RDP12 Semi-Final

[tones]

Reddan to come on with our stronger bench please in the final. He ups the tempo which would be a huge plus with our bench. Its one of the few areas which I am confident we are better than Ulster in.

[Sauvignon Blank]

Reddan to come on with our stronger bench please in the final. He ups the tempo which would be a huge plus with our bench. Its one of the few areas which I am confident we are better than Ulster in.

Strange assertion.

Ulster have made the final, yet they rarely cause us problems in matches on a consistent basis but all of a sudden there are just 'a few' areas where we are better than them?

I'd say 'most if not all' areas we are better than Ulster in. Does this mean we'll spank them? of course not but we are still better than than them in most facets i.e Backplay,handling,speed,continuity,breakdown, defence,off-loading,tries,depth etc.

[TrapperChamonix]

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know much about Glasgows new grou d next season? Is it close to the city and is it a proper rugby stadium, shared soccer stadium, or new build purposely for Glasgow rug y? Any ideas?

If only Sky Sports had been broadcasting an International rugby event from the stadium all day yesterday and today... :p

Seriously, was my first trip to the ground yesterday. It's quite far out from the city centre (about 4 miles I think), but is a 10 min walk from a train station which serves both major stations in the centre.

As already said, it was redeveloped as part of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (although the athletics will actually take place at Hampden - but the adjoining Scotstoun Leisure Centre will be home to a few events, and they haven't ruled out the 7's taking place there). Running track means both stands are quite far from the pitch - but the stands are steep, meaning the views are actually pretty good, and the stand looks impressive from pitch level (far bigger than the 3,000 the Main Stand actually holds!). We are also going to have standing areas behind the posts, so hopefully having people on all 4 sides will help improve the atmosphere. Capacity is only about 5,000 though, although that can be boosted with temporary stands several times a season.

Was 13,000+ there the last 2 days, and the ground is absolutely fantastic with that set up. Would love to see that for HC games in a few years. (actually, todays set-up wasn't that dissimilar to the RDS)

It looked really good on the TV. In the normal setup of the ground, are the 2 ends fully open?

[lineens weegie army]

It looked really good on the TV. In the normal setup of the ground, are the 2 ends fully open?

Not entirely sure as yet (hope to find out for certain at one of the open days in the coming weeks), but I believe for the majority of league games, yes.

They are intending to put up temporary stands to close off either end, bringing capacity up to about 8,000-ish; which they have agreements they can do 3 times (probably enough to cover the 3 HC games and the Edinburgh game) next season. Can't do it any more though, since it requires building over the track - and the athletics folks are already furious about loosing their field, never mind the track!

Depending on the schedules, there is also I suppose a slim chance we will get to play a game there in 7's mode (or at least, part of that set-up) - if we had managed to get a home semi-final this year, there was talk the de rig from the 7's could be delayed allowing us to play there.

[Leinster Zulu]

Regardless of the need to rest players, I think certain players deserve to start this match - the stalwarts of our CL season if you like. I'm talking about VDM, Toner, McL, Ruddock, Ryan (when fit), Auva'a, Madigan, EOM, and Kearney Jr.

I'd personally start this side:

VDM
Cronin
Ross
Thorn
Toner
McL
Ryan
Auva'a
Boss
Madigan
Kearney Jr
D'Arcy
EOM
McFadden
Nacewa

Reward the players that have been so important to us ripping up the league this season. Stack the bench of course with the first teamers. Give Cronin a start in a biggish match like this, Thorn has been brought in for these matches so let him loose for fifty minutes, and have a look at the two possible replacements for Fitz with starting both on the wing.

[Blue Man]

Leinster should have been given the Friday night slot so as to allow for an extra days recovery before the ERC final.

I reckon Joe will pick his strongest side for the semi. Firstly because he wants to win the match and secondly so that the guys have sufficient game time under their belts going into the final.

It would be great to hav the match in the bag with half an hour to go and empty the bench but Glasgow are a decent side and should provide a tough test, particularly in the pack, so I doubt we'll be afforded that luxury.
We'll certainly be battle hardened for the 19th

[AwayTheWell]

Leinster should have been given the Friday night slot so as to allow for an extra days recovery before the ERC final.

Swansea City are hosting Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium on the Sunday afternoon. Be pretty sure that played a major part in Ospreys being designated the Friday night game once the host semi-finalists were known.

[Xanthippe]

Did anyone else who bought their Semi Final ticket at the discounted price get the email from the ticket office today?

My ticket arrived last week, but the following in bold seemed a bit odd:

...Please note that your season ticket does not apply for this match and as you have not yet purchased a ticket we advise you to do so quickly should you wish to attend as demand is set to be high. ...

I got the same mail so just to be certain I sent a reply to the ticket office - I'll let you know if they get back to me.

Thanks, Xanthippe!

I got a reply from the ticket office which said that I shouldn't have received the mail in the first place becaue I had bought tickets and apologising for causing concern. Phew!

[Darce]

U can bet your bottom Dollar Joe will pick his strongest team for the SF

[Amz]

I got a reply from the ticket office which said that I shouldn't have received the mail in the first place becaue I had bought tickets and apologising for causing concern. Phew!

Cool, thanks!

