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Hamilton: Ulster know Johnny Sexton is flappable
I love the Champions Cup, love the mad rush that happens leading up to the quarter-finals. This is a tournament that is drawn-out and disjointed as teams have had the Six Nations break. Players come back either on a high or a low and usually need a week off, so there is no momentum going into these quarter-finals.
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It’s knockout rugby, a one-off game. If you look at history and the stats gone by for the quarter-finals, it’s really difficult to go away from home and win. But the rugby has opened up massively this season in terms of the way teams are playing, in terms of some of the performances of the players, and in terms of the some of the decisions that are being made.
This is one the best quarter-final set-ups I have ever seen across the board. All the games are really difficult to call, apart from one of the four. It’s going to be a brilliant weekend.
LEINSTER v ULSTER – Saturday, 5.45pm (Aviva Stadium)
Leinster are going to be favourites. It’s in Dublin, in their backyard, they are well established in this tournament and come into this quarter-final as defending champions, but Ulster will put up a real battle.
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This is a brilliant fixture for Irish rugby, just the fifth ever all-Irish match-up in Europe, and it’s brilliant to see Ulster coming good again. They are steeped in history as well, having lifting the trophy 20 years ago.
It’s going to be a real ding-dong, going to be a really quality game where Ireland national team friends become enemies in as short a time as two weeks.
The raw pace and power of @JacobStockdale has been a pleasure to watch in the #ChampionsCup?
He's already the joint top scorer so far, but will the winger strike again in the quarter-final battle? ??
Or will it be one of these @UlsterRugby stalwarts ?https://t.co/fR2d4g9nsQ pic.twitter.com/xWvnzclzk1
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) March 27, 2019
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It’s weird what is going on in Irish rugby. There was all this talk at the start of the year about how Ireland were going to win the Six nations, about how Ireland are favourites for the World Cup and about how Leinster are going to walk it in Europe.
But look now at where we are now. Ireland struggled in the Six Nations and were nowhere near the level expected of them. That should be a concern to Leinster as they make up the backbone of the Irish team, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Ulster could do something here.
All aboard.. or maybe not ????? https://t.co/GdJTANsFkb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 20, 2019
They have almost come in under the radar. No one expected them to do anything this season. They had a load of changes off the back of their torrid season on and off the pitch last season, a new fly-half in Billy Burns, a new coach in Dan McFarland and they have just come in under the radar, sneaking a few wins off the back of John Cooney’s boot.
There is a lot of chat about how Ulster are a Leinster B team, about how numerous ex-Leinster players are now playing out of Belfast. This will definitely be an underlying thing with the Ulster players. Jordi Murphy, for instance, made the switch last summer and all this cross-over will just add to the emotion.
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The players in the Ulster dressing room will know the stuff that is being said about them in the media, they will know that Leinster are favourites and they will know they are looked at as the lesser team because Leinster are the No1 – they are the champions of this competition and the PRO14 as well.
But it’s all there for Ulster with the emotion that they can bring to the occasion. Unlike at the RDS, so many of their players are not uncomfortable playing at the Aviva and having watched the Six Nations, they will know that Johnny Sexton is flappable at the minute.
Jordan Larmour has been DEADLY for @leinsterrugby this season ??
Will he make an impact this weekend as they take on fierce rivals @UlsterRugby? ?
Here's a closer look at some of the other stand-out #ChampionsCup players for the reigning champs ? https://t.co/jLjt6w3d53 pic.twitter.com/zmOREpw91P
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) March 27, 2019
You have to talk about his form – he has not been the player that he was six months ago, so Ulster do have a really good opportunity here and they have a fantastic coach in McFarland who will know all the pressure is on Leinster and their coaching staff.
This will be a real defining moment for Irish rugby. I’d love to see Ulster win. I’m a big fan of Darren Cave, Burns, Cooney and Murphy, but you just have to go on the credentials of Leinster, you have to go on what you have seen this season. They are champions for a good reason.
VERDICT – This will be close, but Leinster will win it.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
13 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments