URC Round 3

First topic message reminder :

It's almost time for round 3 of the URC 2021/2022 season, some real interesting games this weekend, that Benneton v Ulster game could be fantastic.

Heres the games list (all times BST)

Ulster v Benetton- Friday 08/10/2021- 7:35pm- BBC NI, TG4, Premier Sports
Ospreys v Cell C Sharks- Friday 08/10/2021- 7.35pm- BBC Wales, SuperSport, Premier Sports

Leinster v Zebre - Saturday 09/10/2021- 1pm- RTÉ 2, Mediaset, Premier Sports
Glasgow Warriors v Emirates Lions- Saturday 09/10/2021- 3:05pm- Premier Sports, SuperSport
Connacht v Dragons- Saturday 09/10/2021- 5:15pm- TG4, S4C, Premier Sports
Edinburgh v DHL Stormers- Saturday 09/10/2021- 5:15pm- Premier Sports, SuperSport
Cardiff v Vodacom Bulls- Saturday 09/10/2021- 7:35pm- S4C, SuperSport, Premier Sports

Scarlets v Munster- Sunday 10/10/2021- 2pm- S4C, RTÉ 2, Premier Sports

The Oracle wrote:Lovely try by Sharks. Ospreys don’t look good at all from what I’ve seen so far.

Said it in my predictions that I wasn't impressed with them. They did enough in the opening two rounds to get the result without doing much. They can't bully teams like Munster or Leinster do and seem to struggle to get tries. Let's see if the SA teams are starting to show their potential and play 80 minutes.

Going well for Sharks so far.

Very poor start by the Sharks though, conceded the first three penalties of the game at the breakdown, then as they got into the Osprey 22 they are penalised for a late tackle, which was utter nonsense.

There just seems to be no understanding by the SA teams on how the ruck is officiated. One issue I have with the European referees and TMO's is hiw they try to convince each other that a tackle is late, or a player is not in a realistic position to contest or intercept.

Really frustrating to watch.

Might the phyiscality of the SA finally be showing as they use their big players to make space outside.

By all accounts not bring locked in the bubble this week as much has helped moral in the SA squads

Are they out of bubbles now?

Good first win for the Sharks.

Old Man wrote:Very poor start by the Sharks though, conceded the first three penalties of the game at the breakdown, then as they got into the Osprey 22 they are penalised for a late tackle, which was utter nonsense.

There just seems to be no understanding by the SA teams on how the ruck is officiated. One issue I have with the European referees and TMO's is hiw they try to convince each other that a tackle is late, or a player is not in a realistic position to contest or intercept.

Really frustrating to watch.

I presume it will be similar frustration when we (Euro teams) get the SA refs when we play in SA?

As far as i heard they are less restricted (could be wrong). They are tested loads and been there for nearly 3 weeks.

Sharks to be fair had to play the 2nd and 3rd/4th best teams away so were going to find in hard.

Good and comfortable win by the sharks. They could even have gone for more tries but I suppose the plan was to get a win on the board.


I've never seen Ospreys' handling as bad. They couldn't get any attack going but maybe it was partly down to some aggressive defending.

The Oracle wrote:

Old Man wrote:Very poor start by the Sharks though, conceded the first three penalties of the game at the breakdown, then as they got into the Osprey 22 they are penalised for a late tackle, which was utter nonsense.

There just seems to be no understanding by the SA teams on how the ruck is officiated. One issue I have with the European referees and TMO's is hiw they try to convince each other that a tackle is late, or a player is not in a realistic position to contest or intercept.

Really frustrating to watch.

I presume it will be similar frustration when we (Euro teams) get the SA refs when we play in SA?

I think it will be easier for the European teams because the SH referees are less strict, and can get away with more at the breakdown.

Sharks can only improve from here on in, especially when they get their boks back.

Cardiff next, what is the predictaion?

Ospreys were way off it. You’d think with Beard and AWJ starting, they’d have a bit of a lift. Think Booth had a bit of a pedestrian backline with the centres and Dan Evans in. Anscombe wasn’t on it tonight either.

Think Booth probably banked on overpowering them and it didn’t happen at all.

Yeah, that Ospreys back line struggled.  Webb was class in the past, perhaps still is but he’s getting on a bit.  Anscombe just back from 18 months out.  Outside of them it didn’t really scream quality or world beaters.  Gonna struggle this season to score tries if that’s all they can muster.  Who’s to come back into the backs who can up the ‘class’?  North? Anyone else?

