WITH THE SIX Nations kicking-off this weekend the provinces will take a back seat following a busy block of URC and European Cup action.
The URC returns for two rounds of games during the Six Nations break weeks [14-16 Feb & 28 Feb - 2 March] while we’ll have to wait until the first weekend of April for the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup round of 16 games.
Some of the provinces will have an eye on silverware when those competitions resume but others will be fighting to keep their seasons alive. Here, we look at how the four Irish teams are faring as they take a breather before the business end of the season heats up.
Connacht
The URC picture is not looking good. Having lost seven from 10 in the URC this season, and six of their last seven, the Western province have dropped to 14th in the table. Connacht need a major upturn in form if they are to forge a path into the play-offs, and at the moment it’s hard to see that happening.
The Six Nations break might allow Connacht time to iron some issues out on the training pitch, but the performances have been too poor, too often. Attack coach Mark Sexton is leaving at the end of the season and it’s shaping up to be another summer of change in Galway.
With their URC campaign proving a real slog, the Challenge Cup has served as a tonic. Pete Wilkins’ side have been flying in Europe, taking a perfect 20 points from their pool campaign to head into the round of 16 as top seeds. The province can go deep in the competition and should be targeting a run to the final.
Winning a trophy would be a massive boost but a series of home knock-out games could in itself give the club a lift. Having sold out Castlebar’s MacHale Park for their URC clash with Munster in March, Connacht might be tempted to bring a Challenge Cup game away from The Dexcom Stadium. The situation in Europe means Connacht could have an exciting couple of months ahead, but their URC standing might make it difficult to fight on two fronts.
Remaining URC regular season fixtures: Cardiff (home), Benetton (home), Ospreys (away), Munster (home), Stormers (away), Lions (away), Edinburgh (home), Zebre (away).
Challenge Cup round of 16: Cardiff (home)
Leinster
The road to Champions Cup success is opening up nicely for the province, who would enjoy home advantage through the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals before the Cardiff decider. The icing on the cake is that with both Toulouse and Bordeaux-Begles on the other side of the draw, Leinster would only face the competition’s other high-flyers if they make it to the final.
That’s not to say Leinster’s progression to the Cardiff decider is a sure thing, and while Leo Cullen’s men will be heavily fancied to progress through the knock-outs the picture can change over the coming months. Northampton gave Leinster a real scare in last year’s semis and injuries to a couple of key men could make things interesting.
The Champions Cup remains the big carrot but Leinster are also trucking along nicely in the URC – 11 points clear at the top of the table – with Ireland internationals Dan Sheehan and James Lowe both returning from long-term injuries over the weekend in a dominant display against a poor Stormers side. That result saw the province make it 14 straight wins across both competitions.
In their second season working with Jacques Nienaber, Leinster look increasingly comfortable with their tweaked gameplan. They have moved from the devastating high-scoring Leinster of old to a meaner outfit that take massive pride in their defensive work. Nienaber has transformed the way they play while the squad has been bolstered by three excellent signings in Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani.
So far, it’s all going to plan and Leinster have the quality and strength to win both trophies. However, Ronan O’Gara’s words after their game in La Rochelle set the tone for the months ahead. “Are they better (than last season)? We’ll see in May.”
Remaining URC regular season fixtures: Ospreys (away), Cardiff (home), Bulls (away), Sharks (away), Ulster (home), Scarlets (away), Zebre (home), Glasgow (home).
Champions Cup round of 16: Harlequins (home).
Munster
It’s been another eventful chapter in the Munster story and the province will hope the final leg of the season runs smoother than the first half.
While the province were disappointed to miss out on home advantage in the Champions Cup round of 16, they can’t have too many complaints after a mixed run of form. Munster’s handling, accuracy and discipline has let them down at times and the away loss to Castres before Christmas proved damaging.
A round of 16 trip to La Rochelle will be testing but Munster have the tools to cause an upset. Keep their frontliners fit – and welcome back some of those who were sidelined over the busy December-January period – and Munster will feel they can build on their recent outings.
The performances against Saracens and Northampton suggested Munster are slowly improving, but as Tadhg Beirne said after the loss at Saints, “the problem is when we’re poor we’re being very poor.” Munster need to iron out the issues highlighted above if they are to retain an interest in the Champions Cup beyond the round of 16.
And in truth, Europe is not the priority. Having lost five from 10 in the URC, Munster would have hoped to have more points on board at this stage of the season, although Saturday’s win at the Dragons lifted them up to seventh. Ensuring they stay in the playoff positions and don’t miss out on Champions Cup rugby next season will be the main focus, while the search for Graham Rowntree’s permanent successor continues in the background.
Remaining URC regular season fixtures: Scarlets (home), Edinburgh (home), Glasgow (away), Connacht (away), Bulls (home), Cardiff (away), Ulster (home), Benetton (home).
Champions Cup round of 16: La Rochelle (away).
Ulster
Sunday’s home defeat to Zebre was utterly deflating for Ulster supporters and has the potential to do real damage to their season. Ulster head into the Six Nations break sitting one point outside the top eight and face a real scrap to stay in contention.
Expectations had been tempered at Ulster long before the season started with an understanding that this is a long-term project. Even before the Zebre loss, Richie Murphy’s team had experienced some tough days, losing heavily at the Bulls and Toulouse. Yet those were teams who were expected to put Ulster to the sword, while Zebre hadn’t won on the road in the league for four years.
It’s a tough period for Ulster but it hasn’t all been doom and gloom, with glimpses of the squad’s potential sprinkled across the campaign. Ulster led at half-time at home to Bordeaux in December before being blown away in the second half, and a young team dug in to win at Connacht in January. Players like James McNabney and Cormac Izuchukwu have impressed but much of Murphy’s squad remain a work in progress, and Sunday again highlighted how much the province need to do if they are to close the gap to the URC’s top sides.
Ulster might have fancied a crack at the Challenge Cup but instead they’ve squeezed into the Champions Cup round of 16 and face the unenviable task of an away day in Bordeaux. It’s a daunting challenge for a young Ulster team but won’t define their season. Ulster need to tighten up their game and find some consistency if they are to make the push to avoid missing out on the URC knock-outs.
Remaining URC regular season fixtures: Benetton (away), Scarlets (home), Dragons (away), Stormers (home), Leinster (away), Sharks (home), Munster (away), Edinburgh (home).
Champions Cup round of 16: Bordeaux-Begles (away).
That’s a huge blow to United’s europa league hopes
Yeah focus on the negative about Jose instead of the match result and performance typical.
@Paul: yeah, not one positive adjective about United’s performance in the whole article.
Bizarre that Mourinho was booed by the Chelsea fans. I missed portions of the match so might be missing something…
@James Clancy: it’s Chelsea fans, what do you expect?!!
@James Clancy: United fans will boo him yet. It’s his scorched earth departures that cause it really.
@Brian Curtin: small club Chelsea
Chelsea are a skummy club for the way they taunted Mourinho like that.would not expect anything more from the Chelsea blues Brothers supporters club.
They should have let him go. I doubt he’d be able to punch his way out of a paper bag and could do with a good slap.
He was actually heading to the exit before the final whistle only the stewards made him stay till the end
that was a real ‘hold me back…please hold me back’ he’d have had his arse handed to him if he’d got near that guy
Good result for city
Great crack!