IT’S A DISAPPOINTMENT that the Irish inter-provincial derbies on the final regular-season day of the Guinness Pro12 mean very little, but there are points of interest in today’s action across the league.
Munster and Leinster are already confirmed as the top two sides and therefore have home semi-finals to look forward to, while the Scarlets and Ospreys – barring a miracle for Ulster – will be in third and fourth position, though they must decide in which order.
Ulster are safely into next season’s Champions Cup in fifth place, while Connacht are almost certain to go into the European play-offs to face the seventh-ranked English team.
Despite the relative lack of excitement around finishing positions, there’s plenty to hold the attention in today’s six 5.15pm kick-offs.
Pro12 Round 22 [KO 5.15pm Irish time for all games]:
Munster v Connacht, Thomond Park
Ulster v Leinster, Kingspan Stadium
Scarlets v Ospreys, Parc y Scarlets
Zebre v Treviso, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
Dragons v Cardiff Blues, Virginia Park
Glasgow v Edinburgh, Scotstoun
Ulster’s missing pride
For Ulster to say they are fighting for pride today is to ignore how many of their supporters are feeling. For quite a few of them, that pride has already been lost and winning a dead rubber against Leinster won’t get it back.
The northern province will have to wait until next season for redemption, though the Ulster crowd remain loyal and another sold-out Kingspan Stadium is excepted this evening for the visit of Leo Cullen’s league leaders.
The opportunity to bid Ruan Pienaar and Roger Wilson farewell will have drawn many to the Belfast venue.
Having played for Ulster over 130 times since joining, Pienaar is a fans’ favourite, but he will leave without having accumulated silverware. The IRFU’s decision not to allow the province to renew the South African’s contract is still bitterly felt by many Ulstermen, but they must now look to the future with John Cooney arriving in the summer.
Wilson, meanwhile, will check out after winning 221 caps for Ulster – the most by any player – and his body must feel the toll of being repeatedly put on the line for the white jersey.
A proud Ulsterman, it will pain Wilson to be leaving with the province at such a low ebb. In truth, the rest of the squad will be glad to see the back of this frustrating season.
Porter’s propping
With 11 changes to the Leinster team, there are several talking points but the inclusion of Andrew Porter as the replacement tighthead on the bench is one of the most interesting for Irish rugby.
The explosive UCD man burst to prominence as a loosehead for the Ireland U20s last year but has been making the transition to the other side of the scrum in recent months.
While there have understandably been some tough days in the Ulster Bank League with his club – there are surely more to come at a higher level – Cullen says Porter is showing promising signs and he has even got the stamp of approval from scrum expert Mike Ross.
Today looks like being Porter’s first foray into the tighthead world at professional level and the hope is that he gets enough time on the pitch to hit a few scrums.
His excellence around the pitch is not really in doubt, and he is an exciting prospect for Ireland rugby at the age of 21. It may well be that he is wearing a number three shirt in the future, rather than the number one.
Connacht’s play-off hopes
Pat Lam said the final two regular-season games in the Pro12 were crucial in preparing his side for the impending European play-off on 19/20/21 May, but last weekend’s home defeat to the Scarlets was a poor warm-up.
Unless Connacht hammer Munster today on a huge scoreline and Cardiff Blues lose to the Dragons, Lam’s men will finish eighth in the Pro12, meaning an away tie against the Premiership’s seventh-ranked club in the play-off semi-final.
As things stand, that’s Northampton but Gloucester could take the slot if they beat Stade Français in the Challenge Cup. Harlequins and Newcastle could even take that ‘seventh-ranked’ slot yet, with lots of permutations involved.
Either way, Lam and his men could do with a positive result, or at least a positive performance, in Thomond Park against Munster today as they look to bring some momentum forward to their play-off.
Rassie Erasmus’ side are hardly likely to be in forgiving form, so Connacht need leaders like the excellent Tiernan O’Halloran, Kieran Marmion, Jack Carty and Quinn Roux to step up to the plate.
Murray back with Munster
Erasmus will be keen for Munster to finish the regular season on a high before next weekend’s break, with the possibility of beating Leinster to the top of the table still alive.
Boosting the southern province is the return of Conor Murray to the bench after eight weeks out of the game with nerve damage in his shoulder and neck area.
There were real concerns for the scrum-half, with the man himself admitting he even feared for his career in the darker moments of doubt, so it’s a major relief to see him back in contact training and ready to play.
Murray will be pivotal as Munster look to finish Erasmus’ excellent first season with a trophy, while Lions head coach Warren Gatland will be watching on with close interest.
