URC SATURDAY NIGHT TAKEAWAYS

[@ebw9802]

Stormers made a visit to a school in north inner city Dublin this week, fair play to them. There a class act

[@ciaranbrk]

I seen that it was lovely of them to take time to visit the kids.

[@scoobydee3954]

Aren't they great. Do they want medals

[@jamesgrey1227]

*They're

[@scoobydee3954]

​@jamesgrey1227 oh forgive me please. Hope you're ok

[@dudagemcdooderson2974]

This is brilliant, our provinces should learn from that!

[@101MIGHTYJOE]

Can't get over how good slimani is playing. For a man who planned on retiring its amazing to see him being so destructive in the scrums and have such soft hands in open play. I'm delighted he got called back into the french squad, but I can't understand how he hasn't been capped since 2019

[@subbie5498]

got penalties for going backwards twice

[@subbie5498]

got penalties for going backwards twice

[@sc1837]

Why were leinster allowed sign him? Munster being trying to sign a front row for years have they not... At least I hope they have

[@brendanmolloy572]

@@sc1837they brought in oli jäger last season

[@andydevereux2195]

Because all our props end up playing for Ireland ​@sc1837

[@timslade5808]

Slimani for Leinster might be the most important import Leinster have had in years, the man is a monster in the scrum something Leinster have badly needed the last few seasons

[@ciaranbrk]

And he allows us to rest furlong more till we have someone who can replace him someday.

[@OranBurns-r7c]

Clarkson is pretty good too

[@ciaranbrk]

@OranBurns-r7c he is but he's a year away from peak when furlong was coming through we had marty Moore who was a great scrumager so Ireland and Leinster were very good but he stupidly signed for wasps rather than staying at Leinster and lost his tighthead spot because he didn't fight for it.

[@janotheron9338]

Hi Tim! Love your Content man Big love from South Africa!

[@fragmentedtheory]

Leinster fan here, can't see anyone else than Hanekom starting for the Boks moving forwards - bloke is a weapon

[@k0bra3eak40]

Hanekom is the on form player in SA at the moment

[@coatknight]

@@fragmentedtheory Hanekom has great potential but Wiese was good last year for the Springboks and seemed to have made a step up as well. Louw is also a good option for 7 and 8. Perhaps a case of horses for courses or rotating players. Do you think Ireland will make it 3 or do you think France is on a mission now that Dupont is done with his sidwshow?

[@fragmentedtheory]

@@coatknight France only have themselves to blame if they throw it away this year. That said, their cohesion at club level isn't at Ireland's level - I don't see the types of scores we see at the French club level carrying over to the national team. Imo, Ireland will pinch it on points.

[@coatknight]

@@fragmentedtheory true but the majority of the French team plays for Toulouse. Also think France is over its World Cup blues. French depth is scary. Multiple International quality players can almost slot in at any position. As you say though, cohesion may not be quite like that of Ireland. England seems more held back by higher ups. Welsh is a tragedy. Scotland may surprise but I'm not sure they can sustain a campaign. Glasgow's growth and success is definitely having a good effect.

[@fragmentedtheory]

@@coatknight no doubt. Gonna be a belter of a game

[@WiggieOcallaghan]

Good to see Dan sheehan on the field ...I wonder did sheehan video his recovery from his operation????? That would be worth watching!!!!!!

[@NickyDunne-l7z]

At least 4 players could have been named MOTM. But in fairness Dan was unreal after almost 7mths off with injury and he had the captains role...awesome.

[@MrDude-ht3rv]

I had a conversation & took a picture with Henco Van Wyk yesterday @ the emirates airline stadium. What a cool guy very humble & he definitely deserves to be in the Boks set up

[@johnkinsella4802]

Don't want to hear any cribbing about lienster's budget, their playing group is majority home grown, they are just reaping the benefit of a fantastic system with players born and bred in the provice, in a provice/country where rugby is 4th in participation, how many of tolouses super star team are from the locality?....just so we're clear....i really admire tolouse as a club but i don't see criticism of their budget much!

