The run in

[Bobbievee]

Absolutely class act. Better than Finney. Also scored in 1957 in 1-1 draw at Windsor ve England . A guy called Matthews scored for England. D blanchflower hit the crossbar with about 20 minutes to go. Record attendance 59000!
I was there; my first international. Do we need a new thread?

[Bobbievee]

Apologies JR!
First time through I missed the PNE/Tom Finney connection! Fair play.

[justinr73]

Would have loved to have seen those guys play.

Made a 500 mile round trip back to Preston and took time off work for Sir Tom’s funeral.

[Bobbievee]

Excellent . Artistes.
We were also blessed In northern Ireland with Jackie Milburn coming to play for Linfield ( c 1960?) whilst still at the height of his powers. Incredible

[justinr73]

Apologies to everyone for going off topic.

Hope this link opens up for you Bobbievee and/or anyone who may have seen or heard of Sir Tom turning out in NI….

https://www.pne-online.net/forum/index. ... bio.88015/

[Dave]

Fill your boots, lads. The actual thread topic is too depressing.

[So It Is]

Updated Run In:

5th- Benetton 42pts. Ulster (A), Sharks (A), Bulls (A), Embra (H)

6th- Stormers 40pts. Leinster (H), Dragons (A), Connacht (A), Lions (H)

7th- Ospreys 40pts. Bulls (A), Leinster (A), Dragons (H), Cardiff (A)

8th- Embra 39pts. Cardiff (A), Zebre (H), Munster (H), Benetton (A)

9th - Connacht 39pts. Dragons (A), Munster (A), Stormers (H), Leinster (A)

10th -Ulster 39pts. Benetton (H), Scarlets (A), Leinster (H), Munster (A)

11th -Lions 39pts. Munster (H), Cardiff (H), Glasgow (H), Stormers (A).

My stab at a prediction for run in:

Benetton - 10pts
Stormers - 12pts
Ospreys -10pts
Embra - 15pts
Connacht - 10pts
Ulster - 11pts
Lions - 14pts

Leaving us with:

5th- Embra 54pts
6th- Lions 53pts
7th- Benetton 52pts
8th- Stormers 52pts
9th- Ospreys 50pts
10th- Ulster 50pts
11th - Connacht 49pts

[Big-al]

Can’t see Benetton getting 10 points out of those fixtures if they aren’t winning this weekend at Ravenhill.

Sharks away with their springbok forwards would start as favourites.

[So It Is]

You are probably right. I haven't seen much of them this season but sounds like they are decent.

I have them down to beat us and Embra, and could pick up a few LBP in SA.

I think we'll beat Scarlets and Leinster's U20s.

[shamalicious]

Surely Ulster would take another financial hit if they end up in the Challenge Cup next year?

[Bart S]

Lack of bonus points this season taking its toll. Bulls, Lions, Connacht and Cardiff all at home were the kind of games where these are needed.

[jean valjean]

Lack of bonus points this season taking its toll. Bulls, Lions, Connacht and Cardiff all at home were the kind of games where these are needed.

The Edinburgh and ospreys losses were where we mesed up this year. If we had those 8 points, we'd be much more comfortable sitting in 5th position (but with Dan and Petrie still in place). A win against benneton opens up the possibility of sneaking in, but leinster will have to send a stronger team up the road now following the lions loss to get a top 2. It is the week before a potential euro Cup final so maybe they will give the 16-23 a run out instead of resting them also.

[Bobbievee]

Apologies to everyone for going off topic.

Hope this link opens up for you Bobbievee and/or anyone who may have seen or heard of Sir Tom turning out in NI….

https://www.pne-online.net/forum/index. ... bio.88015/

It did. Many thanks. Always kicked myself for not attending this one.

[allezlesverres]

Surely Ulster would take another financial hit if they end up in the Challenge Cup next year?

Definitely. Some of the loss is compensated by challenge cup gate receipts but typically challenge cup attracts less spectators than champions cup. Probably a loss of TV revenue as well.

[jean valjean]

Remaining fixtures:
Stormers 45 pts - Dragons A, connacht A, Lions H
Connacht 44 pts - munster A, Stormers H, Leinster A
Ulster - 44 pts - Scarlets A, leinster H, munster A
Benetton 44pts - sharks A, bulls A, Edinburgh H.
Edinburgh 43pts - Zebre H, Munster H, benetton A
Ospreys 40 pts - leinster A, Dragons H, Cardiff A.
Lions 39pts - Cardiff H, Glasgow H, Stormers A.

The above shows just how tight the race for play off places is. Likely that bonus points will come into the mix, but a win at Scarlets is an absolute must. The stormers, Ospreys and lions can realistically expect 2 wins while the rest may struggle. We better hope leinster win against the saints so they have to rest up against us.

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