Official United Rugby Championship thread

[weegie01]

Darge going to have a ball at the breakdowns

A story of which the Saffas may not be aware.

Darge and Connor Boyle were outstanding youngsters. But Glasgow showed no interest, so both ended up at Edinburgh where they got hardly any game time due to Edinburgh having absurd back row strength. Glasgow meanwhile were short of backrow cover.

The SRU stepped in and told the two clubs to sort it out, so Miller and Darge went to Glasgow. Darge went because Edinburgh rated him as the lesser of Boyle and Darge (and to be fair, now that Boyle is getting game time he is also coming through). Darge seized his chance with both hands as if he was still at Edinburgh there is a good chance he'd barely have featured.

[Slick]

Darge going to have a ball at the breakdowns

A story of which the Saffas may not be aware.

Darge and Connor Boyle were outstanding youngsters. But Glasgow showed no interest, so both ended up at Edinburgh where they got hardly any game time due to Edinburgh having absurd back row strength. Glasgow meanwhile were short of backrow cover.

The SRU stepped in and told the two clubs to sort it out, so Miller and Darge went to Glasgow. Darge went because Edinburgh rated him as the lesser of Boyle and Darge (and to be fair, now that Boyle is getting game time he is also coming through). Darge seized his chance with both hands as if he was still at Edinburgh there is a good chance he'd barely have featured.

Yes, amazing that most folk (including me) would never have heard of him last year and he is now well on his way to being a regular at international level.

[FalseBayFC]

Darge going to have a ball at the breakdowns

A story of which the Saffas may not be aware.

Darge and Connor Boyle were outstanding youngsters. But Glasgow showed no interest, so both ended up at Edinburgh where they got hardly any game time due to Edinburgh having absurd back row strength. Glasgow meanwhile were short of backrow cover.

The SRU stepped in and told the two clubs to sort it out, so Miller and Darge went to Glasgow. Darge went because Edinburgh rated him as the lesser of Boyle and Darge (and to be fair, now that Boyle is getting game time he is also coming through). Darge seized his chance with both hands as if he was still at Edinburgh there is a good chance he'd barely have featured.

Darge is already a beast! Those are two quick back rows. Should be a cracker.

[OomStruisbaai]

had a bit of rain overnight but now it change to a nice day. Great running rugby. The only way the Stormers should play is open rugby but with so much at stake they'll probably change to kicking kak again. Price is a very good kicker and we'll lose if we play that way.

[OomStruisbaai]

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Rabz Maxwane, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Burger Odendaal (Captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Emmanuel Tshituka, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Francke Horn, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Ruben Schoeman, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 JP Smith, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Manuel Rass, 23 Tiaan Swanepoel.

Connacht – 15 Mack Hansen, 14 John Porch, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Oisín Dowling, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Subs: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Greg McGrath, 19 Leva Fifita, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Conor Fitzgerald, 23 Shayne Bolton.

Date: Saturday, April 23
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 16.05 (15.05 UK time; 14.05 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

[OomStruisbaai]

vs Leinster
Sharks – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Thomas du Toit (c), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Kerron van Vuuren, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Reniel Hugo, 20 Jeandre Labuschagne, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Boeta Chamberlain.

15. Chris Cosgrave (1)
14. Tommy O’Brien (19)
13. Jamie Osborne (16)
12. Ciarán Frawley (50)
11. Rory O’Loughlin (94)
10. Harry Byrne (32)
9. Nick McCarthy (45)

1. Andrew Porter (85)
2. Rónan Kelleher (33)
3. Thomas Clarkson (15)
4. Brian Deeny (0)
5. Jack Dunne (18)
6. Rhys Ruddock (204) CAPTAIN
7. Scott Penny (38)
8. Max Deegan (82)

Replacements:

16. John McKee (0)
17. Peter Dooley (102)
18. Michael Ala’alatoa (19)
19. Josh Murphy (58)
20. Alex Soroka (3)
21. Cormac Foley (2)
22. David Hawkshaw (10)
23. Martin Moloney (5)

[Slick]

Going to have to watch the Glasgow game a bit later than scheduled

[Slick]

Managed to get the first half after all.

Frustrating game for both teams so far. Breakdown a mess

[Slick]

Gorgeous line there.

I presume the ref team checked the enormously forward pass though

[FalseBayFC]

Gorgeous line there.

I presume the ref team checked the enormously forward pass though

I was surprised they didn't check that. It looked like it went forward to me.

[Slick]

That was one of the best passages of play I’ve seen all year, deserved a try

[Tichtheid]

Gorgeous line there.

I presume the ref team checked the enormously forward pass though

I was surprised they didn't check that. It looked like it went forward to me.

The more they replayed it the more forward it looked

[Slick]

Glasgow rolled with the physicality in the first 30 minutes but seem to be getting a bit overwhelmed by it now, needed half time.

Thompson having a bit of a shocker at 10

[OomStruisbaai]

The Stormers should run it. Great 1st half by Rikus.

[FalseBayFC]

The Stormers should run it. Great 1st half by Rikus.

Is Paul de Wet on the bench because Hershelle is playing like hot garbage.

[Slick]

The Stormers should run it. Great 1st half by Rikus.

