The Official Irish Rugby Thread

[How bad boy]

Worcester are back, baby!

Sold out for their first home game.
Let's see how that goes.

Missed that, goes to show how much I'm paying attention to English rugby!
Let's see if relegation and promotion come back, as they're in the Championship.


Worth saying as well that London Irish are looking at a similar thing and London Irish Amateurs never went away.
Richmond have been in the championship got the past 5 or so years, after clawing their way up from Herts & Middlesex 1 in 2000. Recalling playing against them for London Irish Amateurs a couple of decades ago, they absolutely destroyed us, with a bunch of former professionals...

 

[nelly sham]

Missed that, goes to show how much I'm paying attention to English rugby!
Let's see if relegation and promotion come back, as they're in the Championship.


Worth saying as well that London Irish are looking at a similar thing and London Irish Amateurs never went away.
Richmond have been in the championship got the past 5 or so years, after clawing their way up from Herts & Middlesex 1 in 2000. Recalling playing against them for London Irish Amateurs a couple of decades ago, they absolutely destroyed us, with a bunch of former professionals...

Ha didn't know you played for LI Amateurs.
My small man has one of their waterproof windbreakers for training! His team are black and yellow so it matches and differentiates him from the local Scots!!

I think the Championship will almost get top good to be ignored at some stage soon. Lots of decent standard teams there now.

Could do with forcing their way into the Parker Pen tournament

 

[How bad boy]

Ha didn't know you played for LI Amateurs.
My small man has one of their waterproof windbreakers for training! His team are black and yellow so it matches and differentiates him from the local Scots!!

I think the Championship will almost get top good to be ignored at some stage soon. Lots of decent standard teams there now.

Could do with forcing their way into the Parker Pen tournament

Wasn't for long, and was a long time ago, but yeah, was there in the era where we got the shit kicked out of us by Richmond and London Scots as they recovered. They were pissed off about the bankruptcy and London Irish's "rescue" that involved taking their kit, a few players then booting them 9 divisions down. So they always made sure they got as strong a team as possible, even bringing a few retired pros back for one last game.
We also had to play against Zinzan Brooke at Windsor, he was only in his late 30s, so still an absolute beast.

We were pretty pissed off at the pros, had zero to do with the amateur team, yet because of the shenanigans going on at that level, we were getting 70+ point hammerings by angry ageing pros who were happy to throw a few slaps at anyone wearing a London Irish jersey.

 

[Coogee]

Connacht side for Cardiff

15. Sean Naughton (2)
14. Chay Mullins (9)
13. David Hawkshaw (44)
12. Cathal Forde (52)
11. Shayne Bolton (27)
10. Jack Carty (221)
9. Ben Murphy (17)
1. Denis Buckley (265)
2. Dave Heffernan (220)
3. Jack Aungier (88)
4. Darragh Murray (39)
5. Joe Joyce (38)
6. Cian Prendergast (88) (C)
7. Sean O'Brien (13)
8. Sean Jansen (27)

16. Eoin de Buitléar (14)
17. Jordan Duggan (63)
18. Sam Illo (32)
19. David O’Connor (9)
20. Shamus Hurley-Langton (57)
21. Matthew Devine (19)
22. Hugh Gavin (10)
23. Finn Treacy (8)

Two good prospects at 9 in Murphy & Devine

Big season for Hugh Gavin. If he gets some game time he could break into Irish set up. Bolton probably the only other player there with a shot at international level

 

[Coogee]

Ulster side named for Bulls at home

1. Sam Crean (3)

2. Rob Herring (255)

3. Tom O’Toole (124)

4. Iain Henderson (Capt) (164)

5. Cormac Izuchukwu (43)

6. David McCann (69)

7. Nick Timoney (168)

8. Juarno Augustus (1)

9. Nathan Doak (90)

10. Jack Murphy (14)

11. Zac Ward (11)

12. Stuart McCloskey (205)

13. James Hume (100)

14. Rob Baloucoune (71)

15. Jacob Stockdale (134)

Replacements:

16. Tom Stewart (56)

17. Eric O’Sullivan (128)

18. Scott Wilson (36)

19. Harry Sheridan (42)

20. Sean Reffell (11)

21. Conor McKee (2)

22. Jake Flannery (20)

23. Jude Postlethwaite (30)

Henderson is only 33 so should still have another few years left in him but injuries may take their toll. Hopefully Izuchukwu kicks on and gets himself int he Ireland mix. The likes of him, Baird and Ahern can all fill that lock/6 role.

Murphy, Ward and Balcounne should be in the mix for Autumn internaitonals but i think ship has sailed on the likes of Timoney, Hume and Stockdale.

Doak is an odd one. Looked like a star at u-20 level and has been a pretty regular starter at Ulster since he was 19 but now at 23 it looks like he may not make it at all. Might be a bench option as he can cover 10 and is a good kicker too.

Tom Stewart is a decent hooker too but Gus McCarthy seems to get the nod for the third choice hooker.

 

[Jukka]

Ahern hasn't even managed to nail a starting place with Munster yet.

 

[How bad boy]

Ahern hasn't even managed to nail a starting place with Munster yet.

He's always there when they're going for their strongest team, usually as 6. Hard to believe he's 6'9, especially when you consider how fast he is.

 

[Coogee]

Ahern hasn't even managed to nail a starting place with Munster yet.

I think he will this season if he stays injury free. Last season when fit he was always in or near the first choice 23.

 

[How bad boy]

There are very few players of his size who can do this

 

[nelly sham]

Ulster side named for Bulls at home

1. Sam Crean (3)

2. Rob Herring (255)

3. Tom O’Toole (124)

4. Iain Henderson (Capt) (164)

5. Cormac Izuchukwu (43)

6. David McCann (69)

7. Nick Timoney (168)

8. Juarno Augustus (1)

9. Nathan Doak (90)

10. Jack Murphy (14)

11. Zac Ward (11)

12. Stuart McCloskey (205)

13. James Hume (100)

14. Rob Baloucoune (71)

15. Jacob Stockdale (134)

Replacements:

16. Tom Stewart (56)

17. Eric O’Sullivan (128)

18. Scott Wilson (36)

19. Harry Sheridan (42)

20. Sean Reffell (11)

21. Conor McKee (2)

22. Jake Flannery (20)

23. Jude Postlethwaite (30)

Henderson is only 33 so should still have another few years left in him but injuries may take their toll. Hopefully Izuchukwu kicks on and gets himself int he Ireland mix. The likes of him, Baird and Ahern can all fill that lock/6 role.

Murphy, Ward and Balcounne should be in the mix for Autumn internaitonals but i think ship has sailed on the likes of Timoney, Hume and Stockdale.

Doak is an odd one. Looked like a star at u-20 level and has been a pretty regular starter at Ulster since he was 19 but now at 23 it looks like he may not make it at all. Might be a bench option as he can cover 10 and is a good kicker too.

Tom Stewart is a decent hooker too but Gus McCarthy seems to get the nod for the third choice hooker.

Hume missed all of last season with a knee injury. With a less conservative coaching structure at the top level he may have broken through.

Bolton and Ward are exciting. With Lowe looking slower and slower I really hope they're allowed have a consistent shot (add Nash in too). Really don't need to see Stockdale step away too at this stage.


Big season for Doak. Started off with a bang and then seemed happy to be in Cooney's shadow. MoTM in their win last night though and another kicking option would be very welcome