi - final. Final will be on May 9th at Thomond Park

shoutman

'Tarf played some phenomenal rugby in the 50-0 demolishing of Dungannon last Saturday. Obviously Dungannon had nothing to play for, and played like it, but beating anybody by fifty points while not conceding was still a great feat.

There were one or two injuries, not sure how serious they were, but all in all the team played very well. Hopefully they can put it up to Con and cause an upset. 'Tarf have been there so many times but always seem to fall at the final or penultimate hurdle.

Also Michael Keating is absolutely phenomenal to watch. His confidence is sky high, everytime he gets the ball he seems to know that he is going to beat the next two defenders. It's also fantastic seeing a 19 year old winger looking to take the crash ball from penalties, obviously he doesn't exactly crash but you know what I mean.

Downtime

Serenity Now! wrote: »

Wasn't the skipper cited for an incident in the AIB Cup final? Heard he got a lengthy ban.

Anyone know how Navan did yesterday? They do the biz?

Yes. In a rather interesting turn of fate Alain Rolland called the skipper out to discuss the bite on another players arm. He said that if he sees anything else like it he'll send the skipper off. The skipper was the one who bit the player. What are the chances.

Fair play to Mike Prendergast and Young Munster who had huge support in Belfield with them. In injury time Prendergast stuck over a drop goal from his own 10 meter line to win the game for the Cookies and secure their Div 1 B status

Digifriendly

Downtime wrote: »

Fair play to Mike Prendergast and Young Munster who had huge support in Belfield with them. In injury time Prendergast stuck over a drop goal from his own 10 meter line to win the game for the Cookies and secure their Div 1 B status

This is quite a feat - is it a record distance for a drop goal?

bamboozle

shoutman wrote: »

'Tarf played some phenomenal rugby in the 50-0 demolishing of Dungannon last Saturday. Obviously Dungannon had nothing to play for, and played like it, but beating anybody by fifty points while not conceding was still a great feat.

There were one or two injuries, not sure how serious they were, but all in all the team played very well. Hopefully they can put it up to Con and cause an upset. 'Tarf have been there so many times but always seem to fall at the final or penultimate hurdle.

Also Michael Keating is absolutely phenomenal to watch. His confidence is sky high, everytime he gets the ball he seems to know that he is going to beat the next two defenders. It's also fantastic seeing a 19 year old winger looking to take the crash ball from penalties, obviously he doesn't exactly crash but you know what I mean.

was at that game & Keating is something else, his 2nd try he basically ran through their backs from inside our '22. Best of luck to tarf tomorrow in their visit to Con, here's hoping Cheika (for a change) will actually release Paul O'Donoghue for the match tomorrow.
we owe Con one thats for sure & most importantly Simon Crawford is available to play....

Luckycharm

Closest finish in Years Marys put 10 tries past the gick and finished on the same points as 3rd and 4th losing out on points diff on the semi's.

Downtime

Digifriendly wrote: »

This is quite a feat - is it a record distance for a drop goal?

No. It's quite a short pitch.