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Paul O'Connell has suggested next month's closed doors Irish rugby restart could hand Munster crucial advantage
Former Ireland and Lions skipper Paul O’Connell believes the lack of spectators at next month’s Irish rugby restart will give Munster an excellent chance of securing a rare Dublin win and end Leinster’s 19-match winning streak in 2019/20.
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Leo Cullen’s defending Guinness PRO14 champions had won all 13 of its league matches prior to the outbreak of the season-suspending coronavirus pandemic, as well as all six of its Heineken Champions pool matches.
The stalled campaign is now set to resume on Saturday, August 22, with Munster set to provide the opposition to Leinster in a city that has not been a happy hunting ground in recent times.
Munster have won just one of ten league derbies versus Leinster since the Aviva Stadium opened in 2010, while also losing successive PRO14 semi-finals in the last two seasons at the nearby RDS.
All those matches were played in front of huge crowds, with the Aviva catering for in excess of 45,000 people and the RDS accommodating nearly 20,000 on each occasion.
.@Paul_OConnell spoke about homeschooling his 3 kids and looking forward to the reopening of schools #IrlAM #BackingBusiness pic.twitter.com/r8GiXNymX6
— Ireland AM (@IrelandAMVMTV) July 22, 2020
However, current Irish health guidelines will see rugby restart in August with matches played behind closed doors, a situation that will deprive Leinster of their traditionally massive following for their annual home derby against their arch-rivals.
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This is something that O’Connell suggested can now play to the advantage of Munster, who will be looking for a victory to try and help them top Conference B of the PRO14 ahead of Edinburgh and see them avoid having to go to Leinster again in the semi-finals, the stage of the competition that has tripped them up in recent seasons.
“I wouldn’t struggle to play in an empty stadium,” said O’Connell during a guest appearance on Ireland AM, the Virgin Media breakfast TV show. “If you’re playing Leinster in the Aviva Stadium, which is probably going to happen pretty soon for Munster guys, the way things have gone the last few years with Leinster dominating Munster it wouldn’t be a struggle.
“Probably the break has been great for a lot of the guys. A lot of them have been on the road a long time, playing in big matches which are physically tough but also mentally tough as well trying to get up for it every single week.
“The break will have been brilliant for a lot of the seasoned professional players we have throughout the country. It’s not ideal when they go back in front of small crowds or no crowds at all but it’s just something that has to be got on with, it has to be done for the game.”
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It’s 25 years ago today since the last Ireland team of the amateur era played. Beaten in the World Cup quarter-finals by France, RugbyPass takes a step back in time to learn what became of these Irish players in the professional era…
– @heagneyl ?????https://t.co/6MgrerfLRg
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 10, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments