I see Welshman Ian Davies is reffing the Leinster Ospreys game tomorrow. I haven't seen any Ospreys fans complaining about a non neutral ref. Their crusade didn't last long.

Round 17 fixtures:

Friday
Scarlets vs Treviso
Edinburgh vs Connacht
Ulster vs Zebre
Saturday
Leinster vs Ospreys
Munster vs Dragons
Sunday
Glasgow vs Cardiff

My predictions for this round: We're looking at bonus point wins for
Scarlets and Ulster
And then wins for Connacht, Ospreys, Munster and Glasgow

Connacht (+4) = 58
Leinster (+1) = 54
Scarlets (+5) = 54
Ulster (+5) = 51
Edinburgh (+1) = 43
Munster (+4) = 46
Glasgow (+4) = 43
(Ospreys +4) = 42
Cardiff (+1) = 34
Dragons (0) = 24
Zebre (0) = 19
Treviso (0) = 16

RogueXV wrote: If Joe is smart he'll give a few of the younger lads plenty of game time against Scotland and Italy. I could see Ultan starting one or both games so he would be unavailable for Leinster. I just hope Marmion, Healy and/or TOH are not named in the game day squads for purely selfish reasons.

I got the impression that he was going to do just that from one of the post match interviews.
Could even be a more than those listed above. (front row players perhaps, given Sat performance by the scrum)
Would be fantastic for the players but seriously impact on the team if the end of season (last 5 games) was impacted by another 3 or 4 getting the call up.

If Joe is smart he'll give a few of the younger lads plenty of game time against Scotland and Italy. I could see Ultan starting one or both games so he would be unavailable for Leinster. I just hope Marmion, Healy and/or TOH are not named in the game day squads for purely selfish reasons.

Fourdogs wrote: Anyone know if the International lads will be back (for both teams) for the Leinster game.
Could be the key interpro of the year.

Only a week after the 6 Nations ends so starting XV highly unlikely to be available, so no Ross/Toner/Heaslip/Sexton/Henshaw at the very least. Whether we have Dillane and White will depend on how much they play over the next 2 games.

wp_rathead wrote: Scarlets went to Edinburgh with a seemingly weaker team that came to Sportsground and nearly won in Murrayfield
I'm hoping Connacht can get something out of our trip there this Friday
Zebre very nearly denied Leinster the TBP aswell which would have been nice

Leinster have to play Ospreys and Glasgow before they play us in the Sportsground.
Both are currently outside Top 6 so should put up good fights and not want to loose to Leinster if they want to get back into the top 6.
Anyone know if the International lads will be back (for both teams) for the Leinster game.
Could be the key interpro of the year.

wp_rathead wrote: Scarlets went to Edinburgh with a seemingly weaker team that came to Sportsground and nearly won in Murrayfield
I'm hoping Connacht can get something out of our trip there this Friday
Zebre very nearly denied Leinster the TBP aswell which would have been nice

not sure they were weaker, today they has Paulinho and James Davies in the team.

Scarlets went to Edinburgh with a seemingly weaker team that came to Sportsground and nearly won in Murrayfield
I'm hoping Connacht can get something out of our trip there this Friday
Zebre very nearly denied Leinster the TBP aswell which would have been nice

Ulster leave Cardiff with nothing when looking in control for most of the game. They looked certs for Top 4 8 days ago but two costly defeats for them in a row. They have a pick me up against Zebre at home next weekend but they have work to do. I knew Cardiff would win at least one of these games and are a banana skin for Munster in that game in hand they have.

Don't know how to feel about Edinburgh's win but probably good for us if our form holds up in the run-in. Scarlets had 3 tries in the first half but failed to add to it so only 1 point instead of 5 for them and just 4 for Edinburgh.

Munster limp home by 3 and Edinburgh beat Scarlets by a single point.

Could have done with a Scarlets wins but very tough for Edinburgh to catch us now, and that win from Munster is not going to settle any nerves :ohmy:

Edit: Blues just hit the front against Ulster and playing well

2nd edit: second Blues try in a handful of minutes, more than a score up with 2 mins on the clock so looks like a deserved win for them

Good win for Edinburgh. A Scarlets win would have taken a lot of the pressure off Connacht next weekend but that result does our title hopes no harm.

Borders no.2 wrote: You'd have to think we're nearly there for European Qualification (Note how I didn't say Top 6 ). We've had so many false dawns in the past that in the back of your mind there is negative thoughts that the whole thing could go belly up. I won't be celebrating it until I see that mathematically we cannot miss out. However, I honestly think this was a real crunch game as far as European qualification was concerned and we delivered the result we needed. Denying Ospreys the 2 bonus points may prove handy (if not for us then maybe for Munster) as I still think they'll finish the season very strongly.

The sooner we get it wrapped up the better and to that end if we can beat Edinburgh next week we effectively take them out of the equation. Edinburgh are a hard working side with a good pack and defence who are difficult to beat but that is a winnable game.

Not too sure what to wish for in Edinburgh v Scarlets tomorrow. Any favours from Zebre, Treviso or Cardiff (who may be able to do something) would be much appreciated but not overly concerned. Just happy we've done our job. After this evening's win I'm upgrading my expectations to Top 4. :woohoo:

we completly agree once again Borders. The result AND the way we've acheived it implie we should have those 4-5 points and maybe much more...

I still think 58 points should get 6th position, as soon as we pass that mark the more relieved I'll be. I am now looking for top 4, not only for the chance of the play-offs, but that we will not be caught with having to move as neither Scottish side gets into top 6.

You'd have to think we're nearly there for European Qualification (Note how I didn't say Top 6 ). We've had so many false dawns in the past that in the back of your mind there is negative thoughts that the whole thing could go belly up. I won't be celebrating it until I see that mathematically we cannot miss out. However, I honestly think this was a real crunch game as far as European qualification was concerned and we delivered the result we needed. Denying Ospreys the 2 bonus points may prove handy (if not for us then maybe for Munster) as I still think they'll finish the season very strongly.

The sooner we get it wrapped up the better and to that end if we can beat Edinburgh next week we effectively take them out of the equation. Edinburgh are a hard working side with a good pack and defence who are difficult to beat but that is a winnable game.

Not too sure what to wish for in Edinburgh v Scarlets tomorrow. Any favours from Zebre, Treviso or Cardiff (who may be able to do something) would be much appreciated but not overly concerned. Just happy we've done our job. After this evening's win I'm upgrading my expectations to Top 4. :woohoo:

the best total points Ospreys can achieve is 58pts and Edinburgh 56pts by my calulations. we'll surely pick up at least another 5 or 6 points so today we just gauranteed ourselves top6 even if we get no points next week

Jimmy Gopperth was on Sky last night, predicted a Leinster Connacht pro12 final :woohoo: