Preview: Magners League, Round One
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:30
The Magners League, which gets underway with a quartet of Friday matches this week, will reach the end of an era in May - it will the last time that the only position on the standings that matters is first.
For next season finishing fourth will also bring with it some rewards ... and maybe even the ultimate prize.
The announcement that from next season there will be play-offs, although not having been met with universal approval, has certainly caused a stir.
As Dai Young said, many will welcome it.
"It will certainly add a bit of spice toward the end of the season," Young said.
But for this season it is still about being first when the tournament comes to and end in May.
And the race for the line, a marathon indeed, starts on Friday when the Heineken Cup champions, Munster, travel to Murrayfield for what is as near as an international as you can get.
EDF Energy Cup champions Ospreys also start their campaign on the road, away to Connacht. Other Friday games see the Newport Gwent Dragons take on the Glasgow Warriors at Rodney Parade and Ulster host Llanelli Scarlets at Ravenhill.
Defending Magners League champions Leinster are also on the road, when they travel to Cardiff on Saturday to take on the Blues.
We look at the opening weekend's action!
Friday, September 5:
Connacht Rugby v Ospreys
Sportsground, Galway, 18.30 (17.30 GMT)
Before the first game of the season there is always lots of excitement and anticipation. Nobody has lost yet and there's hope aplenty.
Some teams will point to their pre-season and say there's hope. Other will find positives from elsewhere.
Ultimately the first real test comes when the players need to perform under pressure in proper match situations and Friday will give us our first glimpse of where everybody stand.
Connacht captain John Muldoon said "everyone is dying for the Magners League to get under way" so that they can see if their pre-season form is for real.
"we are hopeful that we can make a good start," Muldoon said.
Coach Michael Bradley is obviously pleased with Connacht's pre-season campaign - which included a win over Super 14 franchise the reds.
"There is a great buzz in the camp," Bradley said, adding: "Pre-season has gone well, a big effort has been put in by everybody and we are all just waiting for the start of the Magners League."
Ospreys know they will be a marked team, the EDF champions and the one that everybody want to knock off.
However, the Welsh glamour club could even afford to leave Shane Williams on the bench.
But with a backline that includes Lee Byrne, Nikki Walker, Sonny Parker, Andrew Bishop, Tommy Bowe, James Hook and Rhys Webb there is plenty of punch and they are sure to get plenty of possession from the big men up front.
Prediction: Connacht's flame of hope may be extinguished very quickly by a very talented Ospreys selection, who should win by 15 points or more.
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Fionn Carr, 14 Liam Bibo, 13 Gavin Duffy, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 John Hearty, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Andrew Farley, 4 Michael McCarthy, 3 Robbie Morris, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 A Flavin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Andrew Browne, 19 Michael Swift, 20 Kieran Campbell, 21 Troy Nathan, 22 Aidan Wynne.
Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 James Hook, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Andy Lloyd, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17
Duncan Jones, 18 Alun-Wyn Jones, 19 Filo Tiatia, 20 Rhodri Wells, 21 Gareth Owen, 22 Shane Williams.
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Touch judges: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Peter Roche (Ireland)
Newport Gwent Dragons v Glasgow Warriors
Rodney Parade, Newport, 19.05 (18.05 GMT)
These two teams will see a lot of each in the next six months - as Warriors will face Newport four times this season, after being drawn together in the Heineken Cup.
It is going to make for an interesting first-up showdown, with passion and pride likely to be the overriding factors.
"It's going to be very physical," scrumhalf Mark McMillan, one of two former Warriors returning for their second spell at the club, said.
He spoke of Glasgow's determination to bring home some silverware this season.
"We should be expecting and believing we can win but we're not underestimating the challenge that faces us.
"We know they have a strong line-out, a strong pack and a well drilled back line," McMillan told BBC Sport.
Lock Tim Barker, the other former Warrior back in Glasgow, also spoke of the drive from the Scottish club to succeed.
Glasgow finished a surprise fifth in the Magners League last season and Barker has been impressed by the club's ambitions for the future.
"There's massive determination to at least repeat that success," he said.
The trip to Newport will be Glasgow's first competitive match under the Experimental Law Variations, and McMillan is excited by the prospect.
"It's going to be a bit of a blank sheet because it's very new," he said.
"You have to get rid of certain habits and you have to be a little bit more aware of what you can and can't do on the park.
