British and Irish Cup 2017-2018

The Lost Sheep

The 2017/18 British & Irish Cup fixtures have been announced today, with the pool stages running from October to January.

2017/18 BRITISH & IRISH CUP - POOL DRAW & FIXTURES:

POOL 1: Bedford Blues, MUNSTER 'A', Nottingham, Ospreys Select

POOL 2: Bristol, Cardiff Blues Select, Doncaster Knights, LEINSTER 'A'

POOL 3: Dragons Select, London Scottish, Yorkshire Carnegie, Jersey Reds

POOL 4: CONNACHT EAGLES, Rotherham Titans, Richmond, Ealing Trailfinders

POOL 5: Cornish Pirates, Hartpury, Scarlets Select, ULSTER 'A'

ROUND 1 - October 13-15, 2017

Nottingham v Bedford Blues
Ospreys Select v Munster 'A'
Doncaster Knights v Leinster 'A'
Cardiff Blues Select v Bristol
London Scottish v Dragons Select
Jersey Reds v Yorkshire Carnegie
Rotherham Titans v Connacht Eagles
Ealing Trailfinders v Richmond
Hartpury v Cornish Pirates
Ulster 'A' v Scarlets Select

ROUND 2 - October 20-22, 2017

Bedford Blues v Ospreys Select
Munster 'A' v Nottingham
Leinster 'A' v Cardiff Blues Select
Bristol v Doncaster Knights
Dragons Select v Jersey Reds
Yorkshire Carnegie v London Scottish
Connacht Eagles v Ealing Trailfinders
Richmond v Rotherham Titans
Cornish Pirates v Ulster 'A'
Scarlets Select v Hartpury

ROUND 3 - December 8-10, 2017

Munster 'A' v Bedford Blues



Nottingham v Ospreys Select
Bristol v Leinster 'A'
Doncaster Knights v Cardiff Blues Select
Yorkshire Carnegie v Dragons Select
London Scottish v Jersey Reds
Richmond v Connacht Eagles
Rotherham Titans v Ealing Trailfinders
Scarlets Select v Cornish Pirates
Hartpury v Ulster 'A'

ROUND 4 - December 15-17, 2017

Bedford Blues v Munster 'A'
Ospreys Select v Nottingham
Leinster 'A' v Bristol
Cardiff Blues Select v Doncaster Knights
Dragons Select v Yorkshire Carnegie
Jersey Reds v London Scottish
Connacht Eagles v Richmond
Ealing Trailfinders v Rotherham Titans
Cornish Pirates v Scarlets Select
Ulster 'A' v Hartpury

ROUND 5 - January 12-14, 2018

Nottingham v Munster 'A'
Ospreys Select v Bedford Blues
Doncaster Knights v Bristol
Cardiff Blues Select v Leinster 'A'
London Scottish v Yorkshire Carnegie
Jersey Reds v Dragons Select
Rotherham Titans v Richmond
Ealing Trailfinders v Connacht Eagles
Hartpury v Scarlets Select
Ulster 'A' v Cornish Pirates

ROUND 6 - January 20, 2018

Bedford Blues v Nottingham
Munster 'A' v Ospreys Select
Leinster 'A' v Doncaster Knights
Bristol v Cardiff Blues Select
Dragons Select v London Scottish
Yorkshire Carnegie v Jersey Reds
Connacht Eagles v Rotherham Titans
Richmond v Ealing Trailfinders
Cornish Pirates v Hartpury
Scarlets Select v Ulster 'A'

http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/40123.php#.WWN_69KWzIU

thomond2006

Why did Ulster A drop the 'Ravens' name?

irishbucsfan

thomond2006 wrote: »

Why did Ulster A drop the 'Ravens' name?

