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Maybe he wants to counter-attack seeing as Scarlets are doing well with a more old skool Wales game that warrenball. Patchel made at least one try and gave one away. 1/2p would have done neither
talking of which - come on Scablets. It would be nice to see a Welsh team thru and Scablets play some lovely rugby. Seeing as Exceter and Glasgow were pathetic this yer in Eurtope I wnt a team thru who play attack attack attack
snaps - MemberChiefs had 11 handling errors in thirteen minutes at one point
How many of them forced by Glasgow denying them time and space?
AA - just realised I got Patchel and Preistland confused so my post makes no real sense. 😳
It still make sense TBH. Patchel is a real talent
On the subject of Priestland, he's out of the 6n's I think.
Not seen any rugby today, looks like Sarries gave Northampton a bit of a smashing!
Great stuff from Scarlets. Thought the Toulon bench was going to win it!!
On the subject of Priestland, he's out of the 6n's I think.
Yeah he's done his hammy
Exciting stuff. My heart rate is 19 to the dozen.
Well done Scarlets. they have deserved that and its so nice to see a team who plays like they do go thru.
Looks like Biggar might be out too.....gives someone a chance I hope its Patchel rather than Anscombe
Edinburgh seem to have reverted to the softies of last year. 12 nil down after 8 mins in a quagmire in France
My first chance to watch the Scarlets play today - very impressed!
Hamishthecat - surely a Glasgow fan with that name?
I have a cat. His name is Hamish. 🙂
Does Dolman ever pass. Chiefs my favorite English team but they've got two backs that just never pass (well).
Really enjoyed the Scarlets game today; they played some great rugby and were brilliant at the breakdown. I thought Toulon were going to nick it as it got a bit niggly and Scarlets started to give away penalties.
Shame Exeter blew it. Not looking good for the English teams.
Wales getting hit by injuries.
Scabs are playing the most attractive rugby of any team anywhere at the moment. It's lovely to watch.
Apart From Glasgow CFH? the tries against Exeter where things of beauty
Its certainly good to see a team playing positive rugby being rewarded. there has definitely been a shift in recent years away from safety first do not lose stick it up your jumper and kick the ball away rugby which is great
So after the PRL tried to make qualification easier for the ap teams and caused huge fuss in doing so the ap teams are still not able to get into the quarters despite budgets way in excess of the pro 14 teams what will be the excuse now? I'll bet that there is agitating to further handicap the pro 14 teams with cries of " its not fair" from the prl
Pretty sure that debate has been done to death hadn't it? AP is arguably the most competitive league in the world. Other than London Irish pretty much every team is capable of beating each other on their day. Top 3 are obviously a bit of a class above, but other than that most of the league are competing for the remaining spots in the champions cup. Pro 14 just isn't that competitive. I find it interesting that Glasgow (great league form) and Exeter (champions and leaders) have both struggled in Europe....smaller squads maybe so some of the players are just getting flogged? Could also make the case about Sarries.....some of those players played the European final, then lions tour, then autumn internationals....they must be ****ed!
Sale have the same spend as most of the Pro 14, so when it comes to Europe we have to send out any team we can cobble together as we have a small squad....some of our guys have played about 20 games this season already!
Obviously a GAA fan running the traffic twitter updates today. 😆
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Tom B - very arguable that one. Thats what the ap fans say but IMO it ain't any more true than it is for the pro 14.
Why have Glasgow done so poorly this year? Hard to say. Small squad is no excuse - they have a nice big squad of competent players and last year thrashed some big clubs in the Euro cup. Tough group and not outclassed in any game but lost the first 5 by small amounts. Injuries didn't help
Why have the aP teams done so poorly this year? My view is twofold. One that the game has moved on in the pro 14 and French leagues so that a more " nothing venture nothing gain" / "attack from anywhere" style is doing better ie Scarlets, Exeter winning the leagues last season and also the breakdown changes. The AP teams seemed to decide at the beginning of the season that there was no point contesting breakdowns anymore so stopped doing it. Caused no issue when playing another team of the same view but when they got into Europe they came across teams still contesting the breakdown so the english clubs ended up with rubbish ball under pressure on their ball and lost turnovers but at the same time just conceded every defensive ruck to the attacking side. S the AP teams always have rubbish ball to work with, their european opponents good ball
Sale have the same spend as most of the Pro 14,
Is this an opinion or do you have info to back it up?
Its difficult to know exactly what the pro 14 spend is. Glasgow cost 7.5 million to run a year but that includes all backroom staff and pitch prep etc as well as coaches and IIRC travel. Welsh teams have 4 million for players but also some central contracts on top of that but that does not include backroom staff.
From plenty of discussions around this the best bet is the top pro 14 teams have around 5 million or a bit more to spend on players each year, the worst off around 3 million or a bit more.
I very much doubt sale are that cheap. Is the salary cap not 7 million?
Wasps giving ulster a bit of a doing and attacking every breakdown winning turnovers.
Its difficult to know exactly what the pro 14 spend is.
Leinster: €758m
Munster, Connaght, Ulster: €500m-ish
Glasgow,Edinburgh: £7500
Welsh Regions: £3 each plus whatever they raise in their club raffles.
From what I can make out, Champions Cup latest, unless Munster squander a 41-3 lead in the last ten minutes (in which Earls and Zebo have been both excellent).
Leinster v Saracens
Clermont v Racing
Munster v Toulon
Scarlets v La Rochelle
Semi-finals:
Leinster/Saracens v Scarlets/La Rochelle
Clermont/Racing v Munster/Toulon
My view is twofold. One that the game has moved on in the pro 14 and French leagues so that a more " nothing venture nothing gain" / "attack from anywhere" style is doing better ie Scarlets, Exeter winning the leagues last season and also the breakdown changes
Hmm, not sure you can say that about the French teams other than La Rochelle. They still seem to be very size / power oriented.
