14-3 early in the 2nd half.

Good start for Cardiff at home to Edinburgh. Try for Lloyd Williams. Very scrappy game so far.

Would have taken any win by Ulster. Up to us to take advantage and put some space between 6th and 7th !

Sunday evening all going to plan we will be 6pts clear of Scarlets and potentially 10pts clear after next weekend, thats a healthy cushion going into the last 5 fixtures. I'll take that with open arms

Considering that Ulster only played for 20mins I'm happy with that. As far as I'm concerned we are still ahead of Scarlets and we have a game in hand, there will be plenty more games similar to that where the points could go either way.

Was disappointed as well but considering how the first half went I'm probably looking a gift horse in the mouth. Every point matters at this stage but Connacht will have to depend on themselves alone to get the job done.

Bit of a bummer, Ulster looked like they had it but the closer it came to the finish the more likely something like that was to happen as Ulster had the game won and were pushing for the 4th try and Scarlets had nothing to lose. Good try in fairness to them. We really need the 5 pointer on Sunday.

Ulster give scarlets a losing bonus point that didn't look likely since the second half started. Pity

Shelflife wrote: I think there will be a lot of mini battles going on this year, teams playing for a top four place, teams playing for 6th and 7th and the Italians having their own private battles.

Zebre and Treviso will target certain home games and may virtually forfeit some away games in their efforts to to beat each other, zebre could be a spent docket or a raging tiger by the time we get to them in May.

Leinster may concentrate on the HC and that may distract them from the pro 12.

I think that there will be more upsets as teams focus on their individual needs and goals and they will change every week depending on results.

Interesting times ahead !!

Very true and you can throw the Challenge Cup in there as well. I'm sure Dragons and Cardiff will place their full focus on that to try and rescue their season. Edinburgh and ourselves also involved.

I think there will be a lot of mini battles going on this year, teams playing for a top four place, teams playing for 6th and 7th and the Italians having their own private battles.

Zebre and Treviso will target certain home games and may virtually forfeit some away games in their efforts to to beat each other, zebre could be a spent docket or a raging tiger by the time we get to them in May.

Leinster may concentrate on the HC and that may distract them from the pro 12.

I think that there will be more upsets as teams focus on their individual needs and goals and they will change every week depending on results.

Interesting times ahead !!

RogueXV wrote: As my SuperBru prediction standings can attest I have a problem guessing how things will go 1 week at a time so figuring out a third of the season is well beyond my pay grade level but it sure beats actually doing real work at work. :lol:

Good point - I see zzippy is currently top of the clan prediction league table, closely followed by borders. Maybe we can get them to look into their crystal balls and provide us with the final league standings?!

Borders no.2 wrote: Just reading all that makes my head spin. I reckon if Edinburgh lose this weekend we are in a very strong position to finish above them which would get us 7th at least. It could take a serious points total to beat Scarlets though, 2 or 3 more than any season of late I'd imagine.

Either way don't like looking too far down the track. 5 points on Sunday and 4 points the following Friday are a must in my eyes if we're to give ourselves a strong chance in the last few rounds.

As my SuperBru prediction standings can attest I have a problem guessing how things will go 1 week at a time so figuring out a third of the season is well beyond my pay grade level but it sure beats actually doing real work at work. :lol:

Accidentally Onside wrote: Mark Hammet has left the Blues with immediate effect, with Edinburgh up next and then us and Scarlets later in season this will have a big impact on the race......tough to tell which way though :sick:

It's unlikely to make them any worse, that's for certain.

Mark Hammet has left the Blues with immediate effect, with Edinburgh up next and then us and Scarlets later in season this will have a big impact on the race......tough to tell which way though :sick:

Just reading all that makes my head spin. I reckon if Edinburgh lose this weekend we are in a very strong position to finish above them which would get us 7th at least. It could take a serious points total to beat Scarlets though, 2 or 3 more than any season of late I'd imagine.

Either way don't like looking too far down the track. 5 points on Sunday and 4 points the following Friday are a must in my eyes if we're to give ourselves a strong chance in the last few rounds.

salmson wrote: Very hard to call. You'd expect Scarlets to do better with their remaining fixtures than they did last season, but while their last 4 games are fairly handy, 3 of them are away, and they are yet to win a single away game this season.

Connacht 37 points +14 vs. last season's fixtures
Competition points in remaining fixtures last season 11

Treviso (h) 5
Cardiff (a) 0
Munster (a) 1
Ulster (h) 0
Glasgow (h) 0
Zebre (a) 5
Ospreys (h) 0

This presumably gets them to 48 points which is what I came up with for their low end figuring wins against the two Italian sides and 3 bonus points over the 7 remaining games. Quite manageable and an improvement of 13 points over last season but probably doesn't get them 6th and so would be disappointing.

salmson wrote: Scarlets 35 points -7 vs. last season's fixtures
Competition points in remaining fixtures last season 13

Ulster (a) 0
Leinster (h) 0
Edinburgh (h) 4
Zebre (a) 2
Dragons (a) 1
Cardiff (h) 1
Treviso (a) 5

This gets them to 48 points as well but that seems a little unrealistic for their low end. They probably secure the full 4 points against Zebre and Cardiff this season. If Treviso care to make it a game even though they'll have nothing to play for at that point it might be tough for the Scarlets to get a win there much less a 5 pointer. I see Scarlets' low end closer to 51/52 points which is why Connacht minimally need to pick up a win at home to Ulster, Glasgow or the Ospreys.

salmson wrote: Edinburgh 33 points +9 vs. last season's fixtures
Competition points in remaining fixtures last season 14

Cardiff (a) 0
Treviso (a) 1
Scarlets (a) 1
Munster (h) 0
Zebre (h) 4
Dragons (a) 4
Leinster (h) 4

This would see them on 47 points and is again where I have their low end. I think they only prove a threat for over taking Connacht for 6th if they manage to overturn the Scarlets (it's handy for Connacht that they are playing each other since the loser will find it hard to recover). Hopefully Leinster will still need a win to secure a top 2 finish by the time their game rolls around.