The first round of matches in the Guinness PRO12 take place this weekend with two matches scheduled for Friday night, three for Saturday and one for Sunday.
The opening fixture of the tournament kicking off tonight in Limerick will see Munster Rugby hosting Edinburgh Rugby and for the last fixture of the round Cardiff Blues travel to Italy to take on Zebre at the Stadio XXV Aprile.
Alan Solomons Edinburgh will be looking for a much improved performance compared to the last one they delivered against Munster in the PRO12. On that day early in May last season they were comprehensively defeated by 43 points as Munster helped themselves to 55 points while Edinburgh, who were playing hosts away from Murrayfield at Meggetland, only managed a paltry 12 points.
The big match of the weekend must surely be on Saturday between last years PRO12 finalists Glasgow Warriors and Leinster at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. The Warriors, lead out by captain Josh Strauss, will be looking for revenge following their disappointing defeat to Leinster in Dublin in the final last season.
There will be two players running out for their 100th match for their teams at Scotstoun, namely Glasgow’s flanker Rob Harley and Leinster’s scrumhalf Isaac Boss. The milestone for Boss is even more significant as he will become the first player t0 have played 100 matches for two different Irish Provinces, having represented Ulster 108 times.
Fixtures
| Date | Time | Home | Score | Away | Venue | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 5 Sep | 19:35 | Munster | v | Edinburgh | Thomond Park | TG4/BBC ALBA |
| Fri 5 Sep | 19:35 | Ospreys | v | Benetton Treviso | Liberty Stadium | BBC Wales |
| Sat 6 Sep | 14:40 | Scarlets | v | Ulster | Parc y Scarlets | Sky |
| Sat 6 Sep | 17:00 | Connacht | v | Newport Gwent Dragons | Sportsground | |
| Sat 6 Sep | 17:15 | Glasgow Warriors | v | Leinster | Scotstoun Stadium | Sky |
| Sun 7 Sep | 17:00 | Zebre | v | Cardiff Blues | Stadio XXV Aprile | TBA/S4C |
Teams
courtesy of therugbypaper
Munster v Edinburgh
Munster: Ronan O’Mahony; Andrew Conway, Johne Murphy, Andrew Smith, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; John Ryan, Kevin O’Byrne, BJ Botha; Donncha O’Callaghan (capt), Billy Holland, CJ Stander, Sean Dougall, Shane Buckley.
Replacements: Duncan Casey, Alan Cotter, Stephen Archer, Dave Foley, Tommy O’Donnell, Cathal Sheridan, Johnny Holland, Ivan Dineen.
Edinburgh: Jack Cuthbert; Dougie Fife, Sam Beard, Andries Strauss, Tim Visser; Greig Tonks, Sean Kennedy; Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford (capt), John Andress, Fraser McKenzie, Ollie Atkins, Tomas Leonardi, Hamish Watson, Cornell Du Preez.
Replacements: James Hilterbrand, Rory Sutherland, W P Nel, Ben Toolis, Mike Coman, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Nick McLennan, Phil Burleigh.
Ospreys v Treviso
Ospreys: Dan Evans; Jeff Hassler, Andrew Bishop, Josh Matavesi, Eli Walker; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Nicky Smith, Scott Baldwin, Aaron Jarvis, Lloyd Peers (capt), Rynier Bernardo, Joe Bearman, James King, Dan Baker.
Replacements: Sam Parry, Duncan Jones, Daniel Suter, Tyler Ardron, Morgan Allen, Martin Roberts, Sam Davies, Hanno Dirksen.
Treviso: Simone Ragusi; Ludovico Nitoglia, Luca Morisi, Sam Christie, Michele Campagnaro; Joe Carlisle, James Ambrosini; Matteo Muccignat, Davide Giazzon, Rupert Harden, Marco Fuser, Corniel Van Zyl (capt), Meyer Swanepoel, Tomas Vallejos Cinalli, Leo Auva’a.
Replacements: Giovanni Maistri, Salesi Manu, Matteo Zanusso, Marco Lazzaroni, Mat Luamanu, Marco Barbini, Angelo Esposito, Henry Seniloli.