Old Man wrote:Sharks can only improve from here on in, especially when they get their boks back.

Cardiff next, what is the predictaion?

Should have a clearer picture this time tomorrow night after the big one. Who will win, Cardiff or Bulls. Who will be right, Philb or Brendan.


I'd say Cardiff won't make near the amount or errors Ospreys made tonight. They have a good backline, not sure about their pack.

The Oracle wrote:Yeah, that Ospreys back line struggled.  Webb was class in the past, perhaps still is but he’s getting on a bit.  Anscombe just back from 18 months out.  Outside of them it didn’t really scream quality or world beaters.  Gonna struggle this season to score tries if that’s all they can muster.  Who’s to come back into the backs who can up the ‘class’?  North? Anyone else?

Michael Collins!

This is surely the end of Watkin in a Wales jersey too. Such an overrated player.

Hopefully the Bulls can pull one through.

mikey_dragon wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Yeah, that Ospreys back line struggled.  Webb was class in the past, perhaps still is but he’s getting on a bit.  Anscombe just back from 18 months out.  Outside of them it didn’t really scream quality or world beaters.  Gonna struggle this season to score tries if that’s all they can muster.  Who’s to come back into the backs who can up the ‘class’?  North? Anyone else?

Michael Collins!

This is surely the end of Watkin in a Wales jersey too. Such an overrated player.

Be interesting to see what happens when all available. Guess Cuthbert will start too. As they’re always likely to play Watkin, I guess they’ll play Collins 15 more often than not?

I think the handling errors was down to the aggression of the Sharks.  Saw the same in the first half of Munster v Stormers and even ABs v Boks.

Once the SA teams become aggressive the handling errors go up leading the scrums which then helps the SA teams play in the right area of the field.

Said this game would be close but didn't expect Ospreys to be so poor with the handling nor the Sharks pack so good. Wonder if the Bulls pack can be as aggressive.

I think the SA teams have learned from the Stormers v Munster game and will copy it this week.

mikey_dragon wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Yeah, that Ospreys back line struggled.  Webb was class in the past, perhaps still is but he’s getting on a bit.  Anscombe just back from 18 months out.  Outside of them it didn’t really scream quality or world beaters.  Gonna struggle this season to score tries if that’s all they can muster.  Who’s to come back into the backs who can up the ‘class’?  North? Anyone else?

Michael Collins!

This is surely the end of Watkin in a Wales jersey too. Such an overrated player.

Of course! Yes, sorry. He does seem good. Him and North plus Webb if he can get back to near where he was. Plus Anscombe if he can return to his best too. Looks a little better. Cuthbert too?! Maybe!

Ulster dig out their third 5pts dispatching Benetton easily enough.

Look to be a top 4 team and to have carried on from last season.

Brendan wrote:I think the handling errors was down to the aggression of the Sharks.  Saw the same in the first half of Munster v Stormers and even ABs v Boks.

Once the SA teams become aggressive the handling errors go up leading the scrums which then helps the SA teams play in the right area of the field.

Said this game would be close but didn't expect Ospreys to be so poor with the handling nor the Sharks pack so good.  Wonder if the Bulls pack can be as aggressive.

I think the SA teams have learned from the Stormers v Munster game and will copy it this week.

Some of the handling errors I saw were nothing to do with Sharks aggression. Sharks weren’t rushing up in defence. The knock ons often came before the tackle, sometimes due to a poor pass leaving the O’s player reaching in front of them for the ball. As mentioned in commentary the O’s attack lost shape. Lots of unforced errors for me. Not taking away from the Sharks, but for me it was a lot of the Ospreys own doing.

RiscaGame wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Yeah, that Ospreys back line struggled.  Webb was class in the past, perhaps still is but he’s getting on a bit.  Anscombe just back from 18 months out.  Outside of them it didn’t really scream quality or world beaters.  Gonna struggle this season to score tries if that’s all they can muster.  Who’s to come back into the backs who can up the ‘class’?  North? Anyone else?

Michael Collins!

This is surely the end of Watkin in a Wales jersey too. Such an overrated player.

Be interesting to see what happens when all available. Guess Cuthbert will start too. As they’re always likely to play Watkin, I guess they’ll play Collins 15 more often than not?

I think Collins is better in the centre and Wales could do with more depth there. Not sure what happens when him and North are available though, as North plays wing for Ospreys and 13 for Wales. I forgot about Cuthbert but he is a step up on Morgan and Protheroe. I just don’t see what Watkin does at 12 or 13 but the coaches must see it differently.