I think the management of the players in England is nowhere as near as good as it is in Ireland. Mako looks knackered...Sarries looked shattered come the AP final last year. There are other things too, Scotland have a very good crop of players at the moment and they're spread over two teams. The English internationals are spread over more teams and they're inconsistent this year. Look at Saints; they're having a bad season but are still above to get one over on a fancied team one week and then get dicked the week after. Wasps should have been through but they have a soft underbelly and lack leadership and blew a 21 poultry lead last week.
They could just be having a bad season with injuries, player butnout etc, whilst other teams are having a better season.
And the breakdown which is a huge source of frustration for me at the mo.
I do think attitudes to the breakdown have been a huge part of it. Wasps today attacked the breakdown hard and won the game handsomely. Other Enghlish teams I have watched have not attacked the breakdown at all. I think the AP teams seemed to have decided that it no longer was worth attacking the breakdown but when they play a team who does they got hammered as all their ball was poor and all the oppositions good.
Glasgow were well beaten in the euro cup tho this year despite running away with the league and good results last year. I can see no real reason for that.
Leinster V Sarries pick of 1/4 finals for the neutral, not sure I wanted Munster to get the bonus point yesterday - I think La Rochelle may have been the better option.
For those Scots worrying about a shortage of hookers if it gets really bad you should look at Ealing's Alun Walker, top try scorer this season and last after a couple of seasons plagued by injury.
a_a Steve Diamond (Sale dor) suggested recently in an interview that they were about 2m under the Prem budget cap. They're one of 3 teams that are under the budget cap. I can't find the link to the interview now, but it was a few weeks ago....he was talking in relation to having the funds to bring in a 10 if needed as AJ McGinty is out for at least 3 months.
so as much money for players as the richest pro 14 teams then? Certainly as much as Glsagow and probably more than the welsh
They're one of 3 teams that are under the budget cap
So more than the welsh regions then?
Anyway in good news Tandy has been sacked about ****ing time!!!
That's my point though. Yeah Sale have a similar budget to the top Scots teams, but look at the size of our squad. We have to put out the strongest team possible every week in the Prem. Whilst finishing top 6 is always the target/an outside possiblity, we're also only ever 2/3 bad results from getting relegated....how the hell can we hope to compete in Europe?! In the Pro 14 you're guaranteed to be there next year. Even if you weren't you'd basically have to be less shit than Zebre/Southern Kings to stay up!
I'm not saying other factors aren't to blame, but the amount of rugby all players with English teams play, especially the top players is way more than with the other home nations.
TomB - how big is the squad?
As predicted - English clubs doing badly in Europe gives rise to cries of foul. What do yo want to do to handicap the pro 14 teams more? the PRLs attemts to make it easier for their clubs has shown not to work.
the real issue is in the pro 14 the game is moving on and leaving England behind. We play a faster more attacking game and we look after our players better.
Sarries have at least twice the funds of any Pro12 team
how the hell can we hope to compete in Europe
You cant but then you dont really sit at the top table in your country whereas Edinburgh and Glasgow are at the top in their country and thats kind of how the euro competitions work
Well it's not hard for Edinburgh or Glasgow to sit at the top of Scottish rugby is it?! 😆
Exactly! But the point stands. If Sale struggle in the aviva they are going to certainly struggle in the euro comps. It would be like me getting upset that the Dregs are shit in europe
Probable Scotland team for the 6N
1) Shrek
2) Rambo
3) Angela
4) Toolbox
5) Ickle jonny
6) Batman
7) Hamish Frae The Glens
8 ) Barcs
9) Frodo
10) Dancer
11) Tennessee Tam
12) Taylor
13) Who Jones?
14) Kinghorn / the selkirk pixie
15) Didier Hoggba
Tom B - MemberWell it's not hard for Edinburgh or Glasgow to sit at the top of Scottish rugby is it?!
NOpe - but its ruddy hard to sit at the top of the pro 12
Can we have them with real names. Especially the front five as I reckon that Wales best/only hope of winning is to smash the scrums.
Aye tricky that Pro 12, sometimes seems like there's a couple of extra teams in it. 😀
That is their names! Or do you mean the names their mothers call them?
Gordon Reid
Stuart McInally
Jon Welsh
Ben Toolis
Jonny Gray
Ryan Wilson
Hamish Watson
John Barclay
Laidlaw / Price
Russell
Seymour
Duncan Taylor
Huw Jones
Blair Kinghorn / Lee Jones
Stuart Hogg
Its a guess at the team. No one can really outguess Townsend tho - always a surprise somewhere. Does he play Laidlaw for his experience and fantastic pass or Price for his speed around the breakdown? Can he find a place for Kinghorn and Hogg?
Considering the injuries / suspensions thats not a bad front row but its the subs that is the real issue. Back row is really anyones guess. does he go for someone a bit bulkier? Du Preez or Denton? Got to be Barclay and Watson tho and Wilson appears to be a toonie favourite. Centres Nick Gregg looks a very handy player and Bennet is back laying and looking sharp
AA
I think if Scotland can gain parity or near to it in the scrums then Wales will struggle - especially if they kick away every ball they get in their own half as Scotland will look to counter attack off every kick reception. Wales will need a very good kick chase and a well organised defence to stop the scots attack. The scots backs are looking very sharp indeed.
That Scots front row is not bad given the injuries / suspensions but the subs are distinctly below par. Big Ritchie appears to have a minor calf issue so not available for the first match
I think if Scotland can gain parity or near to it in the scrums then Wales will struggle -
I agree our only hope is that the Scarlets front row have held their own or been better than all comers this season