[@kristian762]

Maybe you're looking in the wrong places... in SA we definately bitch about the French budgets quite a bit more than the Irish budgets. Even so, take RG Snyman, Jordie Barret and James Louwe out of that game, you reckon you get the same result? Although to be fair, Dobbo taking a team over without a back up fly half probably loses that game for us every time. And leaving Fouche on after that head knock, not even a HIA, was a terrible decision.

[@jameswyatt4443]

Dublin is by far the most populated city, so don’t come with this home grown nonsense. It’s not a fair comparison.

[@joshplatojohn12345hsbs]

@@jameswyatt4443 "Home grown nonsense". Whether it's because of population or not, it is a fact that the vast majority of Leinster players are homegrown. Of the 57 players they used last season, 50 were products of the Leinster system. That's not nonsense.

[@johnkinsella4802]

@kristian762 you replace RG with Ryan or McCarthy, you replace Barrett with Henshaw or Osbourne. You replace Lowe with Larmour or either of the O'Brian and Slamani with Furlong, 100% home grown team, and because they are home grown they can free up the budget to add just a little top class talent you mentioned, though lowe is different sort of case, the Irish provinces are only permitted 3 non Irish qualified players on their books, what other teams have that restriction?

[@johnkinsella4802]

@jameswyatt4443 dublin population 1.2 million tolouse 1.1 million, rugby is 4th in Dublin, 1st in tolouse, van de fleir , Furlong, Henshaw, all born in lienster not dublin, Doris was even born and reared in Connaught, historically some of lienster's greats are not from Dublin, rob Kearney, Sean O'Brien, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan, all lienster not Dublin, even Tadgh Bierne is from Kildare..... which is in Lienster, so yes I reckon lienster are the most home grown team in the competition, that does not make their circumstances unfair to other teams

[@neilshrekpurves4521]

It's the Jukskei river between Joburg and Prtoria Tim

[@Stephen-jx1hz]

I think Neil should be our class captain 👍

[@rorysteyn9805]

Otherwise known as “The Boerewors Curtain”. 😂

[@jerrybuirski2344]

Boerewors curtain is between Cape Town and Stellenbosch/Paarl. Just ask anyone who has played rugby for SACS/Bishops/Rondebosch, etc.

[@DirkCoetzee1982]

Leinster is just a cut above the rest. They will win the URC this year, although the 6 nations might dilute there team a bit. They also have an amazing draw in the Champions Cup, with all the big French sides on the opposite side of the draw so they should make the Champions Cup final as well. This is the year for Leinster to get 2 from 2.

[@Eric-1924]

Leinster A v Leinster B will be tough match.

[@matthewhodgson7388]

V Leinster C

[@Driver2616]

Ah now come on. There’s no need to be slagging Ulster like that…..

[@physicsno1]

Young Paddy McCarthy (red hair) was very strong in the scrum. He’s the younger brother of Joe McCarthy (2nd row).

[@philipPatterson-w1t]

Dan the man 🇮🇪

[@tiaancalitz3962]

Do you mean Sonny Bill Snyman , with those offloads!?

[@turloughconway8178]

That young Paddy McCarthy that came on in the front row and won a couple of penalties: Joe's younger more skillful brother. Watch that space. Also note, apart from Jamie and Andrew there are two more underage Osborne siblings coming through in Naas, co Kldare.

[@OranBurns-r7c]

From having a real problem at loose head to now having Mc Carthy and Boyle is fantastic

[@patrickcoote8441]

Stormers were not going to get a better opportunity to beat Leinster at home. Boyle, Sheehan and Lowe looked great and ready for Ireland duty. Great to see Will Conners back, hopefully he gets a good run of games. Coombs and Ahern looked good for Munster but will need injuries to get called up.

[@daeganmartin2527]

Defensively Am made a huge difference for the Sharks

[@at7512]

It's the Jukskei River..😄

[@randomlyfactual1943]

A bit sad that the Stormers lost Libbok in the first half. I feel that we were asking some good questions of their defense and while Leinster definitely weren't on the ropes, you felt that Stormers were very much in the game against the fancied Irish outift. Libbok leaving before the first half was out definitely dented the Stormers and while we probably wouldn't have won the game, we probably would have kept the score a little closer. But hey, a 6-2 split does bring some drawbacks and we saw crystal clear evidence thereof

[@burncarlow]

I don't know why teams persist with it. It only seems to work for the boks(great for them). Ireland tried it and it backfired. It's utter madness and leading to injuries. You can be sure injured players are staying on and making small niggles worse.

