Rugby 2018 Discussion

Hurricanes 50 Rebels 19. A 33rd straight defeat for Aussie teams against Kiwi teams. Fox Sports don't care about this but Australian sides have at least done OK against South African opposition.
 
I'm heading in to Connacht's quarter final against Gloucester today. We're in awful form but the Irish internationals are back, all two of em. A stack of players were announced as moving on next season so itll be very interesting to see what the vibe at the match is like. I'm hoping to hear rumours of loads of players incoming :lol:
 
Well done to the Scarlets on their Champions Cup quarter final win yesterday. They won't be easy for Leinster or Saracens.
 
When i was younger, i got a photo with Tana Umaga at Brisbane Broncos training. His Auckland Blues team copped a 63-40 loss at the hands of the Sharks at Eden Park in a loss and performance that could see him sacked. Error riddled and dreadful defense from them combined with an excellent performance from the Sharks saw the men from Natal pick up an unexpected win if their performances in Australia were an indication.

This is the 3rd highest scoring super rugby game ever. The Sharks beating the Highlanders 75-43 at Carrisbrook in 1997 is the 2nd highest. The highest was in 2011 when the Chiefs beat the Lions 72-65 at Ellis Park.

Continuing the stats theme, this is the first loss at Eden Park for the Blues against a South African team since the Bulls beat them in 2013, first loss to an overseas team for them in NZ since the Lions beat them in Albany in 2015. On a wider scale for Kiwi teams, it's a first loss against an overseas team in NZ since 2016 when the Sharks beat the Highlanders in 2016.
 
Gutted today, Gloucester were the better team yet Connacht could have stolen it with a better kicker. The team has continued going backwards and will have to find something in themselves next year to overcome retirements and departures.
 
unchanged_lineup said:
Gutted today, Gloucester were the better team yet Connacht could have stolen it with a better kicker. The team has continued going backwards and will have to find something in themselves next year to overcome retirements and departures.
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Any chance you could go for Madigan? Thought I'd read somewhere that he was interested in coming back.
 
Point ahead at half time. Brilliant game from both sides, very few errors. Leinster playing against sixteen men here, Garces fails to yellow card Wigglesworth for his shoulder charge on Sexton and minutes later fails to yellow card them for stopping the ball on their line in a clear try scoring chance. Big 40 minutes ahead, playing with the wind quietly confident we can see this out.
 
Goodbye Sacerns, enjoy your championships won during Irish transition. I love BT and their English love. No Billy boohoo. How about no O'Brien, Larmour and Henshaw. Fact is our 'B' team is as good as any English club's 'A' team. Farrell is a poor mans Carberry FFS. Come over here thinking we are Ireland, we're the bloody All Blacks of club rugby. Even Garces couldn't help the English in the end.

Pro 12 Master race. Now let's do an All Ireland Final and show who the real kings are.
 
kidbob said:
Goodbye Sacerns, enjoy your championships won during Irish transition. I love BT and their English love. No Billy boohoo. How about no O'Brien, Larmour and Henshaw. Fact is our 'B' team is as good as any English club's 'A' team. Farrell is a poor mans Carberry FFS. Come over here thinking we are Ireland, we're the bloody All Blacks of club rugby. Even Garces couldn't help the English in the end.

Pro 12 Master race. Now let's do an All Ireland Final and show who the real kings are.
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Did you have a few refreshing beverages while watching ? :)

Fair play to Munster and Leinster. Would love an all Ireland final.
 
Leinster worthy winners vs Saracens. As good as the Scarletts are, there's no reason for Leinster to be spooked by them. Leinster vs Munster at San Mames is a real chance although i didn't see a great deal of Racing's win vs Clermont.
 
