Guinness Pro14 Season 2018-2019

irishbucsfan · 13-07-2018 08:37AM

I would be very interested to see his England team. Could be extremely difficult to beat.

13-07-2018 10:37AM

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would be very interested to see his England team. Could be extremely difficult to beat.

Ben T'eo would be sooooo happy.

He wouldn't be as suckered by a lack of depth as he is at Wales from time to time and he'd have access to more hard carrying forwards but I don't know if he'd be reinventing the wheel all that much.

I think Gatland is getting a lot out of this Welsh team at the moment, they are deserving of their top 4 in the world despite the rotation over the last 12 months.

With a settled England panel he could do damage.

Neil3030 · 13-07-2018 06:26PM

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would be very interested to see his England team. Could be extremely difficult to beat.

He'd give Jones a run for his money on the mic too. He really would be a perfect fit.

Digifriendly · 13-07-2018 09:39PM

Wales Online have article saying Premier Sports will cover 2 matches on a Friday with 4 on a Saturday and 1 on another day to be confirmed soon.

icdg · 14-07-2018 08:52AM

It’ll be fun seeing how they plan on meeting during February and March that commitment when eir Sport have two channels tied up every Saturday evening from 5pm. They could still do it with two lunchtime and two afternoon games I guess, but clashes with Six Nations fixtures are inevitable given that since ITV have taken over part of the coverage of that competition they’ve generally tried to have the late Saturday fixture finish before prime time.

Burkie1203 · 15-07-2018 09:03AM

Sharks rumoured to be interested in pro14. This was the game yesterday v Jaguares. Did the crowd all come dressed as a seat

https://twitter.com/FeedtheScrum/status/1018167931870461952?s=19

irishbucsfan · 15-07-2018 09:05AM

Sharks are staying in Super Rugby

Digifriendly · 15-07-2018 12:35PM

icdg wrote: »

It’ll be fun seeing how they plan on meeting during February and March that commitment when eir Sport have two channels tied up every Saturday evening from 5pm. They could still do it with two lunchtime and two afternoon games I guess, but clashes with Six Nations fixtures are inevitable given that since ITV have taken over part of the coverage of that competition they’ve generally tried to have the late Saturday fixture finish before prime time.

Out of interest what KO times would you envisage on Saturday lunchtime that do not clash or overlap?

c.p.w.g.w · 15-07-2018 12:36PM

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Sharks rumoured to be interested in pro14. This was the game yesterday v Jaguares. Did the crowd all come dressed as a seat

https://twitter.com/FeedtheScrum/status/1018167931870461952?s=19

What was the attendance figure?

icdg · 16-07-2018 12:29AM

Digifriendly wrote: »

Out of interest what KO times would you envisage on Saturday lunchtime that do not clash or overlap?

Seemingly there were less GAA leagues 5pm throw ins than I thought this season - the only weekend eir broadcast four games (2x5pm and 2x7pm) was the first week. So the 5pm slot is good for the rugby - still needing to finish by 6:30pm though. So you could have three slots during those months - 12:15pm, 2:30pm, and 4:30pm.

But really I don’t see them not airing some Pro14 fixtures on Sunday during the Six Nations. It is literally the only way they’ll (a) finish by 6:30pm on Saturdays and (b) not clash too much with Six Nations games.

thomond2006 · 16-07-2018 01:52PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2018%E2%80%9319_Pro14_transfers

Odds:

Leinster 7/5
Scarlets 4/1
Glasgow, Munster 5/1
Ospreys 18/1
Ulster, Edinburgh 20/1
Cardiff 22/1
Connacht 25/1
Cheetahs 33/1
Benetton, Zebre, Dragons, Kings 500/1

Ospreys stand out as a team that should be further down this pecking order. Scott Williams and North are fantastic signings but losing their starting halfbacks is a body blow.

sydthebeat · 16-07-2018 01:59PM

Cheetahs look decent value as an outside bet @33s.
With a rest, preseason and their ability to take points at home they look good for a play off place again... And after that who knows

Bazzo · 16-07-2018 02:05PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

Cheetahs look decent value as an outside bet @33s.
With a rest, preseason and their ability to take points at home they look good for a play off place again... And after that who knows

Haven't they lost a huge amount of their starting team?

Eod100 · 16-07-2018 02:11PM

Any update on when fixtures will be out?

thomond2006 · 16-07-2018 02:30PM

Bazzo wrote: »

Haven't they lost a huge amount of their starting team?

They have signed players to replace them. They added Dries Swanepoel (he was injury cover at Munster but never played) today. I'd expect a drop in quality overall but the full pre-season should boost their performance. I'd back Cardiff to take their playoff place however.

Tigerandahalf · 16-07-2018 04:04PM

The Welsh really need to move to a fully union setup.

An example, Dan Evans the talented reserve 10 at Scarlets should really be moved onto the Ospreys who have a need for a 10. Instead he will be behind Patchell at 10 especially with the Scarlets having signed the Cheetahs 15 of last season, whose name I can't remember.