[@randomlyfactual1943]

@burncarlow I mean if you have the forward stocks, by all means. But the fact that you can only have two backs on the bench, means that you're going to need a really sweet Jack of all trades type player in the reserve stocks that can cover 3-5 positions in the backline. The Stormers didn't and they paid the price. To be fair here, who else does the Stormers have that could have come on for Libbok? I don't know what Rassie does to make it work. I think he puts a red hot poker up everyone's arse before the match, or something.

[@burncarlow]

@@randomlyfactual1943 I don't know what rassie does but it bloody works. Nothing but respect for him.

[@joshplatojohn12345hsbs]

@@burncarlow To be fair, Leinster also had a 6-2 split on the bench and it clearly worked for them.

[@burncarlow]

@@joshplatojohn12345hsbs it worked this time fair enough. Still don't like it. Would have preferred frawley was kept back for that game. He hasn't had enough game time.

[@bernieob9577]

Well done, leinster .

[@coatknight]

@@bernieob9577 Leinster looked like a well oiled machine. Jordie and RG having a good impact.

[@davidwalker2402]

Dan Sheehan was amazing

[@Vlerkies]

Although not geographically accurate, the Jukskei river is often referred to as the dividing line between the Lions and the Bulls.

[@tiaanbezuidenhout8131]

Wonder how it started, it's not even CLOSE. Maybe back in the day it was less developed and there was a bit more land between the two.

[@Vlerkies]

@@tiaanbezuidenhout8131 The Hennops is another candidate, depending where you are travelling from between JHB and PTA you would cross both. We always referred to north of the Jukskei as Bulls country, perhaps some people refer to south of the hennops, dunno. Or maybe neither of these and Tim is thinking of something else hehe.

[@michaeldunne169]

Would love to see your take on the Zebre win over Ulster

[@jamespadley3062]

Great summary thanks I only watched a few highlights, can you do the same for the Prem this weekend please the Slater Cup was special today and deserved to be talked about

[@RichardSlattery-x3u]

First off, love the Channel. Keep up the great work. Loved the content from SA. Anyway Munster fan wondering what you think Coombes has to do to get back in the Ireland squad?

[@FR-je9bw]

Become a better player than Doris, Conan etc. Not complicated is it?

[@GKDAttitude]

A rough game for the health of both Leinster and the Stormers. Leinster finished with 10 forwards and just 5 backs on the pitch! I think it was Scott Penny at inside centre and Max Deegan on the wing

[@Lukesummers94]

I know it wasn't the best Benetton team that could have been put out but Mark Jones has had a great start as Ospreys coach. Agree on Morgan-Williams, he really should be in the Wales Squad. Also agree in the attendance but, I am very much looking forward to the move to St Helens later this year where we should get more of an atmosphere.

[@Stan_Thirteen]

Hi Tim, I love the scrum as well but I think there's a balance to be had with penalties vs play on. The defending team can get an advantage by messing up the attacking ball without the ref blowing for a pen everytime the scrum is going backwards or rotating a bit. Most of the time both packs are 'cheating' in one way or another so pens should be reserved for the most obvious infringements IMO and rest should be LTBP!

[@tshepokgatle5620]

Leinster look bloody bloody brilliant! I don't know about y'all but you can sense that this this team wanna make thing right with them not winning any trophies lately. Surely be it Champions Cup, URC or both they HAVE to break this trophy drought

[@StiofanGaillimh]

Yeah I reckon they will bag at least one this year possibly the 2

[@kristian762]

Give us Nienaber back please ! 😂

[@burncarlow]

​@StiofanGaillimh I'd love to see 2 but I think it'll come down to player management and tactics in the last few weeks. Toulouse and bordeaux are incredible too. Glad their on the same side of the champions cup.

[@FR-je9bw]

​@kristian762 You can have him back, he is boring the arse off us. Watching Leinster used to be a delight!

[@StevenSilverstone-z5b]

Is it time for a cleanout of the Stormers management team starting with John Dobson..Its the same old rinse and repeat mistakes week in week out...

