EPCR Champions Cup - Pool 4 Thread

[LondonTiger]

First topic message reminder :

Teams:

Leicester Tigers
Founded: 1880
Ground: Welford Road
Capacity: 25,849
Captain: Tom Youngs
Coach: Geordan Murphy (Interim)


Racing 92
Founded: 1892
Ground: Paris La Defense Arena
Capacity: 32,000
Captain: Dimitri Szarzewski
Coach: Laurent Labit / Laurent Traver


Scarlets
Founded: 2003
Ground: Parc y Scarlets
Capacity: 15,180
Captain: Ken Owens
Coach: Wayne Pivac


Ulster
Founded: 1879
Ground: Kingspan Stadium
Capacity: 18,000
Captain: Rory Best
Coach: Dan McFarland



Fixtures:

Round 1
Saturday 13th October, 17:30 Scarlets v Racing 92 (BT Sport/beIN Sports)
Saturday 13th October, 17:30 Ulster v Leicester (BT Sport)

Round 2
Friday 19th October, 19:45 Leicester v Scarlets (BT Sport)
Saturday 20th October, 17:30 Racing 92 v Ulster (beIN Sports/BT Sport)

Round 3
Friday 7th December, 19:45 Scarlets v Ulster (BT Sport)
Sunday 9th December, 15:15 Racing 92 v Leicester (FR2/BT Sport/beIN Sports)

Round 4
Friday 14th December, 19:45 Ulster v Scarlets (BT Sport)
Sunday 16th December, 13:00 Leicester v Racing 92 (BT Sport/beIN Sports)

Round 5
Saturday 12th January, 15:15 Ulster v Racing 92 (BT Sport/beIN Sports
Saturday 12th January, 17:30 Scarlets v Leicester (BT Sport)

Round 6
Saturday 19th January, 15:15 Racing 92 v Scarlets (beIN Sports/BT Sport)
Saturday 19th January, 15:15 Leicester v Ulster (BT Sport)



Season's Form:

Leicester - Pl 6, W3, L3
Racing 92 - Pl 7, W4, L3
Scarlets - Pl 6, W4, L2
Ulster - Pl 6, W3, D1, L2



Squads:

Leicester:
Props: Bateman, Cole, Cortes, Feao, Genge, Gigena, Heyes
Hookers: Polota-Nau, Stevens, Youngs
Second Row: Fitzgerald, Kitchener, Lewis, Spencer, Wells, Williams
Back Row: Denton, Evans, Kalamafoni, Mapapalangi, O'Connor, Reffell, Thompson
Half Backs: Ford G, Ford J, Hardwicke, Harrison, White, Youngs
3/4s & FB: Aspland-Robinson, Eastmond, Holmes, May, Owen, Olowofela, Smith, Thompstone, Toomua, Tuilagi, veainu, Worth


Racing 92
Props: Ben Arous, Colombe, Gogochashvili, Gomes Sa, Johnston, Kakovin, Tameifuna
Hookers: Avei, Baubugny, Chat, Szarzewski
Second Row: Bird, Claassen, Maka, Nakarawa, Palu, Ryan
Back Row: Chouzenoux, Diallo, Lauret, Le Roux, Sanconnie, Joseph
Half Backs: Chauveau, Gibert, Iribaren, Machenaud, Russell, Volavola
3/4s & FB: Chavancy, Dulin, Dupichot, Imhoff, Klemenczac, Lagarde, Paris, Pauvert, Rokocoko, Thomas, Vakatawa, Zebo


Scarlets
Props: Dylan Evans, Rob Evans, Gardiner, Wyn Jones, Kruger, Lee, Price
Hookers: Elias, Marc Jones, Owens
Second Row: Ball, Bulbring, Helps, Cummins, Rawlins
Back Row: Boyde, Cassiem, James Davies, Kennedy, Macleod, Shingler, Thomson
Half Backs: Gareth Davies, Jonathan Evans, Hardy, Hidalgo-Clyne, Dan Jones, O'Brien, Patchell, Smith
3/4s &FB: Asquith, Blommetjies, Jonathan Davies, Steff Evans, Fonotia, Halfpenny, Hughes, McNicholl, Nicholas, Parkes, Prydie


