Rugby Report: Joey Carbery starts new season on the right foot

Rugby Report: Joey Carbery starts new season on the right foot

Pundit Arena Rugby Report: Gameweek 1

Welcome to Rugby Report, the new Pundit Arena feature which looks at the performances of the four Irish provinces every weekend.

Over the weekend there were wins for Munster, Connacht and Ulster but a 43-25 defeat to Glasgow Warriors saw a young Leinster team get in the way of an Irish clean-sweep.

You’d be forgiven for still being in Rugby World Cup mode. Maybe you’re still reeling from Ireland’s quarter-final exit or maybe you’re excited for this weekend’s showpiece event between the Springboks and the All Blacks.

Since re-branding to the URC, the league has, however, proven to be a respected product well worth watching and Round 1 of the new season was no different.

The South African teams have added some needed quality and – as shown by Munster’s celebrations last May – this tournament is suddenly something that teams take very very seriously.

Rugby Report: Ulster edge past Zebre in high-scoring affair.

Kicking off the weekend for the Irish provinces were Ulster who were made to work for a 40-36 win on the road to Zebre Parma.

Dan McFarland fielded a rotated team but with the likes of Jacob Stockdale, Michael Lowry, Will Addison and Kieran Threadwell starting, they would have hoped for a more convincing victory on their first trip of the season.

Tries from Stockdale (2), Lowry, Tom Stewart (2) and former Munster outhalf Jake Flannery racked up forty points but defense will be an area of focus this week at Ulster HQ as they conceded four tries in the first half alone.

FT: Zebre 36-40 Ulster

Rugby Report: Connacht half-backs sharp as a Blade in home victory.

Connacht got off to a better start as they hosted the Ospreys at the Sportsground.

Life after the well-regarded Andy Friend will be difficult but a 34-26 win bodes well for Pete Wilkins’ new tenure.

In fact, it took the westerners just over half an hour to get their supporters hyped for the new era as scrumhalf Caolan Blade ran in three tries in 33 minutes – all converted by new signing JJ Hanrahan.

Those scores, in addition to two penalty kicks from Hanrahan, saw Connacht leading 27-0 right up until Keelan Giles bagged the Ospreys’ first try of the game on 39 minutes.

With the game virtually wrapped up, Ospreys managed to add more consolation tries in the second half, but just as they started to close the gap on Connacht, inside-centre Cathal Forde crossed the whitewash to seal the deal and the flawless Hanrahan converted once more.

FT: Connacht 34-26 Ospreys

Munster begin title defence with impressive Sharks win.

URC title holders Munster opened their season at Thomond Park where they faced the tough task of beating the Sharks.

Munster’s league success was built on Graham Rowntree’s trust in young local talent and new faces Ethan Coughlan (scrumhalf), Shay McCarthy (winger), Kieran Ryan (prop) and Brian Gleeson (number eight) all played their part in a satisfying 34-21 victory.

Also satisfying was the performance of Joey Carbery at outhalf. The Ireland international endured a difficult 2022/2023 season which cost him a place in Andy Farrell’s World Cup squad, but he managed to back up talk surrounding his pre-season revival with an accomplished performance at the wheel.

First half tries from young forwards Edwin Edogbo and Diarmuid Barron – both of which were converted by Carbery – got the ball rolling for the men in red.

Then, although punctuated by Sharks scores, later efforts from Antoine Frisch, Andrew Conway and Ethan Coughlan,  proved enough to secure a bonus-point triumph for the home side. Conway’s try an especially popular moment after he missed so much of last season through injury.

FT: Munster 34-21 Sharks

Leinster young guns lose out to Glasgow in lively encounter.

A relatively inexperienced Leinster team travelled to Scotstoun on Sunday to face a Glasgow side including Scotland internationals such as Oli Kebble, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge and Huw Jones.

Glasgow, somewhat unsurprisingly, outscored Leinster four tries to one in the first half to take a 24-13 lead into the break, but a 45th minute Lee Barron effort, converted by Harry Byrne, dragged the blues within four points of the hosts.

Ten minutes later, George Horne added five points to Glasgow’s tally but that was later cancelled out by a Tommy O’Brien try in the 72nd minute, setting the contest up for a grandstand finish.

Unfortunately for Leo Cullen’s men, that was when Glasgow’s experience told as they tore away in the last five minutes – first through a converted Johnny Matthews try in the 75th minute and then a 79th minute penalty try which left the scoreline at 43-25 to the Scotsmen.

FT: Glasgow 43-25 Leinster

Pundit Arena Provincial Player of the Weekend: Caolan Blade (Connacht).