In recent seasons, the team hasn't been playing well enough to justify being named after vermin

Rigor Mortis

irishbucsfan wrote: »

In recent seasons, the team hasn't been playing well enough to justify being named after vermin

This led me onto Wikipedia to find the genus classification for Ravens, cos obviously its not vermin. I found this, which i think is particularly apt

Obsolete collective nouns for a group of ravens (or at least the common raven) include "unkindness"[4] and "conspiracy".

Winters

thomond2006 wrote: »

Why did Ulster A drop the 'Ravens' name?

I wonder perhaps if it was dropped after the Kingspan naming deal? Ravens/Ravenhill?

"Ulster Kingspanners" wasnt catchy enough.

Buer

I suggest that they just shorten that to the Ulster Spanners and bring Doak back in as coach of them.

budhabob

Winters wrote: »

I wonder perhaps if it was dropped after the Kingspan naming deal? Ravens/Ravenhill?

"Ulster Kingspanners" wasnt catchy enough.

how did I never notice that before?

Winters

It may also be related to the Ulster 'A' sponsorship by CD Group.

The Lost Sheep

Games to start next weekend.
More info on fixtures and kick off times dates available on competing sides websites/social media as well as British and Irish cups social media accounts. Still no website for the competition

The Lost Sheep

This weekends fixtures, kick off times and teams
Munster A face Ospreys Premiership Select at St Helen’s, Swansea tomorrow at 2.30pm.
Leinster A face Doncaster in Castle Park, Doncaster tomorrow at 2.30pm
Connacht Eagles face Rotherham in Clifton Lane tomorrow at 2pm
Ulster A face Scarlets in Banbridge RFC tomorrow at 2.30pm

Munster A: David Johnston – capt.; Stephen Fitzgerald, Sam Arnold, Alex McHenry, Shane Daly; JJ Hanrahan, James Hart; Brian Scott, Kevin O’Byrne, Ciaran Parker; Ronan Coffey, Sean McCarthy; Sean O’Connor, Gavin Coombes, Tom Ryan.
Replacements: Mike Sherry, Rob O’Donovan, Evan Minten, Mikey Wilson, John Poland, Bill Johnston, Liam Coombes.

Leinster A: Jordan Larmour, Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O’Brien, Ciarán Frawley, Ian Fitzpatrick, Conor Dean, Hugh O’Sullivan, Ed Byrne(Cpt), Bryan Byrne, Vakh Abdaladze, Mick Kearney, Josh Murphy, Peadar Timmins, Will Connors, Max Deegan
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Peter Dooley, Jeremy Loughman, Oisín Dowling, Nick McCarthy, Harry Byrne, Michael Silvester

Connacht Eagles: Matthew Byrne; Niyi Adeolokun, Stacey Ili, Kieran Joyce, Colm de Buitléar; Luke Carty, Conor McKeon; Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Dave Heffernan, JP Cooney; Gavin Thornbury, Peter Claffey; Naulia Dawai, Paul Boyle, Harley Fox.
Replacements: Pat O’Toole, Conor Kenny, Niall Murray, Cian Huxford, Stephen Kerins, Morgan Codyre, Adam Leavy.

Ulster A: Andy Warwick, Adam McBurney, Ross Kane (Capt), Jack Regan, Peter Browne, Caleb Montgomery, Aaron Hall, Joe Dunleavy; Aaron Cairns, Johnny McPhillips, Angus Kernohan, Rory Butler, Callum Patterson, David Busby, Jack Owens.
Replacements: Zack McCall, Michael Cromie, Matthew Dalton, Greg Jones, Jonny Stewart, Brett Herron, Michael Lowry.

