GLASGOW WARRIORS CAME out on the right side of an arm wrestle with the Stormers to set up a URC semi-final away to champions Munster, which will kick off at 6pm at Thomond Park next Saturday.
The Scots pulled away late against last season’s beaten finalists to seal a 27-10 victory, albeit the scoreline wasn’t entirely reflective of what had been a fiercely competitive contest until the dying minutes.
Munster and Glasgow will renew their years-long hostilities in what will be the evening game next Saturday, with Leinster’s game against the Bulls in Pretoria getting the action under way at 3pm Irish time.
Leinster’s visit to Loftus Versfeld will be broadcast live on RTÉ as well as Premier Sports, while Munster-Glasgow will be shown on TG4 as well as Premier.
Should top seeds Munster beat Glasgow, they will host the final at Thomond Park at 5pm the following Saturday (22 June).
URC semi-finals (Saturday 15 June)
- Bulls v Leinster, 3pm (RTÉ, Premier Sports)
- Munster v Glasgow, 6pm (TG4, Premier Sports)
This is such a great development, I was thinking of something like this over the summer as a way to get more game time into the academy squads as the URC has less fixtures then it did 5 years ago
@Andrew Slazenger: Don’t remember the British and Irish Cup?
@Andrew Slazenger: don’t see that at all, clubs will at worst case lose the odd player – I can see Leinster & Munster A being all contracted players , I think Ulster and Connacht will sprinkle in some first team players too – very little room for AIL only players
theyre going to charge for tickets for these games. just another chance for the IRFU to gouge fans and kill the club game. go to your local AIL game at the weekend and you’ll see the same players togging out for their club.
@Niall English: And they say the GAA is bad!
@J M: i remember a time not so long ago when i could get tickets to the november international games for 30 Euro a pop. looking at over 100 or so now. good luck.
@Niall English: i remember going to Australia vs New Zealand in the world cup semi final in Landsdowne Road for eight pounds!! School boy ticket
@Niall Cullen: That’s professionalism for you. If you need to spend a lot of money someone has to pay for it
@Niall Cullen: miss the old landsdowne road. was a proper ground. Great atmosphere in the terraces. many a fond memory going to games in that ground.
@Niall English: but you’ll have to pay into the club game so I don’t know what you’re moaning about
@Niall Cullen: I do too. I also remember that we were utterly terrible around then, and used to routinely trounced by, well, just about everyone. Now we’ve been one of the game’s best teams for almost decade. You can’t have it both ways and, whilst the system is not perfect, I certainly prefer where Irish rugby is today.
Another slap in the face of the AIL
@Thesaltyurchin: how did it work before? , were you springboarded from AIL straight into the URC provisional side if good enough and this now just gives a layer in between AIL and the URC team. Would top AIL prospects need to go through the provincial A side to then get I to the URC side if good enough..trying to understand this layer..
@Stuart: Yes a layer between AIL and Pro Provincial. Currently players at school leaving age go straight into a Provincial sub academy or full academy if good enough. 3 years in academy is typical, players need to do 3rd level education to be in an academy (Leinster for sure). Players would get pro game time in year 3, sometimes year 2. These same players would also play AIL. So the idea of this new comp is more structured game time, under the coaches of Provincial teams. AIL players would also be included in these ‘A’ sides. It’s a great development which gives a better pathway between AIL and Pro. It also has the potential to pick up late development AIL players or players who were simply overlooked.
@Stuart:The clubs won’t like it, but they had their chances to provide this more direct link over the years, but of course, they wouldn’t change/ agree. So, in frustration a number of years ago, the IRFU said it would move on without them. Very hard to do much with the clubs, as they favour the Status Quo, and there are egos between clubs. Back at the turn of professionalism, certain clubs thought they should be the professional entity rather than the Provincial sides, who at the time had about 125 years history already. Irish fans often forget the difficult road travelled and the brave decisions taken to get Provincial rugby/ the national side to the level we are at.
@Eugene Canavan: thanks for that, very informative on the structures . Appreciate it ..
@Eugene Canavan: Its not really a one sided affair, it does represent bad politics over the years but, Munsters previous success is directly attached to the clubs and that has always been looked over and never invested in. While Schools provide players in Leinster it was clubs that did in Munster and is a reason why plenty of club supporter never got behind the provincial team.
@Thesaltyurchin: I am not sure I agree that it is a slap in the face. If anything clubs like Creggs and Terenure can use this as an opportunity to get a few new faces into their clubs for AIL games. As regards players, there is not enough playing time for academy or fringe players in the provinces and it doesn’t always suit the AIL clubs to play them when they might not be available every week. Disruption to your squad doesn’t suit every club.
@Thesaltyurchin: Leinster get players from Schools into academy, Leinster are involved in their school level development, and then academy to pro to international. few, basically no players come from school to international level. so what happens between school, club, and Academy to Pro needs a structure for todays world. Yes, Munster got players from clubs, as well as Schools. As time and professionalism has moved on, players from clubs are less and less suitable because new levels of professionalism mean they need skills training, nutrition and body building from the age of 15/ 16. Talent needs to be managed from an earlier age. School leavers need this ‘A’ Provincial bridge in addition to clubs.
@Thesaltyurchin: Munster are relatively unsuccessful for a lot of reasons, and that trend could worsen. The Club to Pro model is no long suitable as the game becomes more professional and margins/ gains narrow. It’s 2008 since Munster were a force. The natural structures behind Munster based on club alone are no fit for purpose. The same applies to the other province’s to varying degrees. The IRFU have been trying to address this, align the clubs to a Pro pathway for about 8 years, unsuccessfully. It is a two-sided story, but fundamentally, the IRFU has to govern the amateur to Pro game, part of that is making sure player pathway steps are bridged. The clubs want to survive and maintain their status, that’s a very different goal to developing Pro players.
@Paul Ennis: So make them available every week? If you take good players out it devalues the league, regardless of who has a bigger supply, it is directly undermining.
@Eugene Canavan: That’s why they should invest in the clubs so they can look after them!? Academy is like retirement for these lads. They could make the AIL amazing. Munster was the best players from all the clubs, that’s who beat the ABs (massive violin to old times, granted:). I don’t know about get worse or better anymore, there will be drama, thats for sure (oh the drama), but people expect a massive amount, genuinely I just like a good game. If the grass roots are solid I think you can only build up, not sure they are at Munster inc.
@Thesaltyurchin: Players like Soroka can only line out for Clontarf when Leinster don’t need them, same with Turner for Trinity or Edogbo for UCC. If they are in line for 2 or 3 provincial appearances in a season, your club is not going to stand in your way.
@Paul Ennis: Nor should they (club) but the province can stand in the way, keep them for anything they like, for any made up competition they like, how can you build a team around that uncertainty? There’s deffo a lot of annoyed clubs around today, theres a constant disparagey between them and provinces that needs sorting out imo
Great idea
Great to see Leinster spread the games around SoCoDu
Strange how Aiden Farrell/Ray Ridge aren’t on moaning about this
@anthony davoren: It’s nit specifically a Munster article, less opportunity to h@te
@Thesaltyurchin: hahahaha