[@geoffhogan4831]

And Ditto for the Sharks and the Bulls. Not being able to win away from home means we will never see a Champions league trophy in South Africa

[@tiaanbezuidenhout8131]

Injuries mate

[@jameswyatt4443]

They’ve had so many injuries, you can’t blame Dobson for that.

[@jameswyatt4443]

@@geoffhogan4831Stop it. The Sharks have not played close to their full team away from home yet.

[@coatknight]

The continuous rugby of the last 2 to 3 seasons is catching up with the Saffas. They went from having a bigger rest period during Super Rugby compared to the Northern sides to just about no break due to the Rugby Championship and Currie Cup being played when the North gets a bit of a break. And SA's abrasive style will break the bodies down. A global calendar is a must, not just for the Saffas but for the good of rugby and all players. No rugby from Mid December to mid or end of February. Too cold in the North and too hot in the South.

[@seanofarrell8896]

This has been talked about for a while, but nothing happened

[@boojeout]

There's no place like being a Leinster fan going to thomond park over Christmas. Id hate to lose that.

[@jean-pascalesparceil9008]

Are there places in SA where it is less hot and humid than Durban and Capetown, in altitude, perhaps? In Europe, matches could be hosted in Spain or Portugal in football stadiums, or even in Southern Italy, South-East France, where cold is not a problem.

[@coatknight]

@@jean-pascalesparceil9008 the point is to have a unified break and that time of year makes most sense for both hemispheres. Although, July and August could be quite toasty in the Southern part of Europe. America and Japan are anomalies but the US is no where near being a world power and the Japanese already take good care of the players.

[@coatknight]

@@boojeout there can obviously be some exceptions but in general that period would make most sense. That's why I stated mid December through end of February. A 2 month break but some flexibility on the ends of it. So some can be off January and February and some can be a little earlier. EOY tests and mid season tests need to be combined. 4 to 5 tests rather than 5 to 7 combined currently. 6 Nations and Rugby Championship can be aligned. Domestic leagues before European Cups. Top 14 is the biggest obstacle to make a global calendar.

[@sakabula2357]

Tim..temperature went up to 43° in parts of the Western Cape..

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

cardiff stuck with them until the bench. Maybe Wales can surprise everyone net week.

[@cathalsheehan9596]

Leinster showing why Ireland are the favourites to win the 6N!

[@jacostrauss4953]

It’s the Juskei river Tim.

[@hankscorpion9939]

About the international season. I actually like the way the season is, for the most part URC, November tests, Champions cup, Christmas derbies, more Champions cup, 6N, then URC and Champions cup knockouts, then summer tour. Its not perfect, and I prefer the way the chamoions cup used to be. But it mixes it up well during the year. One of the things that I don't like is the URC two match tours to South Affica, which if they come at the wrong time can derail your season.

[@burncarlow]

It is a bit crazy for the boks players tho. There doesn't seem to be any rest for them and it looks to be having an effect in the urc. I'm an irish fan but want a strong urc.

[@ruairiosullivan3763]

Unbeaten so far means nothing, I’m a diehard Leinster supporter but we need to win finals again . . . Come On Leinster

[@HennieBarnard]

Elrighs' injury looked horrific, and it was as a result of a hip drop tackle. WR is so fixated on head contact that they don't look at other forms of really dangerous play.

[@jameswyatt4443]

Leinster loss in the semi final loading…

[@robertfridjhon550]

The river between Joburg and Pretoria bisvthecJukskei (pronounced," yuk- skay") also known as The Boerewors Curtain 😂

[@kyle_22a11]

It's the Jukskei River. This game is the Jukskei derby

[@renierbriel6526]

Dobbo is a nice guy, but nice guys, come second.

[@Jim_Cpe]

Something I've noticed Tim. And I completely accept that my tin foil hat might be squarely fixed on my head right now but, have you noticed that all of SA's home derby games are scheduled for when northern hemisphere teams are weakened by their international players being in camp for, or in the 6 nations? Because of our (SA's) weird playing window we are forced to rest a lot of Boks during first half of the season. I was thinking that we could make ground up when the NH teams have the 6 nations but not so much.

