Pre-Ramble
And so it came to pass that the brave men of North London were vanquished by the dastardly Gallic hordes from Paris. Maidens wept as, with victory in sight, the dark sorcerer from beyond the Wall waved his spell and teleported the ball into the hands of a nefarious Argentinian who committed the most heinous of crimes and scored. All the brave fighting and sacrifice from these heroes undone in a second. All seemed lost. Sarries are doomed to smash lesser teams for many moons before being allowed back to play with the big boys. Who can stand up to the Scottish Wizard and his Parisian aristocrats?
Brave and mighty Rohan Exeter have answered that call despite the fact that they would prefer to dance on the graves of The Fallen whilst plundering their silverware. But that doesn’t fit my narrative so we’ll ignore it. They come seeking vengeance for their fallen kin!!!!
How do these teams compare? Who will win? Will it matter when the brave Londoners return from their exile to lay waste to all in their path? Let me make an uneducated guess … and copy some stuff from Wikipedia and other sites.
Racing 92
Quelle surprise innit, Teddy Thomas has been left out of the squad. Shirely this Try Scoring Machine is essential. I guess he must have Covid. In which case I wish him well but this is an unexpected gift to Exeter.
Elsewhere, Racing’s forwards (especially the tight five) are genuinely scary, as you would expect from a team in the European finals. They can compete in the scrum against anyone, and should lay a good foundation for the kids in the back seat.
We all know what Finn can do if given the opportunity and there is plenty of superstar strength, speed and guile (and cheating Irishmen*) outside him. Racing have a genuinely impressive team, and it is hard for this fan to find a chink in their armour. The only thing that I could think of is a highly cohesive team grinding them into the dirt….
Exeter
Mighty, mighty Exeter. Imagine them lining up on the hill, swords drawn, in full battle cry, riding down to trample the enemy…. Sorry, I got carried away there.
If anyone can stop Racing (apart from *sobs* Sarries) it’s them. They have brutal bastards up front and a game plan to crush teams into the dirt. They also have a high (the highest?) strike rate when in the opposition 22. If they can get into the ‘red zone’ enough times then they will win.
Their backs also have stardust with Henry Slade, Jack Nowell and Stuart Hogg CJ pleasing their way through opposition teams like Bruce Lee through a karate dojo or Joe Marler through some bollocks (or something).
The memory of love’s refrain
Prediction
Racing have the ability to strike in open play and I fancy them to get a couple of decent scores. I feel that they will have to play with a bit of structure to keep Exeter in their half, but that will be difficult against a team that typically like to keep hold of the ball. A lot rests on Finn Russell. If we see good Finn then it will be a close match and I fully expect him to pull out the jizz factor. Their Finishers also have buckets of jizz so I expect a late score or two.
Exeter’s key challenge is to maintain the fizzikality up front against the French team. Players like LCD, Jonny Gray and Dave Ewers need to pay out of their skin. Again, I expect them to do this. Later on I expect Hogg and/or Nowell to get onto the scoresheet with some well worked tries and the grown-ups start to get tired.
I hope it’s a belter, and these are two very good sides. I expect (want) Exeter to sneak it as they have the game plan for a final. It will be amazing if they do win given their journey. Similarly, Racing have been here before so I won’t begrudge them the win. If they do, it will be art over practicality, the rapier over the sledge hammer, Gallic joie de vivre over Anglo pragmatism. Probably won’t happen.
Final Score
Exeter 28 – 25 Racing 92
Teams
Exeter
Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (c), 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Ollie Devoto
Racing 92
Racing: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Louis Dupichot, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Henry Chavancy (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 3 Georges Henri Colombe, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Ali Oz, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Olivier Klemenczak, 23 Kurtley Beale
* Hehehe just channelling ExPro.
As foretold by Craigsman
On the telly
Friday 16th October
| Cheetahs v Bulls | 17:55 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Toulon v Bristol | 20:00 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 17th October
| Griquas v Pumas | 15:25 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Exeter v Racing 92 | 16:45 | Channel 4 / BT Sport 2 |
| Stormers v Lions | 17:55 | Sky Sports Mix |
Sunday 18th October
| New Zealand v Australia | 03:00 | Sky Sports Arena |
Ovally Balls 
Ridiculous,
Well done, Exeter.
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What a farcical way to finish the game – and nothing to do with any players.
But well done Exeter! I think deserved in the end.
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What a clock-up!
Congrats Exeter.
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BT Sport fuck up. Exeter don’t.
