NH Club Rugby

@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

The SA depth is currently incredible. They are only matched by France as far as the number of talents is concerned. But France has a big weakness at LHP and THP, which is one of the SA strengths.

@Tim said in NH Club Rugby:

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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:

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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.

He's been meh in the European cup games . I don't know whether he would have performed better than BB at 1st Five for the All Blacks but I don't think he was the Messiah. He is rather slow but tackles well and receives the ball from a deep run (not standing flat and still).

Did no one in the Bulls and Bristol teams want to tackle?

Rayasi was voted Man of the Match after Bordeaux's demolition of the Northampton Saints (50-28). Please watch the highlights and tell me what do you think of him.

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.

Great to see Filo Tiatia who is the head coach and Dale Macleod who is the defence coach who are having a positive impact at the Newport Dragons

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.

@cgrant Saw the third try, very poor defense.

@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

@Kiwiwomble

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:

@Kiwiwomble

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?

@Dodge Its quite easy to understand. Basic is to get as high as possible in your pool. Winners of pools are rank 1-4. 2nd in pools ranked 5-8, 3rd ranked 9-12, 4th ranked 13-16. Ranked is based on logpoints, point different if equal.

The English clubs look in great shape. Harlequins played some great rugby against the Stormers and specially LaR.

The Stormers would hope for a home playoffs but ended in the URC side of the draw. Their target was to get to the business end, so going forward will be a bonus. Toulon away will be a challenge. The other side of the draw is hectic.

@MiketheSnow true. For the NH competitions you need two squads. The Stormers played Quins on the Sunday and Leicester on the next saturday. No way you can play week after week your strongest match XV. This is a massive shift from Super Rugby and the SA franchises still are in a work in process. The Stormers have done great this year because they contracted their best schoolboy talent in the last 4 years.

@OomPB said in NH Club Rugby:

@Dodge Its quite easy to understand. Basic is to get as high as possible in your pool. Winners of pools are rank 1-4. 2nd in pools ranked 5-8, 3rd ranked 9-12, 4th ranked 13-16. Ranked is based on logpoints, point different if equal.

The English clubs look in great shape. Harlequins played some great rugby against the Stormers and specially LaR.

The Stormers would hope for a home playoffs but ended in the URC side of the draw. Their target was to get to the business end, so going forward will be a bonus. Toulon away will be a challenge. The other side of the draw is hectic.

I don't understand how you can have a group with 6 teams in it but you only play 4 games...

Cripes.

'I'm a scary sight' - Northampton's 23-stone, one-meal man

I LOVE the fact he goes along and coaches the local team. Sounds like a Northampton boy through and through, clearly an England prospect...

@Dodge said in NH Club Rugby:

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

Tell them to go back to playing in their own comps

@antipodean said in NH Club Rugby:

@Dodge said in NH Club Rugby:

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

Tell them to go back to playing in their own comps

that fixes the SA problem but not the structure of the whole competition, nor the coverage. IMO rugby needs to decide on one platform to watch all the competitions on (particularly in England given its the largest market outside of France) and maybe make some decisions based on visibility not simply the largest number. As it stands today, you need BBC, ITV, Amazon, Sky Sports, Premier Sports and TNT to watch your international team and your club team in every game - I hate it and lose track as a result, if I can't keep up, how the hell do you attract new eyeballs.

No question the Premiership is the main reason that the European competitions are a bit broken as the HEC worked well before we got silly.

@Dodge The teams from the same competition dont play each other in the Round robins.

@antipodean said in NH Club Rugby:

@Dodge said in NH Club Rugby:

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

Tell them to go back to playing in their own comps

Heard some chatter that the cheetahs might end up playing in the super competition. So there’s that.

Uni rugby match in Wales abandoned after almost 30 players brawl on pitch

By Oscar Edwards

BBC Wales

Published
34 minutes ago

A university rugby match had to be abandoned when almost all 30 players began brawling in the final minutes.

Cardiff University was beating Swansea University 28-19 at Dunvant RFC's ground when both sides began fighting on Wednesday night.

The clash was sparked by a high tackle on a Cardiff player which angered visiting players and fans, who then threw beers at the brawling teams.

League organisers British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) said they wished to express their "sincere disappointment" for the abandonment of the game and confirmed an investigation was ongoing. Both universities condoned the behaviour at the game and said they were co-operating with BUCS.

The fight took place near the touchline, as students watched from the stands.

Those in the crowd threw beer over the players as the referee tried to defuse the situation.

BUCS, the national governing body for higher education sports in the UK, said in a statement that the game was abandoned by the referee in the 78th minute.

"We will progress quickly with an investigation into this incident, working with members at both institutions as well as the Welsh Rugby Union," the body added.

Under current regulations, external, as more than 75% of the game had been played, the result will stand, "subject to any potential disciplinary action," said BUCS.

The match carried huge significance for both sides who currently sit 9th and 10th in the BUCS Super Rugby table.

The incident comes after Cardiff University cricket club was suspended for the rest of the academic year, and players banned, following an investigation into reports of serious misconduct during a night out.

Cardiff University were leading 28-19 when the game was abandoned in the closing minutes.

In a joint statement, Swansea University and Swansea University Students' Union said the behaviour was "unacceptable and does not reflect the values" of both organisations.

They added: "We recognise the concern and distress that this incident may have caused and apologise for its impact on those involved, including Cardiff University, the players, match officials and local rugby communities, along with our wider community."
Both said they were "actively co-operating with BUCS, the WRU, the Student Rugby Club and Cardiff University to ensure all relevant information is considered".
A Cardiff University spokesperson said: "We condemn the behaviour witnessed at last night's game in the strongest possible terms.
"We are working closely with colleagues from Swansea University and BUCS to investigate the incident. Whilst investigations remain ongoing, we will not be offering further comment."

@sparky when men forget why they played they played the game somethings about enjoyment

@sparky Good to see the Welsch still have passion for rugby.

@Bones
I've never been impressed by his performance when he was playing for Stade Français in the Top 14. He was mainly sitting on the bench.

@cgrant said in NH Club Rugby:

@Bones
I've never been impressed by his performance when he was playing for Stade Français in the Top 14. He was mainly sitting on the bench.

Pretty harsh to judge someone's on field performance by how they sit on the bench bro.

@sparky said in NH Club Rugby:

Both universities condoned the behaviour at the game

The only two universities that haven't gone woke as shit in the last 15 years!

@antipodean said in NH Club Rugby:

@sparky said in NH Club Rugby:

Both universities condoned the behaviour at the game

The only two universities that haven't gone woke as shit in the last 15 years!

Holy shit completely missed that

@Bones said in NH Club Rugby:

@cgrant said in NH Club Rugby:

@Bones
I've never been impressed by his performance when he was playing for Stade Français in the Top 14. He was mainly sitting on the bench.

Pretty harsh to judge someone's on field performance by how they sit on the bench bro.

:grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
Paris has too many attractions ! Van der Mescht looked overweight , slow and unfit.