Hopefully, Knee Fairy has sprinkled enough dust his way..
Can’t work out if that’s a nice comment or a nasty one! Anyway, I like him and hope it’s ok. Having just lost Taylor probably for the season, we don’t need to lose Bennett.
Why was the Ulster try given when they took the man out? I saw it go to TMO, saw one replay and it was as clear as day. Came back and the try was awarded?! Thought the ref was really poor but don't blame him for the Kennedy call at all - Kennedy was given clear warnings to use the ball and ignored them all. The fact the maul goes forward after your last warning is irrelevant. What a muppet. - can you not get Charlie Shiel on the bench?
Anyway, Edinburgh are in a tough conference that should have been a 4 way battle for top spots - games like this and last week are the ones they need to win to be in the mix come the tail end of the season. If Edinburgh are a single result off qualifying then I suspect these last two games will be the ones people point to.
Ulster are incredibly lucky to have their two results IMO.
Last edited by hugh_woatmeigh on Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Why was the Ulster try given when they took the man out? I saw it go to TMO, saw one replay and it was as clear as day. Came back and the try was awarded?! Thought the ref was really poor but don't blame him for the Kennedy call at all - Kennedy was given clear warnings to use the ball and ignored them all. The fact the maul goes forward after your last warning is irrelevant. What a muppet. - can you not get Charlie Shiel on the bench?
Anyway, Edinburgh are in a tough conference that should have been a 4 way battle for top spots - games like this and last week are the ones they need to win to be in the mix come the tail end of the season. If Edinburgh are a single result off qualifying then I suspect these last two games will be the ones people point to.
Ulster are incredibly lucky to have these their two results IMO.
Agree on the Kennedy one. Ref made it really clear. Last pen was perhaps a bit harsh as they earlier got away with stripping Brown when it was a lot clearer that the tackle was made.
Frustrating performance but some good things especially for the first 60. I think Scott is looking good
It's frustrating that they're sat on 2 pts when it should really be 8 and it's down to refereeing decisions (without sound too Welsh about it). Still they're heading in the right direction under Cockerill.
Mark Bennett is likely to miss Scotland's autumn Tests as he faces "months" on the sidelines, says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill.
The centre, 25, suffered a suspected ruptured hamstring in Edinburgh's late loss at Ulster last week.
The former Glasgow Warrior, who has 22 caps, is awaiting the results of a scan but Cockerill expects a long lay-off.
"Clearly it is something quite significant. If it is completely ruptured it's serious," Cockerill said.
"If it is what we think it is, it will be months."
Bennett was sidelined for almost a year, including the first four months of last season - his debut campaign at Edinburgh - with a knee ligament injury sustained on Scotland duty in March 2017.
"Thankfully it's nothing to do with his knees," Cockerill added of his latest issue.
"People recover from hamstring issues and, as severe as this one is, he will hopefully be fit for the New Year, give or take - we'll see."
Cockerill is also likely to be without back-row Viliame Mata for Friday's Pro14 match with Connacht at Murrayfield.
The Fijian number eight injured a shoulder against Ulster, but Scotland flanker Hamish Watson is available again after missing the Ulster game to attend the birth of his daughter.
Team is out for connaght. Starting to look a pretty settled first 15, if a bit lightweight in the backrow. Connaght are looking better but this still has to be a five point target.
Edinburgh team to play Connacht
15. Blair Kinghorn, 14. Dougie Fife, 13. James Johnstone, 12. Matt Scott, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Simon Hickey, 9. Henry Pyrgos, 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. Stuart McInally, 3. WP Nel, 4. Ben Toolis, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Luke Hamilton
Replacements: 16. Ross Ford; 17. Allan Dell; 18. Simon Berghan; 19. Fraser McKenzie; 20. Magnus Bradbury; 21. Sean Kennedy; 22. Jaco van der Walt; 23. Juan Pablo Socino
Interesting to see Pyrgos playing quite well again. Has his time completely passed with Scotland? I never thought he was quite international quality but it's not like the other options don't have slight question marks over them.
I think if Cipriani had done this people would be jizzing themselves.
Mikey Brown wrote:Interesting to see Pyrgos playing quite well again. Has his time completely passed with Scotland? I never thought he was quite international quality but it's not like the other options don't have slight question marks over them.
I think if Cipriani had done this people would be jizzing themselves.
Solid injury cover replacement for me, just too slow getting the ball away, too reminiscent of Laidlaw.
Completely revamp of the team for Lenister. Lots of players rested and feels like we're not expecting a result, just to give some lads anrun out and chance to impress. Kennedy seems firm second choice ahead of Fowles now though.
Leinster: Larmour; McFadden, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Sexton (capt), McGrath; Healy, Tracy, Bent; Toner, Ryan; Deegan, van der Flier, Conan.
I’ve not been able to watch much of them. Any idea if that’s more the systems or the personnel. I like the wings, but they can both be a bit like headless chickens at times. All the chopping and changing at 13 can’t help too much either.
Mikey Brown wrote:I’ve not been able to watch much of them. Any idea if that’s more the systems or the personnel. I like the wings, but they can both be a bit like headless chickens at times. All the chopping and changing at 13 can’t help too much either.
I think it is mainly a systems thing. The focus is on cutting out the mistakes and keeping the ball. In the forwards that means pods close to the ruck and slower ball. The backs have potential but at the moment are only really sparking every now and then.
The commentators keep talking about how tiring it is for the other team to defend for long periods but at professional level I'm not sure teams are too bothered about defending one out runners for long periods