There are no Irish teams in them, so hardly worth mentioning!
Might as well think about the Wee Cup too.
Bristol v Bordeaux
In a fight between Bears and Beagles, there can only be one winner, and I’m afraid it’s not the lovable hounds.
Racing 92 v Saracens
French home advantage to edge it.
Exeter v Toulouse
Probably another close one, but French inability to play away to lose it.
Toulon v Leicester
How did the Tiggers make it this far? They won’t get any further.
On the telly
Friday 25th September
| Bristol v Bordeaux | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 26th September
| Racing 92 v Saracens | 12:30 | Channel 4 / BT Sport 3 |
| Exeter v Toulouse | 15:30 | BT Sport 3 |
| Toulon v Leicester | 20:00 | BT Sport 3 |
Monday 28th September
| Harlequins v Wasps | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Tuesday 29th September
| Northampton v Sale | 17:30 | BT Sport 1 |
Wednesday 30th September
| Bristol v Leicester | 17:30 | BT Sport Extra |
| Exeter v London Irish | 17:30 | BT Sport Extra |
| Worcester v Saracens | 17:30 | BT Sport Extra |
Ovally Balls 
Oh dear Murphy
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Ta, TomP. He had good success with Connacht: took them to new levels (Pro-1x champs), playing a similar brand of adventurous rugby.
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Frank Murphy’s been promised a lifetime’s supply of cider.
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Maybe he’s the right coach for the plucky underdogs.
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Is it just me, or do the (English) commentators sound uncharacteristically biased towards Bordeaux?
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French lad gets carried off cos he can’t walk. French coaches claim an HIA.
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Olivier Roumat’s lad Alexandre carries on the tradition of being much more handsome than the old man.
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TomP – think this conversation came up a long time ago on AoD, and we decided that it was because successful sports stars tend to mate with women who are more attractive than they might otherwise get.
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Extra time!
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This is a proper semi-final.
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Lam coached unfancied Connacht to the league title, didn’t he?
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Comment on Lloyds advert: new one. I think that horse was maybe a Friesian; previous ads have used Arabians with the controversially over-dished noses.
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It appears that I’m inadvertently a successful sports star!
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Deebs – presumably your sport is Lunching.
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FAB try!!
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Great try! Saw the space and buuuuurned them!
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Ooh, nearly gave that away.
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Strangely I’m wearing a Bordeaux rugby shirt today, but it’s the ‘rugby’ shirt of their football club that I bought when I went to a game there 20-odd years ago. Makes me unsure who I want to win.
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Thauma, the sport is irrelevant, I married way above my rights. As most blokes will admit to, too.
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@Deebee – do you have an over-dished nose?
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That’s Bristol through, but they should have been penalised at that last scrum
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Now that you mention it CMW, I’ve been drinking Bordeaux blends all evening. And another Bristol try! Great pressure, good awareness, lovely hands!
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Another great try from Brizzle!
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CMW, not sure what that is!
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Arabian with a horrendously over-dished nose
I think we can all agree that’s wrong. Poor thing cannot breathe properly. Crufts effect.
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Bordeaux get the penalty, but how the ref didn’t blow for a forward pass in the build up only he’ll know.
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“It’s pretty boring”
“That’s coz its not Real Cricket.”
Nobody should let themselves be fooled into thinking Real Cricket is necessarily easy on the eye.
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@Deebee – I assumed it was the cauliflower ear of the professional Luncher.
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Normal Arabian horse:
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All Bristol victories should be celebrated with a photograph of a normal Arabian horse.
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Ah! No over-dished nose here. Can’t gallop like an Arabian pure-bread either. Can drink more wine than one though.
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I still stand by my opinion that this is the most handsome French rugby player ever:
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Mrs CMW definitely married me because of the cricket. All the evidence points that way…
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Very kind, CMW, but the professional luncher is identified by the spectacular girth of the midsection. So I’m told.
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Wonder if Refit is remembering to breathe during this……
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@BB – He’s already got the horse, what more does he need?
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Bristol’s defence had been very good in this extra time.
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Game over!
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And that’s it. Excellent response from Bristol after 13-0 down early on.
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Disappointed for the shirt, but pleased for the horse.
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I know I harp on about refs, but a prime example there, Bristol did an early drive and destabilised a scrum, no penalty and it leads to their winning try.
Bordeaux push early at the death of the game and are penalised.
I’d be really pissed off as a Beagle
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“We train to be fit”
Good man, Max Malins.
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Steven Luatua is the old guy with wisdom in a bar in a Hollywood film. His hair’s gone, though.
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Or here’s an extremely handsome horse with Arabian heritage who has a proper nose:
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Erm … very well done, Bristol! (Got carried away by the horse. Good thing they’re beasts of burden.)
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Marc Lièvremont was very handsome until they all did that ‘tache thing at the RWC in 2011
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(That was my horse, btw. All Thoroughbreds are descended from at least one of three Arabian sires.)
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*blogkill*
Let’s celebrate Bristol, and correct ATL predictions despite early worries!
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I wonder if Leicester might win too as Toulon were a bit shit against Scarlets.
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CMW – I’d be very surprised as Leicester have really been quite shit for the past season or two. Still, they have made it to the semis (ahem).
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