Ulster:
Props: Ah You, Herbst, Kane, McCall, Moore, O'Sullivan, O'Toole, Warwick
Hooker: Andrew, Best, Herring, McBurney
Second Row: Henderson, O'Connor, Treadwell,
Back Row: Coetzee, Deysel, Henry, Murphy, Rea, Reidy, Ross, Timoney
Half Backs: Burns, Cooney, Angus Curtis, Graham Curtis, Lowry, McPhillips, Shanahan, Stewart
3/4s & FB: Addison, Cave, Gilroy, Kernohan, Ludic, McCloskey, Moore, Nelson, Speight, Stockdale

[formerly known as Sam]

Nothing for the strangle in the attempted choke tackle? Love the consistency of these new interpretations of the high tackle.

[formerly known as Sam]

Is Manu a bit lighter than he was a few years ago?

Yeah by at least a stone. Previous coaches had bulked him up and ran him into brick walls hence all the injuries. Murphy is using him on angles and flat to the line. Very tough to stop him now he's faster and arriving at pace.

Penalty, why? Surely 5m out it was scrum time!

[formerly known as Sam]

Man of the match - Manu. Should have been Harry Wells he's been a monster in the second row.

[Guest]

As predicted, Leicester win. Not as close as I excepted though.

2 losses for the Scarlets now. Game over I’d say. Time to focus on the league.

[nathan]

@Leinster

No, it's always like the wild west at the breakdown and normally gets messy and not allowing quick ball. I think he needs to make sure he communicates better but that's likely a translation thing.

I'm not saying he made errors although I'm sure he made them for both teams, it's just I don't like his style of reffing

[Artful_Dodger]

Scarlets pack just not the same this season without Beirne and Barclay.

Tiger's looked very strong in the second half, 6 points after two games is a decent return. They aren't out of the running yet.

[Artful_Dodger]

Correction, just realized they didn't get a LBP at Ulster.

[marty2086]

Scarlets pack just not the same this season without Beirne and Barclay.  

They're missing Ball, Shingler, Davies and Cassiem possibly their first choice backrow and first choice second row

[formerly known as Sam]

Correction, just realized they didn't get a LBP at Ulster.  

One possibly two crossfield kicks to many otherwise they might have had one.

Marty I think in the first half they had thirty good minutes. Took ten minutes to warm up. Second half they just didn't get enough ball and territory. Hard to launch 9 out of 10 attacks from your own half. Pack did fine in the right areas. Half backs didn't or couldn't put them there often enough.

[carpet baboon]

Manu is looking very dangerous. I hope Eddie Jones doesn't try and play him at 12, he's a lot more effective wider out. But also being Irish I hope Eddie doesn't pick him at all

[LeinsterFan4life]

@Leinster

No, it's always like the wild west at the breakdown and normally gets messy and not allowing quick ball. I think he needs to make sure he communicates better but that's likely a translation thing.

I'm not saying he made errors although I'm sure he made them for both teams, it's just I don't like his style of reffing

Fair enough. I just think it's needless to complain about a ref when he really hasn't done much wrong.

[VinceWLB]

Scarlets pack just not the same this season without Beirne and Barclay.  

They're missing Ball, Shingler, Davies and Cassiem possibly their first choice backrow and first choice second row

Tom Price, the guy who played 2nd row instead of Ball was a complete passenger.. and a penalty machine too.

That said, the players Scarlets missed the most was Patchell.

[formerly known as Sam]

Manu is looking very dangerous. I hope Eddie Jones doesn't try and play him at 12, he's a lot more effective wider out. But also being Irish I hope Eddie doesn't pick him at all

+1. He is far more dangerous when he can power through side on tackles. When Jonathan Davies is being given the run around in defence then you know his opposite number is explosive. Manu suffered for far too long being run into brick walls for club and country. Hope Eddie has been taking notes on how to make the most of him.

[lostinwales]

Manu is looking very dangerous. I hope Eddie Jones doesn't try and play him at 12, he's a lot more effective wider out. But also being Irish I hope Eddie doesn't pick him at all

+1.  He is far more dangerous when he can power through side on tackles. When Jonathan Davies is being given the run around in defence then you know his opposite number is explosive. Manu suffered for far too long being run into brick walls for club and country. Hope Eddie has been taking notes on how to make the most of him.

Always did most damage using his power to break tackles and accelerate into space. He used to score a surprising number of interception tries too. Here's hoping...

