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Munster did what they needed to and then some but the two rounds of league play that constituted the restart of the Pro14 ended with the same question that dominated when it kicked off – who can stop Leinster? Well, Munster might feel they have a chance after losing by just two points in their league derby in the first game of the restart and then thumping fellow Irish province, Connacht, on Sunday.
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For both Munster coach Johann van Graan and for the tournament organisers, that was the best possible result as it means Munster at least take some momentum into Friday night’s semi-final.
The fact that the game will be played on Friday introduces some interesting questions, for it does mean that Munster have just a five-day turn-around. But while that suggests a disadvantage, and Van Graan has had something to say about it in the Irish media, is it when your team scores seven tries and shows such good attacking shape in what effectively became the final dress rehearsal?
There’s not much time for Munster to work on the tweaks that Van Graan might regard as necessary for the semi-final, but at least his team is carrying the momentum that was picked up in a somewhat bizarre final game of their league campaign.
Those who watched Sunday’s game, which was turned into a decider for a place in the play-offs by the Scarlets’ excellent bonus point win over the Dragons the day before, will know there is a caveat. Munster were impressive, but Connacht played much of the game with 13 men after two players were sent off in the first half.
What needs to be pointed out though is that Munster were already ahead 14-0 when Abraham Papali’i was shown the red card for a head high tackle. Eight minutes later Shane Delahunt followed him to the sidelines for contacting CJ Stander’s neck with his elbow, effectively ending any chance of the match being a contest.
Munster did their best to redress the balance between the teams before halftime, with two players shown yellow cards. When the sides went to the break it was like a rugby league fixture – 13 against 13. But Munster were already ahead 21-7 and once the two yellow carded players came back onto the field it was no race.
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But back to Leinster, for with the record they boast the talk should really be all about them. Their comprehensive 28-10 win over Ulster ensured they ended the league phase of the PRO14 season unbeaten. Not only that, they won every game too, most of them by comprehensive margins, and have now extended their winning sequence in all competitions to 23.
An illustration of their superiority in the competition comes by way of the fact that they finished with 69 log points, with the next best teams across the two conferences, Edinburgh and Munster, both ending 18 points adrift on 51. Their pole position means that Leinster will host the 12 September final should they win their semi-final.
It is likely to happen too, for with a record like that can we expect them to be beaten? Possibly not, for the last two games have shown that the hiatus brought on by the coronavirus hasn’t taken away that indefinable something that makes them a champion team. Perhaps clinical is the best word to describe it, although there are other ingredients, such as composure and confidence, but somehow Leinster just always seem to manage to get what they need in the big moments of a game.
That was what got them home against Munster nine days ago. Munster had enough ball to win that match, but the Leinster defence was brilliant until the final quarter, when Munster started to get some profit by quickening up the tempo. Munster played with good tempo against Connacht, with former Southern Kings loose-forward Chris Cloete playing well, so perhaps Van Graan and his assistants feel they have stumbled upon the needed ingredient.
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Saturday’s semi-final in Edinburgh will require more guesswork in trying to figure out the likely winner than will be required in Dublin on Friday. For both home team Edinburgh and visitors Ulster go into the play-off game off disappointing performances and defeats.
https://twitter.com/PRO14Official/status/1300117471064731649
For Edinburgh, who had the previous week’s result against derby rivals Glasgow Warriors reversed on them, it might be less of a concern, as they were good in the game where they needed to be good, which was the previous week.
Ulster by contrast haven’t won since rugby’s return to play in the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland, with the defeat to Leinster following on from the loss to Connacht the week before.
So @leinsterrugby prove unbeatable in the #GuinnessPRO14 this season with a flourish of late scores to beat @UlsterRugby 👊
Match report ➡️ https://t.co/q0qkUjh4uw
Catch all the Round 15 highlights at https://t.co/2lIuc64fpF pic.twitter.com/5xsj3evwUz
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) August 29, 2020
Although the second Scottish derby in the space of six days wasn’t up to the level of the first one, the second weekend since the return of PRO14 again produced some high quality rugby. Leinster were highly efficient in their win the following night, and Munster did what they had to do, but perhaps the performance of the weekend was delivered by Scarlets, who did what they needed to by winning with a bonus point against the Dragons.
They won’t be part of the play-offs but the start of the 2020/2021 Pro14 is near enough for Scarlets to feel that these games have been good confidence boosters for them.
Semi-final line-up
Leinster v Munster, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Friday 20.35
Edinburgh v Ulster, BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Saturday 20.35
Weekend Results
Edinburgh 3 Glasgow Warriors 15
Ulster 10 Leinster 28
Dragons 20 Scarlets 41
Munster 49 Connacht 12
Cardiff Blues 29 Ospreys 20
Zebre 9 Benetton 16
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth 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.
3 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.
36 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 comments