Is that the centre? Him Williemse bossing it

[FalseBayFC]

Benny Hill music needed.

[Tichtheid]

Lovely hands, Glasgow no where now

[C T]

Turning into a bit of a pumping but still really enjoying watching Stormers. Great play.

Ross Thompson's having a shocker, hope the young lad doesn't dwell too much on it.

[PCPhil]

Looking at this match. If Glasgow can tidy up on decision making, catching, passing, kicking, attack, defence they could be a half decent team.

[Tichtheid]

That would have been a red in almost every other game in the last few weeks

[OomStruisbaai]

Vok, vok, vok. !!!!!!

[OomStruisbaai]

Sorry my mistake.

[assfly]

That Stormers backline is purring. Better than the sum of their parts.

[PCPhil]

Are Leinster playing their strongest team tomorrow?

[fishfoodie]

Are Leinster playing their strongest team tomorrow?

Nope. Bs & Cs, but a decent team all the same.

[OomStruisbaai]

The pack had the better of Glasgow. The scrums were fantastic and had Ali Price on the backfoot. .Garza/Wazza (Willemse) finally play to his potential. Herschell struggled at the start but will get better. There is a lot of speed there.

[Slick]

That would have been a red in almost every other game in the last few weeks

Didn’t care for the Stormers player that was hit dancing about like a half wit pointing at the screen though

[Slick]

Just finished watching. That Stormers 23 had an outrageously good few minutes!

[PCPhil]

Are Leinster playing their strongest team tomorrow?

Nope. Bs & Cs, but a decent team all the same.

In general this sh1t needs to be sorted out. Surely this is the top club competition for them. Shouldn’t be like a Liverpool team for the 4th round of the FA cup.

[fishfoodie]

Are Leinster playing their strongest team tomorrow?

Nope. Bs & Cs, but a decent team all the same.

In general this sh1t needs to be sorted out. Surely this is the top club competition for them. Shouldn’t be like a Liverpool team for the 4th round of the FA cup.

But just like Liverpool, they're still in a number of competitions, & as they also provide the majority of the Irish side, they have to abide by the national guidelines on players rest periods.

[PCPhil]

Nope. Bs & Cs, but a decent team all the same.

In general this sh1t needs to be sorted out. Surely this is the top club competition for them. Shouldn’t be like a Liverpool team for the 4th round of the FA cup.

But just like Liverpool, they're still in a number of competitions, & as they also provide the majority of the Irish side, they have to abide by the national guidelines on players rest periods.

I know it’s not Leinster’s issue. It the total inability (or desire) of the powers that be in the NH to get a logical and linear season sorted. Still amateurs. People want to see the the best players playing. Anything else feels like a rip off.

[Slick]

That yellow for young was far, far more dangerous than most reds we see

[fishfoodie]

Ulster guys look very heavy legged tonight, while Munster seem to be more fluent than they've been in a long time.

[OomStruisbaai]

Just finished watching. That Stormers 23 had an outrageously good few minutes!

Gelant he is in fine form. Compare him with Willie is just madness.

[OomStruisbaai]

Ditto Evan Roos. He don't make the Bok squad of 80.

[Slick]

Ditto Evan Roos. He don't make the Bok squad of 80.

Which number was he?

[OomStruisbaai]

Ditto Evan Roos. He don't make the Bok squad of 80.

Which number was he?

Nr 8

Win for Munster and Stormers move into nr2.

Tomorrow we need the Sharks to follow.

[fishfoodie]

In general this sh1t needs to be sorted out. Surely this is the top club competition for them. Shouldn’t be like a Liverpool team for the 4th round of the FA cup.

But just like Liverpool, they're still in a number of competitions, & as they also provide the majority of the Irish side, they have to abide by the national guidelines on players rest periods.

I know it’s not Leinster’s issue. It the total inability (or desire) of the powers that be in the NH to get a logical and linear season sorted. Still amateurs. People want to see the the best players playing. Anything else feels like a rip off.

I'd like World Peace, a cure for Cancer, & an end to World Hunger, too, but they're sadly about as likely.

Rugby is in a constant state of flux, mostly to get to some level of financial security, & it'll take a few years for things to stabilize after Covid.

[Chilli]

Stormers – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Rikus Pretorius, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff (c).
Subs: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Warrick Gelant.

1. Oli Kebble (73)
2. Johnny Matthews (27)
3. Zander Fagerson (110)
4. Richie Gray (78)
5. Kiran McDonald (50)
6. Ally Miller (11)
7. Rory Darge (18)
8. Jack Dempsey (17)

9. Ali Price (C) (106)
10. Ross Thompson (32)
11. Kyle Steyn (48)
12. Sam Johnson (88)
13. Sione Tuipulotu (15)
14. Josh McKay (10)
15. Ollie Smith (15)

16. George Turner (72)
17. Jamie Bhatti (62)
18. Simon Berghan (8)
19. Rob Harley (262)
20. Thomas Gordon (48)
21. Jamie Dobie (33)
22. Duncan Weir (122)
23. Cole Forbes (21)

Unavailable for selection: Sebastian Cancelliere, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Rufus McLean, Ryan Wilson.

Ok, so Stormers by 31

I was almost 100% right.