[@TzaboChakuze-vp7os]

You might be interested on the weather stats. Here are the max and min : Bloemfontein 36 : 20 Pretoria 32 : 17 Capetown 26 : 20 Durban 30 : 22

[@TzaboChakuze-vp7os]

It's not that it's warm, it the relentlessness that the problem. Try sleeping with a min of 15

[@hannesbornman1045]

The excuses for and by Dobbo is wearing thin now. The atrocious handling, lineouts and just poor tactics are a direct failure of coaching.

[@dandreehlers9817]

Hope Louw's injury isnt that bad and nortje...i predicted a massive 2025 for those 2 where they hold and maybe inprove on their position in the bok squad(northe as mosterts heir and louw as psdt's heir)

[@jameswyatt4443]

Mostert is still holding that position for Lood to come back.

[@designmanagementconsultanc4143]

The SA teams are playing too much. They have no break for 12 months of every year. I'm afraid it will affect the Boks in 2025

[@sachinbangaru737]

🦈

[@AndrewAW-w2l]

That Stormers reserve scrum half butchering the try around the 75th minute is very concerning - like WTF did not go on in his head…?

[@andrewharris1837]

Also why is Ben O'Keefe reffing Ireland vs England game next week.He had a poor game at Glcs😮

[@philipPatterson-w1t]

Ali mani , should have given MOM . he is fab.

[@peadarr]

Anyone think Bleuler has played himself into the Sharks starting 23 at Munster

[@jameswyatt4443]

He’s a loose head. They have Ox, Mchunu, Nyakane, Dreyer who can all play loosehead. He’s not top 2 out of those players.

[@joelyons886]

So Tim Dan Sheehan back, Furlong back, Ringrose back, Keenan back... still thinking Ireland are not in the 6N and still thinking it's only France in the 6N...

[@cianhalley9266]

Er, when did he ever say that? I've seen Tim do nothing except heap praise on the ireland team and occasionally call out the irfu's flaws, which like any union, they have.

[@joelyons886]

​@@cianhalley9266 he's been saying we are on the slide for the past 12 months YET has failed to acknowledge that we've basically been missing several key and arguably world’s best in position players. He's dumped on Leinster and dismissed them against UBB and ST yet failed to acknowledge that both the French teams have LOST to teams that Leinster have actually beat this year! And after 14 games we remain undefeated in URC and Europe have the best defence in both competitions and yet we are on the decline. There are times he is pandering to the bulk of his fan base of SA fans and that's fine but he needs to balance his rhetoric with some impartial and statistical based data instead of simply dumping on Irish rugby in the main.

[@Snags-sy8is]

​@@joelyons886I have to disagree with you. I'm also a leinster fan.

[@joelyons886]

@@Snags-sy8is no issues there we all have our opinions why do you see it differently?

[@paulie1926]

As a Bok fan who loves the Irish and our growing rivalry, I have to say I disagree. Tim is always fair. The only thing I've seen him say is that in some positions the Irish players getting most of the game time are a bit older, but then he said that about the Boks as well.

[@x-latetv-x6816]

How do benetton beat la rochelle, then get pumped 43-0🤔

[@aonghus3860]

Probably missing most of their first team on 6N duty

[@x-latetv-x6816]

@aonghus3860 ok fair enough but 43-0 seems too much still, also arent osprey welsh called up for 6 nations, tbf i havent checked the team sheet just the scoreline

[@jasonwall5012]

Im guessing all their players are gone to the Italian team camp

[@x-latetv-x6816]

@@jasonwall5012 what about ospreys, surely they are gone to welsh camp?

[@brendanmolloy572]

Yeah some players have gone from ospreys but 25 players are gone from Benetton that’s first and second choice in most areas

[@ryandougall]

I watched first half of dragons vs Munster game didnt realise how awful the dragons were 4 tries in the first twenty minutes embarrassing really thought munster were very professional first half took there foot off the gas second half

[@jameswyatt4443]

The Sharks desperately need a winger. Mapimpi is still great but old. Penxe is shocking.

[@74totall]

Ulster game has always been Sunday was not moved

[@doortjiesteenkamp2057]

Juksskei river netween Bulls and Lions

[@kristian762]

How is it that there was an Irishman reffing an Irish team against a SA team? Isnt that a conflict of interest? And nobody seems to be bothered about it. Can we have SA refs officiating when we play home games as well?