[tones]

Reddan to come on with our stronger bench please in the final. He ups the tempo which would be a huge plus with our bench. Its one of the few areas which I am confident we are better than Ulster in.

Strange assertion.

Ulster have made the final, yet they rarely cause us problems in matches on a consistent basis but all of a sudden there are just 'a few' areas where we are better than them?

I'd say 'most if not all' areas we are better than Ulster in. Does this mean we'll spank them? of course not but we are still better than than them in most facets i.e Backplay,handling,speed,continuity,breakdown, defence,off-loading,tries,depth etc.

Its not really. When we have played them our depth (with both sides making changes) has counted. They are reliant on Ferris and Afoa up front. But I would feel they have the better lineout, will fancy themselves in the scrum and with Pienaar they have the better half-back (not complaining about ours but he is class). They are pretty key areas...

[Sauvignon Blank]

Reddan to come on with our stronger bench please in the final. He ups the tempo which would be a huge plus with our bench. Its one of the few areas which I am confident we are better than Ulster in.

Strange assertion.

Ulster have made the final, yet they rarely cause us problems in matches on a consistent basis but all of a sudden there are just 'a few' areas where we are better than them?

I'd say 'most if not all' areas we are better than Ulster in. Does this mean we'll spank them? of course not but we are still better than than them in most facets i.e Backplay,handling,speed,continuity,breakdown, defence,off-loading,tries,depth etc.

Its not really. When we have played them our depth (with both sides making changes) has counted. They are reliant on Ferris and Afoa up front. But I would feel they have the better lineout, will fancy themselves in the scrum and with Pienaar they have the better half-back (not complaining about ours but he is class). They are pretty key areas...

Lineout maybe, fancying oneself in a scrum doesn't actually make them better and i'd have johnny over pienaar every time.

[tones]

True doesn't translate but our scrum hasn't been too solid of late. Imo they will have the upper hand on this and on lineouts so thats set-pieces bar restarts.
Also, mentioning Pienaar, by half-back I meant Scrum-half.

[Oldschool]

This match is being televised on TG4.
The good news - It's also being televised on SC4.
If you set the language option (in Sky setup) to French (It used to be German, but for some reason it has changed) you should/might get the English commentary and be able to record it in the normal way. For most FTA boxes there is a language option and again if you figure out the right one to select, you should be sorted.

[johng]

This match is being televised on TG4.
The good news - It's also being televised on SC4.
If you set the language option (in Sky setup) to French (It used to be German, but for some reason it has changed) you should/might get the English commentary and be able to record it in the normal way. For most FTA boxes there is a language option and again if you figure out the right one to select, you should be sorted.

This stopped working for me a few months ago. Now if I set the box to German I get total silence on my recording. If I put it back to English it records the Welsh commentary. Bizarre Eh?

It is still a great tip OS, and id DID work fine for most of the season.

[Oldschool]

This match is being televised on TG4.
The good news - It's also being televised on SC4.
If you set the language option (in Sky setup) to French (It used to be German, but for some reason it has changed) you should/might get the English commentary and be able to record it in the normal way. For most FTA boxes there is a language option and again if you figure out the right one to select, you should be sorted.

This stopped working for me a few months ago. Now if I set the box to German I get total silence on my recording. If I put it back to English it records the Welsh commentary. Bizarre Eh?

It is still a great tip OS, and id DID work fine for most of the season.

Same thing happened to me - But if you change the language to French, it works again.

[johng]

This match is being televised on TG4.
The good news - It's also being televised on SC4.
If you set the language option (in Sky setup) to French (It used to be German, but for some reason it has changed) you should/might get the English commentary and be able to record it in the normal way. For most FTA boxes there is a language option and again if you figure out the right one to select, you should be sorted.

This stopped working for me a few months ago. Now if I set the box to German I get total silence on my recording. If I put it back to English it records the Welsh commentary. Bizarre Eh?

It is still a great tip OS, and id DID work fine for most of the season.

Same thing happened to me - But if you change the language to French, it works again.

Ahh. If only I had read your post more carefully the first time.
Thanks

[Oldschool]

[quote="johng" "Oldschool"]This match is being televised on TG4.
The good news - It's also being televised on SC4.
If you set the language option (in Sky setup) to French (It used to be German, but for some reason it has changed) you should/might get the English commentary and be able to record it in the normal way. For most FTA boxes there is a language option and again if you figure out the right one to select, you should be sorted.

This stopped working for me a few months ago. Now if I set the box to German I get total silence on my recording. If I put it back to English it records the Welsh commentary. Bizarre Eh?

It is still a great tip OS, and id DID work fine for most of the season.
Same thing happened to me - But if you change the language to French, it works again.

Ahh. If only I had read your post more carefully the first time.
Thanks[/quote]
TBH, I didn't exactly crack the French thing for a while.
I'd been out of the country when it was changed and one of the SC4 recordings I'd set up was "speechless".
So I said f^ck it and changed the setting back to English to no real affect, ie Gweilch was audible again.
Then one day, inspiration (a second coming so to speak) struck. Actually the match I wanted to watch was on TG4 and SC4 at the same time.
So suitably inspired I tried a couple of other languages and discovered that the Welsh were now quite fluent in French.

[Mickado]

Are we expecting the team today or tomorrow?

[Donny B.]

Are we expecting the team today or tomorrow?

Always the day before so tomorrow.