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Northern Hemisphere Rugby

Z

Zonker

Frank Row (1)
Dctarget said:
You thought you could have a rest from rugby after being inundated with it during the EoYT? You thought you could watch some cricket or spend time with your wife? You idiot Jeremy!
View attachment 20868

Euro Rugby Champions Cup starts this weekend!

Woo!

Games to watch of R1:

Bath host La Rochelle
This is not the Bath of recent years nor is it the La Rochelle we know. La Rochelle are deservedly 6th in the T14 and have not been near their past juggernaut form. Finn Russell should lead Bath to victory over Skelton's team in what looks like an upset but shouldn't be.

Sharks host Exeter
Same story goes here but worse. Sharks on the up, Exeter worst season in a decade. I predict a Durban beat down.

Saints v Castres
Very different teams, Saints are pretty flashy but unreliable, Castres are like Sione's Grandma's porridge, stodgy, uninteresting but will get you through. I think Castres should have the Saints here.

Stormers host Toulon
Will be the proper test to see how SA teams stack up against Toulon who are probably tied 2nd for best team in the Top 14. Tough away game, also not sure on the permutations but could see Toulon throw out a bunch of rookies. But if they roll out their top team I think Toulon should get it done.

Saracens host Bulls
Saracens had a shock loss against Newcastle last week, who were predicted to go winless this season. Perhaps that was because they had eyes on this match, dunno. Bulls have three wins from their last 5, sitting in the top three of the URC. I think home ground advantage should nudge the game towards Sarries.

Bordeaux host Cheika's Tigers
Look, Bordeaux should dispatch the Leicester boys easily, but I have a soft spot for the semi Aussie team and I wanna see Perese run over the petulant Jalibert.

Glasgow host Sale
The battle of the North (sorta)! Honestly don't know, call it 50-50. Apparently Glasgow are $1.40 to win which is pretty impressive.

Bristol host Leinster
I really hope this is closer than the bookies have it. But Bristol just don't have the star power to take on Leinster, 10 point loss.
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Ignorant of me not to know, but where are these broadcast?
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

Tim Horan (67)
Congratulations to Pete Samu, named in Opta's team of the week at #8 for the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Scored two pretty classic Samu tries, good speed and being in the right place, not quite bruising runs through the middle. Beyond the flashy stuff I didn't notice too much from him.
 
Wilson

Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
Seeing as Japan are technically in the north this may as well go here:
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x.com

x.com x.com

I considered posting it on the wallabies thread and making a joke about Eddie taking over from Schmidt if he does leave after the lions series, but just the thought of it made me sick.
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

Tim Horan (67)
Irae Simone is starting at flyhalf for Clermont in a bold choice against Leinster tonight. He’s yet to really deliver but I doubt playing at 10 will solve that.
 
S

Steve_Grey

Darby Loudon (17)
Watched La Rochelle beat Bristol easily - Will Skelton really suits their style of play, with him hammering down the middle and then stretching the opposition out wide.

La Rochelle have several lineout options so his physical ground game is well utilised.
 
S

Steve_Grey

Darby Loudon (17)
In the Saints vs Bulls game, Northampton really touched the Saffas up - Pollock at #7 was outstanding, and still has next year in England U20s I think.
 
LevitatingSocks

LevitatingSocks

Darby Loudon (17)
Wilson said:
Seeing as Japan are technically in the north this may as well go here:
View attachment 20906

x.com

x.com x.com

I considered posting it on the wallabies thread and making a joke about Eddie taking over from Schmidt if he does leave after the lions series, but just the thought of it made me sick.
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Eddie has shown who he is as a person over and over again.

The juice might have been worth the squeeze when he could deliver results, but if he's past it as a coach then what does he have to offer besides negativity?
 
The Ghost of Raelene

The Ghost of Raelene

David Codey (61)
Has EJ (Eddie Jones) ever coached a team to be better than it's parts? I tend to think he does the opposite and that's not recency bias. A great coach is someone who can do this.

A Mortlock intercept and the Japan upset over SA is it. Some coaches would kill to have had the squads and player pools he's inherited/had access to.