The Lost Sheep

Munster won 24-6 https://munsterrugby.ie/report_nostats/munster-win-swansea
Leinster won 41-17 https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/report_nostats/report-doncaster-knights-17-leinster-a-41/
Connacht lost 28-23
Ulster won 24-18 http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/16626.php#.WeSiOrte7IU

The Lost Sheep

Munster beat Nottingham 38-7 with 4 try bonus and are top of group 1. Munster live streamed the game on their website. Would be good if more games could be shown like that

Leinster play Cardiff in Donnybrook tomorrow evening.
Jordan Larmour, Michael Silvester, Conor O’Brien, Ciarán Frawley, Tommy O’Brien, Cathal Marsh, Nick McCarthy
Peter Dooley, Bryan Byrne, Vakh Abdaladze, Mick Kearney, Ross Molony, Josh Murphy, Richard Dunne, Peadar Timmins
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Ed Byrne, Jeremy Loughman, Óisín Dowling, Charlie Rock, Conor Dean, Hugh O’Sullivan

Ulster are away to the Cornish Pirates on Sunday


Connacht host Ealing on Sunday in the Sportsground
Matthew Byrne; Niyi Adeolokun, Stacey Ili, Kieran Joyce, Rory Scholes; Andrew Deegan, Conor McKeon; Denis Coulson, Pat O’Toole, JP Cooney (Capt); Peter Claffey, Gavin Thornbury; Paul Boyle, Naulia Dawai, Harley Fox.

Replacements: Callum Torpey, Conor Kenny, Niall Murray, Cian Huxford, James Mitchell, Luke Carty, Adam Leavy.

The Lost Sheep

Eagles getting destroyed by Ealing. Minute into second half and Ealing up 45-0.

wp_rathead

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Eagles getting destroyed by Ealing. Minute into second half and Ealing up 45-0.

Sounds like a shambles - and it's not a terrible Eagles 23

Rigor Mortis

29 - 10 to Leinster, tries for Frawley, Byrne, Moloney and Penalty Try

CIARAN_BOYLE

Is there an A rugby inter pro season this year? I would be disappointed if there's not but I can't find reference to it on the Leinster website.

The Lost Sheep

wp_rathead wrote: »

Sounds like a shambles - and it's not a terrible Eagles 23

I only saw 10 minutes of the first half and saw whole second half. What i saw was very poor but supposedly the first half hour was even worse. Beaten everywhere by long distance.

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Is there an A rugby inter pro season this year? I would be disappointed if there's not but I can't find reference to it on the Leinster website.

Never usually is any reference on the provincial websites. Games then added/announced a few weeks or sometimes with less time than that as theyre played whenever they can fit them

The Lost Sheep

Competition to end. Shame as was great to get players playing in provincial set ups and could ease step up to pro14 level. Also allowed some provinces move games around the province and Munster in particular were excellent at bringing games to Waterford, Nenagh, Clonmel, Tralee etc
Hopefully whatever replaces it for Irish provinces will see more games played province wide and we see Leinster bring games to navan, ashbourne, enniscorthy etc

wp_rathead

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Hopefully whatever replaces it for Irish provinces will see more games played province wide

A home and away Interpro Tournament Would be nice

The Lost Sheep

wp_rathead wrote:

A home and away Interpro Tournament Would be nice

still would only be 6 games and the provinces play each other already in a games.
Hopefully we may still see provinces play a games against some non Irish sides and hopefully we will still see provincial games being brought to venues around the provinces

CIARAN_BOYLE

A few years ago it was rumoured on here that the English clubs may jettison Wales in the Anglo Welsh cup and replace them with the Irish provinces.

I wonder if we could get in for that deal. After all the Welsh essentially send an A team to those matches as it stands.

As far as I know the participation agreement for the Anglo Welsh is year by year since the competition has failed to attract a sponsor.

I do agree that a home and away inter pro series should be a thing whether there is a British and Irish cup or not.

The Lost Sheep

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

A few years ago it was rumoured on here that the English clubs may jettison Wales in the Anglo Welsh cup and replace them with the Irish provinces.

I wonder if we could get in for that deal. After all the Welsh essentially send an A team to those matches as it stands.

As far as I know the participation agreement for the Anglo Welsh is year by year since the competition has failed to attract a sponsor.

