European Cup Rugby 31 March, 1 & 2 April

First topic message reminder :

Tigers Vs Edinburgh teams are up the Friday game.

STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [68]
14 Anthony Watson [12]
13 Guy Porter [56]
12 Jimmy Gopperth [13]
11 Harry Potter [62]
10 Handré Pollard [10]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [61]
1 James Cronin [12]
2 Julián Montoya (c) [39]
3 Dan Cole [305]
4 George Martin [54]
5 Cameron Henderson [32]
6 Hanro Liebenberg [80]
7 Tommy Reffell [95]
8 Olly Cracknell [20]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [74]
17 Tom West [6]
18 Joe Heyes [119]
19 Eli Snyman [31]
20 Jasper Wiese [56]
21 Sam Wolstenholme *
22 Charlie Atkinson [14]
23 Dan Kelly [51]


15. Emiliano Boffelli (28)
14. Darcy Graham (57)
13. Mark Bennett (85)
12. James Lang (36)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (72)

10. Blair Kinghorn (131)
9. Henry Pyrgos (81)

1. Pierre Schoeman (95)
2. Stuart McInally (174)
3. WP Nel (185)
4. Sam Skinner (11)
5. Grant Gilchrist (187) Co-captain
6. Jamie Ritchie (95) Co-captain
7. Hamish Watson (137)
8. Viliame Mata (113)

Replacements

16. Dave Cherry (68)
17. Boan Venter (43)
18. Luan de Bruin (19)
19. Marshall Sykes (39)
20. Luke Crosbie (83)
21. Ben Vellacott (36)
22. Cammy Hutchison (18)
23. Damien Hoyland (104)

Lack of discipline is killing the Ospreys, making it far too easy for Saracens to get out of their half.

For all their detractors....Mako and Mallins have been great today.

I've lost count of the neck tackles from Ospreys.

They're really good club players.

To be fair Vunipola is a great international bar scrumming.

George is looking a bit off the pace, I'd like to see Theo Dan come on, add some energy.

They do seem to let a lot more high tackles go in this comp ...

Wish Farrell had been kicking this well at the start of the 6 ns.

Offside lines seem optional too

Heaf wrote:Offside lines seem optional too

They were ridiculously offside there, I don't know how the linesman didn't spot it.

Probably the same bloke from the Quins match that couldn't spot a clear pen right in front of him ...

Oh dear.

That was bloody spawny!

Stupid by Ospreys - their defence has been generally excellent but that was just daft ...

Daft by Webb. Now Saracens are winning, the ref remembers that he can penalise Saracens!!

A stupid pass but when Saracens start upping the pressure and the clock starts to tick down its when the pressure gets to you.

And Sarries respond with a pointless pen

Morgan75 wrote:Daft by Webb. Now Saracens are winning, the ref remembers that he can penalise Saracens!!

Lol.

That was outrageous by Earls!

Cumbrian wrote:George is looking a bit off the pace, I'd like to see Theo Dan come on, add some energy.

I should have looked at the teamsheet.

Another chance squandered by Sarries - they should be out of sight by now - not to take anything away from the excellent defence by Ospreys

Sarries do it again, they’re a champion team.

Extra quality showing now.....

Good game - Ospreys made Sarries work hard for that

Ospreys were good in Europe, up until that final 20 mins… They haven’t been doing so good in the URC and look set to lose out on qualifying for this comp next season. I think it would be wise to enhance the expertise on their coaching team, something that seems to have worked for Scarlets.

Cumbrian wrote:Heavyweights out on their feet trading blows, unbelievably good watch.

Just finished watching Exeter-Montpelier now.  What a great watch.  Breathless stuff.

What did you think about the red issued against Zach Mercer? I get how the ref made the decision - he was quite clear - and he really didn't hesitate. But...

mikey_dragon wrote:Ospreys were good in Europe, up until that final 20 mins… They haven’t been doing so good in the URC and look set to lose out on qualifying for this comp next season. I think it would be wise to enhance the expertise on their coaching team, something that seems to have worked for Scarlets.

They played really well and had a great offloading game, I was really impressed.

Not to knock Ospreys performance but you can see how the Premiership is struggling with the cap (despite having 3 sides in the quarters unbelievably).....Saracens made really tough work and you can see the drop off in quality across the squad in a game like this.

