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Northern Hemisphere Rugby

Derpus

Derpus

Nathan Sharpe (72)
KevinO said:
Leinster, would be the most condensed team in the world. A few of the top French clubs are not quite as condensed but then they are topped up by foreign players.
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Guess I'm wrong then. Still feel like the NZ sides would be far too good but maybe that's just trauma.
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

Tim Horan (67)
Oh la la la, what a final round.

Castres, sitting in 8th, needed to win to get into the final 6, but were down 17-6 at HT. They pulled a ridiculous 2nd half comeback to steamroll Bayonne 17-28. Which should've secured them the final 6th spot on 62 points because over in La Rochelle, Racing 92 were getting spanked by Skelton's La Rochelle, leaving Racing 92 1 point behind Castres, on 61 points (Skelton put in a MotM performance). BUT Racing 92 stole a try in the dying minutes to finish within 5 points of La Rochelle, they still lost the game but got a losing bonus point putting them on 62 points with Castres. Mind you, all this is happening at the exact same time. Sadly for Castres, their PD was lower so they don't go through.

Toulouse as I said earlier already had their top spot sewn up. They sent in the juniors against Lyon, who actually did well and were leading 12-21 at HT away in Lyon but experience showed for Lyon and they lost 40-28. Lyon has had a very disappointing season and finish in 11th.

In the battle of 2nd and 3rd, Stade v Toulon, Stade just came out on top 23-20, meaning they secured a home semi final and skip the prelims.
Toulon slipped to 4th and now have a home prelim but have to battle 5th placed La Rochelle, so no easy feat. I have no idea how this game will go, if it was in La Rochelle, I would tip them, but maybe at home, I have to go Toulon but my previous week's predictions were useless so..

Bordeaux had a huge victory over relegated Oyannax but lost Matthieu Jalibert to a thigh injury in a pointless game.. was it worth it? Bordeaux finish 3rd, so now play the very lucky Racing 92 in Bordeaux. You'd think even without Jalibert, Bordeaux will be fine.

Also, in what turned out to be dead rubber Pau demolished Perpignan, with Maddocks scoring a try and Reece Hewat being selected in the TotW along with Skelton.

Prelims:
Toulon v La Rochelle
Bordeaux v Racing 92

Final Ladder:
1718084058025.png
 
S

Steve_Grey

Darby Loudon (17)
KevinO said:
I find it hilarious that the bottom team even had 7 wins, compared to 2 wins in Super rugby.

Oh look, 26 rounds so everyone played home and away.
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That's a tough schedule, as they play European games as well - and a proper competition finish with only top 6 going through and top two getting a bye.

Did Provence secure promotion? Once again - a proper competition where coming bottom of Pro 14 actually counts for something (relegation), and the top of Pro D get promoted - that's a reason to keep playing until the end.

And they fit this all in with scheduling that accounts for internationals - how do they do that.
 
KevinO

KevinO

Geoff Shaw (53)
Steve_Grey said:
That's a tough schedule, as they play European games as well - and a proper competition finish with only top 6 going through and top two getting a bye.

Did Provence secure promotion? Once again - a proper competition where coming bottom of Pro 14 actually counts for something (relegation), and the top of Pro D get promoted - that's a reason to keep playing until the end.

And they fit this all in with scheduling that accounts for internationals - how do they do that.
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Season starts in October and finishes in June.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love a job with 6 months holidays a year like 75% of Australian players.
 
S

Steve_Grey

Darby Loudon (17)
KevinO said:
I find it hilarious that the bottom team even had 7 wins, compared to 2 wins in Super rugby.

Oh look, 26 rounds so everyone played home and away.
Click to expand...
Just looked at the Pro D2 Table - they play 30 matches each (home and away). That don't impress me much....
 
KevinO

KevinO

Geoff Shaw (53)
Steve_Grey said:
Just looked at the Pro D2 Table - they play 30 matches each (home and away). That don't impress me much....
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Yep, and D3 pays 100k euro a season. Promising Vic kids were already looking at that as an option before the Rebels were cut. Now it's a certainty for all young forwards to go abroad.
 
KevinO

KevinO

Geoff Shaw (53)
Dctarget said:
such a good argument for having smaller stadiums. The vibes look amazing at La Rochelle and Toulon yet they don't get much more than the Reds. The secret is small stadiums*.

*and having billionaires fund your team.
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1718164159412.png


Stadium is to small for La Rochelle, the whole town wants to attend every game these days.
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

Tim Horan (67)
Don't like it at all. France did it to us, kinda fine with it. But this is getting silly now. That was going to be an amazing tour. Also, better win a bloody world cup if you do this. Top 14 needs to be reined in if they do this.
 
Derpus

Derpus

Nathan Sharpe (72)
I honestly think this has the opposite effect. They are less likely to be able to beat NZ/SA in a world cup match if they dont get some practice in beforehand. As seen in the last RWC where they were hilariously crowned pre tournament and didnt even make the final.
 
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