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Better goal-kicking wins the day.
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Fuck. Healey says the same thing.
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Many congrats to Exeter, and Slade
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I enjoyed that. Some very good rugby on display, both in attack and defence from both teams.
RM92 will regret their coach ‘s indecision about Iribaren. His thigh was slightly injured during the first minutes and he had a nightmare. But Machenaud wouldn’t last 80 minutes.
Brilliant from Exeter. I think England could use both Simmons brothers, they’re quite handy.
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Well………………………….R92s staccato style really doesn’t suit Exeter’s high speed, long passage pressure.
But, a win’s a win. Best two team’s in Europe – but interesting in that, in the fear of making mistakes a lot of mistakes were made on both sides.
Jo Simmonds is a pearl.
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……….and comiserations to Racing players – 3rd time not lucky.
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Flair
I was happy to see Irabiren playing – he is very dangerous but also hot and cold, a bit like Finn (and 2 like that is too many). Machenaud is a much better all-rounder in my humble…………………
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“hot and cold”
Does he PMS like a bitch and change his mind like a girl changes clothes?
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I’ve really got to find a way to stop The Little One singing that song at Nursery School.
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good idea……………………….
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It’s all her biggest sister’s fault. Possibly also Alvin and the Chipmunks. If in doubt I’m inclined to blame them anyway.
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children are often very revealing about their parents’ ways……………………..
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Exeter’s victory seems to be being celebrated by the return of Strictly Come Dancing.
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You’re just showing your age Slade. Parents are barely relevant now, it’s all social media.
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“As well as electing a new government, the ballot papers asked New Zealanders to decide on whether to legalise marijuana and euthanasia. The results of the referendum questions will not be made public until 30 October. Polling has suggested euthanasia looked likely to become legal, but support for legalising cannabis has cooled.”
Wonder what’s become of Suavo.
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Fuck yes. I wasn’t wrong.
Great result, and it wasn’t a grinding.
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Jacqui Smith is on Strictly. Presumably to remind me that I’m supposed to vote for people like Jacqui Smith again if only to get rid of Boris’ mob. Shit fucking world.
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Well done Exeter, hard luck 92, seemed like excellent game, worthy of a Cup Final.( I missed a lot of the first half tho). Thought Nige played quite well too, not too much nonsense at the set piece, play the ball if its playable. Also quite fascinating at the breakdown, which both teams seem to excel at. The odd howler, but far less than most refs, in my humble. The annoying grey area where a guy is clearly in a borderline legal lifting position, and either scoop/pats at the ball with one hand, or lifts the tackled player, before he has a chance to release and roll away, both purely attempts to win a penalty, rather than the ball, were pretty well managed today, and quite often this year I have been howling at the screen in frustration that another easy penalty has been won by a defending team.
Hope Exeter are a bit worn out by their exertions, so that Wasps ( or Bristol) have a decent shot at the title.
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I thought it was a very good match. Racing had the better of what I saw, but that was reflected in the scoreline. Their problem was they were 14-0 down when I switched on. Exeter’s grim attacking play that produces fantastic results did have the benefit of forcing Racing to push the boat out as they found themselves going behind in multiples of seven rather than three.
Nige had some big calls to make – I don’t like the yellow card and wasn’t sure about the turnover that effectively won the match. Agreed with Healey that Chat’s try should have been looked at again and probably ruled out, also thought on the replay that Exeter may well have been offside for the interception try (though that would never be checked). This is mostly nitpicking though – whoever managed to get over the line in such a close match would have been worthy winners and well done to Exeter.
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One of the songs from the Biffs new album – one of their non-jaggy ones.
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It’s always good to be surprised, BB, that is a beautiful song.
I really like it
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Aussies and Kiwis putting on a show again. O’Connor looks to the manor born. Who’da thunk it.
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Oooh, don’t kick the ball to Caleb Clarke.
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All Blacks doing that All Black thing again.
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Words Craigs! So: English clubs sweep the boards. Is this a sign that they have weak domestic league, so aren’t knackered for Euro competitions, or are they spending in creative ways, or is the English league so far ahead of the others that Euro comps are doddle? Discuss. Importantly, will this feel-good factor have a knock-on effect on the national side, the football sides and Eurovision, hte last mentioned obviously of critical national importance?
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Good sunny morning!
I thought R92s and Exeter’s forwards played quite similarly, especially near the try line. Boring R92 then!
Slade, Hogg, O’flaherty and to a lesser extent Whitten had poorish games – which is a massive credit to Imhoff and Zebo in particular – who both looked really fired up.