Scarlets v Ulster
Scarlets: Liam Williams; Harry Robinson, Regan King, Scott Williams, Michael Tagicakibau; Rhys Priestland, Gareth Davies; Phil John, Ken Owens (Capt.), Rhodri Jones; Jake Ball, Johan Snyman; Rob McCusker, John Barclay, Rory Pitman.
Replacement: Emyr Phillips, Rob Evans, Peter Edwards, Richard Kelly, Aaron Shingler, Rhodri Williams, Steven Shingler, Gareth Owen.
Ulster: L Ludik; M Allen, J Payne, S Olding, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, P Marshall; C Black, R Herring, W Herbst; D Tuohy, F van der Merwe; R Diack, C Henry, R Wilson (Capt.).
Replacements: J Andrew, A Warwick, D Fitzpatrick, L Stevenson, N Williams, M Heaney, L Marshall, A Trimble.
Connacht v NG Dragons
Connacht: Shane Layden; Niyi Adeolokun, Darragh Leader, David McSharry, Danie Poolman; Jack Carty, Ian Porter; Denis Buckley, David Heffernan, Nathan White; Michael Kearney, Quinn Roux; John Muldoon (Capt.), Jake Heenan, Eoin McKeon.
Replacements: Sean Henry, Finlay Bealham, Rodney Ah You, George Naoupu, Willie Faloon, Kieran Marmion, Miah Nikora, Conor Finn.
NG Dragons: Lee Byrne (Capt.); Tom Prydie, Tyler Morgan, Jack Dixon, Aled Brew; Jason Tovey, Jonathan Evans; Boris Stankovich, Elliot Dee, Lloyd Fairbrother; Andrew Coombs, Rynard Landman; Lewis Evans, Nic Cudd, Andy Powell.
Replacements: T. Rhys Thomas, Owen Evans, Dan Way, Ian Gough, Taulupe Faletau, Dorian Jones, Geraint Rhys Jones, Barney Nightingale.
Glasgow v Leinster
Glasgow: Peter Murchie; Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Lee Jones; Peter Horne, Henry Pyrgos; Alex Allan, Fraser Brown, Euan Murray; Leone Nakarawa, Jonny Gray; Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro, Josh Strauss (Capt.).
Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Gordon Reid, Rossouw de Klerk, Tim Swinson, Adam Ashe, Niko Matawalu, Stuart Hogg, Sean Lamont.
Leinster: Zane Kirchner; Fergus McFadden, Brendan Macken, Noel Reid, Darragh Fanning; Jimmy Gopperth, Isaac Boss; Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Mike Ross; Ben Marshall, Mike McCarthy; Dominic Ryan, Shane Jennings, Sean O’Brien (Capt.).
Replacements: Bryan Byrne, Jack McGrath, Tadhg Furlong, Tom Denton, Kevin McLaughlin, Luke McGrath, Ian Madigan, Mick McGrath.
Zebre v Cardiff Blues
Zebre: Hendrik Daniller; Dion Berryman, Mirco Bergamasco, Gonzalo Garcia, Leonardo Sarto; Luciano Orquera, Brendon Leonard; Matias Aguero, Andrea Manici, Dario Chistolini; Quintin Geldenhuys (Capt.), George Biagi; Filippo Ferrarini, Andries Van Schalkwyk, Samuela Vunisa.
Replacements: Oliviero Fabiani, Andrea De Marchi, Luciano Leibson, Andries Ferreira, Filippo Cristiano, Guglielmo Palazzani, Kelly Haimona, Edoardo Padovani.
Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish; Alex Cuthbert, Cory Allen, Gavin Evans, Owen Jenkins; Rhys Patchell, Lloyd Williams; Sam Hobbs, Matthew Rees (Capt.), Adam Jones; Chris Dicomidis, Filo Paulo; Josh Turnbull, Sam Warburton, Manoa Vosawai.
Replacements: Kristian Dacey, Thomas Davies, Craig Mitchell, Macauley Cook, Josh Navidi, Lewis Jones, Gareth Davies, Dafydd Hewitt.
