Quickly watched a replay of Lyon vs Wasps and Lei ster vs Toulouse.
The first game eminently forgettable, the second one a master class by les Bleus, dominated from start to finish. Well done!
Was at the game earlier. Good atmosphere. Was warm all afternoon and Leinster were far too hot for Toulouse. The Leinster pack was brilliant around the park, seriously impressive handling skills, and the backs all excellent, apart from Gibson-Park, who mixed up some magnificence with some horror plays.
I didn’t understand Toulouse’s plan for the game. The defence was cut apart again and again, the attack was toothless, the kicking game pretty bad. Maybe they were tired after last week but it was as if they’d not done any research on Leinster. Dupont was quite good, ended up at centre. They should have played him at outside half instead of Ntamack, who was desperately disappointing.
Villiere is some player! Sure, this was a relatively easy trot down the touchline, but he’s got gas, balance and awareness. Great half of rugby! That wasn’t too far off Test intensity.
They do, Ticht. Play some lovely heads-up rugby to turn defence or turnovers into attack. Doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s great to watch. Sarries are good enough to grind it out and score a couple of tries of their own, but if the match keeps up this unrelenting pace, I think they could be found wanting.
TomP, Odendaal, Simelane, Carlu Sadie and Tshituka, V all in one month. Think we need a new set of administrators who can attract the money that will keep our better players and attract others. Very sad.
I expected Toulon to lose rather heavily to Sarries. They arent even qualified for the T14 playoffs , with only 2 (3?) games left to play. Am quite surprised by the quality and the intensity they brought tonight. Villière is some player but Ollivon, back after 8 months, isn’t bad either.
Thoughts on yesterday’s rugby matches after watching the highlights of the games again. A completely neutral view, obviously* with no Saffer sides in it, but I thought, on balance, Liverpool did just enough to shade it, despite Chelsea having their moments. You have to feel for Mason Mount, but he’ll hopefully grow from the experience and come back a stronger player. Worried about Mo and Fabs, as well as the rest of the squad who are operating on adrenalin as much as anything.
* now I know how the Welsh/Scots/Italian fans feel!
Hoping for a great game this afternoon! AC/DC’s Thunderstruck booming away as the player take the field. Some aging plonker takes the ball onto the field.
And now they’ve lost it. Wow. Racing looked like they’d cruise the last 20 minutes. Now a couple of LAR penalties and they just need to keep the ball in the Racing 22.
That was crap. Wish I hadn’t watched it.
All-French games in the Hcup always seem to end up like this one. Poor decisions, poor handling, poor kicks…
LaR won’t repeat last year’s win vs Leinster, and certainly not with a place kicker as poor as West. Big scrum but that’s about it.
Gruesome game for a neutral. I hope to Christ Pearce is the ref for the final. Would expect La Rochelle to play rugby-dropsie to go after the Leinster scrum.
Watched the second half of today’s semi-final, pretty scrappy stuff though watchable as it was close. Pleased Leinster have made the final so it’s teams from different countries though I hope La Rochelle win even if Leinster play much the more entertaining rugby from what I’ve seen.
Shocked to hear that about The Cat, hope things are now working out OK for him.
Sorry to hear about the Cat….hopefully, he’ll make an appearance here soon….there’s been far too much rugby chat and not enough talk about obscure Korean horror movies (with “bewbs and stabbery”)
Only caught highlights of the Leinster game – Toulouse looked a bit gassed. In the La Rochelle/Leinster semi last year, Leinster were thoroughly beaten up upfront. I wonder have they fixed that? On the other hand, looking at the match results, West knocked over 5 of 6 pens and a DG – that seems completely out of character ( because of the O’Gara connection – La Rochelle get into the news here from time to time – and West seems like a 2 out 3 kicker at best normally)
I guess beating Toulouse comprehensively makes you favourites, but Leinster have struggled against big packs (and who doesn’t) in the past
Best wishes to Kitty, Refit. Seems like he is living in a horror movie of his own. Hope his recovery continues well, and the fillum ends happily with lots of aformentioned bewbs.
Trisk, Leinster have to be favourites, they look clinical and well oiled, altho to my mind they sealed off virtually every ruck on their own ball, without being penalised. I suspect that that this may have just been good ref management, as flopping on the ball by the French was penalised, and the Blue meanies seem to have perfected the art of the pseudo jackle flop, where by elevating the arse and sticking the head up as they dive flat on the ruck, they can lie almost completely prone and prevent counter rucking, whilst convincing the gullible ref that they are indeed not doing just that. Also, surely LaR must have a prop or hooker that can kick better than West, I probably could, and I can barely walk sometimes.
Yeah, I jumped from one thought my head to another without showing where I was going….