Great tussle.
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I suppose you need the confidence to back up the skill (and the other way round) but they’d lost Vakatawa and Zebo by the time of that last extended attacking sequence on the line, which may have meant Machenaud and Russell didn’t fancy the ball. Credit to Exeter’s re-alignment probably there mightn’t have been a clear advantage.
Racing did a lot of damage wide once they got their running lines sorted. Russell gave some lovely ball out. Unfortunately that horror pass in his own 22 was very costly.
I like the lad Hill for Exeter. He and Gray are trojans.
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Watched the NZ v Aussie highlights. Hannigan blasting through the tackles!
It’s a pisser because kick-off was horribly early European time and am too old to stay/wake up for it but I do like daytime games in NZ and Australia.
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My grand thesis is that Exeter 2020 play the same game as Ireland did in 2018. They’re just a scrumpy version of a Joe Schmidt side.
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Just checked and got it wrong. Vakatawa was still on in the last big attack.
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Obviously everyone attacks like that a bit and the better a team are at it the more they do it. It does seem to be a big part of what sets Exeter apart from other teams – of course they’re good at other aspects of the game too, but it’s the thing they’re best at. Being so good at it that it’s so successful they more or less no longer take kicks at goal really does accentuate it.
If anything why it’s stopped being so successful for Ireland is more of a mystery.
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re kicks at goal – agreed. Their tries are spread all along the line, not just under the posts and Jo Simmonds is at almost 100% conversion rate, which adds to your argument re: preferring line-outs near the 5m area.
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Ned Hannigan:
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Due to various interruptions, I only got to see about 60% of the Heino final. Congratulations to Exeter – they’re a well run club and a well coached one. Racing will probably feel they left it after them – twice they got back into the game… I loved Imhoff’s try. Whatever happened to a crafty drop goal….seems to have gone out of fashion (except in RL – I see Leeds snatched the win in the Challenge cup final with a DG)
For Racing, 2 pts wouldn’t have been much of a lead but it was the lead with mins left – having been behind for so long the switch must have to have been a boost for Racing and deflating for Exeter.
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Leeds did win with a drop goal, but they’d already missed one and Salford still got a very presentable chance to kick one themselves to tie it up again but dropped the ball the tackle before they presumably would have done so. I wouldn’t really describe anything in those last few minutes as crafty though Leeds did just about keep their heads better.
Overall Leeds were much better at the basic part of the game, taking the ball up (and stopping Salford from making ground when they had it) and kicking well to make sure most of the game was played in the opposition’s half. I was amazed Salford stayed in it, but they had the knack of finding moments to score and I guess they also defended well enough on their line to keep the Leeds score within reach. It was a shame they lost as they came up with the more inspiring bits of play and they’re not Leeds.
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@cmw
That Rhys Williams try was fantastic
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/rugby-league/54586672
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Found an embeddable version
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The danger of only reading headlnes….
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25 years a a few days since this match. Some great players for Wales RL there. Plus Martin Hall, the least Welsh person ever to captain Wales
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I don’t know – did any of the “Grannygate” group ever captain Wales RU?
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Charge, perhaps. Definitely culturally Welsh.
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Charge? CHARVO, you silly phone.
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He might have been Welsh by the time he did though.
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It would also be useful to know how not Welsh Martin Hall is. I realise he probably stood next to OT in an Oldham chippie at some point, but that’s not enough to go on.
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@cmw
Martin is a friend of a number of my mates. They all went on a stag do to Dublin just after he was appointed captain and he was getting ribbed about his lack of Welshness by everyone, so on the ferry he set up a semicircle of chairs with him at the middle insisting everyone interrogated him about his knowledge of Wales so he could prove everyone they were wrong. My mate Kev asked him to name as many famous Welsh people as he could. Martin replied “MAX BOYCE. NEXT QUESTION”.
He didn’t even mention Tom Jones.
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Martin also has a prodigious capacity for booze. His best childhood friend was Brendon who told me about the time when they were kids they went up to Uppermill on Whit Friday for the brass band contest and went around minesweeping everyone’s pints. The next morning Brendon was massively hungover feeling sick, but his parents were livid and insisted he got up do to his paper round. When he got back Martin was there playing on Brendon’s ZX Spectrum eating a bacon buttie feeling right as rain. And Brendon’s parent’s were being nice to Martin, but not Brendon.
Fred Hall (Martin’s dad) was also an Oldham rugby legend.
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