NH club rugby
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Straight into a comentating gig on Sky last Saturday morning for the Super Rugby coverage too, he was pretty good opposite Noddy. A hell of a lot better than Fitzy tends to be, good chance to step into the roles that Ali Williams had sewn up until he got nose snuffle issues & shot his future earning in the face.
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Toulouse loosie and former France captain (80 caps) Thierry Dusautoir has announced today that he will retire from rugby at the end of the season.
Toulouse : Thierry Dusautoir annonce la fin de sa carrière en fin de saison
Thierry Dusautoir (35 ans) a annoncé ce mercredi matin en conférence de presse la fin de sa carrière, à l'issue de la saison en cours. Avec le départ de l'ancien capitaine des Bleus (80 sélections) et de Toulouse, une page du rugby français se tourne.
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Nasi Manu moving from Edinburgh to Treviso at the end of the season
http://www.scrummagazine.com/2017/04/19/lifelong-friends-made-edinburgh-manu-away-italy/
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Andre Taylor moving from Kintetsu Liners to Sanix Blues. All fine, but geez, playing for Japan? Trying not to judge because if you're not good enough for the ABs but are still dreaming of playing international footy.... I can - sort of - understand that.
I have already seen people fuming on social media about "too many foreigners" in the Brave Blossoms taking the spots of Japanese players. Can't really blame them.
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@Stargazer That sort of mercenary professionalism should be dealt with by World Rugby. Time for Pichot's better rules.
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maybe he grew up dreaming of being a blossom
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Well, I'm just back from Lyon (fab city), where I saw Clermont defeat Leinster. There is one thing NH rugby definitely has over NZ rugby: atmosphere at grounds. Both sets are fans were great in this regard, but Clermont has the musical instruments to go with it. A few Kiwis on display: Isa Nacewa, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hayden Triggs and Michael Bent for Leinster; Fritz Lee for Clermont. It's a good experience going to match like that.
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@Billy-Tell said in NH club rugby:
Well, I'm just back from Lyon (fab city), where I saw Clermont defeat Leinster. There is one thing NH rugby definitely has over NZ rugby: atmosphere at grounds. Both sets are fans were great in this regard, but Clermont has the musical instruments to go with it. A few Kiwis on display: Isa Nacewa, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hayden Triggs and Michael Bent for Leinster; Fritz Lee for Clermont. It's a good experience going to match like that.
Good match - Clermont deserved it although Leinster did themselves no favours in the first 20 minutes with Nacewa being binned and Clermont getting a 15-0 lead before Sexton put them on the scoreboard with a penalty at the break. Good comeback in the second half by Leinster 12-19 with Ringrose's individual try from outside his 22 a nice little highlight. Pity that Gatland didn't think he made the grade. Lopez is a cool customer and took both his drop goals very well.
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@Billy-Tell I'd say French and Italian rugby...Not sure I've seen it so much in UK/Dublin...So far...
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@Bones said in NH club rugby:
@Billy-Tell I'd say French and Italian rugby...Not sure I've seen it so much in UK/Dublin...So far...
You can't find more loyal fans than those from the Irish provinces. They all travel en masse home and away. The guys I was with are just pure fanatics, putting their money where their mouths are, with the complete regalia, including the suitcases and everything. The Leinster support club hired 2 charter planes to give you an idea.
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@Billy-Tell said in NH club rugby:
...pure fanatics, with the complete regalia, including the suitcases and everything.
I feel inadequate.
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Bundee Aki has been behaving like a dick and copped a three match ban
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I've said it before and I'll say it again - assumptions that Aki will automatically step into an Ireland jersey when his 3 years residency is complete, may be wide of the mark. Definitely has an attitude that is not going down well - and Schmidt has no time for dilettantes/disrupters - as a few Ireland players will testify.
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@jegga said in NH club rugby:
Bundee Aki has been behaving like a dick and copped a three match ban
That article doesn't explain the ban. I'm confused.
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@Crucial said in NH club rugby:
@jegga said in NH club rugby:
Bundee Aki has been behaving like a dick and copped a three match ban
That article doesn't explain the ban. I'm confused.
He was being a disrespectful jerk and walked away while the ref was trying to talk to him
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@jegga said in NH club rugby:
@Crucial said in NH club rugby:
@jegga said in NH club rugby:
Bundee Aki has been behaving like a dick and copped a three match ban
That article doesn't explain the ban. I'm confused.
