2024/2025 Not Heineken Cup

[Kawazaki]

OK I get it now. So just to be on the safe side, he should probably put his hands in his pockets until the prop graciously decides to cease with the choke hold.

Saying as we are now permitting players to use headlocks in rucks, players can also be issued with goggles to further protect their eyes when conducting this maneuver? Or the ref can do a WWE style 3-second count to release him before he runs out of breathe?

Don't be an idiot
There is absolutely no reason for fingers to be anywhere near the eyes ever.

I'm not convinced Venter deliberately went for the eyes. If you are put in a headlock in any situation it's almost a natural reaction to raise your arm up to try and leverage your way out using your arm against the assailants head. It's also taught in nearly every self defence class you will ever attend. I think Venter did that and quickly realised his hands were on his face and moved his hand away as quickly as he could.

Jesus wept, that's a stretch that even a bent copper would blush to offer up in mitigation (let alone a perfectly honest nice policeman).

[Blackmac]

Don't be an idiot
There is absolutely no reason for fingers to be anywhere near the eyes ever.

I'm not convinced Venter deliberately went for the eyes. If you are put in a headlock in any situation it's almost a natural reaction to raise your arm up to try and leverage your way out using your arm against the assailants head. It's also taught in nearly every self defence class you will ever attend. I think Venter did that and quickly realised his hands were on his face and moved his hand away as quickly as he could.

Jesus wept, that's a stretch that even a bent copper would blush to offer up in mitigation (let alone a perfectly honest nice policeman).

If I put your fat head in a headlock I can guarantee that's what you would be scrabbling about trying to do.

[Kawazaki]

I'm not convinced Venter deliberately went for the eyes. If you are put in a headlock in any situation it's almost a natural reaction to raise your arm up to try and leverage your way out using your arm against the assailants head. It's also taught in nearly every self defence class you will ever attend. I think Venter did that and quickly realised his hands were on his face and moved his hand away as quickly as he could.

Jesus wept, that's a stretch that even a bent copper would blush to offer up in mitigation (let alone a perfectly honest nice policeman).

If I put your fat head in a headlock I can guarantee that's what you would be scrabbling about trying to do.

Maybe, but only if crushing your bollocks hadn't worked.

[Slick]

My god that Leinster team is ridiculous

[Blackmac]

My god that Leinster team is ridiculous

Ireland +

[Slick]

Glasgow need to calm down a bit

[Slick]

Rowe can’t miss that tackle…

[fishfoodie]

I don't think Leinster need gifts like that.

[Slick]

Definite try by the guy that got absolutely smashed?

[Slick]

Glasgow just constantly panicking

[Slick]

Whoever it was that smashed Doris earlier on looked very knocked out, is he still on?

[Tichtheid]

Whoever it was that smashed Doris earlier on looked very knocked out, is he still on?

Samuel, I think he's still there

[KingBlairhorn]

Whoever it was that smashed Doris earlier on looked very knocked out, is he still on?

It was Gregor brown I think, and yes, still on

[salanya]

Whoever it was that smashed Doris earlier on looked very knocked out, is he still on?

Thought he looked very winded rather than knocked out....

[Slick]

Whoever it was that smashed Doris earlier on looked very knocked out, is he still on?

Thought he looked very winded rather than knocked out....

Fair enough, you must be right

[Oxbow]

Jesus, just put this on, almost a point a minute. Really looking forward to Saints going to Dublin if they win tomorrow

[fishfoodie]

This might be the best half of Rugby I've seen from Prendergast

[Blackmac]

Full strength Leinster against very much second string Glasgow. It's just utterly inevitable.

[Slick]

This might be the best half of Rugby I've seen from Prendergast

I’m trying everything not to agree, but yes, he’s been brilliant.

Jordie Barret is a class above anyone else on the pitch mind you

[fishfoodie]

This might be the best half of Rugby I've seen from Prendergast

I’m trying everything not to agree, but yes, he’s been brilliant.

