Heineken Cup 2013/14 Pool 2, Round 2

[lynam1104]

no ****ing way

 

[Feicarsinn]

Robin Copeland motm. Nice one kiddo.

 

[SelimNiai]

Fantastic stuff

Copeland deserved MOTM, last week and this week hes been huge. Anything good Cardiff have done either started with him or at least heavily involved him.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

What just happened?

 

[Thingimubob]

For christ sake... I oversleep and miss Cardiff take down Toulon. Bloody typical.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

For christ sake... I oversleep and miss Cardiff take down Toulon. Bloody typical.

To be fair the scoreline was far far more interesting than the match was.

 

[lynam1104]

To be fair the scoreline was far far more interesting than the match was.

Agreed, was very boring indeed only good in the last 10 when it looked like the blues was cause an upset.

 

[Big Ewis]

boring as fk, and wtffffffff Toulon........

 

[Rich Taff]

Very disappointed with the 'dive' from the Toulon winger to get a pen from 1/2p. Keep that crap in the wendyball stadiums.

 

[Tony Manx]

Am afraid that that is the way that Toulon have played all season and somehow they are top of the league!

They need a serious kick up the arse and, I am afraid, one wonders how many more games JW will be playing for Toulon as this is beginning to look like a season too far.

There is no way a side that got turned over so comprehensively last week should come back and beat a Toulon side with this talent and certainly would not have done so last year.....this could be the year that the French get their arses kicked as none of them are playing well..................and that includes Toulouse despite their deserved win over Sarrie last night!!

 

[Big Ewis]

Am afraid that that is the way that Toulon have played all season and somehow they are top of the league!

They need a serious kick up the arse and, I am afraid, one wonders how many more games JW will be playing for Toulon as this is beginning to look like a season too far.

There is no way a side that got turned over so comprehensively last week should come back and beat a Toulon side with this talent and certainly would not have done so last year.....this could be the year that the French get their arses kicked as none of them are playing well..................and that includes Toulouse despite their deserved win over Sarrie last night!!

now come on now, just the other week they stringed some amazing plays together, some of which culminated in excellent tries against Glasgow. Sure they fell asleep in the second half, but their ability is quite spectacular.

But yes, I do agree that for some reason all French sides have looked...."asleep" this year. Toulon has shown a few uncharacteristic losses in deed...Castres, the great French champion, looks like shyt this year if they're not home. Toulouse still look like they should be playing much better and putting 40 on everyone but just don't, this year again. SF and Racing aren't exactly putting 40 on everybody themselves, and then even Montpellier can look horribly vulnerable all of a sudden....I thought for sure with Galthié behind they'd be ultra-consistent and confident and have a good spare tire in case things don't go according to plan, but they were just subjected to Ulster's game tonight...
But I still see Toulon in the final again this year, but possibly against a side that isn't French this time.

 

[Tony Manx]

now come on now, just the other week they stringed some amazing plays together, some of which culminated in excellent tries against Glasgow. Sure they fell asleep in the second half, but their ability is quite spectacular.

But yes, I do agree that for some reason all French sides have looked...."asleep" this year. Toulon has shown a few uncharacteristic losses in deed...Castres, the great French champion, looks like shyt this year if they're not home. Toulouse still look like they should be playing much better and putting 40 on everyone but just don't, this year again. SF and Racing aren't exactly putting 40 on everybody themselves, and then even Montpellier can look horribly vulnerable all of a sudden....I thought for sure with Galthié behind they'd be ultra-consistent and confident and have a good spare tire in case things don't go according to plan, but they were just subjected to Ulster's game tonight...
But I still see Toulon in the final again this year, but possibly against a side that isn't French this time.

1.It was Glasgow...............!!
2. They will have to wake up to make the Final!!

 

[Bluemoon]

Aye, makes him look a right *** when they barely reach the 22m.
He's not South African, it's not going to work.

