Russell tho he may be the best attacking 10 in the NH is not the man for the lions. But then neither is Cips
Has Cips been kicking for wasps? Haven't seen a huge amount of club games this year. Saw his first game for Wasps and he was awful.
He was poor in the first game but he's been pretty good since.
With Gopperth in the side he hasn't kicked much.
Interesting kicking stats (though purely % based with no factoring of difficulty of kicks)
Cipriani:
Wasps 76%
England 82%
Career 74% (Wasps/Rebels/Sale/Wasps/Eng/Saxons)
Farrell
Saracens 84%
England 82%
Career 84% (Saracens/Bedford/Eng U20/Eng/Lions)
Ford
Bath 78%
England 66%
Career 78% (Leicester/Bath/Eng U20/Eng)
So (Welsh fans, just talk amongst yourselves) Champions Cup QF weekend.
Leinster v London-ish Wasps
Munster v Toulouse
Saracens v Glasgow
Clermont v Toulon
Trying to pick a possible away victory here but can't quite see it. I think Leinster will be too strong with all their internationals back for Wasps. Munster should be strong enough for Toulouse - but it's not foregone by any stretch. Saracens too strong for Glasgow who had a good group performance but were taught a few lessons by Munster. I'd love to be able to go to Clermont v Toulon. This will be a massive game. Passions will run high I'm sure.
Should be a good weekend of high quality European club rugby.
Really looking forward to #MUNvTOU - Thomond will be absolutely rocking for this one. The Champions Cup has been good for them so far this year.
If you want an away victory then Glasgow is your best bet IMO
However its not something I would bet my shirt on 😉 Or even a half sooked sweetie
No one gave them a chance of beating both Tigers and Racing home and away but not only did they beat them - they gave them an utter humping
If you want an away victory then Glasgow is your best bet IMO
Yes teej, of course.
toulon maybe then? Wasps are not going to beat leinster Toulose are not going to beat Munster. Glasgow have a chance against Sarries if not a big one
Townsend described it as the biggest game in Glasgows history. Unfortunately for Glasgow missing a few key players but they have a bigger pack than Sarries
Tactically it will be interesting as well. If Sarries control the ball they will win. Its up to glasgow to stop them doing so but if Glasgow get parity of possession Sarries will find they have never played a team who play like Glasgow with their ability to move the ball around at such pace and with such guile.
Farrell V Russell will be very interesting as they play in such different ways.
also remember in the six nations Russells place kicking was much better than Farrells
Only as good as your last game and I saw Farrell kick in windy conditions against Bath. He was very good and I'm no fan of his. It will be good, they were very impressive as a team admittedly playing a poor Bath team.
they have a bigger pack than Sarries
Maybe they do but bigger isn't always better. The Sarries pack are a pretty dominant unit, even without Kruis.
Much as I'd like to see Glasgow's style win the day - this isn't a disorganised Leicester or a totally lacklustre Racing92. Saracens have generally been better than everyone else in Europe for the last couple of seasons.
Bath had a pretty decent lineup last week and got totally thrashed. I can't see Glasgow getting too close.....
admittedly playing a poor Bath team.
Bath: Watson; Rokoduguni, Joseph, Tapuai, Banahan; Ford, Fotuali'i; Catt, Batty, Lahiff, Ewels, Charteris, Ellis, Louw, Faletau.
I'd love to see a poor team!!!
All I said was they had a chance and perhaps the best chance of an away win. Not that it was likely but I do so love "the Racing and Tigers were crap thats the only reason glasgow won" Glasgow completely demolished both teams in a way as far as I am aware no other team has done to them this year but scotland and the scots teams never win 'cos they play well only 'cos the opponents are crap
If Glasgow hit those heights again Sarries will have a tough time but I am not sure Glasgow can. Ickle jonny has been off the boil the last month or two, Bluto is a big loss and Selkirk pixie against Ashton might be a horror show. Still - Dancer is on cracking form right now and Glasgow should have a ginger tackle monster on the pitch
I predict a very tough game for Glasgow. Saracens are dominant again this season with impeccable game management; Glasgow are a mid table team with a couple of good results. On paper at least, it should be a walk over.
TJ, Tigers are crap this year, there's absolutely no doubt about it. They've saved their director of rugby and head coach mid season. They are being smashed up front and for the first half of the season, were also being destroyed in the remains of their backs! Glasgow ran in 43, but Munster did 38 and there's a fair few ap sides who've got try bonus points against them this season. It's been tragic to watch as a fan
However, as I've said (I think) 3 times in this thread Glasgow are playing very well, and are a joy to watch on song. I just don't see them out playing Saracens.
I reckon Saracens will have the biggest winning margin of the 4 QFs.
Wrecker - I should have said played poorly and some of that was down to Saracens not letting them play. By their own coaches admissions they had a very poor day.
I'm a Bath supporter not a Saracens one but they were impressive, even Ashton who I do not like looked a fine player, and Itoje is some physical specimen as well as being an absolute machine.
32 17
Was worried about Wasps, bit of a bogey team and on top form this year.
Leinster Munster for the final.
Ringrose sealed his place for the lions with that display. Very impressive
I wish Ireland played just a bit more like Leinster sometimes. There's a freedom and flow in their rugby that is missing from the green machine at times. Lancaster obviously enjoying the coaching there.
Willie dropped one!
Two very good wins from the Irish sides. I suppose both Wasps and Toulouse are rubbish this year?
speed speed and more speed forces your opponents to look poor as they have less time than they are used to thus make mistakes.
