Pro12 — Earls’ flight and Connacht’s plight
FOR ALL HIS talk about turning corners and light at the end of the tunnel, the Munster faithful will judge Rob Penney on results.
The head coach enjoyed a ‘bloody great’ 19 — 15 win over Leinster as Ian Keatley and Keith Earls teamed up to give Matt O’Connor the blues.
YouTube credit: RaboDirect PRO12
With Ruan Pienaar seemingly on his way out the Ulster Exit door in the summer, the weight of expectation shall increase on young outhalf Paddy Jackson. The 21-year-old has come a long way in a short amount of time and chose an opportune time to show his steel. With Ulster trailing 12 — 0 to Ospreys in Swansea, Jackson finished off the forwards’ penalty-earning good work to the power on six. His fifth penalty, from all of 50 metres, was a joy to behold.
The league situation is not as rosy for Connacht, who looked meek and jaded in a 23 — 3 loss to Benetton Treviso. This calamitous situation was summed up by this slapstick piece of defending to gift Alessandro Zanni a try:
YouTube credit: RaboDirect PRO12
Connacht fullback Robbie Henshaw missed out on the hum-drum of Italy but had plenty of other reasons to get upset:
PRO12 try of the weekend goes to Cardiff Blues winger Alex Cuthbert, who finished off this superb team move by dotting down under the posts. The Lions star scored twice in a snug home victory over Edinburgh.
YouTube credit: RaboDirect PRO12
The Rugby Championship — Habana’s great double and the AB’s “typo”
New Zealand finished The Rugby Championship as deserved winners after defeating South Africa 38 — 27 at the imposing Ellis Park. While the All Blacks raced in five tries and finished their six-game swing unbeaten, the game’s best two moments came from the Springboks as Bryan Habana finished off a superb chip and chase [40 seconds] and Jean de Villiers battered Beauden Barrett on the way to the tryline [1:12].
YouTube credit: nzUploader01
Ben Smith’s try, featuring a drool-inducing Kieran Read offload, was his record-breaking eighth of the tournament. The All Blacks may be good at rugby but someone of their staff is a shoddy typist. A match official realised that Dan Coles was not, indeed, Keven Mealamu when he came off the bench. Those cunning AB’s blamed it on a typo and play continued.
Top 14 — Jackman and Jambon beat Jonny and ROG
Toulon defeated Clermont Auvergne in the first meeting of the two sides since last May’s Heineken Cup final in Dublin. This time around, Australian grin merchant Matt Giteau did the damage in a 25 — 19 win. Centre Mathieu Bastareaud gave us an insight into some staid celebrations on the trip back from Nice.
‘Get off the smart phones lads and give us a song’
Perpignan triumphed over two-time Heineken Cup finalists Biarritz to keep them rooted to the bottom of the table. Bernard Jackman’s Grenoble beat the Racing Metro side coached by Ronan O’Gara. Racing’s Jonny Sexton kicked 15 points yet was upstaged by a 22-year-old Irish scrumhalf James Hart, who goes by the nickname ‘Jambon’.
Premiership — Cipriani back in form but Easter cracks his egg
Northampton Saints looked set to win England’s biggest club fixture when they led Leicester Tigers 19 — 9 but a late comeback ensured the spoils were shared. Danny Cipriani has re-dedicated himself to rugby and scored 14 points, including a fine drop goal, to ensure a fine 19 — 13 win over Bath and their evergreen scrumhalf Peter Stringer.
Mark McCall’s Saracens, who face Connacht next in the Heineken Cup, beat Wasps 19 — 12 to stay top of the league. Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins were beaten by London Irish, captained by Tomás O’Leary, but just about everyone in the ground could enjoy this comedy moment provided by Nick Easter.
Credit: Aviva Premiership
Ulster Bank League -- Con do a job on champs
James Ryan crossed for two tries as Cork Con defeated league champions Lansdowne 33 -- 16 in Temple Hill. 33 was the magic number for Clontarf as they ran in five tries against Garryowen in a 33 -- 3 win. UCD beat Old Belvedere while Young Munster were victorious against Ballynahinch and Dolphin edged out St Mary's College.
Picture of the week, however, comes courtesy of Division 2B and sheer joy as Instonians grabbed a last-minute try against Navan.
Not every Irish player had a weekend to remember. Poor old Leinster scrumhalf John Cooney was really looking forward to playing some XBox basketball when this happened...
When life hands you lemons, crack out the XBox.
*What was your highlight of the rugby weekend?