I do agree that a home and away inter pro series should be a thing whether there is a British and Irish cup or not.

I dont see any reason the english clubs would add the irish provinces in place of the welsh for anglo welsh cup. Like why would they? Considering it would affect attendances, costs, its mainly second string squads.
The provinces play varying amounts of A games season on season

CIARAN_BOYLE

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

I dont see any reason the english clubs would add the irish provinces in place of the welsh for anglo welsh cup. Like why would they? Considering it would affect attendances, costs, its mainly second string squads.
The provinces play varying amounts of A games season on season

Anglo Welsh has failed to attract sponsors for a number of years. If we attract a spnsor (even the novelty miht so it) Anglo Irish would be a better option. Not saying it's likely just that if it was suggested before maybe it should be explored as a replacement to the b&i for the provinces.

The Lost Sheep

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Anglo Welsh has failed to attract sponsors for a number of years. If we attract a spnsor (even the novelty miht so it) Anglo Irish would be a better option. Not saying it's likely just that if it was suggested before maybe it should be explored as a replacement to the b&i for the provinces.

What chances really are there that we would attract a sponsor ahead of the anglo welsh?
There isnt any chance of anglo irish cup happening.
Why would English go for it? There's no way they would

The Lost Sheep

Round 3 and 4 this and next weekend.
Munster are second in pool 1 with 9 points behind Beford on 10. They play in Musgrave Park tonight against Bedford
Munster A: Stephen Fitzgerald; Jack Power, David Johnston (C), Alex McHenry, Liam Coombes; Bill Johnston, James Hart; Joey Conway, Mike Sherry, TBC; Fineen Wycherley, Sean McCarthy, Sean O’Connor, Tommy O’Donnell, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, Bryan O’Connor, John Foley, Jack O’Sullivan, John Poland, Conor Fitzgerald, Dave McCarthy.

Leinster are top of pool 2 with 10 points. Bristol and Doncaster both on 5.
They play Bristol in Ashton Gate tonight.
Leinster A: Ciarán Frawley, Jack Kelly, Gavin Mullin, Conor O’Brien, Tommy O’Brien, Cathal Marsh, Charlie Rock, Peter Dooley, Bryan Byrne (C), Vakh Abdaladze, Josh Murphy, Ian Nagle, Peadar Timmins, Will Connors, Max Deegan
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Ed Byrne, Cormac Daly, Caelan Doris, Hugh O’Sullivan, Ian Fitzpatrick, Hugo Keenan

Ulster are third in Pool 4 on 4 points and play bottom side Hartpury College the next 2 weeks
Ulster A team to play Hartpury RFC, Saturday 9th December at Hartpury College, 2.30pm:
Tommy O'Hagan, Adam McBurney, Tom O'Toole, Peter Browne, Matthew Dalton, Clive Ross, Aaron Hall, Greg Jones (C); Jonny Stewart, Johnny McPhillips, Rob Lyttle, Rory Butler, Callum Patterson, David Busby, Jack Owens.
Replacements: Zack McCall, Eric O'Sullivan, John McCusker, Marcus Rea, Aaron Cairns, Dave Shanahan, Angus Kernohan.

Connacht are bottom of Pool 4 with 1 point and play Richmond who like Connacht were hammered by Ealing but were comfortable winners over Rotherham who Connacht narrowly lost to in round 1.
Matt Byrne, Adam Leavy, Kieran Joyce, Peter Robb, Stacey Ili, Andrew Deegan, Conor McKeon, Conan O’Donnell, Pat O’Toole, Conor Kenny, Cian Huxford, Gavin Thornbury, Naulia Dawai, Sean Masterson, Paul Boyle
Replacements : Callum Torpey, Denis Coulson, Jakub Woitjowicz, Dylan Tierney, Caoilin Blade, Steve Crosbie, Craig Ronaldson

The Lost Sheep

Leinster won 46-35
Tries from Gavin Mullan(x2), Ian Nagle, Peadar Timmins, Bryan Byrne,
Munster lost 25-14
Tries Jack Power, Alex McHenry with conversions from James Williams

Locke_Lamora

Plenty of tries, a lot of alcohol and a bigger crowd than I expected made the Leinster game a great watch. The team really impressed me considering how young some of them were, although the defence was a bit weak at times.