Jordie Barret is a class above anyone else on the pitch mind you

Agreed; it's that or we've managed to clone him, because at times it looks like there's three of him out there

[Blackmac]

Barrett is just outstanding.
Although that was ripped forward.

[Tichtheid]

Barrett is just outstanding.

He is, but he was off his feet in the ruck when he played the ball at the end of that half

[Slick]

Barrett is just outstanding.

He is, but he was off his feet in the ruck when he played the ball at the end of that half

Yeah, Pierce was so busy telling everyone it was ripped backwards he didn’t bother looking at Barrett on the player swinging around the side or.the one coming over the top

Glasgow could be in the lead if it wasn’t for the ref

[Tichtheid]

Barrett is just outstanding.

He is, but he was off his feet in the ruck when he played the ball at the end of that half

Yeah, Pierce was so busy telling everyone it was ripped backwards he didn’t bother looking at Barrett on the player swinging around the side or.the one coming over the top

Glasgow could be in the lead if it wasn’t for the ref

The fix is in, obvs.

[Tichtheid]

I think a big dynamic pack will challenge them, but otherwise Leinster are looking very good - it will be interesting to see what happens when they come up against the likes of UBB or Toulouse

[robmatic]

He is, but he was off his feet in the ruck when he played the ball at the end of that half

Yeah, Pierce was so busy telling everyone it was ripped backwards he didn’t bother looking at Barrett on the player swinging around the side or.the one coming over the top

Glasgow could be in the lead if it wasn’t for the ref

The fix is in, obvs.

Indeed. It's a game of tight margins, after all.

[SaintK]

This might be the best half of Rugby I've seen from Prendergast

Absolutely
Terrific stuff. Helps that his team mates are playing so well

[Tichtheid]

This might be the best half of Rugby I've seen from Prendergast

Absolutely
Terrific stuff. Helps that his team mates are playing so well

It's not so much front foot ball he's playing as semi-opposed

[SaintK]

This might be the best half of Rugby I've seen from Prendergast

Absolutely
Terrific stuff. Helps that his team mates are playing so well

It's not so much front foot ball he's playing as semi-opposed

[Kawazaki]

Amazing from Leinster. And to achieve it with a squad assembled on such a small (unknown) budget is the real icing on the cake. I guess just wearing the shirt is the real reward the players get.

[Paddington Bear]

Possibly worth a reappraisal of ‘the Prem is uniquely awful’ chat - Europe is broadly a few French clubs and Leinster. Glasgow are a proper side and much like Quins last week they got totally blown away

[topofthemoon]

RG Snyman has now played more minutes for Leinster (189 days between first and most recent games) than he did for Munster (1,759 days between first and last games).

[robmatic]

Possibly worth a reappraisal of ‘the Prem is uniquely awful’ chat - Europe is broadly a few French clubs and Leinster. Glasgow are a proper side and much like Quins last week they got totally blown away

The crap format of the competition doesn't help. You get some weak teams in the round of 16 and then if you are a moderately resourced team like Glasgow, no chance to manage your squad before the quarter finals.

[Paddington Bear]

Possibly worth a reappraisal of ‘the Prem is uniquely awful’ chat - Europe is broadly a few French clubs and Leinster. Glasgow are a proper side and much like Quins last week they got totally blown away

The crap format of the competition doesn't help. You get some weak teams in the round of 16 and then if you are a moderately resourced team like Glasgow, no chance to manage your squad before the quarter finals.

See also the crowd - there aren’t many events that sell bulk amounts of tickets in 5/6 days. Home and away last 8 would be preferable, with fewer teams in the comp full stop

[PCPhil]

Possibly worth a reappraisal of ‘the Prem is uniquely awful’ chat - Europe is broadly a few French clubs and Leinster. Glasgow are a proper side and much like Quins last week they got totally blown away

The crap format of the competition doesn't help. You get some weak teams in the round of 16 and then if you are a moderately resourced team like Glasgow, no chance to manage your squad before the quarter finals.

