Heineken Cup Final: Northampton Saints - Leinster

[Feicarsinn]

cant find any englishman on here stating saints are about to win there second H/C.

maybe we will only get credit when we beat lienster in the final

Bam!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

But you're going on as if they're just going to walk it!

 

[franklin]

Bam!

Put the whole post up that's a bit below the belt picking bits that suit your argument

Olyy:
Think you'll find it's the Leinster Boys that think they are going to walk in, I'm just defending my team. I don't see how telling them not to understimate us, is me saying we are going to walk it

 

[DorceOutSide]

this is leinster's for the picking. northampton had an easy route to the final they haven't been tested yet and they won't know what hit them.

 

[Draggs]

Poite reffing according to Nige on twitter.
Enjoy!

 

[Teh Mite]

Thank god for that, a cup final instead of the Nigel Owens show.

 

[coonor]

Owens doesn't know that Poite is actually referreeing the final, he just knows its not him and by process of illimination who else could it be other than Poite.

Just thinking about it the northern hemisphere need more top referees from France, Wales and Scotland.

Ireland have 3 top level referees in Clancy, Rolland and Lewis (retirering)
England have 3 top level referees in Pearson, Barnes and White

While France only have Poite and Berdos (sort of ?), Wales only have Owens and Scotland and Italy have none so basically whenever an Irish and English side gets into the final we only have 2 or 3 choices of referee.

 

[Teh Mite]

Either way, it not being Owens is a coup from my POV.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Owens doesn't know that Poite is actually referreeing the final, he just knows its not him and by process of illimination who else could it be other than Poite.

Just thinking about it the northern hemisphere need more top referees from France, Wales and Scotland.

Ireland have 3 top level referees in Clancy, Rolland and Lewis (retirering)
England have 3 top level referees in Pearson, Barnes and White

While France only have Poite and Berdos (sort of ?), Wales only have Owens and Scotland and Italy have none so basically whenever an Irish and English side gets into the final we only have 2 or 3 choices of referee.

There's Scottish referees. There's your man from the Wales-Ireland match. God I hate him!!

 

[coonor]

There's Scottish referees. There's your man from the Wales-Ireland match. God I hate him!!

You mean good old Peter Allan. He was only a Touch Judge that day and he still managed to **** it up!!!
As an alternative we could have his Scottish colleague Andy McPherson. I swear these Scottish referees just won their referees quallifications at some disney land fun fair game.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Thank god for that, a cup final instead of the Nigel Owens show.

Apart from being actually one of the very few decent ref's about and all Saints have bad blood towards him because of the Brian Mujati push incident with him, its quite understandable that you don't like him. Also id like you to explain to me about the 'Nigel Owens Show' ... I'm rather intrigue with what you mean there, because in my mind I have a certain idea about what you are talking about but would like clarification on it.

 

[Teh Mite]

The Nigel Owens show - because he doesn't referee games, he dictates them. The centre stage isn't the 30 blokes playing the game, it's the 1 bloke with the whistle. Hence "The Nigel Owens Show".

I hope you're not implying there was something else in that.

 

[munstermuffin]

I hope for both teams sake that Poite doesn't get this as the man is a disgrace of a ref

 

[Teh Mite]

He understands a breakdown (or for that matter, anything going on involving forwards) better then any other referee though.

Plus that sending O'Connell off for punching a player in the face does NOT instantly maker Poite the Devil.

Could do much worse. Steve Walsh for example.

 

[munstermuffin]

Well if you go on last Saturday he made a balls of breakdown.
But if I could pick a ref from either Wales or France it is a tough call because apart from Owens there isn't a superb choice

 

[Logorrhea]

He understands a breakdown (or for that matter, anything going on involving forwards) better then any other referee though.

If your talking about Poite I'd have to dissagree. Believe he is a better ref then Owens but hes far too pedantic on nonsense issues when its not required. Rarely lets the game flow. Personally I think there are far better French referees out there at the moment.

Wayne Barnes is probably the best ref in the NH.

 

[Logorrhea]

As for the game itself people keep talking about the Saints scrum and Foden. Saints have a lot more strings to their bow then that. They offer a good mix of direct back play, forward power and counter attacking ability.

As for Leinster, they have a pack capable of matching any, a defense better then any in the competition, Isa Nacewa, and more importantly a bench capable of out impacting the Toulouse bench.

I think this game will be close but I think the Leinster bench will have a huge impact on the game. Its areas like this, at the end of a long-hard season, a week after a grand final when the Saints will suffer as a result of the salary cap. They just dont have enough quality players to keep their best ones really fresh.

 

[Teh Mite]

That's a problem that's been repeatedly highlighted. Mallender has done a hell of a lot of good work in building on what's afforded to him under the competition (premiership) rules in building an XV which is more then a match for just about anyone but the backup - while not "weak" as such - aren't of the same calibour as the 1st choice.

Thankfully the development is coming on quickly for several players (particularly Callum Clark who's evolved over the past 3 months at a rate I doubt anybody could have forseen), but there's a definite need to play the big guns for longer periods then would be ideal. Particularly the front row where the quality gap between Tiny/Hartley/Mujati to Mercy/Sharman/Waller is huge. Saints fitness is on another level thanks to Nick Johnson (the sort of guy who does cross country marathons wearing a big rucksack because it's something to do on a Sunday afternoon the same way I'd turn on the Xbox), but as said it is a long season.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Dear TRF:
The odds really need to be fixed in the vBookie application. When converting from fraction to decimal you need to add 1 and when converting from decimal to fraction you need to substract 1. This is because the decimal system includes the stake whereas the fractional shows only the win.
For the Saints vs. USAP game the quotes were taken from a bookie that used fractions, so Saints paid 1/2, and was quoted as 0.50 (i.e. for that game the decimal quote didn't include the stake). For this game, the quotes were taken from a bookie that used decimal (the quotes are the same as in bwin), so a Leinster win pays 1.40, including the stake.
I'm not asking you to do it one way or the other, I'm just asking that the nomenclature be the same for every game.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

It's going to be decided in the pack. Should Northampton gain supremacy in the tight five and back row, they'll be in a position to bludgeon Leinster in a similar manner as they did Ulster and Perpignan. Should Leinster achieve parity, they have a huge advantage in the half backs and midfield which they should be able to exploit. While Northampton have a very dangerous back three, Leinster's is in or around the same level and it's all inconsequential if you midfield can't get you the ball.

I'd fancy our pack to stand up. We've taken on Clermont, Toulouse and Leicester, who were all very strong in that area and the boys have held firm. When you look at the teams Northampton have played this year on the other hand, you'd have to say they haven't really been tested by a top team yet. If the boys can keep to their tasks and not surcome to the over confidence on display in this thread, we should be able to take a win. That said, Northampton are a good team and anything can happen in a cup final.

What he said, although I like Mujati and hope he gets some silverware and comes back to Cape Town (and possibly Springbkos at the RWC).