It’s the play-offs for both the URC and the English Premiership. As Ulster v Munster kicks off shortly, I shan’t waste any more time.
Onna telly this week
Friday 3rd June
| Ulster v Munster | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 2 |
Saturday 4th June
| Bulls v Sharks | 12:45 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Gloucester v Saracens | 15:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Northampton v Newcastle | 15:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| Leinster v Glasgow | 15:15 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Stormers v Edinburgh | 18:00 | TG4 / Premier Sports 2 |
Ovally Balls 
Stormers sneak past the Bulls in what was apparently an error-strewn final. At Heathrow, so missed it. Week in London has simply flown past, had an amazing time in a wonderful city. It has, however, got very expensive since I was last here, currency fluctuations notwithstanding.
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Possibly because I was in central London for the most part, but prices seem to have soared since I was last here six years ago. Got quite a shock.
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Deebs – was too miffed to watch the final.
Last time I was in That London was I think a blog meet-up, probably about 5 years ago. We were astonished that we ordered one beer and one glass of wine in a pub (not during the meet-up) and a tenner wasn’t enough. Probably 20 isn’t enough now.
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Another dreadful T14 SF.
Mind you, the final might be even worse as it will be Montpellier vs Castres. Expect the final score to be a multiple of three.
Ach…
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Deebee, it was a good game. Ferocious competition as you’d expect between those two. There was a lot of rain about and the Cape Town Stadium pitch was cutting up horribly, which had a big influence on the game. Lots of dropped ball and loads of slips before kicks made. The Bulls played better in the first half but the Stormers dominated the second. Louw vs Roos was a terrific sub-plot; both played very well but Roos had a decisive impact in the 2nd half.
One side note, the hookers at the end of the game were Bismarck du Plessis and Andre-Hugo Venter. One was the Grey Bloem hooker in 2002, the other the Grey hooker in 2019.
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The English final was, um, tense. Watched it on ITV4 or something. The commentary would have made one think the Premiership was the best league in the world.
The two cards, as everyone’s noted, should’ve been red. There’s a framework that anyone can access and Barnes just made stuff up that isn’t there. Or maybe the framework should be updated.
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To be fair to ticht, I looked at the league table and Bath were bottom so there’s a case for the English league being the best in the world. Unfortunately, no relegation.
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I started to write a long treatise on why the Prem is currently the most enjoyable league, but I lost interest whilst watching the Top 14 semi final.
The very short version is that the URC is dominated by Leinster 2nds, though the SA teams have now put an end to that, they are a welcome addition.
The bottom half of the URC would have all been worthy of relegation this year
The Top 14 is dire, apart from a couple of games involving Teddy Thomas, it’s a tough slog for the teams and it shows.
The Gallagher Prem has a good mix of quality and entertainment, though the bottom four sides could easily be culled right enough, so it’s not across the board.
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btw, I never said anything close to claiming the English league was the best in the world, just from the three I have access to it is the least bad and has a greater number of entertaining games across the season.
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Thauma – £6.60 for a pint in most pubs around where I was. Dinner for two (mains, no dessert and a drink each) never under £50. Sometimes over £80!
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Madness!
There will be a new post in about 15 mins or so….
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New post
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