Brendan wrote:Ulster dig out their third 5pts dispatching Benetton easily enough.

Look to be a top 4 team and to have carried on from last season.

I was impressed actually tonight, I thought it would be tight, they performed very well but the injuries at the moment are going to hamper them in some future games, a lot of good players not available

SA teams looking much more compeditive.

Lions beat themselves with all the knock ons

And the tmo.

We’ll see how the Bulls go later. It might just be that they all took a few weeks to get into it… It’ll be interesting to see how the strong teams go down in SA. I imagine the weaker teams will get well beaten.

Lions will he spoilers, I doubt they will be contenders

The Scots love their South Africans,

Old Man wrote:The Scots love their South Africans,

So do the French.

True

And the English

Think Dragons might get their first win in Ireland for a long time.

And there is the BP.

Big loss for Connacht

It’s a long way from over yet.

Hopefully we can hold on. It would be a good win for us, especially when you consider a record over there and some strange calls from the ref.

They still a try and pen to just get level.

Blade has run down to many blind alleys.

Sam Davies is probably player of the match at this rate. He’s having a great season so far. His kicking has improved phenomenally.

Make that 2 converted tries.

To be fair Dragons have started the season well and should have more but 7pts from 3 isn't to bad

Taine Basham gets it. He’s been good too, he always is.

Scrums have been a mess between Edinburgh and Stormers.

Brok Harris plays for Stormers, and he still looks good. Remarkable.

Well done dragons.

Good game and well played

mikey_dragon wrote:Taine Basham gets it. He’s been good too, he always is.

Basham has been great. I thought Jordan Williams added some much needed zip and invention which has really helped our back line. Haven’t noticed his defence and whether it’s been good or bad, but in attack he’s definitely added something.

Scrums have seesaw’d but we had a number of scrum penalties and pretty solid at times which has really helped too. Not often we get scrum penalties! I like the look of Doge around the park too. Big lad and difficult to put down.

The two islander props are certainly a step up. Bateman seems to finally be getting some form now that he is less injured. Taylor Davies has been pretty good for us since signing last season. Big Leon Brown to come back too!

I feel the biggest difference is Rowlands and the emergence of Ben Carter.

I also feel Stormers could be one of the better SA teams. They’re good now. Their front 5 and No.8 are very good. They have some big internationals in the pack to come back as well.

Disastrous result for Connacht but the Dragons more than deserved their win! Dean Ryan is doing a good job there, they should have beaten us last week too.

I think they will run into problems vs the Bulls and Sharks, which would put them out of contention for the play offs.

But then SA rugby is so unpredictable currently

mikey_dragon wrote:The two islander props are certainly a step up. Bateman seems to finally be getting some form now that he is less injured. Taylor Davies has been pretty good for us since signing last season. Big Leon Brown to come back too!

I feel the biggest difference is Rowlands and the emergence of Ben Carter.

Yes agreed, the two new props have been a great addition. And Bateman looked decent. Looked massive too. Don’t know if he’s always like that but looked extra bulky. Played his part in the scrum success.

We’ve been weak at lock for quite a while so nice to have two genuinely good locks who are deemed to be international quality (or there abouts).

Some astute signings of the props, some astute signings of WQ players helped by their desire to play international rugby (e.g. Holmes and Rowlands), lots of players coming through from youth like Carter, Basham and Aneurin Owen, and the return of injured players such as Jordan Williams. Starting to look OK now. I’m worried by Dee a little and think he’s gone backwards a bit. Still think we need a bit more class at centre. Owen was good today and seems to get over the gainline at 13. Dixon isn’t the answer and I would like to think Roberts would improve things a little when he’s back. Although he’s not got long left so definitely need to strengthen 12. Didn’t see much from the on-loan Leicester wing today. I think he’s one of those that needs to be put in an acre of space and he’ll fly around and run them in and look good. But in tight games with not much space I haven’t been that impressed so far.

I initially thought that was a good clearout by Seb Davies. He attempted to wrap, but it was the opposite side to the shoulder he tackled with, not sure if the laws specify that. Either way, that’s what Cardiff need, their lock forwards trying to hurt people.

I actually think Dee has improved a little, compared to last season. Last season he was particularly poor. I feel he’s been doing a lot of good carrying, etc so far this season. Our lineout not functioning is a concern. At least Dee isn’t constantly overthrowing and not throwing it straight, unlike Elias.