Xaviesta said:
Leinster worthy winners vs Saracens. As good as the Scarletts are, there's no reason for Leinster to be spooked by them. Leinster vs Munster at San Mames is a real chance although i didn't see a great deal of Racing's win vs Clermont.
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I'd agree with you about Leinster not being spooked, although Leinster do have reason to be concerned about Scarlets. If I was trying to assess the probability of that SF at the Aviva, I would say Leinster have a 60% chance of winning. In the other SF, I would say it's 50/50; if it was in either Ireland or a neutral venue, I definitely would have had Munster as relatively strong favourites. What I can't understand is why the match is in Bordeaux; I know Racing can't play in the U Arena in the SF, but surely they could have played in either the Stade de France of in some other stadium nearer to Paris.
 
unchanged_lineup said:
Israel Folau in trouble again... Is the going to stick, Aussie folks?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43651208
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Yeah, not the first time this has happened either. He was very much against the idea of same sex marriage being legalised. Qantas, who sponsor the Wallabies are concerned, Rugby Australia will have a yarn with him in due course about his comments. He and David Pocock hold diametrically opposed views on this topic. Pocock and his Mrs had a wedding ceremony in 2010 but refused to sign the legal documents until same sex marriage was legalised. The Wallabies have a hard enough task in June to beat Ireland, they don't any potential tension between their two best players bubbling away under the surface.
 
Xaviesta said:
An article on Nigel Owens from Austin Healy which has some merit: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/04/05/nigel-owens-now-much-celebrity-referee-big-games/

I started to be a bit annoyed by him in 2016 when ahead a Bledisloe at Eden Park, he was interviewed and described the All Blacks as 'consistently good'. True statement but it's not a great look when refs are publicly commenting on a team they're going to referee a matter of days later.
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This nonsense about the game last weekend has gone way over the top. It was one decision a minute into the game and because Ashton touched the ball last, he couldn't have legitimately given a penalty try or a yellow card anyway. There is no law against knocking the ball backwards out of an opponent hands - only deliberately knocking it out of play in the dead ball area. Zebo wasn't the last player to touch it before it went out so Nigel couldn't have categorically said he knocked it dead.

Then the idea that "every 50/50 decision from then on went Munsters way" is ridiculous. In fact, following that decision it was the opposite. Munster had a legitimate try disallowed for a wrongly called knock on. Sweetnam was blocked on a kick chase which wasn't seen. There was a high swinging arm (by I think Fekitoa) not called and the TMO never checked the second, very questionable pass on the way to Ashton's try.

I don't entirely disagree with his comments on Nigel's celebrity status but this crap about Munster cheating their way to a win is bull.
 
This story runs and runs...
https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2018...y-reveal-steps-to-review-world-cup-qualifier/

A World Rugby statement on Thursday read: "World Rugby was deeply concerned about the process and perception of Rugby Europe's appointment of a match official team that was not neutral in the context of qualification. The World Rugby Executive Committee and Rugby World Cup Board felt that a replay would be in the best interests of the game.

"Since expressing that view, new information relating to player eligibility has been presented to World Rugby by the participating unions. Given this information concerns potential breaches of World Rugby regulations, and given the complexity and interconnectivity of the issues, a full and independent review is warranted.

"World Rugby's independent judicial panel Chairman Christopher Quinlan QC has been asked to form and convene the disputes committee on an emergency basis in order to achieve certainty as soon as possible."
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Not certain what this player eligibility stuff is about, but a review is definitely warranted.
 
The Queensland Reds haven't won a super rugby match since i posted the game of Thorns photo a few pages some three weeks ago. A very disappointing 45-21 loss to the ACT Brumbies will be somewhat forgiven if the Reds can beat the New South Wales Waratahs at the Sydney Cricket Ground next weekend. Haven't beaten those twats since 2013. Time to break the drought boys.
 
121 weeks worth of suspensions handed down in the aftermath to the Belgium vs Spain World Cup qualifier.

 
Irish teams for this weekend

Leinster: Rob Kearney; Fergus McFadden, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Isa Nacewa; Johnny Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park; Cian Healy, Seán Cronin, Tadhg Furlong; Devin Toner, James Ryan; Scott Fardy, Dan Leavy, Jordi Murphy.

Replacements: James Tracy, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Ross Molony, Jack Conan, Nick McCarthy,Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour.