Playing to orders. The drop goal forces the 22m drop out/clearance. Blues play for territory, full stop, and thats what they've done all season. Absolutely nothing to do with his optimsm. That is the Blues tactics. Its not effective and its not pretty, but its not going to change thanks to this win.

 

[lucky number 7]

I called it when he was with Rotheram guys...the mans an absolute ****ing machine.

 

[Big Ewis]

1.It was Glasgow...............!!
2. They will have to wake up to make the Final!!

I'm not discussing the quality of the opposition's defense, but the intrinsic quality of the Toulon attack:
I'm saying they can string 6-7 passes in a row the fastest players possibly can, go left then right, center then right again, all that with a minimum of or no ruck at all. They have great sprinters (haven't even seen Habana in action yet !) and great passers and play makers (Giteau, Wilko..).
I'm saying in potential this is a highly pro squad, with tremendous ability when they're just in rhythm - not having the game of their lives - just merely in rhythm.
Didn't show here, they looked tired or just shadows of themselves...dunno what happened. Excellent result for Cardiff.

But not a handful of squads can play like Toulon on attack, in all the European sides not just Top 14. They're the most likely to put 40 on you I believe in all of Europe.

 

[Packman]

Aww Cardiff!!!!! Where did that come from!?! Toulon got a bloody nose. Nicely done.

Pro 12 Leaders Glasgow, will be very pleased about Cardiff's win as well.

Exeter grabbed a bonus point, and on refection, they'll shrug and accept they are still in the running with an epic back to back show down to face up to in December.

This pool is mouth watering.

 

[Tony Manx]

But not a handful of squads can play like Toulon on attack, in all the European sides not just Top 14. They're the most likely to put 40 on you I believe in all of Europe.

I do not disagree as they certainly have the potential but you can argue that on paper Biarritz have the potential not to be in a relegaton battle but the potential has to be realised. What is not happening, in either team, is for them to play to their potential on a full or consistent basis.

This can be down to many things,.......lack of hunger or confidence, bad game plan or organisation, injuries or lack of team spirit. I think for Biarritz it is all those things but what is it for Toulon?!

 

[gaston le gaff]

I do not disagree as they certainly have the potential but you can argue that on paper Biarritz have the potential not to be in a relegaton battle but the potential has to be realised. What is not happening, in either team, is for them to play to their potential on a full or consistent basis.

This can be down to many things,.......lack of hunger or confidence, bad game plan or organisation, injuries or lack of team spirit. I think for Biarritz it is all those things but what is it for Toulon?!

Difficulty understanding French and the referees!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tony Manx]

Difficulty understanding French and the referees!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Big Ewis]

I do not disagree as they certainly have the potential but you can argue that on paper Biarritz have the potential not to be in a relegaton battle but the potential has to be realised. What is not happening, in either team, is for them to play to their potential on a full or consistent basis.

This can be down to many things,.......lack of hunger or confidence, bad game plan or organisation, injuries or lack of team spirit. I think for Biarritz it is all those things but what is it for Toulon?!

yes yes, I follow you, the eternal debate about *potential*. Toulon will wake up though, they've got far too many int'l all-star players, guys like Wilko, Giteau, Lobbe who've been in the business a long, long time and offer leadership and confidence.
It's just the complexion of a match Tony, really. Explaining the reasons of their limited performance would come right down to the chemistry and structure of mindset/psychology. For whatever reason, they couldn't find their rhythm. Again, Rugby is a 15-man game, it takes unlimited amounts of training to get it right consistently, and any good even great team will run into that one team where things don't turn out as they should, have a bad start, and all of sudden it becomes the overall tendency of the whole match.

Eventually, it becomes a confidence issue. A team may enter a downward spiral...but I think in this case it certainly wasn't all Cardiff applying pressure on the RCT - the RCT just never got their groove going, they were flat as fk, couldn't get the right movement in the passing lanes going, missed opportunities...