He was being a disrespectful jerk and walked away while the ref was trying to talk to him
He also decided to have some afters and made some "remarks" to the ref after the game. Not reported what he said. In Aki's minor defence, Davies can be a pretty shit ref when he gets going, but Connacht had the better of the penalty count and couldn't have any complaints about the result.
John Muldoon, his captain, will be pissed at him - he doesn't tolerate fools gladly. They're in 8th spot and will have to go into a playoff to get a European Cup spot for next season. Aki will now miss the last two games of the season and the playoff semi. Lam won't be happy either. He wanted to finish his stint with Euro qualification as a minimum.
Connacht being in the lower rank Challenge Cup next season won't do any favours for Aki's profile and test selection.
Pretty dumb move.
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@Pot-Hale how's the Rwc bid coming on? Rowen hasn't kept us up to date with the South African end of things unfortunately.
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@jegga said in NH club rugby:
@Pot-Hale how's the Rwc bid coming on? Rowen hasn't kept us up to date with the South African end of things unfortunately.
Funny you should mention that. He turned up online earlier this week on an article on the topic in one of the British newspapers. He used his own name too. He didn't last long.
Don't know how the bid is doing bar they had the visit from the WR committee who assess these things. Final submissions to be handed in by end June I think. Decision announced in November. No doubt there's lots of politicking going on behind the scenes.
There was a bit of a public hoo haa about the WRU and the agreement they got everyone to sign when they hosted it in 1999. Reports said that they were entitled to 20% of the profits if the IRFU were successful. After a few complaints from various unions, the WRU announced after a board meeting that the agreement would not be enforced and they looked forward to a transparent and equitable process in the awarding of the bid. No love lost between the two unions anyway, so I don't think there'll be any votes on that one.
WR rules this time round state that it must be one union bid, and that pool games cannot be farmed out so that settles any queries on that issue.
The French have been promoting their bid, and used a lot of shirt and stadium promotion during the Six Nations to that effect.
South Africa have got their Minister supporting the bid and financial guarantees have been provided by all three governments.
The Irish stadia are not as good as the French or SA ones - that might tell against them. The capacities are lower too, but 445,000 total capacity is still pretty good and they're confident of filling them.
The IRFU have a site with various facts and figures - http://irfu-ireland2023-wpengine.soticcloud.net
here's a video they released recently on four of the stadia which has got a good response from various fans.
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This weekend is going to be the last and most important round of the regular season of the French Top 14.
Clermont will play La Rochelle in a top of the table clash. La Rochelle is already certain of the no. 1 spot, but Clermont still has to win to secure a home semi-final.
Montpellier can still contest that 2nd place and will play St Francais Paris. After the (failed) merger between these two teams that was almost forced upon St Francais, they will have plenty of motivation to try to beat Montpellier. Also, St Francais is on equal points with Racing 92 for the last spot in the finals play-offs, so we can be sure they will throw the kitchen sink at it.
Racing92 can expect a visit from Bordeaux. Racing must win to secure a play-off spot, while Bordeaux has nothing to play for but pride.
Toulon will host Pau, and while Toulon is certain of a spot in the finals play-offs, Pau currently sits outside the top 6 but is still within reach and needs a win.
Toulouse v Bayonne will be an absolute meaningless game. Toulouse is safe, but not in contention for a place in the play-offs and Bayonne is certain of relegation to the Pro 2.
Grenoble will receive Lyon, and this won't be much more exciting. Grenoble is certain of relegation and Lyon only have a very theoretical chance to make the play-offs (Racing92, St Francais and Pau would all need to lose).
Brive will play Castres at home. Brive has nothing to play for but Castres needs one point to be absolutely certain of a spot in the play-offs. If they lose without a bonus point, and Racing92 and St Francais both score bonus point wins, Castres is out.
Such a pity we can't watch these games on tv in NZ. All games are played at the same time (Sunday morning, 7 May, at 6.45am NZT), so you can only watch one game and only via a dodgy stream online.
Clermont v La Rochelle is definitely the game to watch. -
@Stargazer French rugby can often be awfully dull to watch imo.
Bundee Aki's post-match treatment of the referee has no place in rugby
