[2018/19 Heineken Cup] Round 1: Pool 3 (14/10/2018)

[Tooting Carmen]

Btw, Arhip is out of the Blues and his place on the bench has been taken by Keiron Assiratti.

 

[big ginger 8]

lol, just take the D and move on

Exeter lost two of their best carriers in the last few mins after they headbutted each other

Eh Munster had to play a whole game with Duncan Williams and Neil Cronin as their scrumhalves. That's way worse than a few minutes without anyone, especially when the alternative is Conor Murray.

 

[Bluemoon]

Couple of decisions gone against Cardiff early on. Disapponnted with JPs interpretation for that first try. Clear knock on for me.

 

[FLOBALOB]

[QUOTE="Tooting Carmen, post: 917498, member: 78546"]Saracens do seem to rotate their squad a bit more, but not really the other English clubs. When Bath fielded a weakened side at Saracens the other week, it caused uproar. It should also need not be pointed out that the Pro 14 does not have relegation, which means that fewer matches carry a genuine danger factor. With that said, the changes to the rules regarding European qualification a few years ago have certainly made the league more competitive - lots of commentators were pleasantly surprised when Leinster sent a near-full strength team to the Scarlets (bar Sexton) in round two, which would have been almost inconceivable pre-2014.[/QUOTE]

Bath waved the white flag before the game against Saracens by playing their second string and were quite rightly criticised. That is completely different from rotating their squad.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Bath waved the white flag before the game against Saracens by playing their second string and were quite rightly criticised. That is completely different from rotating their squad.

See, I think that's smart management. Pick your battles, away from home against the champions isn't going to be where you win points over your opponents. What's the point in Zebre or Bristol going away to Leinster or Sarries with a full squad if they have winnable games in the next three or four weeks? They could play those games well, still come away with nothing and pick up injuries harming their chances in the proceeding weeks.

 

[Redmond Mocke]

16 - 20 to Cardiff after 58 mins

 

[Bluemoon]

Gareth Anscombe brining his Pro14 form to the HC. Outstanding try.

 

[Redmond Mocke]

I eas never a Gareth Anscombe fan until this year.
He has really come into his own this year.
16 - 27 after 64 minutes

 

[Redmond Mocke]

21 - 30 to Cardiff FT
Gareth Anscombe deservedly MOM.
The other 22 close behind. ;-)

 

[dullonien]

Blues are looking really strong this year. Scrum is a worry, but Arhip helps there when fit. Their riches in the backrow is insane, with the option of picking a really mobile unit as they did today, or going super physical with Nick Williams, Manoa and Navidi. They terrorised the Lyon breakdown, and they always seem to have at least 2 players in the backline ripping teams apart. Today is was Tomos Williams and Anscombe, but Jarrod Evans, Haloholo, Lee Lo, Matthew Morgan, Owen Lane are all capable of creating something out of nothing. Second row is possibly their weakest area, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Manoa tested there v Glasgow.

Excellent win today. JP Doyle allowed a lot to go, missing several knock-ons from both sides etc. but the best team won hands down. Could be an interesting group this.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Even with such a dodgy scrum Blues still held on to win - their breakdown work and backline speed were far superior.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I am certainly no Pro 14 basher but, with all due respect, Leinster =/= Pro 14 overall. The Italian teams (or at least Zebre, at any rate), Kings and Dragons would not survive whatsoever in the English Premiership, while I would also question whether any team in it apart from Leinster and Munster would have any real chance of winning the Premiership either.

I'd question whether any team in the Premiership other than Sarries or Exeter have a real shot at winning that league either. As such, suggesting there are two Pro 14 teams that could win it isn't a put down. I also think suggesting the 12th, 13th and 14th best teams in the Pro 14 would struggle in a 12 team Premiership isn't outlandish at all. I'd go as far as to say outside of Saracens, Exeter and perhaps Wasps, every team in the Premiership would rank somewhere in the bottom half of Pro 14 teams. The only way of truly settling the argument is a European league.

Saracens are suffocating Glasgow so far.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Glasgow never release players before going for the ball.

 

[Hanley!]

That first Saracens try was preceded by one of the Saracens pretty clearly being in touch before passing the ball. Not sure how that was missed.

Glasgow can feel hard done by, but the way the game is going so far it feels like Saracens have the beating of them either way.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Glasgow fans and team have such **** attitudes.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Soft as puppy shite

 

[Tooting Carmen]

3-13 HT. I do wish the Glasgow crowd would shut up.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Sarries lucky there. 7 cleared beyond the ruck right in front of the ref allowing them to get a turnover. That should have been a penalty Glasgow and a YC for repeated infringements.

 

[Hanley!]

Reffing has ****** over Glasgow a couple of times, and I want Glasgow to do well so that they're not concentrating solely on the Pro14 this year. But the moany crowd is making it a bit harder to cheer for them here.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Reffing has ****** over Glasgow a couple of times, and I want Glasgow to do well so that they're not concentrating solely on the Pro14 this year. But the moany crowd is making it a bit harder to cheer for them here.

Coming from a Munster supporter that is just funny. But I agree, the crowd are really annoying.