The PRO14 Refs Don't Have To Favour The Irish Teams, But, It Makes Their Lives Easier If They Do

ONCE MORE dear reader I find myself fulminating against the foibles of those much-maligned men, the referees in the Guinness PRO14. This morning, although I have a vestige of sympathy for the plight in which he found himself yesterday evening, the man in the gunsights is Welshman Ian Davies.

Ian Davies

Young Mr Davies is not, I hasten to point-out, the worst referee on the PRO14 rota; he is, at least, not a foot soldier in what has become the McAlpine's Fusiliers of refereeing, the Dublin Murphyia – but, he is only the third-best referee in Wales, and, last night he looked it. He made some good calls last night, he made some bad calls, but, like so-many of his fellow officials, he, if not actively favouring Leinster, gave them the benefit of the doubt to a far-greater extent than he did Edinburgh. Had he, for instance, on at least a couple of occasions when the wee shite questioned his authority, marched Johnny Sexton and his team back ten metres, he might have changed the result.

Johnny Sexton - the Irish for this is, I believe: Gobshite

Sexton really is developing into a charmer, for me, he is right up there alongside Mike Brown on my list of modern-day players you would like to see go to ground in front of of a 1950s Otago pack – the outfit which developed real rucking. To quote the great Fin Calder, Sexton: “Would be nain the waur o' a guid shoein'”.

So, once again, Edinburgh were getting nothing from the match officials, but, that weakness which has held them back for years, again showed last night. They had sometimes lengthy periods in the ascendancy, during which they put together phases of serious front-foot rugby to get into the Leinster 22, whereupon they would knock-on, fumble or take the wrong option. Edinburgh doesn't suffer from white line fever, they seem to suffer from white line aversion: “Oh shit, we could score here, better fuck this attack up quickly.”

It may be a confidence thing, but, too-often, when an Edinburgh player breaks the gain line, he does so alone, and when, as invariably happens, the defence hunts him down, he has no support available to off-load to, or, if the support is there, he goes to ground with the ball. Getting it right will take time, they are very much a team in transition and a work-in-progress, I just hope Richard Cockerill perseveres and is here for the long run. If he can marry Leicester at their best team-work and ethos with high tempo, off-loading Scottish-style rugby, they will be a very good team indeed.

GLASGOW'S bonus-point win over Benetton last night, has been greeted with somewhat muted applause – which demonstrates the level of expectation around Scotstoun these days. I honestly don't know what some of the Warrior nation expects – four tries, top of the conference, unbeaten, and, last night they won with that formation.

Let's be honest, if everyone was fit and the “best” Glasgow Warriors XV had to be fielded – not many of last night's XV would be in the starting line-up. Twelve months ago, Glasgow would probably still have beaten Treviso (as the Italians were then), with a less than full-strength team, but, I doubt if they would have picked-up the bonus point, and at such a late stage. It is also clear, Glasgow are closer to being a 15-man-handling, New Zealand-type team, than are Edinburgh, but, they are not yet where the ever-demanding Dave Rennie wants them to be.

 Dave Rennie - a week in South Africa will be no holiday for his men

This coming week may well be a hugely-important one for the team and their new coach. For some unknown reason, I didn't receive my weekly epistle from the SRU media team, outlining the coming week's media activity, but, Glasgow are apparently off to South Africa, to acclimatise for their game with the Toyota Cheetahs next Friday. So, a week, at altitude, well away from the local media – it's a gift for any coach, and, I am sure Dave Rennie and his team will take full advantage.

The Cheetahs, at home, are a formidable bunch, so, if Glasgow can return with a win, and even a bonus point, we can be confident of their good start to the season continuing.

BUT, before then, we have round five of the BT Premiership, and some intriguing match-ups. No question about game of the day, it has to be the Greenyards meeting of MELROSE and CURRIE CHIEFTAINS.

This would have been a first v Second affair, until HERIOT'S overtook Currie, by dint of beating WATSONIANS in their Friday night match-up at Myreside, but, that's a technicality. Form and home advantage appears to favour the 'Rose but, the Currie Kids will give them a stiff work-out and any fall-off from their form to date, might prove costly for the pace-setters.

Ross Curle - a yellow card waiting to happen at Millbrae?

There is one big question to be answered at Millbrae, where AYR entertain STIRLING COUNTY. This question is – can Ross Curle stay on the park for all 80-minutes? Of course, if, as the line-ups suggest, the Gossman brothers, Craig and Kerr, will be going head-to-head, there could well be further yellow card activity there. Nothing dirty or malicious, just sibling rivalry in its most-extreme form. Well, there will be fun to be had beside the Doon. I expect a cracking game, with Ayr showing after a slow start, they are beginning to rumble. But, with Millbrae old boys Curle, Kerr Gossman and Pete Jericevich in the County ranks, Calum Forrester and his men are taking nothing for granted.

County's Ross Curle, Kerr Gossman and, Pete Jericevich (right) will be opposing Grant Anderson of Ayr (second right), this afternoon at Millbrae.

Premiership Rugby puts in a rare appearance at Balgray this afternoon, as GLASGOW HAWKS take their fixture with HAWICK to the old Kelvinside Academicals ground. Last season, their visit to Glasgow was a painful one for the Terris, and, having been hammered by Heriot's last time out, they will be keen to avoid a second big beating in a row. Stuart Hogg is speaking at the pre-match lunch, I bet the Hawick contingent are wishing he was on the park for them. But, Hawks beware, a wounded Hawick is a dangerous animal.

Big Peter Wright is never one to count his chickens, but, I would hazard a guess, when he looked at the fixtures, BOROUGHMUIR v MARR, was one game he had marked down as a win. 'Muir are a better team than their bottom of the table position indicates, so, Peter can still have hopes of a win today – but, it is by no means a gimme. This Marr XV impresses more and more with each outing. They defend strongly and any sniff of an opening in attack, they go for. Dougie Steele also brings them a wee bit of inside info and I feel, this will be yet another close-fought Marr game, with little more than a score between the teams at the end.