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Rugby OT - First Try
- Thread starter CeeCee
- Start date
OP
OP
My home side was lucky to avoid relegation this year. Lot of poor results but won a few big games
Lucky to finish as high as 6th. Our points for/against differential is horrendous.
Ouch, that's some season! What the hell happened in the second half against Bruff?
They got a yellow in the last quarter of the game, we edged ahead by a point and then got a last minute intercept try to seal the win. Huge win as they were chasing promotion and we were avoiding relegation.
I was at Leinster v Toulouse yesterday, thought Leinster were seriously impressive. They could have won by an even bigger margin. Going to be some final, because it was the same story for Saracens against Munster.
Saracens are a 'small' club and the fan base is certainly not vocal, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was at the Saracens Munster game and the amount of vitrol was unbearable; I thought I was at some sordid football match. Munster fans having heated arguments amongst themselves about keeping quiet during Saracens kicks. Persistent racist abuse. Reams of profanities aimed at players on the pitch and Saracens supporters, completely oblivious that rugby is meant to be a child-friendly environment. One Munster fan threw (what I can only assume was) beer over Saracens fans after a try was scored.
To cap it off a Munster fan ran on to the pitch to confront Vunipola, despite the players' outdated views, I don't think I've ever seen that happen in rugby and hope it doesn't happen again. So in summary, I would without question rather have a quiet fan base to complement a massively successful team on the pitch
One last point to add, the lack of any trains and several major road works made getting to Coventry from London a complete nightmare. Someone joked that it was quicker to get from the mid-west of Ireland.
It's going to be a good final.
I would have thought it pretty obvious what fans were egregious (Munster) and no I'm not going to repeat the vitrol directed to the likes of the Vunipolas, Itoje and Skelton based on their ethnicity from the fans in my vicinity.
I've never seen anything like this in rugby before
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I would have thought it pretty obvious what fans were egregious (Munster) and no I'm not going to repeat the vitrol directed to the likes of the Vunipolas, Itoje and Skelton based on their ethnicity from the fans in my vicinity.
I've never seen anything like this in rugby before
Well that's disappointing. Did anyone challenge them or make it known to the stewards? Had a similar incident in Lansdowne the other week where a Leinster 'supporter' starting hurling sectarian abuse at Ulster supporters, he was thrown out of the ground.
The fan confronting billy v was out of line, and that stuff you wrote about above is disgraceful and i hope anybody caught being racist gets lifetime bans. It is OK to boo billy v for his views, not ok to abuse him for his skin colour.
Why was the match played at the ricoh arena as home adv for saracens if sarries fans couldnt even make it? European rugby trying to test club fans wanting to attend matches with all these stupid ground changes
Why was the match played at the ricoh arena as home adv for saracens if sarries fans couldnt even make it? European rugby trying to test club fans wanting to attend matches with all these stupid ground changes
Well no, I don't think it is OK to boo Billy for his views actually.
Partly of course this is because it is very difficult to distinguish between boos for one reason and boos for any other reason. And booing for any reason at all gives fuel to those who want to boo for the "wrong" reason. And partly because this is a rugby match and the appropriate things to boo for, if booing is to be had at all, are things like foul play and dropping the ball over the goal line and dodgy refereeing decisions (and even then I'm not at all keen on booing referees).
But also, nobody should be booed for their views either. Folau was sacked (well, pending the hearing) not for his views but for breach of contract in the way that he expressed them and the medium that he used. Quite rightly too as I understand.
But it's important to have a sane perspective on this. I watched Squidge's takedown of Folau and have read some of the cheering afterwards, but I felt kind of uncomfortable about it because Squidge did not accurately characterise either Folau's views or what he said about them.
[insert appropriate disclaimer here, that I'm not trying to start some sort of flame war or anything]
Folau did not say (at least in this latest tweet, I don't know the history and am willing to be corrected) as Squidge characterised him saying that gays "deserved" to go to hell, or that gays are "subhuman" or anything like that. He stated, as a fact, that gays - and drunkards and various other things that I also am - will go to hell. It's nothing to do with what his personal judgment on gays, drunkards etc is, it is everything to do with what he believes from the Bible that God's judgment is. He's saying that regardless of whatever his personal feelings on the matter are, this is what will happen. I think he is wrong about that, and so I gather do most people here. But it is what he thinks - I've met loads of people like this over the years.
Now, that might seem an awfully fine hair to split, but it needs splitting. Because it is important
to not let our own characterisation of the harms we perceive to blind us to what's actually gone wrong. Otherwise, in extremis, we'll all end up as Donald F Trump.
[Insert another appropriate disclaimer here]
Meanwhile, I've introduced my English accountant to Squidge after he was somewhat upset that I turned up to see him last week wearing a Welsh shirt.
Problem now then is we are saying dont boo players on their homophobic personal views because some racists will join in and boo them for their own racist views, so fear of any racism should discourage calling out homophobia, which is the start of a very slippery slope. A
I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly didn't say anything. It was an incredibly uncomfortable environment. I just didn't know how that would play out.
I think the problem with the booing was the outright hypocrisy. Honestly I think Munster should be heavily penalised.