[@burncarlow]

The real refs flight was cancelled. There has been an epic storm here. Don't shoot the messenger.

[@kristian762]

@burncarlow thanks, yes I have since found out about that. Still, it is rather unusual. I thought this was not allowed, but seems that under extenuating circumstances that allowances can be made. It makes me wonder what other situations could lead to the same allowances, and up to what level of the game. Could we see this in the Champions Cup? Test rugby? Does the URC perhaps need to look at their contingency planning? Should the game have been postponed? I don't know. But it bothers me that nobody seems to care.

[@burncarlow]

@kristian762 I don't know about the other comps. I'd expect that maybe refs travel earlier for those games. It would give options in these cases but I'm just guessing. I agree in that i don't think it should be allowed for knock out or international games. The playing conditions were actually ok yesterday as the storm had passed at that stage so would have been a shame to cancel.

[@kristian762]

@@burncarlow fair point 🍻

[@gerryrafferty7500]

Leinster to lose but only against the Sharks , we want badly all silverware this year Toulouse may be a Bridge to far but a final is only one game

[@StiofanGaillimh]

Ah I'd edge Leinster to beat Toulouse this year. They definitely should be taking home the URC at least.

[@burncarlow]

@@gerryrafferty7500 one game at a time. We've been burned too many times.

[@Forest9528]

Stormers lost fair and square but the reffing was still absolutely unacceptable. Every single 50/50 call went to leinster. That was the biggest example of hometown reffing I've ever seen and frankly it's embarrassing to the league Not like it would have mattered though because refs are always so biased toward leinster Now onto the game I actually attended for the team I actually support. Lions and bulls. I went in expecting to lose. I was hoping we'd win but I expected to lose. Great atmosphere and a decent performance by the Lions. Led for so long and only really fell apart the last 20. Would have liked it to be closer but when your budget is so much smaller than the opposition all you can really ask for is it to be somewhat competative which is was

[@kooijpolloi8220]

From a Lion congrats boet, the Lions starters can be proud, but the Bulls bench was just that much better.

[@michaelrautenbach7506]

Jukskei River

[@jacquie212]

Hanekom vs Pollock could make a tasty next decade… that clean out was just the beginning…

[@andrewharris1837]

To be honest this a nothing round of Urc games after Champions cup games.Whst you should be talking about tim is Chiefs win at Sarries and Gloucs win.Support the West country Teams not Leinster😊

[@karlernstbuddenbrock371]

River Jukskei

[@JohanvandenBogaerde-x4i]

Jukskei river

[@greenestmachine71]

The slow poison of a 12 month season is coming to bear. SA teams shouldn’t play in the European Cup - let Leinster and ** insert French club here** fight it out for a cup that no Saffa really cares about. Lions leave Ellis Park. It’s in a bad part of town and only diehards wanna go there. Rather build a stadium in Midrand alongside the Gautrain. The get rid of Loftus and have both Lions and Bulls use the stadium. Lastly merge Bulls and Lions which will allow for the FS Cheetahs into the URC.

[@sharronwood4486]

Lots of kids out for Leinster who did really well but hey lets all focus on SA teams, as usual 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

[@ConorOLeary-rl4bs]

Agreed, he likes the Saffas kissing his arse though, so understandable 😂

[@huwjohn5540]

Tim, no issue with the detail but can’t understand why the main focus on 🇮🇪 and 🇿🇦 when surely majority of your followers are from U.K. Would appreciate more around your views ( good or bad ) on the game in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿👍

[@davidwalker2402]

Should we excuse them SA teams care nothing about European rugby ..

[@terencehill8145]

SA teams ,my teams need a huge kick up the backside ...embarrassing at the moment .

[@michelnourry4305]

If the Prem and the URC want to expand fan interest and sponsorship and generate some « real » money they need to copy the Top 14’s way of promoting/programming. Last night (Saturday) a prime match shown on Canal+ and Hertzian TV (Canal owned C8) at 21:00 - Bordeaux v Lyon… no competition from Football or any major sport and sold as a « show » - half time singers , real TV analysts (Chabal - Lievremont etc) Thus a packed Chaban Delmas and 3 million in front of the TV !