Magners League: Week Two preview

by Brendan Cole

Munster, Ulster and Connacht will hope to continue their good starts to the season this weekend while Leinster need to right the ship after a poor performance in their opener.

Munster's win was as expected against Italian new boys Aironi - difficult to begin with but ultimately fairly easy and with impressive flashes.

Positives were the ability of the centre pair to cross the gainline, Sam Tuitupou already looks like an effective signing and looks like he should bring a more consistent ability to penetrate, pass wide and retain the ball than Jean De Villiers, for all his occasional slashing breaks, was able to.

Interestingly, Ian Dowling will partner the former All Black in the middle this time, with Johne Murphy switching to the wing. The Kilkenny man has an excellent ability to retain the ball in contact and that ethic of working through phases may be the basis of an old school Munster gameplan.

(Edit: Dowling is set to line up on the wing, with Johne Murphy continuing his partnership with Tuitopou).

The rules changes which make it easier for attackers to retain the ball may yet prove a most significant boost for the southern province; the Dowling experiment may not be a one-off.

Felix Jones - impressive attacking performance

Felix Jones also impressed in attack on his return from serious injury and if anything looked an even more dangerous and unpredictable running threat than he did last season.

This week's trip to Edinburgh is a large step up in level though. The Scottish region finished close enough to a play-off spot last year and have serious ambitions of going one better this time around, and Scottish rugby is on the up - their series win in Argentina was probably the most eye-catching result of the summer.

Mike Blair, Chris Paterson and Phil Godman are the bones of a decent looking backline while the Munster scrum will be tested by Edinburgh's Allan Jacobsen led unit. Jacobsen is directly opposite Munster tighthead Tony Buckley. Jacobsen and Ross Ford were the only Edinburgh starters in the second Test against Argentina; Munster should be well warned on that front.

This looks an altogether trickier affair than last week but if Munster are serious about improving their away form, it's one they certainly have the ability to win. Solidity at first phase is undoubtedly the key to turning the trend towards poor results around.

The Ireland international trio of Tomás O'Leary, Ronan O'Gara and Donncha O'Callaghan could play a significant role.

Leinster showed old tendencies - a lack of direction and killer instinct - and let slip a match they could, and probably should, have won against Glasgow Warriors.

The Blues really ran out of steam around the hour make; not coincidentally, that was around the same time Jamie Heaslip departed. In hindsight, they might have been better off making sure Heaslip was around for the endgame instead of playing him for the first 60 minutes.

That Leinster were without a raft of top players, but in a sense that only makes the missed opportunity more disappointing; points won last week would have been cheap enough based on the playing resources committed.

But Leinster have the ammunition to recover quickly. The selection of Jonathan Sexton and Brian O'Driscoll gives the backline more variety. It will be particularly interesting to see how Luke Fitzgerald fares at full-back behind outside-centre O'Driscoll.

Fitzgerald - opportunity to play off O'Driscoll

Last week's outing was less than convincing but Fitzgerald could yet prove that he is a more dangerous attacker from deep than Rob Kearney. Playing off O'Driscoll gives him an excellent chance of doing that.

Back in front of the RDS crowd and with this XV, Leinster look primed to record their first Magners League win of the season.

And they need to get moving. There are more play-off contenders than ever and Ulster - tipped up by Leinster coach Joe Schmidt - were arguably the most impressive Irish province last week.

The performance of Paul Marshall at scrum-half was particularly enjoyable, confirming the promise shown in cameo outings in recent seasons. The 25-year-old's pass looked superb and his break is searingly quick.

Ruan Pienaar's arrival will complicate things - if Ulster are determined to play him at scrum-half - but it may ultimately have a positive effect, lifting the pressure from Marshall while also forcing him to find new levels in some areas of his game.

The other positives were the performances of Pedrie Wannenburg and Johann Muller. Wannenburg in particular looked a willing and effective ball carrier.

With Stephen Ferris and Rory Best skipping this week's trip to Aironi, Ulster will need their imports to show the same kind of leadership.

Vying with Ulster for the tag of 'best on opening weekend' were Connacht, albeit against weaker opposition.

This week's trip to Llanelli is a significant step up for Eric Elwood's men, and Connacht should find it harder to make headway in contact than they did against the Dragons. Stephen Jones' game-management at out-half should ensure the Connacht is forced to work considerably harder while Regan King at outside-centre is a cut above the quality of back faced at the Sportsground.

But Llanelli are by no means unbeatable and a dream 'two from two' start is not out of the question. That said, the Welsh region must go down as favourites.

Week Two Predictions:

Leinster 32-10 Cardiff
Edinburgh 15-22 Munster
Llanelli 25-8 Connacht
Aironi 10-25 Ulster