NH Club Rugby

@Mr-Fish said in NH Club Rugby:

@OomPB said in NH Club Rugby:

@sparky Not going to happen, the five franchises already indicate they want the Europe Competitions. SARU will dump SANZAR in stead. That will allow the Springboks playing in the URC to rest and condition the same time as the URC players from July-Sept.

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I'd say there's next to no chance of the Springboks leaving the Rugby Championship and joining the Six Nations.

I for one do not want to see the springboks leave the RC for the 6 nations.. they have the best of both worlds at the moment,
It would be interesting to see what further isolation would do to the Anzac teams. Prior to professionalism it didn't seem to prevent them from being top tier.

@W32 said in NH Club Rugby:

@Mr-Fish said in NH Club Rugby:

@OomPB said in NH Club Rugby:

@sparky Not going to happen, the five franchises already indicate they want the Europe Competitions. SARU will dump SANZAR in stead. That will allow the Springboks playing in the URC to rest and condition the same time as the URC players from July-Sept.

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I'd say there's next to no chance of the Springboks leaving the Rugby Championship and joining the Six Nations.

I for one do not want to see the springboks leave the RC for the 6 nations.. they have the best of both worlds at the moment,
It would be interesting to see what further isolation would do to the Anzac teams. Prior to professionalism it didn't seem to prevent them from being top tier.

Don't lose any sleep over it

Not going to happen

What started off as a really competitive back and forth contest ended up in a bloodbath

Ulster punished by Montpellier for not converting territory and possession in the first half

Billy V was excellent

@MiketheSnow

On Billy V, I thought he showed some good physicality but it was his footwork and offloading that really stood out. A shame that he was rarely given that licence when playing for England. Just bash it up all day will you please Billy?

The European Champions Cup final in Bilbao is massively one-sided affair at half time.

Even more at full time

Rieko hasnt enhanced his reputation anyway.

Joe McCarthys try.

Dan Sheehan MkII.

I dont like it. We encourage defenders to tackle low, preferably around the hips or lower.
But now players can just jump directly over you in close proximity to the try line.

Defenders will start to go more upright again to counter this......it's a pig in a poke.

So both European Cups have been won by French clubs. Back to back wins for Bordeaux. From what I have seen, Ireland won't be a threat for the All Blacks, even though the latter will lack cohesion. Most of the Irish players look old and slow.

Bielle Bierrey robbed by Malcolm Marx for WPOTY.

@cgrant said in NH Club Rugby:

So both European Cups have been won by French clubs. Back to back wins for Bordeaux. From what I have seen, Ireland won't be a threat for the All Blacks, even though the latter will lack cohesion. Most of the Irish players look old and slow.

ABs will have 2 tests under their belt by the time they play the Irish.

Sore loser

Bordeaux (plus a few others) missing out on the Top 14 finals could theoretically result in France sending a stronger team to play NZ in the Nations Championship than expected. Realistically though, a lot of the top players (LBB, Jalibert) will have played close to the 2,000-minute mark so are unlikely to tour regardless - but while thee was zero chance of them touring had they played in the final, there's at least a small possibility now.

Bulls in the final again. Last year Jake White made a fuss about not having enough quality players and basically put his coaching ability forward as the reason why they even made the final.
So this year a rookie coach is in the same position.
F off Jake the snake.

@W32 do you fancy their chances against Leinster? Pity they have a 2 week break as it will probably mean they fly back to SA again? I think their power game might cause Leinster some issues but you would think home advantage might be big.

@Rugbyman said in NH Club Rugby:

@W32 do you fancy their chances against Leinster? Pity they have a 2 week break as it will probably mean they fly back to SA again? I think their power game might cause Leinster some issues but you would think home advantage might be big.

Yeah bulls are underdogs. They are going back to SA for the break. The Leinster backs are so much more experienced and savvy that it’s going to be very hard for the bulls to make their forward dominance count.
JGP is a game winner for Leinster

The Bulls have much better depth compare to the Stormers at the moment. They have a great bomb squad. The Bulls weakness all season was their defense. If they can copy the Stormers defense they should take it. Its their 4th URC final and have beaten Leinster a few years ago in a play off at home.

Leinster’s to lose

Apparently only about 15,000 at the Leinster Stormers semi final.

Geez just watched Saints/Tigers semi final from Gallaher Shield, another top game. It's not only us who had a great Friday night semi!

@Dan54

Yeah bloody good game. The man everyone loves to hate was everywhere in the first half, tailed off a bit in the second half though. Unlucky not to get MOM. George Martin was immense too and that bloody Reffel - how many turnovers did he get and at such critical times too..

Wow

What a second SF

Bath absolutely blew that

@Catogrande said in NH Club Rugby:

The man everyone loves to hate

Genge? Farrell? Pollock? Itoje? Daly? Roots?

@Bones I'm not biting on that rancid bait.

@Catogrande said in NH Club Rugby:

@Bones I'm not biting on that rancid bait.

Jamie George. Understood

@MiketheSnow said in NH Club Rugby:

Wow

What a second SF

Bath absolutely blew that

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@pakman said in NH Club Rugby:

@MiketheSnow said in NH Club Rugby:

Wow

What a second SF

Bath absolutely blew that

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Straws clutched

Bath tactically poor

@pakman There were a number of times when I thought Bath had got the ball over the line but Ridley was positioned very well and was very certain in his judgements and conveyed this very well. Telling I think that the Bath boys didn't go up in arms about any of those plays and nor did the TMO intervene at any point to suggest a review..

Typical Planet Rugby hatchet piece. Do they ever do any positive "journalism"?

Interesting reading some of the criticism of Carreras at 10 - it looked to me like he was quite aggressively calling for the ball on more than one occasion.

@Mr-Fish said in NH Club Rugby:

Interesting reading some of the criticism of Carreras at 10 - it looked to me like he was quite aggressively calling for the ball on more than one occasion.

In Spanish?

@pakman He was certainly gesticulating like an Argentinian.

Leinster castrating the Bulls

Nice finish by Ioane there. And 3 yellow cards for people blocking passes - failed 'intercepts' preventing linebreaks, good stuff.

Toulouse beat Racing 71-17 in the first Top 14 semi final

@KiwiMurph said in NH Club Rugby:

Toulouse beat Racing 71-17 in the first Top 14 semi final

Sheesh, so the top club comp in the world has gaps as big as Super in the finals?

@Nepia said in NH Club Rugby:

@KiwiMurph said in NH Club Rugby:

Toulouse beat Racing 71-17 in the first Top 14 semi final

Sheesh, so the top club comp in the world has gaps as big as Super in the finals?

I don't think the Crusaders got beaten that badly did they?

@brodean said in NH Club Rugby:

@Nepia said in NH Club Rugby:

@KiwiMurph said in NH Club Rugby:

Toulouse beat Racing 71-17 in the first Top 14 semi final

Sheesh, so the top club comp in the world has gaps as big as Super in the finals?

I don't think the Crusaders got beaten that badly did they?

TBF, none of the gaps were that big.