"In terms of pre-season games it's been a bit of a trainer for the brain. Going into the first few league games we won't know how the other teams will defend and attack the ELVs so it's quite exciting.
"We'll just be focusing on ourselves and hope that we get them right and the other team get them wrong."
Prediction: This is going to be an interesting tussle and at first glance it appears home ground advantage may be a factor. However, we feel the Scottish Warriors will just have too much drive for their Welsh rivals and Glasgow will win by 10 points.
Teams:
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Ashley Smith, 14 Tal Selley, 13 Rory Sidey, 12 Marc Stcherbina, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Richard Parks, 6 Joe Bearman, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Rhys Thomas, 2 Tom Willis (captain), 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Hugh Gustafson, 17 Lee Harrison, 18 Jamie Ringer, 19 Grant Webb, 20 Shaun Connor, 21 Gareth Maule, 22 Robert Lewis.
Glasgow
Warriors: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Lome Fa'atau, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mark McMillan, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock (captain), 4 Tim Barker, 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements: 16 Eric Milligan, 17 Kevin Tkachuk, 18 Opeta Palepoi, 19 Stevie Swindall, 20 Colin Gregor, 21 Andrew Henderson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Touch judges: Phil Fear (Wales), Phil Connett (Wales)
TMO: Huw Lewis (Wales)
Edinburgh Rugby v Munster
Murrayfield, Edinburgh, 19.30 (18.30 GMT)
Edinburgh will be looking to start their season with a win against Heineken Cup champions Munster, which in itself speaks volumes about the quality of the visitors.
However, with Munster having finished on the same points as Edinburgh last season - a hint perhaps that the Irish team tends to focus on Europe rather than competing against Celtic rivals - Edinburgh will know that this will be a match they can perhaps win.
However, Munster's pedigree tells you they won't just lie down.
Apart from their Heineken Cup triumph they also claimed the inaugural Fairplay award for their exemplary disciplinary record within the Magners League.
With indiscipline on the pitch increasingly costing teams' vital points, the Fairplay award celebrates good conduct on the field and Munster has topped the league for the club with the least disciplinary points for the 2007/08 season.
That same disciplined approach is what will count in their favour a they look to add more silverware to a cupboard that already boasts Europe's most prized trophy.
The other side to this game is the high number of internationals that it will feature - ensuring the intensity will be close to Test match level.
Edinburgh will look to the experience of players like Hugo Southwell, Chris Paterson, Simon Webster, captain Mike Blair, Allister Hogg and Ross Ford.
But coming up against a Munster side that boasts world-class players like Doug Howlett, Ronan O'Gara, David Wallace, Paul O'Connell (as captain), John Hayes and Jerry Flannery means it will be brutal.
Prediction: Somehow the European champions appear to have too much class and the smart money is on Munster to win by 15 points or more.
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson, 13 Calum MacRae, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Matt Mustchin, 5 Ben Gissing, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Scott Newlands, 19 David Callam, 20 Greig
Laidlaw, 21 Mark Robertson, 22 Andrew Turnbull.
Munster: 15 Doug Howlett, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Rua Tipoki, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 David Wallace, 7 John O'Sullivan, 6 Donnacha Ryan, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Frank Sheahan, 17 Federico Pucciariello, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Justin Melck, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paul Warwick, 22 Barry Murphy.
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Touch judges: Rob Dickson (Scotland), Alan Forrest (Scotland)
Ulster v Llanelli Scarlets
Ravenhill, Belfast, 19.30 (18.30 GMT)
The two teams may be based in Ireland and Wales, but there is a definite touch of 'South African versus New Zealand to this game.
Three of Ulster's most recent imports - No.8 Robbie Diack, lock Carlo Del Fava and prop Brendon Botha have South African roots. Even though De Fava is a naturalised Italian international, he spent his formative rugby years in South Africa.
And World Cup-winner Botha's arrival this week has been the talk of town.
Llanelli Scarlets's Kiwi connection include lock Simon Maling, All Black prop Kees Meeuws, another Kiwi prop in Deacon Manu and hooker Mahonri Schwalger.
Each team also have an Australian in the side to add spice to the 'international' occasion - with Ulster's Aussies fullback and the Scarlets' Wallaby No.8 David Lyons very familiar with each other.
Del Fava said Ulster are keen to atone for a sloppy pre-season in which they managed just one win from three starts and lost to Worcester Warriors in their last outing.