41 16
That'll do nicely.
And Ringrose is going on Ireland's Japan tour for WC prep.
You can take Dunbar, he's the best centre in the nh
And Munster dispatch Toulouse 41-16. A score which probably flattered Munster a little but they held fast in the third quarter when the game started to go against them somewhat, but should have finished the first half ahead by more than 4. Kilcoyne, Zebo and Ryan all had storming games.
Bizarrely, if Glasgow win, Munster go away to Murrayfield despite beating them both home and away in the group. If Sarries win, Munster host them at the Aviva. 😕
Has Zebo had his baby then?
And Ringrose is going on Ireland's Japan tour for WC prep.
Oooh, does that make him unavailable for Lions selection?
Gutted! 🙁
Gloucester v blues is turning into a really good game,20 all going into the end of the first half.
If only Matthew Morgan could tackle!!
I post on this thread but i'm only a casual rugby fan but morgan had a run midway through the first half that was a thing of beauty,made me think of Wales from the 70's:)
He does that all the time. Shame he made zero attempt to tackle Moriarty 5 mins earlier when Moriarty scored.
Nice to see Gethin Jenkins back and Cuthbert showing some form.
Talking of tackling and watching the adverts plugging the lions tour I can't see how the Lions can possibly have a defence that can stop the all blacks breaking through,if they offload and go around or just smash through I can see how the Lions can stop them,be interesting to watch,or maybe just painfull,hopefully the former.
Ta for that Micky3 - I watched the second half. good entertainment if not good rugby!
Seemed like a typical welsh side performance,competitive up to a point and then get overwhelmed ,wonder why that is? guess the French and English game has that extra 5% mental and physical toughness,doesnt seem to hinder the irish though,and i'm sure the welsh players have the same skill levels(as a non expert I think so anyway),just find it interesting why the welsh teams fail at the final hurdle in games.
Seemed like a typical welsh side performance,competitive up to a point and then get overwhelmed ,wonder why that is? guess the French and English game has that extra 5% mental and physical toughness,doesnt seem to hinder the irish though,and i'm sure the welsh players have the same skill levels(as a non expert I think so anyway),just find it interesting why the welsh teams fail at the final hurdle in games.
Money. Once the benches start to empty the quality drops off off a cliff and the lack of quality in certain positions in the starting 15's is more exposed. Blues player budget is about 5 million the English wage cap is £7.5 million with marquee players added on top. Irish prov teams and Scottish teams are harder to say but they certainly have better imports.
Its not the only answer tho AA - Glasgow are no richer than the welsh teams and the irish teams are a lot less rich than the top English and french teams
Glasgow are no richer than the welsh teams
Yes they are.
We all realise we can not compete in either the Pro12 or Europe when we are working on squad costs of £4m to £5m while the Irish and the Scots are at £6.5m to £7m and the English clubs are up at £8m. In fairness to the Welsh Rugby Union, they understand this.
Thats from the chairman of The Blues so could be taken with a pinch of salt but the basic point stands.
the irish teams are a lot less rich than the top English and french teams
This is true but they only really target getting high enough in the pro12 to qualify so the squads dont need to be as big as the dont have as many hard games.
Also in order to qualify for Europe all Glasgow need to do is beat Edinburgh so they can save resources in the pro 12.
Sunday Times has a piece today saying that Gnashton should be in the Lions squad. Picture of hime doing his godawful "Ash Splash" that drives the Library wild.
The picture opposite? A slightly better version of this,
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Big game for the Ospreys this arvo.
Was an article round this week with Tipuric talking about this being his first euro knockout game of his career.
Get the feeling they're gonna be a lot more up for it than last week's to to Italy.
Think they'll do it this time
North, Watson, Loopy Liam, Seymour, Daly, Maitland ( in no particular order) are all ahead of Gashton. He's no more than a decent international wing not worth taking a risk on imo.
Think they'll do it this time
You reckon? A team with their only full back in the entire squad at wing, a young 10 at full back, two slow 12's in midfield a decent 13 on the bench along with 3 blindside flankers whilst the starting 15 has two 7's. AWJ is a massive loss too. Still at least the tried and tested Ospreys tic tac of chuck it to Shane can be recycled with Keelan...they would have won last week had they just done that as much as possible!
15 Sam Davies
14 Keelan Giles
13 Ashley Beck
12 Josh Matavesi
11 Dan Evans
10 Dan Biggar
9 Rhys Webb (Capt)
1 Nicky Smith
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Brian Mujati
4 Lloyd Ashley
5 Rory Thornton
6 Sam Underhill
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Dan Baker
REPLACEMENTS
16 Sam Parry
17 Paul James
18 Ma’afu Fia
19 Tyler Ardron
20 James King
21 Olly Cracknell
22 Kieron Fonotia
23 Tom Habberfield
AA someone was talking about Ashton's scoring record on the radio the other night, it was astonishing. Something like three times anyone else in the Premiership. You did get the impression that other players think he is a bit of a jerk.
He does play for the best team though, he's good and would be good for The Lions but he's not worth the bitey, hair pulling risk.
Ashton has all sorts of staggering records but he'll always be a liability on the pitch and the last person you'd want to tour with
Considering how shit everyone in Saracens three quarters are, it is amazing how they manage to keep on winning.
Sarries winning margin equal to that of Munster's over Toulouse. I wouldn't have predicted that. 🙂
That's going to be a hell of game in Dublin.
