Heineken Cup 2020/21

[wixfjord]

Only one other TBP win in our 'pool' this weekend (Wasps).

There were 5 in the other pool with Munster still to come.

Puts us in a very good position with two home games and Northampton away to come.

Wasps & Bordeaux both looking good to get into the top four also.

[Serb]

I think at this point you’d have to back us for 20 points with Northampton sounding like they’ve given up on the competition.

I think Munster’s lack of a bonus point tonight puts them out of the running for a top seed position, a chance we could end up with two legs against them in the quarters.

[riocard911]

Thought Connacht did very well and showed a lot of heart to not get blown away by Finn and the Dicky-bows. They got lucky in the second half when Wooton intercepted five metres from his own line and ran the length to touch down under the sticks at the other end. At the death the Westies were going for a win, with a tired and bruised Racing hanging on for dear life in their own 22. A LBP - 26-22- is a commendable result under the circumstances. Jack Aungier went on a couple of rumbles off the bench too.

MUN-HAR was a boring slugfest. Munster had a peno at the end of the first half with Harlequins down to 14 men and PO'M tells JJ to kick for three points - which the latter missed. HT: 6-0. Bad decision, IMO, as the kick wasn't easy and they probably would have rumbled over off a five-yard lineout. Healy was much better at 10 when he came on. Munster ended up winning 21-7 but are the only winners in Pool B, who didn't pick up a WBP along the way. Life is not going to get easier for them in Clermont....

[blockhead]

Pro 14 ----Won 6, Lost 5, 1 draw
Top14-----Won 8, Lost 5, 1 draw
Prem------Won 4, Lost 8

[joooooe]

Double post

[blockhead]

Pro 14 ----Won 6, Lost 5, 1 draw
Top14-----Won 8, Lost 5, 1 draw
Prem------Won 4, Lost 8

Obviously included Challenge cup ties in the above.

[Blue not red blood]

There is no doubt that we got great bit of luck in avoiding Toulouse and even better being in group A.

At this stage it looks like we could be playing Exeter, Toulouse, Clermont or Racing. Mind you with Exeter playing Toulouse twice then one or maybe both of them could be eliminated.

If we top our group then we play team 4 home and away so hopefully a weaker team comes up and snatches 4th.

The key thing is to top our group as it gives a home semi and wouldnt fancy any of the French teams away.

All very speculative but sure it keeps our minds active

[Dave Cahill]

Toulouse v Exeter and Glasgow v Lyon off as a result of COVID in the Exeter camp. No decision yet on how the EPCR will avoid awarding the game 5-0 to Toulouse

[riocard911]

Toulouse v Exeter and Glasgow v Lyon off as a result of COVID in the Exeter camp. No decision yet on how the EPCR will avoid awarding the game 5-0 to Toulouse

If they're awarded a BPV, what match points differential goes with that - 20 points or 28 points? Or is there any at all? In the real world Toulouse would never have finished that match 28 points ahead of Exeter on the scoreboard.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

It's 28-0 apparently.

[Ruckedtobits]

Donal ("tremenjgeus") Lenehan wants EPCR to sanction teams who field weakened teams in European fixtures. See below:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2020/121 ... nst-clubs/

I wonder should EPCR impose the sanction on Leinster before or after the match?

[Flash Gordon]

Donal ("tremenjgeus") Lenehan wants EPCR to sanction teams who field weakened teams in European fixtures. See below:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2020/121 ... nst-clubs/

I wonder should EPCR impose the sanction on Leinster before or after the match?

regardless of result....

[Blueberry]

Rapidly becoming a farce..........and we are only one round in...............

If Exeter get knocked out because of this the entire tournament is devalued. They are the reigning champs and the ones to beat.

Not saying there is any easy answer to it but it's a total shambles.

Could end up the team with less Covid than anyone else gets the prize by default...........................

I wonder at what point the EPCR would just pull the tournament entirely ??

