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About LinkBacksGreat start to the tournament. Some cracking games so far and plenty more to come no doubt.
Great start to the tournament. Some cracking games so far and plenty more to come no doubt.
More cracking games today.... ROG at it again. One thing you have to say about him is he has some balls - 2 weeks in a row. Edinburgh and Racing Metro sounded like a belter last night. Looking forward to Leinster tomorrow. Eoin O'Malley is starting in the centre. He's a very good prospect.
Got into the Leinster game last night for a tenner and let me tell you it was 10 euro very well spent. They've played well all season but yesterday was a masterclass.
Looking forward to Toulouse and Quinns later on.
Great performance from Harlequinns. Nick Evans has nerves of steel. Quinns and Saracens look like Englands best hopes this year. From an Irish perspective Leinster keep on improving whereas I feel Munster are in decline. They are top of their pool but they've had an awful lot of luck. Don't rate them as contenders. I know Clermont lost yesterday but they look good again. Their inside centre Fofana looks like a class act.
With my blue tinted glasses I think (hope) Leinster will defend their crown this year. A lot will depend on the draw though.
Don't really watch much European Rugby Union any more but I hear that Leicester are struggling to get out their group again. Have to win at Ulster or something?
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I tuned into Saracens, I think, last week. The game had non- stop fights. That's the problem when two teams play each other on consecutive weekends.
Yeah I don't think Leicester will get out of their group. Clermont will top it so 2nd place will come down to Ulster and Leicester at Ravenhill. The winner may not even qualify for the quarters as it's the best 2 runners up from the 6 groups that progress.Originally Posted by Speedy
I think the problem with that Saracens game was the scrummaging - the ref hadn't a clue. It's a big problem in the game because top level refs can't gauge what's going on in the scrums and they keep getting reset which ruins the rythm of the game.
I wouldn't mind the fighting personally, the great thing about rugby players is that despite what goes on on the field, they all shake hands and applaud each other off after games. Football is way behind rugby in terms of respect, not just towards ref's but towards each other.
Ulster 41-7 Leicester. Wow, not often Leicester get truly battered.
Yeah Ulster were very good. Stephen Ferris is an animal.
Missed todays games but Quinns and Gloucester looks tight enough - second half just starting. Munster are through but I really can't see them as contenders this year. They aren't the same team as before.
Another bad weekend so far for the Guiness Premiership sides. I've always said they were over rated. Connaught beating Quinns, Munster thrashing Northampton and even last weekend with Ulster hammering Leicester. I think that the foreign imports aren't helping but people expect too much from the England national team at times when in reality the club teams are very weak. Back when England won the world cup in 2003, Leicester were one of the best sides in Europe and Wasps and Gloucester were also very strong. Now though Saracens seem to be the main team and they are largely made up of South Africans. France has similar problems with foreign imports.
Quarter Finals:
Saracens v Clermont
Leinster v Cardiff
Munster v Ulster
Edinburgh v Toulouse
Would love to get Munster in the final and destroy them. Their fans are the cockiest bunch of w#nkers I've ever seen.
You a Leinster fan?
Do you know if the Guiness Premiership still has a wage cap? Seems like English club rugby is falling behind a lot of the other countries....
Yeah big fan of Leinster. I've gotten abuse for years off Munster fans when we weren't doing well so we are certainly getting our own back now the tide has turned.
Not sure what the situation is to be honest. All I know is that looking at Englands best clubs - Northampton, Leicester, Saracens and maybe Harlequinns - thier best players are largely foreigners. Northamptons scrum is their strength as is Leicester's - props for both are Tongahuia(can't spell it right),Mujati, Castrogiovanni and Ayerza.... Saracens are basically South Africa's B team with a few English thrown in..... Point is there are too many imports.
The Irish clubs are the most successful so they should look towards them, not the French. Leinster's team are made up mostly with players that came through the academy. Munster are largely the same. For club and country English clubs should follow the lead because I can't see how the club situation in England at the moment having a positive effect on the International side in any way.
English rugby seems to have stagnated since to 2003 WC. Don't know what would be the best way to help it, regionalizing in the same way that New Zealand, Wales, Ireland etc do it might not work due to the size of the country. Seems in other countries rugby clubs are geared up to helping the national team, not sure that's the case in England comes across as a bit more club orientated. There's some decent young English players about but there should be way more coming through considering England has 50million people. New Zealand consistently turn out top class players with only 4.5million, then again Rugbys a way off life out there, pretty much every kid plays for a rugby club. There's one rugby club and no junior clubs in the town I live in England (30k people), nearest one is a 30 minute drive away. The town I lived in in New Zealand was roughly the same size and had 5 clubs, each one had 2-3 junior sides per age group.
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There seems to be a lot of young talent coming through but they don't fulfil their potential maybe because the clubs bring too many foreign players in.
As you say about NZ's main sport being Rugby with England, the main sport is Football, Cricket may even be ahead of Rugby in England too. Wales is the same as NZ too, it's like a religion.
I think regionalising English clubs could have a positive effect on the national sides in terms of players getting more used to playing together, however it may affect attendences as is seen in Wales for club games. It's a tough one but the number of foreigners in England is certainly a contributing factor.
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It's going to take a while before the regional sides in Wales start getting bigger crowds, I think at the moment it's down to the fact most have grown up with their local club and continue to support their club be it Neath, Llanelli, Cardiff or whoever in the Welsh Premiership, until people start growing up supporting a regional side it won't change. There's a bit of Rugby Politics involved.
I think the stadium's being outside of town/city centres is a problem too. The Dragons still have very good crowds as they have remained at their original home, they've recently upgraded their stadium too.
Edinburgh beating Touolouse was something else.
Leinster absolutely demolishing Cardiff. They are great to watch in this mood. Makes you wonder how Ireland aren't more successful seen as it's pretty much the same players. Okay the level is a massive step up but Cardiff have a lot of internationals themselves.... This is a hammering. How can't Ireland do this?
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Declan Kidney?
Probably. We still don't have a settled game plan or know our best 15. This isn't good enough considering he's been in charge now for nearly 4 years. To be fair we didn't have an attack coach for the 6 nations but if, after appointing one, we are still playing like this then Kidney's position has to be considered.
Semi final weekend. Clermont - Leinster should be epic. Clermont are very good but teams give them too much respect sometimes when they play them, particularly in France. Hope Leinster tear into them.
Had the Leinster game recorded and didn't find out the result so watching it there was fierce nail biting. Nearly cocked it up at the end. Great win though, first team to beat Clermont at home in 2 or 3 years. I know it wasn't in Clermont but it was effectively a home game, the fans were completely mental.
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An all Ireland final is going to be box office viewing. Should be a cracker.
Final this weekend. People have Leinster as strong favourites but I think it will be a lot tighter than many are suggesting. Leinster have the better backs - Rob Kearney is the form player in world rugby at the moment. But Ulster may have the edge in the pack. Our record domestically against Ulster has been excellent, we always have no trouble beat them well. But this is a final and Ulster may want it more. Ferris, Afoa, Muller, Pienaar - there's plenty of match winners there... Leinster to win but not by much.
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