So what can Ireland take from this years competition? Starting in reverse, not a lot from the Scotland game – too many errors, disastrous line out (c’mon Rory – get practicing the darts), our otherwise solid new out half offering a head start to the opposition in three games, a scrum that needs reconstruction and a bout of confidence that was bubbling over in 2009, which seems to have deserted a few key players.

And the good points? Keith Earls will become a legend, Tommy Bowe is one and Stephen Ferris can be the best 6 in the world. Apart from the Scotland game, the back row can be the best in the world, and although Wally is aging, he’s got plenty to offer for another few seasons, giving us a bit of time to find his replacement.

We should get ready to say good bye to the Bull – what a hero over the years. Cian Healy has had some big performances, but was exposed big time against Scotland – but he has time and the experience can only help him. Experience is what Buckley needs, and I don’t think he got quite the game time he needs – but we have a run out against the BaBa’s and four autumn internationals to give him a bit more time on the park.

The Wales and England games gave us a bit more hope – not the majority of possession and missed goal kicks, but both Earls and Bowe on fire – making impressive scores to take the tie in both cases, all be it a bit late against England.

France – can’t comment – we competed for 20 mins – and had a real chance to give them a contest – but folded miserably with a couple of poor decisions – and a viscous binning. France raised their game and the rest was embarrassing (and freezing). I know I wouldn’t have been as cold if we had have crossed their try line a few times.

So looking forward to going Southside again, if I can ever get a ticket. But a crammed Aviva will hopefully bring back some of the Landsdowne Road atmosphere – sure we might even hear Molloy Malone being bawled out from time to time.

RWC? Have we a chance? We have many of the ingredients – we can’t give Southern hemisphere teams a head start with missed goals (that can be fixed). We can regain our world class line out – we can add a bit of beet to the front row and improve our scrummaging. We have a chance. At least as good as 2007.

Rob Kearney must now lay a claim to being the best full-back in the game – he was amazing, leading from the back with pace and flawless collecting under the high ball – of which there were plenty. I didn’t get Ireland’s tactic of box kicking, seemingly everytime O’Leary got the ball – meaning Earls and Bowe were never going to get the amount of ball to able to make an impact – but then on reflection, what would I know- Kidney called this to perfection. It was always going to be physical and winners at the breakdown would secure points – so this tactic worked nicely, sending the Boks back again and again. Funny old game, Ireland dominated the line out, stealing a few – but were pretty much pushed around the pitch in the scrum – especially early on.

Ireland held their nerve, helped by a couple of poor kicks missed by Steyn, but I’d balance this up with a few poor refereeing decisions, including a bad high tackle on Bowe in full flight. So it was down to defending the line to the last – Earls and Kearney with cramp, O’Connell marshalling the troops to close out wave after wave of Springbok’s attack. What a match. What a win.

The IRFU had a go at innvoating with their Match App on iphone. I tried this out for the couple of euro charged. I thought the concept was great, but disappointing that after leaving it for more than an hour to download on Friday, I was left with a “downloading content” message – still going two days later. So well done for effort, but try and make sure it works next time – I had to fork out my fiver for a paper copy in the end.

Thanks to Foodwishes.com for that.

So on to the important matter of the Henieken Cup, and Toulouse offered up some fare of rugby. The thing that pleased me about this was listening to Stuart Barnes and Will Greenwood squirm. 14-0 at half-time, Barnes suggests that Toulouse would prefer to be heading to terminal 5. So I was delighted that within 8 minutes of play, Jauzion, Kelleher, Elissade et al had leveled the score to give us a game. Great stuff altogether, not to take anything away from Moyne’s great try and some great work from Evans and Brown. Unfortunately, it was a Moyne knock-on in his own twenty two, that gave Toulouse a late advantage, but he won Barne’s man of the match – not much of a consolation of losing out on the knock-out stages I would suggest. Toulouse 23 – Quins 19, this finished, with Barnes and go getting very excited that Quins could possibly grab a try with 10 seconds to go. Naaah.

