This weekend sees the tenth and last round of the regular season.
We already know that the two Irish sides, Wolfhounds and Clovers, are assured of home semi-finals, but there’s plenty left at stake.
This is how the simplified table looks:
Wolfhounds 40 points
Clovers 38
Gwalia Lightning 24
Brython Thunder 19
Glasgow Warriors 16
Edinburgh Rugby 7
So they divide neatly into Ireland 1st and 2nd, Wales 3rd and 4th, Scotland 5th and 6th.
The all-important fourth place is still up for grabs: Glasgow should get the better of their eastern rivals; Brython can’t be so sure (see fixtures below).
National head coaches will have their microscopes working overtime.
Progress
Wolfhounds WWWWWWWLW
Clovers WLWWWWWWW
Lightning LWWWWLLLL
Brython LLLLLWWWW
Warriors WLLLLLLWL
Edinburgh LWLLLLLLL
Take a second glance at the two Welsh sides. Ascent followed by descent; disaster followed by triumph!
The one outstanding result of the tournament came in Round 8, when Brython downed the champions -0. Who predicted that? You never can tell.
The Round Ten fixtures are all local derbies, spread across the weekend:
6 March, Glasgow v Edinburgh, Scotstoun, 19.30
7 March, Wolfhounds v Clovers, UCD Dublin, 15.00
8 March, Brython v Gwalia, Parc y Scarlets, 14.00
Longer-term prospects
Even once the final is complete (at the Hive, Edinburgh on 28 March), I doubt it will offer us a clearer idea of Celtic finishing places in the Six Nations. There are too many remaining unknowns. One great benefit of the CC is to place less familiar players under the spotlight and expose them to an elevated standard of play.
But only relatively few CC players will feature; a new Scottish coach is in place, (by the way, Wales have added Tyrone Holmes of South Africa to their staff as defence coach); and the 6N is a whole other ball game.