You’re right – he was poor yesterday but against Leinster last year he nailed 6 of 7 ( 5 pens and 2 cons plus a DG) – I’d imagine LaR will need a repeat of 2021 to put pressure on Leinster and gain rewards an assumed scrum dominance
Think West missed three out of four with a couple of the misses being struck rather badly. La Rochelle did also turn down a good few kickable penalties, no idea if they would have done the same if they had a better kicker, but they got a couple of tries (and yellow cards for Racing) out of it so I guess it worked out for them.
Racing of course missed a couple of longer range efforts of their own that I suppose might have changed things as either of them would have given them the lead.
Poor old, Cattykins. Horrible for him and his family. Hope he’s better.
CMW, Popelin missed the final conversion. He also had that earlier penalty miss from a bit inside his own half that fell one short. Both outside halves were flaky yesterday. Not too much of a hassle as they were on some kind of advantage but Russell went for a drop goal again (missed again). le Garrec looks good but will regret those two misses. However, he did throw an old-fashioned reverse pass from dodgy line-out ball. Much regret.
Ovally Balls 
Challenge Cup SF, Deebee: Toulon v Saracens.
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Toulon v Saracens in the little cup at 8pm uK time, Deebee
The FA Cup final is in extra time, no score as yet, it’s about to go to penalties by the looks of things
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Ahh, the old knee, you know
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Penalties it is
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4 all after five penalties
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Liverpool win!
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Quickly watched a replay of Lyon vs Wasps and Lei ster vs Toulouse.
The first game eminently forgettable, the second one a master class by les Bleus, dominated from start to finish. Well done!
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Storming start by Toulon!
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Thanks all! And a grand victory for Liverpool!
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This is a helluva match! Surely they cant keep up this pace for 80 minutes!
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Was at the game earlier. Good atmosphere. Was warm all afternoon and Leinster were far too hot for Toulouse. The Leinster pack was brilliant around the park, seriously impressive handling skills, and the backs all excellent, apart from Gibson-Park, who mixed up some magnificence with some horror plays.
I didn’t understand Toulouse’s plan for the game. The defence was cut apart again and again, the attack was toothless, the kicking game pretty bad. Maybe they were tired after last week but it was as if they’d not done any research on Leinster. Dupont was quite good, ended up at centre. They should have played him at outside half instead of Ntamack, who was desperately disappointing.
Dickson is a very strange ref.
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Not sure describing Villiere (sp?) as the “French Jack Nowell” does him any justice!
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Villiere is some player! Sure, this was a relatively easy trot down the touchline, but he’s got gas, balance and awareness. Great half of rugby! That wasn’t too far off Test intensity.
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When Toulon get it right they look very good.
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They do, Ticht. Play some lovely heads-up rugby to turn defence or turnovers into attack. Doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s great to watch. Sarries are good enough to grind it out and score a couple of tries of their own, but if the match keeps up this unrelenting pace, I think they could be found wanting.
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With the caveat that I’m almost inevitably wrong, so a 15 point win for Sarries.
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Deebee, check out the Currie Cup game from Loftus today, full of tries.
Oh, looks like Simelane’s opted wisely and is heading to PTA next season. Finally, he’ll get the chance to develop that youthful promise.
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Sublime!
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What a try!
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TomP, Odendaal, Simelane, Carlu Sadie and Tshituka, V all in one month. Think we need a new set of administrators who can attract the money that will keep our better players and attract others. Very sad.
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‘played Toulon, they were the better side.
Villiere was terrific
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That was a great match!
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Oh the three whingeing poms doing the post-match guff!
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I expected Toulon to lose rather heavily to Sarries. They arent even qualified for the T14 playoffs , with only 2 (3?) games left to play. Am quite surprised by the quality and the intensity they brought tonight. Villière is some player but Ollivon, back after 8 months, isn’t bad either.
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Just read about DCC. Merde!
Please Refit send him my best.
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Thoughts on yesterday’s rugby matches after watching the highlights of the games again. A completely neutral view, obviously* with no Saffer sides in it, but I thought, on balance, Liverpool did just enough to shade it, despite Chelsea having their moments. You have to feel for Mason Mount, but he’ll hopefully grow from the experience and come back a stronger player. Worried about Mo and Fabs, as well as the rest of the squad who are operating on adrenalin as much as anything.
* now I know how the Welsh/Scots/Italian fans feel!
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Yes, I’m bored. Trying to work in my hotel, but the wifi is awful. Tempted to head to the bar, but that will only lead to sorrow on the morrow.
What time is the rugby on? Soon I hope!
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Now, Deebs!