Haven’t watched too many other games as yet – Ulster through away a good lead at Edinburgh – so they’ll need a result away to Stade Francais to have a cat’s chance. So I won’t be throwing the sterling I have left over in my wallet on that happening (although I wonder what odds I’d get?). Meanwhile, Munster given a bit of an early shock against Treviso, who ran in a couple of tries at fortress Thomond. We can’t really judge Munster this early, and I’m looking forward to a much stronger show come December. Leinster too got their win, but no bonus point away to Brive.

The Heineken Cup is already throwing up some great contests early on. I think it just grows and grows as a tournament. Hope to grab some of Bath v Stade Francais tomorrow.

On to soccer and shocked at Chelsea’s defeat at Villa – again I haven’t watched any of this yet. Liverpool losing to Sunderland is probably big news – three defeats for the pool, who now languish in eighth position. Something about a beach ball on the pitch? Bazaar. Man U top of the league – boring or what?

A week was a long time for Leinster – from the highs of demolishing Munster in the Magner’s League, to losing their first outing as European Champions. There were a few strange refereeing decisions, but I think Leinster will be kicking themselves for not making more of the early domination of the game. It will be a bit of an uphill battle for them now, but nothing better than an early reality check to get them motivated.

As for Munster, I’m not sure where their source of inspiration is going to come from. 28-14 down and they showed the usual Munster commitment to fight back to within a point – only to lose out to a late penalty.

So that left Ulster to claim a few points for the Irish teams – a home win to Bath, but a convincing win. They’ve been building on the momentum of a few recent wins in the Magners (sitting in second place for the time being), so hopefully this will continue for the next couple of tough games – away to Edinburgh in the Heneiken, followed by the visit of Leinster, who may have a few things to prove.

Some other interesting results – Treviso got a win against Perpignan, and a very convincing win for Stade Francais. I missed the Leicester v Ospreys 32 all draw, which looks like it was the pick of the first round games – but there were a few to pick from. Roll on next week.

Great stuff for Trap and the boys, with a draw against the World Champions, but there is that feeling of “we waz robbed!”. I didn’t see the game, but wouldn’t it be great to have something to shout about next summer?

The Mangers League is buliding up a head of steam, as more big name players get a run out in advance of the Heineken Cup. Munster had a convincing win against the Dragons, although it took them a while to hit the groove. A Munster debut for Jean de Villiers, but he looked off the pace. Nick Williams wasn’t running in a hat trick of tries, with Dougie Howlett grabbing a bonus point. O’Gara binned for messing – he probably deserved it. Meanwhile, Ulster’s win away at the Sportsground gives them a little bit of breathing space, as Connaught chase the elusive Heineken Cup spot. I didn’t see the game, but a couple of penalty misses by Keatley can’t have helped Connaught, whereas Ulster had man of the match Ian Humphries scoring with boot and managing a try. Leinster on winning form too, but it was a late drop goal from sub’ Johnnie Sexton that clinched a win. Leinster v Munster next week is something to look forward to, giving us an idea of form before the Heineken Cup get’s going.

Chelsea’s winning streak came to an end at Wigan – Cech sent off for fouling to give Wigan their second, but woeful defending early on gave Wigan the lead. Early days, but Chelsea were looking good of late, so it will be interesting to see if they can bounce back. Man U took full advantage of this with a 2-0 win to go top. Some big scoring for Liverpool who are hitting a bit of form, smacking 6 in at Hull. Spurs got 5 at Burnely, with Robbie Keane getting four.

Champions League returns, but all the English teams should do well – Fiorentina may prove the toughest opposition for Liverpool. Aresenal at home to Olympiakos and Rangers away to Nicosia. Rangers will do well to get a result at home to Sevilla.

So just some highlights and comments.

So New Zealand finally got up to speed and gave South Africa a game, but the Bok’s picked up the Tri-Nations in pretty convincing style, having lost only the once to Australia. The Springboks clinched it 32-29 – but the game was lost really early on, with Springboks charging into a lead with their kicking – the two Steyn’s – Moyne kicking consistently, and huge kicks cleanly converted from well inside his own half from Francois – I really think this turned out to be the difference between the sides in the end, as the All-Blacks were always chasing this lead. The Springboks won this tournament with brut force – kicking and running. Maybe not so nice to watch rugby, where even small guys can make a difference. I hope rugby doesn’t go too much further in this direction, or we’ll have two types of rugby league – but then again the attempts at the ELVs didn’t work. One piece of good news is Argentina joining the tri-nations, which I think is great (although I was hoping the rumours of a 7-nations, with Argentina playing in San Sebastian or Camp Nou, might become a reality – ahh well).

