The Stormers winning is a big boost for Munster's hopes of a home QF.
Also means that Leinster v Stormers on March 24 could decide who tops the table.
Red card for Benetton 10 for eye gouging
That music before the leinster teams arrive on the pitch wtf🤔
Has it been a Bonus Point before half time for Munster, Connacht and Leinster this weekend?
So Munster got 58 points, Connacht got 57, the top two highest scores by any team in the URC this season, and Leinster are on 26 at half time.
Leinster under pressure to score at least 5 tries in the second half, would be some set of results if they did. Pity Ulster seem to be struggling for the last couple of months, it’s like Munster swapped form with them when they last played, Munster are flying and Ulster have stalled.
The player strike could hit the URC now
The URC highlights videos are great. Haven't paid that much attention to it in the past.
There’s a possibility that the way things are shaping up, Connacht could reach 7th, Munster 5th, Ulster 3rd and Leinster 1st, which would mean all 4 provinces spread out across all 4 quarter-finals. Wouldn’t that be something. If they all won, we could have an all-Irish semi-finals stage with both semis in Ireland, and the final in Dublin. That’d be mad if it happened.
And if Munster could pass Glasgow and get to 4th we’d have 3 of the quarters in Ireland!
some exodus
Its a shambles, as if the regions weren't poor enough already. At this stage I'd rather see them dopped and do a round robin with the rest of the teams
Drop the 4 regions, enter the Welsh national team as an URC side. Problems solved!
They probably wouldn't even be top of the table based on current form...
a mental game in Cork, 13 tries scored, 2 minutes left
Sharks absolutely fucked a chance to overturn the Stormers at home. Two yellow cards for the Stormers for the final 9 minutes or so and they manage to not only not score, they kicked straight to touch, nearly conceeded a try and then got caught in posession behind their own line. Awful stuff.
Great result for Connacht and Munster though.
A Sharks win would have helped Leinster out.
Benetton beat ospreys in Swansea
Indeed. Silver lining, I suppose.
the ealing / ospreys merger is really starting to take traction.
also, if anyone hasnt yet read this twitter thread from willis halaholo then you should...
I think by the end of 2023 the WRU will have undergone pretty massive change both internally and with substantive changes to the structure of one or all of the regions.
If this doesn't happen they're in a quagmire for a decade.
What would the merge do for Ospreys? Do they play in the URC?
The WRU needs a total enema.
I had an enema once, was really pleasant. Felt so empty afterwards. Would highly recommend
Its starting to look like Wales just can't afford professional rugby. Theres some serious resistance to cutting down to 2 /3 regions but what will 4 look like with players getting 30k?! Just as well the SA teams arrived when they did ortherwise it wouldnt be much of a league at all.
If Ireland can afford it then so can Wales, they've just horrifically mismanaged the pro game.
For all the mismanagement by the WRU, I think your comparing apples and oranges when it comes to Wales and Ireland. Wales is not a country that's flush with cash or fancy private schools that churn out ready made pros like we do. Theres more industry, sponsors and more money here to accommodate pro rugby in general.
There's also a population of 7m on the island of Ireland against 3.25m in Wales.
Exactly, a lot of people draw unfair comparisons between the two. Sam Warburton himself recently said on tv (in a rather delicate manner) that the level of affluence between the two countries simply isn't the same, and of course this has an effect as to how well their pro athletes come through.
The WRU had more revenue last year (€118mn) than the IRFU (€116mn). The IRFU spent €75mn of that on our pro clubs, whereas the WRU only spent €44mn on their pro clubs.
The difference is not a matter of revenue, its a matter of good governance. The WRU spends its revenue badly.
Also Rugby was/is the sport of Wales. From villages to towns and cities its their first sport. Very much like GAA football and hurling.
Whilst Rugby in this country is way down the list.
That’s not the case though. The revenues between the two countries are nearly identical. Ireland just doesn’t pay 20 million a year in boot money to amateurs.
But that is the case as we're not talking solely about the revenues of the respective unions here. As mentioned Ireland also have the benefit of privately funded schools which churn out well trained kids year after year. This doesn't come out of Irfu pocket. Wales don't have that set up.
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