MDunne14

Jeremy loughman played for Munster As last night and has signed a 3month contract with them

Turnipman

Locke_Lamora wrote: »

Plenty of tries, a lot of alcohol and a bigger crowd than I expected made the Leinster game a great watch. The team really impressed me considering how young some of them were, although the defence was a bit weak at times.

I was interested to see that both Leinster half backs received yellow cards - what skulduggery were they up to?

Turnipman

A remarkable performance by Ulster A this afternoon when - if the BBC Sport website can be believed - they fought back from a half time score of 12 - 7 down to lose 7 - 0 to Hartpury College.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/match/ERUP4040354

Good to see Connacht A winning well at Richmond. Full time score 38 - 17.

Locke_Lamora

Turnipman wrote: »

Locke_Lamora wrote: »

Plenty of tries, a lot of alcohol and a bigger crowd than I expected made the Leinster game a great watch. The team really impressed me considering how young some of them were, although the defence was a bit weak at times.

I was interested to see that both Leinster half backs received yellow cards - what skulduggery were they up to?

I think it was Charlie Rock that got carded for playing on the ground. Made an excellent try saving tackle, and when the bristol player tried to pop it up, Rock slapped it down. At least I think that's what happened - I was behind the posts so it was difficult to see clearly.

The Lost Sheep

This weekends games and teams, named so far
Friday
Leinster A v Bristol. 7.30pm Donnybrook
Saturday
Ulster A v Hartpury. 2pm Ballymena
Bedford v Munster A. 3pm
Sunday
Connacht Eagles v Richmond. 2pm Sportsground


Leinster ‘A’
Ciarán Frawley
Hugo Keenan
Gavin Mullin
Conor O’Brien
Tommy O’Brien
Cathal Marsh
Nick McCarthy
Ed Byrne
Bryan Byrne
Michael Bent
Ross Molony
Ian Nagle
Josh Murphy
Will Connors
Peadar Timmins
Replacements
Ronan Kelleher
Peter Dooley
Jack Aungier
Óisín Dowling
Caelan Doris
Charlie Rock
Jack Kelly

The Lost Sheep

Munster A: Dave Johnston (C); Stephen Fitzgerald, Alex McHenry, Dave McCarthy, Liam Coombes; Bill Johnston. James Hart; Jeremy Loughman, Mike Sherry, Ciaran Parker; Fineen Wycherley, Sean McCarthy; Sean O’Connor, Gavin Coombes, Robin Copeland.
Replacements: Vincent O’Brien, Rob O’Donovan, Evan Mintern, Jack O’Sullivan, John Poland, Conor Fitzgerald, Jack Power.

Ulster A: Tommy O'Hagan, Adam McBurney, Tom O'Toole, Peter Browne, Matthew Dalton, Clive Ross, Aaron Hall, Greg Jones (C);
Jonny Stewart, Johnny McPhillips, David Busby, Brett Herron, Jack Owens, Angus Kernohan, Rob Lyttle.
Replacements: Zack McCall, Eric O'Sullivan, Caleb Montgomery, Matthew Agnew, Dave Shanahan, Stewart Moore, Aaron Cairns.#

Connacht Eagles: Matt Byrne, Adam Leavy, Eoin Griffin, Peter Robb, Stacey Ili, Andrew Deegan, Conor McKeown,
Conan O’Donnell, David Heffernan, Conor Kenny, Peter Claffey, Gavin Thornbury, Naulia Dawai, Sean Masterson, Paul Boyle (Capt)

Replacements: Pat O’Toole, Denis Coulson, Callum Torpey, Dylan Tierney, Caolin Blade, Steve Crosbie, Craig Ronaldson.