I went:
Munster by 25
Ospreys by 25
Scarlett’s by 5
Connaught by 5
Leinster by 5
Cardiff by 35
@ nortierd:
short on time will comment properly in a bit, hopefully before the games start tonight
Hi nortierd you like multiples of 5
@ Bullscot:
Ha ha
I’ve stolen Carol’s recipe for the 1st round, will see if it works
@ nortierd:
#3 ahh so there is a madness to your method ag mean a method to your madness
@ nortierd:
generally agree with you on the results but not all the margins
5 @ Bullscot:
First rounds are always the most difficult, first need to gauge where each team is at
nortierd wrote:
Time for me to share some pearls of wisdom (I wish I had some), agree that some of the games will be close and others not so close and in the close ones when not always sure possibly better to go for the homeside.
1. Munster (at home) should beat Edinburgh but I don’t think the margin will be by as much as you think. Munster did play a clever fast paced, passing, powerful game last season but think this Edinburgh team has improved and may even come away with a bonus point defeat. Also even if it doesn’t rain in the match the ground may still be damp and the ball greasy so this could cause fair amount of handling errors and keep the scoring rate down.
2. Feel that this season’s Ospreys is not the best challengers for Wales regions but Treviso probably going to struggle to so should be a fairly comprehensive win for Ospreys, by how much… who knows.
What are your thoughts and predictions for the Aviva?
I went
Saints by 5
Bath by 5
Sarries by 20
Leicster by 25
Harlequins by 5
Exeter by 5
Again with the 5’s
@ Bullscot:
I don’t even want to talk about the Top 14
Last weekend I managed to get 0/7 games.
How embarrassing 😀
I see almost 50% of SuperBru also managed to get 0/7, but doesn’t make me feel any better.
Those Frenchies…..
@ nortierd:
#8 think you have too many hours in your day, had not even given them a thought 😆 only Bru I’m on is Rugby Championship and not made my picks there yet
@ Bullscot:
Lol, it does get to be quite taxing.
ITM, NRC, Top 14, Aviva, Pro 12, Currie Cup, RC and the T20 cricket for good measure.
Halftime – Munster 5/9 Edinburgh, Ospreys 23/6 Treviso
@ Bullscot:
14/5 for Edinburgh…that pick is going pear shaped
Oh dear very close, 73rd min Munster 13/14 Edinburgh
NO WP NEl!
Edinburgh win!
Munster 13/14 Edinburgh
Ian Keatley missed a penalty for Munster as play continued after 80min, WP Nel conceded the penalty and got a yellow card for his efforts
Final score: Ospreys 44/13 Treviso – bonus point win for Ospreys
@ nortierd:
right just to finish what we started last night
3. The Scarlets Ulster one could be a tricky one, Ulster lost quite a bit on player and management front end of last season so will be interesting to see how this affects them, looking at their team there is still so very good players there, but I fear they could end up struggling this season, and for this game also without Ruan, so you probably right a close win for Scarlets.
4. Both teams struggled last year so who knows where this one ends up may have lent towards Newport but go for Connacht as the home team, could be a close one.
5. Now the biggie, don’t know if its because they are playing at home or I’ve seen more of them in preseason or just they are my team but leaning towards my heart with this one (yes I do have one). Looking at that Leinster team I see lots of players who won the 6 Nations with Ireland last season so it should be a cracking game, but I may go for the illogical choice of Glasgow to win by 3.
6. Cardiff Blues have strengthened considerably in the off season recruiting well on the player and coach front so should win this game, although not seen them in preseason so not sure how well they have adapted to new coach and how fit some of their players are. Also at home Zebre could be quite stubborn so it may only be quite late in the game when Cardiff pull away, expect Cardiff to win but not by as much as you said.
@ Bullscot:
5. Also considering Glasgow go into the match without a regular flyhalf or goal kicker, with Horne at 10 and Hogg on the bench (although he has been tried at flyhalf for the Lions), guess the kicking duties will be shared in order by Pyrgos and Horne, initially with Bennett possibly taking any long shots they chose not to kick to touch. One thing though our bench has quite a few ‘explosive’ (to quote the latest buzzword) players – Hogg, Matawalu, Reid and possibly even the likes of Ashe, even have the luxury of Lamont and Swinson on the bench too.
Saturday’s results- Scarlets 32/32 Ulster, Connacht 16/11 Ulster, Glasgow Warriors 22/20 Leinster
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