[Ruckedtobits]

A complete farce ........but they could base an episode of Fr Ted around the forthcoming Committee Meeting (by Zoom) which will decide the points split:

"Well Exeter deserve feck all, as they caused this fiasco"
"But you can't take points from Glasgow, they're just following the medical advice"
"It's certainly not the fault of Toulouse, we are ready to play"

and so on ......ad nausam for 4 hours (to justify the expences claim)

Like everything the EPCR touches, it dissolves into a morass

[wixfjord]

So specifically what do you want to be done here RTB and Blueberry? What is your answer to this?

[Blueberry]

No easy answer to this I am afraid.

There are only four options:

1. Cancel the tournament.
2. Stop testing and allow games to go on, asymptomatic players can play and we ignore. Obviously the optics are bad here and it won't wash politically so forget about this.
3. Create some insane match rescheduling procedure where teams can apply for a refix if they have a Covid outbreak. Might work if there are only a couple of matches cancelled but this is unlikely to be feasible if there was another problem after Exeter. So suggest this is not practical.
4. Award games to the 'clean' team as I expect will happen with Toulouse v Exeter. This turns it into a farce as it's not a rugby competition anymore, just an infection control competition on an uneven playing field. If anyone is going down the route of 'well its Exeter's fault' I suggest you think again, this isn't a self inflicted salary cap breach like Saracens.

While unpleasant the only option above I can in anyway feel comfortable with is option 1, cancel it,move on and hope we can have a proper tournament next year.

Personally not too sure I want to be stitching on fifth star potentially have not beaten the best of the best.

Of course we want to have rugby to watch.....but if it is going to be called the European Cup it needs to not be a farce. Perhaps they could have organised some 'Nations Cup' league equivalent this year to keep some rugby going on a Euro level and just parked it this year.

If anyone has a better idea would love to hear it !!

[outcast eddie]

The sport desperately needs the TV revenue so it just has to adapt and carry on, much like every other organisation on the planet at the moment.

This will potentially effect the Pro thingy and 6N in the same way, so cancelling is not an option.

The whole circus, for that is what it is, should move to Disneyland Paris, create a monstrous bubble and carry on with the championship. This would only work if all European teams were in the bubble and all leagues, championships and upcoming 6N functioned off the back of it. It ain't gonna happen but that's the only way Rugby can eliminate all disruption to games this year.

[Ruckedtobits]

Make the reverse fixtures on 16th January 2021 worth double points.

[Blueberry]

The sport desperately needs the TV revenue so it just has to adapt and carry on, much like every other organisation on the planet at the moment.

This will potentially effect the Pro thingy and 6N in the same way, so cancelling is not an option.

The whole circus, for that is what it is, should move to Disneyland Paris, create a monstrous bubble and carry on with the championship. This would only work if all European teams were in the bubble and all leagues, championships and upcoming 6N functioned off the back of it. It ain't gonna happen but that's the only way Rugby can eliminate all disruption to games this year.

Love it, decision made !! Move everyone from every pro rugby team in Europe to Disneyland and they can play matches, train with the seven dwarfs until sanity prevails !!

Who is gonna tell Peter O'Mahony he can't do his angry face anymore as it will scare the dwarfs?

[outcast eddie]

The sport desperately needs the TV revenue so it just has to adapt and carry on, much like every other organisation on the planet at the moment.

This will potentially effect the Pro thingy and 6N in the same way, so cancelling is not an option.

The whole circus, for that is what it is, should move to Disneyland Paris, create a monstrous bubble and carry on with the championship. This would only work if all European teams were in the bubble and all leagues, championships and upcoming 6N functioned off the back of it. It ain't gonna happen but that's the only way Rugby can eliminate all disruption to games this year.

Love it, decision made !! Move everyone from every pro rugby team in Europe to Disneyland and they can play matches, train with the seven dwarfs until sanity prevails !!

Who is gonna tell Peter O'Mahony he can't do his angry face anymore as it will scare the dwarfs?

There's always the risk that Grumpy would feel aggrieved at having his party piece stolen by PO'M but I say it's a risk worth taking for the sake of the sport.