Turnipman

Leinster A stroll to a 50 - 15 (8 tries) home win against Pat Lam's Bristollians.

RugbyRugby2016

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

This weekends games and teams, named so far
Friday
Leinster A v Bristol. 7.30pm Donnybrook
Saturday
Ulster A v Hartpury. 2pm Ballymena
Bedford v Munster A. 3pm
Sunday
Connacht Eagles v Richmond. 2pm Sportsground


Leinster ‘A’
Ciarán Frawley
Hugo Keenan
Gavin Mullin
Conor O’Brien
Tommy O’Brien
Cathal Marsh
Nick McCarthy
Ed Byrne
Bryan Byrne
Michael Bent
Ross Molony
Ian Nagle
Josh Murphy
Will Connors
Peadar Timmins
Replacements
Ronan Kelleher
Peter Dooley
Jack Aungier
Óisín Dowling
Caelan Doris
Charlie Rock
Jack Kelly

Leinster website says Conor dean came on as a replacement, he wasn’t listed in the original match day squad so not sure who he replaced

Locke_Lamora

Ulster A won 27-19, Adam McBurney scored 4 tries. We looked a much better team, but we gave away a stupid amount of penalties.

The Lost Sheep

Leinster won 50-15
Ulster won 27-19
Munster won 16-12

The Lost Sheep

Connacht won 56-7

The Lost Sheep

Munster away in Nottingham tomorrow night
Leinster away to Cardiff in Pontypridd on Saturday
Connacht away in Ealing Saturday
Ulster home to Cornish Pirates tomorrow in Instonians RFC

Ulster team:
Tommy O'Hagan, John Andrew (Capt), Ross Kane, Peter Browne, Clive Ross, Caleb Montgomery, Matthew Agnew, Marcus Rea;
Jonny Stewart, Peter Nelson, Aaron Cairns, Rory Butler, Callum Patterson, Rob Lyttle, Jack Owens.
Replacements: Zack McCall, Tom O'Toole, Eric O'Sullivan, John McCusker, David Shanahan, Chris Swash, Angus Kernohan.

Munster team:
Dave Johnston (C); Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Dave McCarthy, Stephen Fitzgerald; Bill Johnston, James Hart; Jeremy Loughman, Mike Sherry, Brian Scott; Fineen Wycherley, Gerbrandt Grobler; Sean O’Connor, Conor Oliver, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Duncan Casey, Ciaran Parker, Sean McCarthy, John Foley, John Poland, Conor Fitzgerald, Ronan O’Mahony.

nordydan

Ulster 12 - 6 Cornish Pirates at HT

The Lost Sheep

Leinster team
15. Ciarán Frawley
14. Jack Kelly
13. Gavin Mullin
12. Conor O’Brien
11. Tommy O’Brien
10. Cathal Marsh CAPTAIN
9. Charlie Rock
1. Peter Dooley
2. Ronan Kelleher
3. Jack Aungier
4. Mick Kearney
5. Ian Nagle
6. Josh Murphy
7. Max Kearney
8. Peadar Timmins
Replacements
16. Sean McNulty
17. Adam Coyle
18. Óisín Heffernan
19. Óisín Dowling
20. Ronan Foley
21. Hugh O’Sullivan
22. Michael Silvester

Connacht Eagles team
Matt Byrne, Rory Scholes, Stacey Illi, Kieran Joyce, Adam Leavy, Andrew Deegan, Conor McKeon, Conan O’Donnell, Dylan Tierney, Conor Kenny, Peter Claffey, Cillian Gallagher, Sean Masterson, James Connolly, Paul Boyle (Capt)

Replacements: Callum Torpey, Matt Burke, Conor Kyne, Niall Murray, Ryan Feehily, Luke Carty, Michael O’Reilly.