Domestic rugby and the Irish provinces fared better in round two, with 3 out of 4 wins. Even I was impressed with Ulster’s away win to the Ospreys. They had some big names – Jerry Collins, Alwyn Jones, Hook et al. – so it was good to see Ulster hang in, considering they were missing a few key personnel. Saying that, it’s very early days. Munster looked ok and although I didn’t see Leinster, the result suggests they are back on track.

On to soccer and the City v Arsenal game had loads to talk about – Adebayour proving to be the in form striker in the Premiership – pity his antics means that he misses the big Manchester derby this weekend. I’m looking forward to catching a bit of that game. I’d love to see City nick a win, but I think Ferguson will make sure Man U are on form.

There are loads of other bits to talk about, but that will have to do for now. I hope to get a weekend review in – the Manchester derby must be the highlight, but we have an Wallabies v All-Blacks, a bit of Magner’s League, Chelsea v Spurs and that little matter of which county will be traveling home to Munster with Sam. Great stuff.

You have to respect the Kilkenny Cats, who picked up their fourth Liam McCarthy in a row. I was so glad this SHF was so much better and competitive than last year, but I was gutted for Tipp’, who were leading for so long and almost had the cats in the bag. A foolish lash of the ash, and a very dubious penalty meant it wasn’t to be. I’ve enjoyed watching Kilkenny play, but it’s time for a bit more competition. I head Brian Cody lose the rag this evening when asked his opinion on the penalty decision, on Newstalk. Disappointing, coming from the best hurling manager in historym, but maybe that’s what it takes to win?

On to the football and I just watched the last twenty of the most boring football match I can remember – Ireland v SA at a half filled Thomond Park. No more to say about that – at least in Cyprus the result compensated for a poor match. Meanwhile north of the border, Norn’ Iron were so unlucky not to walk away from Poland with three points, which would have put them in a great position. They would have had to defend for most of the second half to secure a win, and a momentary lapse let Poland in for the equaliser. They have another go tomorrow v Slovakia, but it’s a big ask.

I’ve left the rugby to last, as I can’t quite get my head around all four Irish provinces losing on the opening weekend of the Magner’s league. Munster and Leinster might be pacing themselves for tough Heineken Cup weekends in the New Year, but I can’t understand how Ulster and Connaught didn’t put up a better opening fight, especially after some good pre-season results for Ulster. Ahh, could be a longer season towards the bottom of the Magners.

Lastly, Australia kept the Tri-Nations open (for a little bit) with a win over SA that gives the All Blacks a chance. Looking forward to see if the All Blacks can lift their game from the first few disappointing run outs.

The big game of the weekend was Man U v Arsenal, arriving early in the season schedule. Surprisingly, both team had already lost a game, putting a bit more pressure on securing the points from this one. Arshavin’s opener for Arsenal was impressive, and had them coasting for what could have been an important win. Not to be, with a Rooney deserved penalty putting Man U back on track. Wegner sent off in the final stages, after a week of debate with officialdom over Edourado’s dive. Meanwhile Chelsea steam ahead with a solid home win to Burnley – 3-0, goals from Anelka, Ballack and Ashley Cole. Totteham keeping their 100% too and struggling Liverpool sneak an away win after trailing to Bolton.

On to the rubgt and the Sprinboks were very impressive on their first match on the road this season – not that that would change anything, but they brushed Australia away early on. The Wallabies were flatered by the final score, as SA had the bonus point in the back early in the second half. The opening opportunist try from du Preez got things going for the Springboks, with a couple of others from Habana. Steyn kicking almost everything, yet again.

Well I’ve missed a few weekends recently, so this is just a quick catch up on the start of the Premiership, Harringtons close runs in the golf and whetting the appetite for a Tipp v Cats Hurling final. An update on the tri-nations thrown in too.

Update:
Tottenham put five past Hull (5-1)
Burnley hold Man U (1-0)
Liverpool moving through the gears with four goals against Stoke (4-0)