Gopperth starts at 10 with madigan on bench. I think that ospreys will win this one. ( not because Gopperth starts!)

+1 Hope he comes through with flying colours. Hope this doesn't affect his career to badly either. I remember when Marcus Horan went out with something similar he was never the same player imo. Hopefully that was just age rather than the operation.

TheScore.ie Rugby ‏@rugby_ie 31m
Matt O'Connor says Richardt Strauss has discovered a hole in his heart and will be out of the game for some time. #RaboPRO12

speedy recovery, fingers crossed we'll see him back soon

Watched the second half of the Leinster game on Friday and clinical is the word you'd have to use to describe their performance. Madigan might have a fight on his hands for the 10 jersey too because Gopperth seemed handy - particularly for one of the tries towards the end where he threw a sublime skip pass.

Regarding the scrum changes, I can see them making quite a big impact, but I'd be fairly positive about them at this stage. I saw about two minutes of the argentina all blacks game at the weekend which included a scrum, and the scrum half put the pull right down the middle for both packs to figure out for themselves. Refreshing!

rossie wrote: Rumour has it that lote tuqiri is about to sign for Leinster.

Signed 3 month contract today.

Also from this week it seems ref can make their own decision on tries (not just foul play) from big screen without going to tmo.
www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyChampionshi...t-Test-refs-20130907

its a bit like when the ref used to see things on the big screen, he wasnt aloud do it but his mind would be made up. if the TMO saw it wasnt grounded, he would say it was a forward pass.it common sense, as Salmson says, its now changed for the better.

anyone who didnt see it

salmson wrote: New protocol is that the TMO can feed back to the ref, even if what he spots is outside of the specific question asked; the Scrum V commentators were very critical of the TMO in this instance.

Thanks Salmson. TMO (Derek Bevan) looked like he had just woken up from a nap anytime he was called into action.

New protocol is that the TMO can feed back to the ref, even if what he spots is outside of the specific question asked; the Scrum V commentators were very critical of the TMO in this instance.

I would have worried that there would be too much in the way of stoppages, but Lacey made good use of the new rule allowing him to "just throw that kick and catch up on the big screen would you?"

Takes less time that a chat with the touch judge, calling the captain over and sternly telling him you didn't get a number but you'll be watching out for a repeat and you won't tolerate it.

swift4prez wrote: anyone watching leinster?

Crazy!!! scarlets captain breaks the defence and dives before the line and knocks on! ref went to TMO looked if pass was ok, try given. CRAZY

worst you'll see, even worse they went to the TMO

the problem was the question the ref asked. He asked TMO to look at final pass which was fine. Is the TMO allowed to comment on the subsequent fumble without being asked? I don't think so - please correct me if I'm wrong.
Great Leinster performance. Shows great depth in squad. No change in tactics between Schmidt and O'Connor. Jury still out but new scrum laws worked well in this game. I wonder if the increased number of crooked feed calls is due to the ref now looking at the ball rather than concentrating on scrum collapsing. Also great to see TMO being used for foul play and ref looking at replays on big screen like in superXV.

19- 42 to leinster . 5 tries in spite of suffering 3 yellows.

Glasgow 22- 15 winners over Cardiff. Live on BBC alba. All 3 games live tonight.

And BBC Wales. Ulster on red button. Highlights on rte2 at 12.35

www.rte.ie/player/ie/live/3/

live there on rte.ie ^^

swift4prez wrote: anyone watching leinster?

Crazy!!! scarlets captain breaks the defence and dives before the line and knocks on! ref went to TMO looked if pass was ok, try given. CRAZY

worst you'll see, even worse they went to the TMO

which channel is it on ?

anyone watching leinster?

Crazy!!! scarlets captain breaks the defence and dives before the line and knocks on! ref went to TMO looked if pass was ok, try given. CRAZY

worst you'll see, even worse they went to the TMO

Rumour has it that lote tuqiri is about to sign for Leinster.