The Lost Sheep

Munster won 17-12 and are second to Bedford but should qualify as a best runner up
Leinster have qualified as pool winner but will likely be second seeds
Connacht are second and need to win and have other results go their way to qualify as a best runner up
Ulster are top of their pool and only need a win to qualify for the quarters.

As it stands the quarters are:
Ealing v Cornish Pirates
Jersey v Doncaster
Leinster v Munster
Bedford v Ulster

Very likely to change next week obviously but would be very interesting to see an all irish quarter!!

the perfect ten

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Munster won 17-12 and are second to Bedford but should qualify as a best runner up
Leinster have qualified as pool winner but will likely be second seeds
Connacht are second and need to win and have other results go their way to qualify as a best runner up
Ulster are top of their pool and only need a win to qualify for the quarters.

As it stands the quarters are:
Ealing v Cornish Pirates
Jersey v Doncaster
Leinster v Munster
Bedford v Ulster

Very likely to change next week obviously but would be very interesting to see an all irish quarter!!

Does anyone know on which weekend the quarter-finals take place?

El Vino

Went to the Ealing V Connacht game, they were shocking, would prefer to see the Irish teams to avoid each other until the semis.

Digifriendly

This competition is to be the last as it is being scrapped. How will Irish provinces 'A' teams with some players on professional contracts fill in the blanks dates next season I wonder?

irishbucsfan

Digifriendly wrote: »

This competition is to be the last as it is being scrapped. How will Irish provinces 'A' teams with some players on professional contracts fill in the blanks dates next season I wonder?

I believe there's interpros pencilled in, although I wonder if they might try get a replacement competition.

The Lost Sheep

the perfect ten wrote: »

Does anyone know on which weekend the quarter-finals take place?

Digifriendly wrote: »

This competition is to be the last as it is being scrapped. How will Irish provinces 'A' teams with some players on professional contracts fill in the blanks dates next season I wonder?

Mix of club AIL games for players, provinces will play a proper Interpro series i imagine rather than the ix and match they do play at the moment and provinces could look over to England and play A sides of premiership sides or who knows.

Buer

I'm sure there are enough potential opponents to form a decent enough schedule. They need to replace 7-8 games which can be done through an interprovincial competition, one or two arranged fixtures against Welsh/English or an Exiles selection.

I'd love to see a few fixtures lined up against some Espoir sides from the T14 which is essentially an U23 selection. They have a full league that operates for 20 or so games a season so available slots might not be easy to come by.

the perfect ten

Would the most logical, simplest and cheapest thing to do not be to play home and away matches against each other?

CIARAN_BOYLE

the perfect ten wrote: »

Would the most logical, simplest and cheapest thing to do not be to play home and away matches against each other?

Well they already have an inter pro season. They usually play each other once or twice a year. Usually these games are arranged at short notice when the provinces have a full A deck to choose from and want to have an inter pro. These games may gain prominence but it's going from 6-9 b&I and 3-6 interpros to 6 interpros.

The Lost Sheep

Buer wrote: »

I'm sure there are enough potential opponents to form a decent enough schedule. They need to replace 7-8 games which can be done through an interprovincial competition, one or two arranged fixtures against Welsh/English or an Exiles selection.

I'd love to see a few fixtures lined up against some Espoir sides from the T14 which is essentially an U23 selection. They have a full league that operates for 20 or so games a season so available slots might not be easy to come by.

There would be but how would you get an exiles selection?
Espoirs play a large amount of games as you say so i dont think they would find many games to play them

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Well they already have an inter pro season. They usually play each other once or twice a year. Usually these games are arranged at short notice when the provinces have a full A deck to choose from and want to have an inter pro. These games may gain prominence but it's going from 6-9 b&I and 3-6 interpros to 6 interpros.

It is far from regular though and that would be a start to have a definite 6 interpros