It's been a bit of an odd weekend really. Gloucester were a whisker away from beating the mighty La Rochelle....despite me thinking they would get absolutely humped, it was an epic performance.

I would be very surprised if we seen any English sides in the semi-finals.

doctor_grey wrote:

Cumbrian wrote:Heavyweights out on their feet trading blows, unbelievably good watch.

Just finished watching Exeter-Montpelier now.  What a great watch.  Breathless stuff.

What did you think about the red issued against Zach Mercer? I get how the ref made the decision - he was quite clear - and he really didn't hesitate. But...

By the letter of the law, I guess it was a red, but it did seem a bit harsh to me. He made a small movement forward with shoulder, but the majority of the force in the hit came from Tshiunza crashing into him. It reminded me to a lesser degree of Sale vs. Ulster earlier in the season where Manu had to be subbed after his head made contact with the Ulster prop's shoulder after a very long run up. I don’t think the Ulster player was even penalised in that instance, despite being upright in the tackle. It is the inconsistencies with how strictly the law is applied that is frustrating. Some refs have zero tolerance and can’t wait to pull out a red, whilst others seem more willing to let things slide.

Still, why go so upright in the tackle? Players still don't seem to be learning, it is a tightrope that you walk with every collision when you put yourself in that position.

I think we might see one side make the semi finals. It won't be Tigers as there's not much chance of us getting a result over in Dublin, especially with injuries at 9 and in the centres.

Sarries have got a chance, they played really badly in the first half Vs Ospreys and really should have put the game to bed by half time but inaccuracy cost them.

Chiefs, that's a different Chiefs outfit from what we've seen in recent weeks. Baxter mixing the squad up has been good for them. The extra competition might help generate some momentum.

I think we might see one side make the semi finals. It won't be Tigers as there's not much chance of us getting a result over in Dublin, especially with injuries at 9 and in the centres.

Sarries have got a chance, they played really badly in the first half Vs Ospreys and really should have put the game to bed by half time but inaccuracy cost them.

Chiefs, that's a different Chiefs outfit from what we've seen in recent weeks. Baxter mixing the squad up has been good for them. The extra competition might help generate some momentum.

It was a strange round of rugby. Some of the best performances, particularly Gloucester, Montpellier and Ospreys, went unrewarded. While Leinster has a good shot at the title, a lot of the talk in Ireland is about how disappointing Munster have been. English rugby, which has been self-flagellating over the shortcomings of the Premiership, has ended up with three teams in the quarter-finals. And yet, those shortcomings could easily be highlighted with defeats in the next round.

Exeter were a bit fortunate to get through. Bit of a soft red and some other big decisions went their way. Montpellier looked a better side.

I actually don't know as I find it hard to keep up, have Leinster lost a game in any competition this season?

Collapse2005 wrote:Exeter were a bit fortunate to get through. Bit of a soft red and some other big decisions went their way. Montpellier looked a better side.

Maybe it's some of this 'things even themselves up over a season' we always hear about as Montpellier got a lot of suspect decisions in their favour when they played London Irish .... not that that helps Irish now at all ...

Sgt_Pooly wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Ospreys were good in Europe, up until that final 20 mins… They haven’t been doing so good in the URC and look set to lose out on qualifying for this comp next season. I think it would be wise to enhance the expertise on their coaching team, something that seems to have worked for Scarlets.

They played really well and had a great offloading game, I was really impressed.

Not to knock Ospreys performance but you can see how the Premiership is struggling with the cap (despite having 3 sides in the quarters unbelievably).....Saracens made really tough work and you can see the drop off in quality across the squad in a game like this.

It's been a bit of an odd weekend really. Gloucester were a whisker away from beating the mighty La Rochelle....despite me thinking they would get absolutely humped, it was an epic performance.

I would be very surprised if we seen any English sides in the semi-finals.

I can see how cap will have a knock-on effect, that’s what Welsh and South Africans have had to work with. They tend to produce class talent every year in SA though.

Sarries still have an excellent pack. McCall is a great coach. His team can take on average players and turn them into top flight pro’s.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

Morgan75 wrote:Daft by Webb. Now Saracens are winning, the ref remembers that he can penalise Saracens!!

Lol.

Bit of an outrageous penalty count tbf. That’s unusual. If it’s the Georgian ref I’m thinking of, he’s gash. I won’t take anything away from the victors, I’ve been honest and open on what I think of Sarries and they were deserved winners.