He's played the game well. You'd think his brashness and outright ass hole demeanour would ruin him but it keeps his name in mouths and an assumption of relentless pursuit of excellence. He also comes across as extremely condescending which unfortunately does have people believe he knows more than you so you shut up.
 
Dctarget

Dctarget

Tim Horan (67)
Steve_Grey said:
Watched La Rochelle beat Bristol easily - Will Skelton really suits their style of play, with him hammering down the middle and then stretching the opposition out wide.

La Rochelle have several lineout options so his physical ground game is well utilised.
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Yeah MotM performance. That was a dominant performance from La Rochelle who've been struggling.

I enjoyed watching some of the english teams get up against the Saffas. Good work to Cheika's Tigers who did an absolute beat down of the Sharks and same for the Saints, didn't expect that.
 
Strewthcobber

Strewthcobber

Simon Poidevin (60)
The Ghost of Raelene said:
Has EJ (Eddie Jones) (Eddie Jones) ever coached a team to be better than it's parts? I tend to think he does the opposite and that's not recency bias. A great coach is someone who can do this.

A Mortlock intercept and the Japan upset over SA is it. Some coaches would kill to have had the squads and player pools he's inherited/had access to.

He's played the game well. You'd think his brashness and outright ass hole demeanour would ruin him but it keeps his name in mouths and an assumption of relentless pursuit of excellence. He also comes across as extremely condescending which unfortunately does have people believe he knows more than you so you shut up.
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I broadly agree, but think this underplays the achievement of England in 2016/2017. 18 wins in a row.
 
Sword of Justice

Sword of Justice

Arch Winning (36)
Strewthcobber said:
I broadly agree, but think this underplays the achievement of England in 2016/2017. 18 wins in a row.
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I think it’s somewhere in the middle. That squad of players was priming and had some of the world’s best at the time. He also had the benefit of a hugely favourable lead in and the time to study every detail for the rwc. Not many coaches get that. He was probably at his peak and beat an NZ team that was in the middle of a big turnover of players in the semi.
 
LevitatingSocks

LevitatingSocks

Darby Loudon (17)
The Ghost of Raelene said:
Has EJ (Eddie Jones) (Eddie Jones) ever coached a team to be better than it's parts? I tend to think he does the opposite and that's not recency bias. A great coach is someone who can do this.

A Mortlock intercept and the Japan upset over SA is it. Some coaches would kill to have had the squads and player pools he's inherited/had access to.

He's played the game well. You'd think his brashness and outright ass hole demeanour would ruin him but it keeps his name in mouths and an assumption of relentless pursuit of excellence. He also comes across as extremely condescending which unfortunately does have people believe he knows more than you so you shut up.
Click to expand...
Eddie comes across as someone who gets a temporary bump in form out of players by turning the screws and putting the pressure on. It's not sustainable but can give a good run of form. If he plays his one card trick and it doesn't work, then I don't think he offers anything these days tactically.

It's analogous to Gatland and his obsession with outworking the opposition. If his teams work harder but still can't beat the opposition, then he doesn't appear to have answers.
 
Tazzmania

Tazzmania

Bob Loudon (25)
Looks like the Northern Hemisphere doing it tough too:

Zebre Parma stand on the brink of oblivion

The Federazione Italiana Rugby will decide Zebre Parma’s future in a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but it seems the struggling franchise will close its doors next June.

READ MORE
 
Highlander35

Highlander35

Steve Williams (59)
Tazzmania said:
Looks like the Northern Hemisphere doing it tough too:

Zebre Parma stand on the brink of oblivion

The Federazione Italiana Rugby will decide Zebre Parma’s future in a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but it seems the struggling franchise will close its doors next June.

READ MORE
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There's a lot of shit you can throw on the NH but this is something the FIR would have wanted for a very long time: Zebre was built to ensure they had two teams after Aironi collapsed 12 years ago, and they resisted having two teams essentially of top of each other for a very long time: Treviso and Padua, where Petarca is based, are both within Veneto, as compared to Parma and Viadana where Zebre and Aironi have been based.
 
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