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Hoping for a great game this afternoon! AC/DC’s Thunderstruck booming away as the player take the field. Some aging plonker takes the ball onto the field.
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Thanks Thauma! Found it by mistake!
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Racing must be favourites now, back to full strength and looking the stronger side. La Rochelle didn’t take advantage of the two yellow cards.
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That said they’ve left a dozen or so points on the table.
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Both sides very error-prone.
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And now they’ve lost it. Wow. Racing looked like they’d cruise the last 20 minutes. Now a couple of LAR penalties and they just need to keep the ball in the Racing 22.
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Thauma, spot-on. Not a great game and then my feed goes with a minute left. Assuming LAR won.
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Yep, with a try at the death.
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That was crap. Wish I hadn’t watched it.
All-French games in the Hcup always seem to end up like this one. Poor decisions, poor handling, poor kicks…
LaR won’t repeat last year’s win vs Leinster, and certainly not with a place kicker as poor as West. Big scrum but that’s about it.
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Gruesome game for a neutral. I hope to Christ Pearce is the ref for the final. Would expect La Rochelle to play rugby-dropsie to go after the Leinster scrum.
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Watched the second half of today’s semi-final, pretty scrappy stuff though watchable as it was close. Pleased Leinster have made the final so it’s teams from different countries though I hope La Rochelle win even if Leinster play much the more entertaining rugby from what I’ve seen.
Shocked to hear that about The Cat, hope things are now working out OK for him.
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Sorry to hear about the Cat….hopefully, he’ll make an appearance here soon….there’s been far too much rugby chat and not enough talk about obscure Korean horror movies (with “bewbs and stabbery”)
Only caught highlights of the Leinster game – Toulouse looked a bit gassed. In the La Rochelle/Leinster semi last year, Leinster were thoroughly beaten up upfront. I wonder have they fixed that? On the other hand, looking at the match results, West knocked over 5 of 6 pens and a DG – that seems completely out of character ( because of the O’Gara connection – La Rochelle get into the news here from time to time – and West seems like a 2 out 3 kicker at best normally)
I guess beating Toulouse comprehensively makes you favourites, but Leinster have struggled against big packs (and who doesn’t) in the past
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Trisk – I think that stat is wrong/backwards – West missed nearly all of his kicks.
Leinster might survive up front if Furlong is fit. There was a very noticeable decline in the scrummaging prowess when he went off this week!
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Best wishes to Kitty, Refit. Seems like he is living in a horror movie of his own. Hope his recovery continues well, and the fillum ends happily with lots of aformentioned bewbs.
Trisk, Leinster have to be favourites, they look clinical and well oiled, altho to my mind they sealed off virtually every ruck on their own ball, without being penalised. I suspect that that this may have just been good ref management, as flopping on the ball by the French was penalised, and the Blue meanies seem to have perfected the art of the pseudo jackle flop, where by elevating the arse and sticking the head up as they dive flat on the ruck, they can lie almost completely prone and prevent counter rucking, whilst convincing the gullible ref that they are indeed not doing just that. Also, surely LaR must have a prop or hooker that can kick better than West, I probably could, and I can barely walk sometimes.
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Yeah, I jumped from one thought my head to another without showing where I was going….
You’re right – he was poor yesterday but against Leinster last year he nailed 6 of 7 ( 5 pens and 2 cons plus a DG) – I’d imagine LaR will need a repeat of 2021 to put pressure on Leinster and gain rewards an assumed scrum dominance
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Think West missed three out of four with a couple of the misses being struck rather badly. La Rochelle did also turn down a good few kickable penalties, no idea if they would have done the same if they had a better kicker, but they got a couple of tries (and yellow cards for Racing) out of it so I guess it worked out for them.
Racing of course missed a couple of longer range efforts of their own that I suppose might have changed things as either of them would have given them the lead.
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Or probably four out of five assuming he took the conversion after his try at the end as that can’t have gone over, not that it mattered.
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Trisk – actually I think it was me who’d failed to notice that you had changed subjects!
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Cat thanks everyone for their well wishes. If you’re on Twitter, he’s @drclawscat .
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Not on Twitter, but really happy Cat is doing better.
He seems pretty young for a stroke, shit.
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My mum had a stroke at the age of 25. And to make things worse she gave birth to me 18 months later.
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Poor old, Cattykins. Horrible for him and his family. Hope he’s better.
CMW, Popelin missed the final conversion. He also had that earlier penalty miss from a bit inside his own half that fell one short. Both outside halves were flaky yesterday. Not too much of a hassle as they were on some kind of advantage but Russell went for a drop goal again (missed again). le Garrec looks good but will regret those two misses. However, he did throw an old-fashioned reverse pass from dodgy line-out ball. Much regret.
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