"Yes, things did not go as planned against Worcester, but we have not dwelt on that too much," the 30-times capped lock said.
"It was a very different team which played and there was a lot of chopping and changing during the game.
"There is a different target for this game against Llanelli. Things may not have been totally desirable against Worcester, but the smaller things that we did well have been taken out of it looking ahead.
"The mentality is very different this week and everyone knows if there are mistakes made, then they can be more costly than they would be in a pre-season friendly."
Prediction: Another game where advantage will be a huge factor and we expect Ulster to steal an early march and win by 10 points or more.
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Clinton Schifcofske, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Timoci Nagusa, 10 Paddy Wallace, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Kieron Dawson, 6 Matt McCullough, 5 Ed O'Donoghue, 4 Carlo Del Fava, 3 Brendon Botha, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Justin Fitzpatrick.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Tom Court, 18
Ryan Caldwell, 19 David Pollock, 20 Cillian Willis, 21 Niall O'Connor, 22 Bryn Cunningham.
Llanelli Scarlets: 15 Morgan Stoddard, 14 Darren Daniel, 13 Rob Higgitt, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Mark Jones, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Sililo Martens, 8 David Lyons, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Simon Easterby (captain), 5 Simon Maling, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Kees Meeuws, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Iestyn Thomas.
Replacements - from: 16 Deacon Manu, 17 Mahonri Schwalger, 18 Vernon Cooper, 19 Dafydd Jones, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Ceiron Thomas, 22 Nathan Brew, 23 Daniel Evans, 24 Scott MacLeod.
Referee: Peter Allan (Scotland)
Touch judges: David Keane (Ireland), Peter Haycock (Ireland)
Saturday, September 6:
Cardiff Blues v Leinster
Arms Park, Cardiff, 18.30 (17.30 GMT)
Cardiff Blues come up against the defending Magners League champions in the first game of the season for a second successive year. Twelve months ago Ospreys visited the Arms Park and lost.
Added to that Cardiff flyhalf Nicky Robinson will become only the second player to reach 100 games for the Blues when they take to Arms Park.
"It's a nice milestone to reach," Robinson said.
"I've played at the Arms Park my whole career with Cardiff RFC and the Cardiff Blues so it's good to get my 100th game at home. I was hoping to reach the target last season but unfortunately I got injured," said Robinson.
"I'd say the game that I have the best memories of and enjoyed the most was the game against Leinster at the Millennium Stadium a few seasons ago. It was a great game to be part of with a big crowd and fantastic atmosphere and we played some rugby. We've also had some good matches against the Welsh teams especially the Ospreys."
But facing the defending champions mean Robinson is not guaranteed the luxury of a win to mark his milestone.
He admitted it is going to be a hard day at the office.
"It's a tough start for us and we always have tough matches against Leinster," he said.
"Obviously we'd like to improve on last year having finished second in the league again and we're all looking forward to getting the season underway having worked hard."
Leinster are fresh from a good pre-season which has seen the defending Magners League champions win three from three - concluding in last weekend's 48-19 victory over the Reds, all eight try-scorers that day are set to feature in Saturday's squad.
The team will be named only on Friday.
Leinster coach Michael Cheika acknowledged the challenge presented by the home side.
"They had a big win last weekend [43-13] against Northampton Saints and it's always tough down there," Cheika said.
"It's a matter of how we set ourselves up as a team, then the strategy that we take into the game.
"We need to be better in our defence than we were last Saturday. But it was good that players are starting to get into the routine of playing 60, 70 and 80 minutes. The bench showed that they came on with good qualities, which was also encouraging.
"Cardiff has a strong pack - even without Xavier Rush - with the likes of Martyn Williams, Gethin Jenkins and Paul Tito. They also have quality backs.
"Last Friday they were able to play two totally different teams in the first and second halves and both teams could easily have played at Magners League level. That's something we'll have to deal with so we've got to be smart and we've got to be hungry."
Prediction: This will be a cracker and may well be the game of the weekend, with the Cardiff Blues sneaking a win - less than 10 points.
The Teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Jason
Spice, 8 Andy Powell, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Mamma Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Gary Powell, 17 T. Rhys Thomas, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Ben White, 20 Darren Allinson, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Jamie Robinson.
Leinster: TBC
Referee: Andy Macpherson (Scotland)
Touch Judges: David Bodilly (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (Wales)
