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Not only strike when the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking

By Neil Best

With the Autumn internationals just around the corner, the big message from the opening weekend of European club rugby is that the Irish are showing no signs of drop off – if anything Irish rugby has put the foot on the gas. Yes, three of the provincial sides played at home and Munster didn’t win in Exeter, but they executed four great outcomes and a draw at Sandy Park must feel like a win – and so it should.

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We all expected Leinster to beat Wasps, but they didn’t just beat them they destroyed them mercilessly. Leinster are the complete package – the only thing greater to fear than their team on paper, is their team on the pitch. Leinster are a side with big names giving big performances.

Connacht might not be in the top tier competition this season, but in beating Bordeaux they beat top tier opposition and showed the growing depth in their squad.

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And Ulster raised their game significantly against a tough Leicester side and confirmed the outcome for the Tigers in Belfast is starting to have the certainty of death and taxes -it’s no longer pc to reference nurses.

They didn’t just rely on the once again excellent John Cooney for accuracy and leadership – there were fine performances right throughout the Ulster side and maybe most tellingly from the backrow, which has been an area of weakness in recent seasons.

Marcell Coetzee may not yet be back to his pre-injury levels, but basically two years out is a long time, and you can see over the last few weeks how he’s building his way back in. Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney and second half replacement Sean Reidy all made their mark.

Iain Henderson was once again superb. He often looks exhausted early on in games, but he is relentless – and he was unsurprisingly involved in everything Ulster did well. I’m convinced he’s one of Ulster’s quickest players across the park and he was desperately unlucky to have a try disallowed for Timoney’s marginally forward pass – had it been flat it wouldn’t have prevented the score and a bonus point.

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In the backs of course Will Addison returned, this time at centre to great effect, making up for the absence of Darren Cave and opening up a space for Michael Lowry. For anyone who follows schools or underage Irish rugby this is a name you might be familiar with – and if you don’t you will be. Lowry might not have starred on Saturday night but what a game to be thrown into for your first start. He showed no shortage of confidence and character – and progressing from good will only get better and better.

The outcome at Ravenhill came down in many ways to a very simple point of analysis. The Tigers lineout misfired more than the Ulster scrum – and from that Ulster took momentum and ultimately the victory.

The only downside for me was the new “white hand” that’s replace the red Ulster’s European jersey – there are some aspects of a Club’s identity that should be sacrosanct and beyond the reach of commercial and marketing considerations.

Paris next weekend will ask different questions of this developing Ulster squad but under Dan McFarland they may just have the right response and the answers.

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The painter must enclose himself in his work; he must respond not with words but with paintings

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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