Each country has a 'home' venue chosen by the tournament organisers at the start, irrelevant of who the potenital teams are in the semi finals. It does make sense to a degree, but there needs to be a review of making sure that the venue is accessible. Munster would still have out-numbered Saracens, but I'm more worried that the experience has probably put off many people. I couldn't see myself paying a visit to Thomond Park anytime soon.
I think they announce the stadiums after the group stages are done.
It seems clear that they want to keep the money within rugby and will change the rules to do so. Allowing Edinburgh and Racing to play their semis in their home stadiums shows this. Previous semis have seen Leicester play at Nottingham Forest's ground so it wouldn't have been strange to see Edinburgh play a semi at Hampden but they let them play at Murrayfield because that is owned by the SRU. Racing are the main tenants at La Defense Arena but were given the right to play a semi there and of course Leinster have played many home games at the Aviva but are allowed to play home semis there because there isn't really an alternative.
It seems to me that Home semis should be at home grounds or at least up to individual clubs to find a suitable venue.
For Saracens they have a small stadium but a core support in London, it should have been easy to find a stadium in London to play the match, (even if that was Twickenham) rather than going up to the Midlands.
As my dad in law said to my wife before meeting me, dont trust any rugby guy outside the front row. I played prop until i was no longer big (fat) enough in uni when i switched to hooket :D
Think the venue of the semis should be picked on group performance, same as quarters, and if the stadium is too small then pick a bigger one in the same region
the teams are ot!! COYBIB
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Seán O'Brien, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Rhys Ruddock, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O'Sullivan, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O'Loughlin
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 David Strettle
Date: Saturday, May 11
Venue: St James' Park
Kick-off: 17:00 BST (16:00 GMT)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Pascal Gaüzère (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Seán O'Brien, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Rhys Ruddock, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O'Sullivan, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Rory O'Loughlin
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 David Strettle
Date: Saturday, May 11
Venue: St James' Park
Kick-off: 17:00 BST (16:00 GMT)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Pascal Gaüzère (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)
luke mcgrath, why didn't you just kick out for half time :(
billy v the difference today, try and 2 turnovers for sarries won them that match. Leinster, 3 attacks in the first part of the 2nd half and came away with no points, which you cannot do against this sarries team, need to keep the scoreboard going up.
Well done sarries, well deserved
billy v the difference today, try and 2 turnovers for sarries won them that match. Leinster, 3 attacks in the first part of the 2nd half and came away with no points, which you cannot do against this sarries team, need to keep the scoreboard going up.
Well done sarries, well deserved
OP
OP
What a bloody great game!
Billy was massive, and the Liam Williams turnover was definitely a turning point in the match.
Great performance by Sarries, so proud of them!
So, the Rugby Championship results are beginning to get me excited for the World Cup. Don't want NZ to win if three times in a row as it's just a little bit boring. SA got their mojo back in the last couple of years, Argentina look good. Think Wales are in with a decent shout, will be interesting to see what England and Ireland can bring after a slightly disappointing 6N.
I just wish Scotland didn't have Japan in the last game of the group stage. Wouldn't be a massive upset, but it would be massively upsetting...
I just wish Scotland didn't have Japan in the last game of the group stage. Wouldn't be a massive upset, but it would be massively upsetting...
Please don't say that... we're trying to stay under the radar.
Seriously though it does seem like the most open WC in a long while, although still with one clear favourite. It helps that NZ won't have a walk through the groups like they usually do; if SA can win that game it puts the ABs in the wrong side of the draw and anything can happen from there.
Wales are in the best position they've ever been, Gatland has been planning this for the last four years. Go for it!
Yeah we are either gonna be humbled by the hosts or we are gonna cause heartbreak for the hosts. The heroic draw at Twikenham gives me hope that we can go deep in the tourney, just need to learn how to start games better.
I think we can give everyone a game - however, we could also be abysmal at times. We have a high risk, high reward style of play that means when our moves come off we look incredible but when they don't we look awful. One thing I'm praying for is that Finn Russell doesn't get injured.
Is there a major tournament coming up? I expect at least 10 first team players to pick up freak horrific injuries in the next month or 2.
Yeah we know that, we just don't want anyone else to realise it! Bookies still have us behind England and Ireland as outright winners, which I'm more than happy about.
In terms of Wales' actual chances, I'm almost just as concerned about the Fiji game as I am about Australia. Partly because of recent form and partly because of when the games fall. Australia is our second game and first is against Georgia, so for a lot of the players it'll be their first run out. Playing Fiji third is a massive potential banana skin I think; they're on excellent form and they always have big players who could target some of ours who'll be on their third game by then. I wouldn't be surprised if no one got a clean sweep in that group to be honest.
I think a lot of fans are seeing more of these potential banana skins coming up - it shows that the gap between sides are closing which is good for rugby, if not for certain teams!
You're now (unofficially at the moment) Number 1 in the world. Well done.
Also, don't want to see any more injuries in the warm ups please!
Not too worried about the score line as long as we don't pick up anymore injuries. Wales are notoriously slow starters and this game means nothing at the end of the day...
Very true. I hate the warm ups - I understand that the teams need to get up to match fitness but all the time I'm simply praying we get through them without injuries.
The results this weekend were wild, Wales held onto the 1 ranking for how many hours only ? Rewatching SA v Pumas rn and whew this Ian a good team. Such an open RWC coming