[stub]

Completely agree, great to see Manu back and the leaner version looks very impressive!!

[LondonTiger]

Our defensive organisation is still not showing any discernible improvement, but the players are getting fitter so dropping off less tackles. Scarlets were not good enough to make real advantage - probably due to being down to 3rd choice FH.


Anyway, less of the gloom.

Huge shifts put in by the props, both strong in the scrum and busy round the park with carries, tackles and turnovers. While Bateman had the upper hand on Lee, Cole completely dominated both LHs.

Great to have Spencer's physicality back while Wells not too far behind. Williams had a good day in the back row, yet really overshadowed by Thompson who was my MotM.

In the backs Youngs is still struggling for form, but Ford showed real leadership and gave a quality performance. When things have been going badly this season, it has been Ford who was the one geeing the team up. I would keep him as skipper.

Manu was of course awesome. What may have been missed was just how much ground he was covering off the ball to ensure he was in the right positions.

We will of course face stronger packs in coming games. TBH I am not sure if we have faced a weaker pack this season.

[LondonTiger]

Well, that was a real statement of intent by Racing.

[formerly known as Sam]

They had the team to do something impressive and they didn't disappoint. Is this the year they make a statement in Europe?

Back to your earlier post. I think the Scarlets forwards tired and fell apart in the second half. The first half rush defence required a lot of energy and with nothing coming off the bench there was a lot to do when we went to the power game and the young guys off the bench fed off the intensity of the crowd.

[marty2086]

I think better teams will rip Racing apart, Ulster had chances they didn't take and better teams will run in tries against them and will hold on to the ball better

[Artful_Dodger]

I think better teams will rip Racing apart, Ulster had chances they didn't take and better teams will run in tries against them and will hold on to the ball better

Maybe, but their approach will be different against better teams compared to today. For the first 20 minutes they didn't kick out of their own 22 cause they thought they could steam roller us, then went 12-3 down and became more pragmatic. They won't make that mistake against better teams. In last season's final their tactics against Leinster were spot on and they were minutes away from their first cup win. Also worth bearing in mind that a lot of teams have finals losses before winning it. Racing have lost two finals in the last few years.

[marty2086]

Not just based on todays game Dodger, other teams have been able to do it and more will

[LondonTiger]

Who has ripped Racing apart in Europe recently? I certainly feel they have the skills to score tries against any of the other 19 teams in the tournament.

Leinster still my favourites, but Racing surely odds on now to have another home 1/4 final.

[mikey_dragon]

Wells, Manu, Ford and TPN all looked pretty good for Tigers. Can’t think of anyone that looked good for Scarlets... Gareth Davies maybe? They really don’t like going to Welford road do they. Scarlets will need two, maybe three bonus point wins to stay alive here, which they won’t do unless they get a host of players return from injury.

What happened to Ulster? They started so brightly and looked good in attack.

[marty2086]

Who has ripped Racing apart in Europe recently? I certainly feel they have the skills to score tries against any of the other 19 teams in the tournament.

Leinster still my favourites, but Racing surely odds on now to have another home 1/4 final.

Not talking about Europe, in the Top 14 they have looked vulnerable at times too. They can be imperious at times but defensively they can be got at

[formerly known as Sam]

Wells, Manu, Ford and TPN all looked pretty good for Tigers. Can’t think of anyone that looked good for Scarlets... Gareth Davies maybe? They really don’t like going to Welford road do they. Scarlets will need two, maybe three bonus point wins to stay alive here, which they won’t do unless they get a host of players return from injury.

What happened to Ulster? They started so brightly and looked good in attack.

I thought Boyd (backrow grey scrum cap) was excellent in the first half, faded in the second a bit but was a thorn in Tigers side at the breakdown.

TPN was good for the first half but looked dead on his feet in the second and that awful lineout in our 22 led to a Scarlets try.

I'd still have Harry Wells as my man of the match. 80 minutes of confrontational tackling, carrying and attacking the breakdown is exactly what Tigers needed.

[PhilBB]

The Scarlets were not founded in 2003.

According to EPCR they were.

When did WRU create the regions?

And Companies House say they were incorporated in 2003

But sure what would they know

Scarlets Regional Limited, Company Number 03389199, was incorporated on 19th June 1997.

Don't be as thick as Martyn.

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