Dragons climbed off the bottom of the United Rugby Championship (URC) with a remarkable 48-28 victory against Connacht that ended a 15-month league winless streak.
Stormers sign de Villiers, SMZ until 2029
@OomPB Kolisi coming back, joining Wilco Louw
Wales Half Back Tomos Williams to join Saracens:
Len Ikitau requires shoulder surgery:
Len Ikitau confirmed to be out for up to three months.
Stormers vs Bulls sold out for 2nd year in a row. Just show the success of summer rugby in South Africa.
@cgrant said in NH Club Rugby:
@OomPB
Stormers and Bulls are not exactly in the NH.:winking_face:
They're in an NH competition though...
Summer rugby is a big success in South Africa. Even Durban had a sold out last week and a big one yesterday.
The SA derbies were tough and close. Lions and Stormers got their wins with last minute tries.
@OomPB said in NH Club Rugby:
Stormers vs Bulls sold out for 2nd year in a row. Just show the success of summer rugby in South Africa.
That did not look like a sell out
There were 53 682 official. Maybe a few thousand didn't pitch up to the stadium. Babelas after the new year celebrations.
The Stormers show the way to deal with a Springbok tight 5. No current Springbok in their pack but they man up. Rassie already have two great packs, he can add the Stormers pack to them.
@OomPB said in NH Club Rugby:
There were 53 682 official. Maybe a few thousand didn't pitch up to the stadium. Babelas after the new year celebrations.
Fair enough
It looked half-full on the highlights
@Tim said in NH Club Rugby:
Plummer led his side in defenders beaten, total carries, meters carried, and line breaks as well, while the 27-year-old was also perfect off the tee.
Good thing he was given all that time to show what he could do for the All Blacks.
@antipodean said in NH Club Rugby:
@Tim said in NH Club Rugby:
Plummer led his side in defenders beaten, total carries, meters carried, and line breaks as well, while the 27-year-old was also perfect off the tee.
Good thing he was given all that time to show what he could do for the All Blacks.
Fucking sad face.
Was at the Quins vs Stormers game yesterday, don't think i've ever been as cold in my life. Game was pretty dull, actually felt sorry for the Stormers players, not sure i'd want to fly from Cape Town to play in a game in 0 degrees, howling winds, horribly grey skies in January in South West London. Should have stayed on the beach
Reports that Max Hicks will be joining the growing Kiwi contingent at Newcastle from Perpignan.
A good day for the SA franchises. Bulls finally win one after the 7 game losing streak. Hopefully they are now on an upward trajectory after the shedding of jake the snake.
The one bulls try was quite weird though, watching it live was eyebrow raising.
don't get to watch the European stuff as I can't bring myself to add yet another otherwise entirely useless sports channel package but the Quins result yesterday was extraordinary, our defence is so weak and so porous i can't understand how we won. From everything i've read, Smith was excellent yesterday. Shame Borthers will never pick him at 10.
Interesting that 7 of the remaining 16 teams are English, I wouldn't expect many of them to get through to the 1/4s though, 2 guaranteed, 1 i think will get through. Would expect Toulouse vs Bordeaux in the 1/4s which will be tasty.
When I look at the results I often have a quick scan of the team lists. It seems that there is a real "home" and "away" mentality for many of the teams in the European competitions. For example, Sale got beaten by 70 pts by Toulouse last weekend. But no Ford and Curry unless they were both injured. OK to rotate if you are Leinster and Toulouse but I doubt the other teams can.
@Bovidae said in NH Club Rugby:
When I look at the results I often have a quick scan of the team lists. It seems that there is a real "home" and "away" mentality for many of the teams in the European competitions. For example, Sale got beaten by 70 pts by Toulouse last weekend. But no Ford and Curry unless they were both injured. OK to rotate if you are Leinster and Toulouse but I doubt the other teams can.
It seems that there has been a lot of tactical selection going on, which needs to be addressed by the organisers. People (including TV companies) pay a lot of money for a premier rugby tournament.
@W32 said in NH Club Rugby:
A good day for the SA franchises. Bulls finally win one after the 7 game losing streak. Hopefully they are now on an upward trajectory after the shedding of jake the snake.
The one bulls try was quite weird though, watching it live was eyebrow raising.
i dont normally dabble in here but had to come looking for this....WTH
@Catogrande said in NH Club Rugby:
@Bovidae said in NH Club Rugby:
When I look at the results I often have a quick scan of the team lists. It seems that there is a real "home" and "away" mentality for many of the teams in the European competitions. For example, Sale got beaten by 70 pts by Toulouse last weekend. But no Ford and Curry unless they were both injured. OK to rotate if you are Leinster and Toulouse but I doubt the other teams can.
It seems that there has been a lot of tactical selection going on, which needs to be addressed by the organisers. People (including TV companies) pay a lot of money for a premier rugby tournament.
It's because the season is so fragmented
For some clubs the domestic competition is more important and that's what they're focusing on
Dickson is a poor ref but that is plumbing depths that even he has not seen before. Astonishing.
@MiketheSnow I get the why-fors, but it still needs addressing. The paying public are getting shafted.
Too much rugby maybe..?
I think the European competition is broken, the tv coverage of rugby in the UK, but particularly in England is a nightmare with it being split across so many channels etc. The inclusion of South African teams doesn't work IMO. Not sure how to fix it but i still don't understand how the early round works, nor how they seed teams for the R16
@Catogrande said in NH Club Rugby:
Dickson is a poor ref but that is plumbing depths that even he has not seen before. Astonishing.
I take it you've never watched him ref a Pacific island team against a NH team?