EPCR Challenge Cup

[The Seeker]

Bath over Gloucester...although I hope Gloucester wins.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Ospreys: Jack Walsh; Dan Kasende, Evardi Boshoff, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, Adam Beard, Jac Morgan (capt), Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris.

Replacements: George McGuigan, Garyn Phillips, Ben Warren, James Fender, Morgan Morse, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Owen Williams, Iestyn Hopkins.

Lyon: Alexandre Tchaptchet; Vincent Rattez, Josiah Maraku, Theo Millet, Ethan Dumortier; Leo Berdeu, Charlie Cassang; Wayan De Benedittis, Sam Matavesi, Hamza Kaabeche, Felix Lambey (capt), Alban Roussel, Steeve Blanc-Mappaz, Beka Shvangiradze, Maxime Gouzou.

Replacements: Guillaume Marchand, Sebastien Taofifenua, Valentin Simutoga, Mickael Guillard, Theo William, Dylan Cretin, Baptiste Couilloud, Alfred Parisien.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

Assistant referees: Peter Martin & Andrew Cole (IRFU)

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

 

[IT157]

Sunday tea-time

Bath

1. Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Archie Griffin, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Ethan Staddon, 8 Alfie Barbeary
9 Ben Spencer ©, 10 Finn Russell, 11 Will Muir, 12 Will Butt, 13 Cameron Redpath, 14 Tom de Glanville, 15 Ciaran Donoghue

16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Jaco Coetzee

Gloucester

1 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 4 Freddie Clarke, 5 Cam Jordan, 6 Deian Gwynne, 7 Harry Taylor, 8 Ruan Ackermann
9 Caolan Englefield, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 11 Jake Morris, 12 Will Butler, 13 Chris Harris (C), 14 Christian Wade, 15 Santi Carreras

16 Seb Blake, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Afo Fasogbon, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Jack Clement, 22 Tomos Williams, 23 Charlie Atkinson

Looks like a pretty strong Bath team. With them pretty much guaranteed to make the final 4 in the premiership they can go for it in this competition as well. Less so for Gloucester who are still jostling to make the top 4.

 

[Gavin]

Connacht looking tasty.

Red card for Racing winger.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

One missed conversion! Has there been such an anti-climatic ending to any match as the Ospreys v Lyon one? I enjoyed attending it, even so.

 

[dullonien]

One missed conversion! Has there been such an anti-climatic ending to any match as the Ospreys v Lyon one? I enjoyed attending it, even so.

The missed conversion wasn't the issue. They should have kicked 3 points when they were awarded a pen right in front of the sticks, 7 points down, 5 or so min beforehand. They went for a tap instead, and couldn't score.

 

[Which Tyler]

Worried about this afternoon.
Think there might be a touch of complacency, an eye on avoiding injuries, and focusing on a different competition...
Against Glos, you only have to take your eye off the ball for 10 minutes and you'll have lost the match.

It just feels like a banana skin that can be seen a mile off, but get slips on anyway for comedic value.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

"Wade gets inside Butt"

 

[ShropshireAllBlack]

**** me! Wade is stealing a living…

 

[TRF_Olyy]

If Bath win the Prem Cup, Premiership and Challenge cup is it a triple or like a 2.5er?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

If Bath win the Prem Cup, Premiership and Challenge cup is it a triple or like a 2.5er?

Not my treble! IMO treble needs to be in the elite comps of Europe

 

[Which Tyler]

Not my treble! IMO treble needs to be in the elite comps of Europe

So no-one can ever win a treble?
Seems harsh.

French clubs only play in 2 competitions, and non-french clubs don't play in the T14

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

So no-one can ever win a treble?
Seems harsh.

French clubs only play in 2 competitions, and non-french clubs don't play in the T14

Why can't anyone win it? I'm on about the elite competition of the European cup aka champions cup
Much like no one in football counts the europa league as a treble (Outside the deluded fans whose team wins it)

Prem cup shouldn't count but rugby doesn't have a FA cup so I will count it. But winning a competition because you got knocked out of the higher one seems like a massive hallow treble imo.

Also what's the French teams and URC got to do with an English treble?

 

[Which Tyler]

It was purely a reference to "the elite comps of Europe", which means T14 & allegedly, the Champ cup.
PRC isn't elite.
Prem isn't elite and URC isn't elite - because they're both a bit crap compared to the T14

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Premiership is an elite competition by any metric, same as the URC. You can't go higher.
PRC I'm just counting cause we do't have an FA cup and again there isn't a higher version of it.

Elite for me means the top level of that competition pathway.

If you want to try and be pedantic so that the Challenge cup should be class as a treble go ahead, just I'm never personally gonna accept it as it isn't the top level competition of the European club rugby pathway

 

[Which Tyler]

Wait, what?
I'm being pedantic, because I'm a pedant - see the user name and avatar.

I don't give a damn about any trebles.
I'm pleased that my club won the development competition, because it's a development competition, and shows that we're developing nicely.
I'd be pleased if we win the Challenge Cup, because it's silverware and good for vibes. I have no respect for either the challenge or champ cups in their current iterations. As and when Bath ever comes across a Saffer team, I'd be perfectly happy to give them a bye - even if it's in a semi-final.

Bath haven't won shit since 1998. Hopefully, that'll change this year, but we'll have to see.

 

[Jimbo]

Wait, what?
I'm being pedantic, because I'm a pedant - see the user name and avatar.

I don't give a damn about any trebles.
I'm pleased that my club won the development competition, because it's a development competition, and shows that we're developing nicely.
I'd be pleased if we win the Challenge Cup, because it's silverware and good for vibes. I have no respect for either the challenge or champ cups in their current iterations. As and when Bath ever comes across a Saffer team, I'd be perfectly happy to give them a bye - even if it's in a semi-final.

Bath haven't won shit since 1998. Hopefully, that'll change this year, but we'll have to see.

I mean I'm pleased to see Bath doing well, they have kind of become a team I support (since Wasps departure) and go and see more than any other having family there, actually going to them Vs Bristol in Wales, but to say that Bath won the development competition and it's more Pleasing being development seems slightly contradictory I didn't watch all the games but it certainly seemed in some of those I did it was pretty even at 50 - 60 minutes until the benches were unleashed and Bath mostly went with power house benches which had no resemblance to development, kind of screamed of a little bit of desperation to me but given the lack of silverware in any recent time.