The Dragons could do well this year.

thomond2006 · 20-07-2018 09:00AM

http://www.the42.ie/pro14-fixtures-irish-provinces-munster-leinster-4137472-Jul2018/

Two interpro weekends before the start of the HCC.

errlloyd · 20-07-2018 10:13AM

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://www.the42.ie/pro14-fixtures-irish-provinces-munster-leinster-4137472-Jul2018/

Two interpro weekends before the start of the HCC.

Well "resting players" will mean those interpros are just half team formalities so.

stephen_n · 20-07-2018 10:20AM

errlloyd wrote: »

Well "resting players" will mean those interpros are just half team formalities so.

Be unlikely Leinster will rest players the week before a European game, when most of the senior players won’t have played throughout September.

Riskymove · 20-07-2018 10:42AM

stephen_n wrote: »

Be unlikely Leinster will rest players the week before a European game, when most of the senior players won’t have played throughout September.

recent seasons show they don't rest such players. In fact it is usually their first (or second) game back

still between being lacking in match practice and wanting to be ready for the HCC the following week, the games have suffered as a result.

in ways it would be better as a spectacle to have second XV throwing themselves into it

Eod100 · 20-07-2018 10:50AM

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://www.the42.ie/pro14-fixtures-irish-provinces-munster-leinster-4137472-Jul2018/

Two interpro weekends before the start of the HCC.

Are the fixtures out today?

awec · 20-07-2018 10:54AM

Was really hoping that Munster v Ulster would be the new year fixture.

awec · 20-07-2018 10:55AM

stephen_n wrote: »

Be unlikely Leinster will rest players the week before a European game, when most of the senior players won’t have played throughout September.

Yea, but two interpros before europe means it'll be the usual job of winning your home game and throwing the away one, like we have traditionally seen at Christmas.

errlloyd · 20-07-2018 11:00AM

awec wrote: »

Yea, but two interpros before europe means it'll be the usual job of winning your home game and throwing the away one, like we have traditionally seen at Christmas.

Yeah I agree with this.

molloyjh · 20-07-2018 11:12AM

awec wrote: »

Yea, but two interpros before europe means it'll be the usual job of winning your home game and throwing the away one, like we have traditionally seen at Christmas.

I don't think so tbh. Last season Sexton had his first cap vs Edinburgh which was the week before the Munster game. Dev was on his 3rd cap of the season for that game. Here is the squad for that game (bearing in mind that Henshaw, Ringrose and Rob Kearney were injured, while Lowe hadn't arrived):

McGrath Cronin Furlong
Toner Fardy
Ruddock SOB Murphy

McGrath Sexton
Reid ROL
Kearney Carbery McFadden

Byrne, Byrne, Porter, Molony, Deegan, JGP, Byrne, Larmour

The focus at that point in the season is very different from the focus at Christmas. Internationals are coming back in as opposed to getting a rest. We probably won't see completely full strength sides as guys are still being managed somewhat for that week, but we should be close enough. For example, Healy had played 4 games at that stage and was given the week off ahead of the Munster game.

awec · 20-07-2018 11:30AM

Well, you can call me skeptical, but I don't see provinces fielding first choice teams 4 weeks in a row right before the AIs start.

thomond2006 · 20-07-2018 11:31AM

awec wrote: »

Well, you can call me skeptical, but I don't see provinces fielding first choice teams 4 weeks in a row right before the AIs start.

Agreed. It's not going to happen, particularly with the RWC on the horizon.

awec · 20-07-2018 11:36AM

If I were a skeptic (which obviously I'm not), I would say the only reason it's changing is so the IRFU can ensure players are rested and Ulster B team aren't stuck playing against Glasgow's first team.

errlloyd · 20-07-2018 11:38AM

awec wrote: »

If I were a skeptic (which obviously I'm not), I would say the only reason it's changing is so the IRFU can ensure players are rested and Ulster B team aren't stuck playing against Glasgow's first team.

I'd say the unions pushed for two weeks with no air travel before the Champions Cup. Like for us it's a great deal.

awec · 20-07-2018 11:41AM

molloyjh wrote: »

I don't think so tbh. Last season Sexton had his first cap vs Edinburgh which was the week before the Munster game. Dev was on his 3rd cap of the season for that game. Here is the squad for that game (bearing in mind that Henshaw, Ringrose and Rob Kearney were injured, while Lowe hadn't arrived):

McGrath Cronin Furlong
Toner Fardy
Ruddock SOB Murphy

McGrath Sexton
Reid ROL
Kearney Carbery McFadden

Byrne, Byrne, Porter, Molony, Deegan, JGP, Byrne, Larmour

The focus at that point in the season is very different from the focus at Christmas. Internationals are coming back in as opposed to getting a rest. We probably won't see completely full strength sides as guys are still being managed somewhat for that week, but we should be close enough. For example, Healy had played 4 games at that stage and was given the week off ahead of the Munster game.

Leinster are an outlier, you have enough players to field two teams that can be competitive in interpro games.

The other three struggle more. Winning back to back interpros is extremely difficult, not least because they usually happen when there are restrictions on who can be picked.

Guinness Pro14 Season 2018-2019

Comments

Welcome!