See also the crowd - there aren’t many events that sell bulk amounts of tickets in 5/6 days. Home and away last 8 would be preferable, with fewer teams in the comp full stop

Home and away was so much better and there were some epic match ups in the early days.

[OomStruisbaai]

QF Edinburgh v Bulls
Edinburgh Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 12.30; 13.30 SAST; 11.30 GMT

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Ross McCann, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ben Vellacott (co-captain), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (co-captain), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Cherry, 17 Schoeman, 18 Rae, 19 Carmichael, 20 Muncaster, 21 Price, 22 C Scott, 23 Tuipulotu

Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Ruan Nortje (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Canan Moodie.

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (France), Kevin Bralley (France)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)

[Paddington Bear]

The crap format of the competition doesn't help. You get some weak teams in the round of 16 and then if you are a moderately resourced team like Glasgow, no chance to manage your squad before the quarter finals.

See also the crowd - there aren’t many events that sell bulk amounts of tickets in 5/6 days. Home and away last 8 would be preferable, with fewer teams in the comp full stop

Home and away was so much better and there were some epic match ups in the early days.

If we’re talking about the old pool format I agree but with the cautionary add on that Leinster would likely have won 50-0 two weeks running against either Glasgow or Quins

[Kawazaki]

It's quite simple why the EC isn't working, it's just not equitable. There are vast differences in resources between the various stakeholders, not to mention prioritisation. For ̶I̶r̶e̶l̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶ Leinster, the overwhelming ambition is to win the EC and they manage their huge squad to peak specifically for these matches with targeted training blocks, rest periods and tune-up playing minutes plus they recruit a few of the world's best players just as an added safety net. It's akin to a sovereign wealth fund underwriting the team. Perhaps things would improve if the URC brought in a cap that is openly governed and enforced? Ireland should probably expand to 6 teams as well to thin the talent pool across more teams.

I'll obviously be cheering for Saints and then Toulouse.

[Camroc2]

It's quite simple why the EC isn't working, it's just not equitable. There are vast differences in resources between the various stakeholders, not to mention prioritisation. For ̶I̶r̶e̶l̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶ Leinster, the overwhelming ambition is to win the EC and they manage their huge squad to peak specifically for these matches with targeted training blocks, rest periods and tune-up playing minutes plus they recruit a few of the world's best players just as an added safety net. It's akin to a sovereign wealth fund underwriting the team. Perhaps things would improve if the URC brought in a cap that is openly governed and enforced? Ireland should probably expand to 6 teams as well to thin the talent pool across more teams.

I'll obviously be cheering for Saints and then Toulouse.

Leinster's biggest problem is covering for when we have 23 or so players away with Ireland during squad training sessions, autumn internationals and the 6N. They aren't away at Leinster targeted training blocks, rest periods, or tune-up matches: they are away with the Irish squad and unavailable to Leinster.

[Kawazaki]

It's quite simple why the EC isn't working, it's just not equitable. There are vast differences in resources between the various stakeholders, not to mention prioritisation. For ̶I̶r̶e̶l̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶ Leinster, the overwhelming ambition is to win the EC and they manage their huge squad to peak specifically for these matches with targeted training blocks, rest periods and tune-up playing minutes plus they recruit a few of the world's best players just as an added safety net. It's akin to a sovereign wealth fund underwriting the team. Perhaps things would improve if the URC brought in a cap that is openly governed and enforced? Ireland should probably expand to 6 teams as well to thin the talent pool across more teams.

I'll obviously be cheering for Saints and then Toulouse.

Leinster's biggest problem is covering for when we have 23 or so players away with Ireland during squad training sessions, autumn internationals and the 6N. They aren't away at Leinster targeted training blocks, rest periods, or tune-up matches: they are away with the Irish squad and unavailable to Leinster.

I wasn't aware the EC fixture dates clashed with test windows.