Rhys Webb has enjoyed a superb season, but Murray still looks best equipped to take on the All Blacks in the Lions’ Test series, so his return to full fitness is important.
Welsh derby
One of the shames about all of today’s games kicking off at the same time is that Irish viewers are unlikely to be able to catch what should be an excellent Welsh derby live.
The Scarlets host the Ospreys at Parc y Scarlets, with third place in the table on the line. In truth, travelling to the RDS and Thomond Park are both tricky tasks, but the Welsh sides will be going full tilt for victory.
The Scarlets’ emergence as title contenders has been brilliant for the Pro12 and they have been enjoyable to watch all season. The excellence of ex-Leinster man Tadhg Beirne has been another point of interest in their campaign.
The Ospreys, meanwhile, have some of the finest players in the league in the likes of Keelan Giles, Dan Biggar, Webb, Sam Underhill, Justin Tipuric and fullback Dan Evans.
Remarkably, Evans has started 66 consecutive matches for the Ospreys in the Pro12 over the course of three seasons and today marks his 30th appearance for the region during the current campaign – another record.
His sheer consistency across those appearances has been most impressive.
Italian decider
Down at the bottom of the table, there is a huge amount of play for as Zebre host Treviso at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi.
Both Italian teams are on 19 points, with Treviso ahead by virtue of having won a game more than Zebre.
So it all comes down to this clash – the winner will qualify for the Champions Cup next season. A draw would, of course, see Treviso advance into the top tier of Europe.
Many will argue that the Italians simply do not deserve a place in the Champions Cup, but that is for another day. This is the kind of derby clash the Pro12 hoped would have meaning on the final day of the regular season, though it’s a shame it’s not at the other end of the table.
Key for Treviso will be Irishman Ian McKinley, who Conor O’Shea called into his extended Italy squad this weekend.
McKinley has featured in every single game of Treviso’s season and it’s fascinating that experienced head coach Kieran Crowley has opted to start him ahead of 30-times capped Italy out-half Tommaso Allan.
McKinley will be hoping that his leapfrogging of Allan in Treviso is a sign of things to come at national level.
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Ulster (v Leinster):
15. Craig Gilroy
14. Andrew Trimble (captain)
13. Luke Marshall
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Charles Piutau
10. Paddy Jackson
9. Ruan Pienaar
1. Andy Warwick
2. Rob Herring
3. Rodney Ah You
4. Kieran Treadwell
5. Alan O’Connor
6. Robbie Diack
7. Sean Reidy
8. Roger Wilson
Replacements:
16. John Andrew
17. Kyle McCall
18. Ricky Lutton
19. Chris Henry
20. Nick Timoney
21. Paul Marshall
22. Peter Nelson
23. Jacob Stockdale
Leinster (v Ulster):
15. Isa Nacewa (captain)
14. Adam Byrne
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Noel Reid
11. Fergus McFadden
10. Joey Carbery
9. Luke McGrath
1. Jack McGrath
2. James Tracy
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. Hayden Triggs
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Jack Conan
Replacements:
16. Richardt Strauss
17. Cian Healy
18. Andrew Porter
19. Ross Molony
20. Dan Leavy
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Ross Byrne
23. Rory O’Loughlin
Referee: Andrew Brace [IRFU].
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Munster (v Connacht):
15. Andrew Conway
14. Alex Wootton
13. Jaco Taute
12. Dan Goggin
11. Keith Earls
10. Ian Keatley
9. Angus Lloyd
1. James Cronin
2. Rhys Marshall
3. Stephen Archer
4. Darren O’Shea
5. Billy Holland (captain)
6. Jean Deysel
7. Conor Oliver
8. Jack O’Donoghue
Replacements:
16. Niall Scannell
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. John Ryan
19. Peter O’Mahony
20. Tommy O’Donnell
21. Conor Murray
22. Tyler Bleyendaal
23. Francis Saili
Connacht (v Munster):
15. Tiernan O’Halloran
14. Danie Poolman
13. Tom Farrell
12. Craig Ronaldson
11. Cian Kelleher
10. Jack Carty
9. Kieran Marmion
1. Denis Buckley
2. Shane Delahunt
3. Conor Carey
4. Quinn Roux
5. Andrew Browne
6. Eoin McKeon
7. James Connolly
8. John Muldoon (captain)
Replacements:
16. Dave Heffernan
17. JP Cooney
18. Finlay Bealham
19 . Sean O’Brien
20. Naulia Dawai
21. John Cooney
22. Marnitz Boshoff
23. Darragh Leader
Referee: David Wilkinson [IRFU].
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