The knock-on effect of Luke McGrath being out means Lowe misses out, must be gutted. Henshaw straight back in is a bit :nervous:


Munster: Andrew Conway; Keith Earls, Sammy Arnold, Rory Scannell, Alex Wootton; Ian Keatley, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland; Peter O’Mahony (C), Jack O’Donoghue, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Rhys Marshall, James Cronin, John Ryan, Gerbrandt Grobler, Robin Copeland, James Hart, JJ Hanrahan, Simon Zebo.
 
Lifelong Scarlets fan, heading out to Dublin first thing tomorrow. Feel slightly aggrieved to be playing what is essentially a home game for Leinster, but the last couple of years have been incredible for the club, so can't be anything but thrilled to be back on the big stage.
 
Jiggs'Hamstring said:
Lifelong Scarlets fan, heading out to Dublin first thing tomorrow. Feel slightly aggrieved to be playing what is essentially a home game for Leinster, but the last couple of years have been incredible for the club, so can't be anything but thrilled to be back on the big stage.
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It is a home game by design though, isn't it? And Munster's draw takes them to France.
 
Well the idea is that you play at a 'neutral' venue in your home country, so if Saracens had won it would have been at the Ricoh. It feels little skewed that this 'neutral' game is at a stadium where they've played a handful of 'home' games already this year, and will outnumber our fans by 10 to 1.

Again, though, not moaning. Just looking forward to the experience.
 
Jiggs'Hamstring said:
Well the idea is that you play at a 'neutral' venue in your home country, so if Saracens had won it would have been at the Ricoh. It feels little skewed that this 'neutral' game is at a stadium where they've played a handful of 'home' games already this year, and will outnumber our fans by 10 to 1.

Again, though, not moaning. Just looking forward to the experience.
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Is that how it works? I didn't know that. I thought it was like Pro 14 where performances got you home quarters/semis
 
Xaviesta said:
Isn't Leinster's home ground the RDS?
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They play all bar one of their Pro14 home games there, and they also play two of their three Champions Cup Pool Stages games there too. The most amount of games that Leinster could possibly play in any given season at the Aviva is seven - Pro14 versus Munster, Pro14 Semi-Final (Unlikely), Pro14 Final, Champions Cup Pool Stage R4, Champions Cup Quarter-Final, Champions Cup Semi-Final, and Champions Cup Final (Not this season).
 
Remember Saracens beat Munster in the semi final last year at the AVIVA. The venue didn't prove to much of an issue for Sarries and if the Scarletts are good enough, the venue shouldn't matter this weekend either. I'm going to pick Leinster vs Racing in the final. Congrats to Gloucester on qualifying the Challenge Cup final after they easily accounted for Newcastle 33-12 at Kingsholm.

Shocked about Rob Horne. I'll be honest say I've never been Horne's biggest fan as a rugby player but it's sad to see a career end in the way it has for Rob Horne. It only takes one moment, one incident and in this case, one accident to end a career.

Meanwhile Queensland's 1000th match and 300th super rugby match has been one to forget as the Chiefs beat the Reds 36-12. That result means Kiwi teams have 35 straight Trans Tasman super rugby games.

This weekend sees all four Aussie teams take on teams from outside the AUS conference. The Lions beat the Tahs 29-0 last night, the Reds result isn't pretty. The Rebels will take on the Bulls at Loftus in a match where the Bulls will probably have a little too much for the men from Melbourne, while the Brumbies host the Argentine based Jaguares. Four losses from four this weekend will be the ugliest weekend of super rugby this year for our teams.
 
Xaviesta said:
Remember Saracens beat Munster in the semi final last year at the AVIVA. The venue didn't prove to much of an issue for Sarries and if the Scarletts are good enough, the venue shouldn't matter this weekend either. I'm going to pick Leinster vs Racing in the final. Congrats to Gloucester on qualifying the Challenge Cup final after they easily accounted for Newcastle 33-12 at Kingsholm.
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Scarlets won the Pro 14 final there against Munster (and won it well)
 
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