European Club Rugby
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Just watching the Bath vs Bristol game from last night and finally believe England may have a centre worthy of the name in Olly Lawrence. Been slightly skeptical for a while that he was just a poor man’s Manu, but last night he had strength, cut great angles, through some lovely passes. Looked a class apart. Just shows sometimes you have to let a player with potential get better and not write them off too early. Hope he bring this into the England set up
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French club target former All Blacks coaches Ian Foster and Joe Schmidt
Former All Blacks boss Ian Foster and his assistant Joe Schmidt are reportedly headlining the shortlist to take over at Montpellier.
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Champions Cup starting next weekend.
Fixtures & Results | Investec Champions Cup
Get all the latest results of the Investec Champions Cup matches and the detailed fixtures of the upcoming games with TV broadcasters.
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Champions Cup starting this weekend.
ROUND 1Friday 8th December
Connacht 20:00 Bordeaux-Begles
Glasgow Warriors 20:00 NorthamptonSaturday 9th December
Toulon 13:00 Exeter
Bath 15:15 Ulster
Toulouse 15:15 Cardiff Rugby
Bulls 17:30 Saracens
Munster 17:30 Bayonne
Bristol Bears 20:00 LyonSunday 10th December
Sale Sharks 13:00 Stade Francais
La Rochelle 15:15 Leinster
Leicester Tigers 15:15 Stormers
Racing 92 17:30 HarlequinsROUND 2
Friday 15th December
Bayonne 20:00 Glasgow Warriors
Northampton 20:00 ToulonSaturday 16th December
Saracens 13:00 Connacht
Stormers 13:00 La Rochelle
Bordeaux-Begles 15:15 Bristol Bears
Leinster 17:30 Sale Sharks
Lyon 17:30 Bulls
Cardiff Rugby 20:00 Bath
Ulster 20:00 Racing 92Sunday 17th December
Exeter 13:00 Munster
Harlequins 15:15 Toulouse
Stade Francais 17:30 Leicester TigersROUND 3
Friday 12th January
Northampton 20:00 BayonneSaturday 13th January
Exeter 13:00 Glasgow Warriors
Lyon 13:00 Connacht
Bristol Bears 15:15 Bulls
Toulon 15:15 Munster
Leinster 17:30 Stade Francais
Stormers 17:30 Sale Sharks
Cardiff Rugby 20:00 Harlequins
Ulster 20:00 ToulouseSunday 14th January
Bath 13:00 Racing 92
La Rochelle 15:15 Leicester Tigers
Bordeaux-Begles 17:30 SaracensROUND 4
Friday 19th January
Connacht 20:00 Bristol Bears
Glasgow Warriors 20:00 ToulonSaturday 20th January
Bulls 13:00 Bordeaux-Begles
Harlequins 13:00 Ulster
Leicester Tigers 15:15 Leinster
Racing 92 15:15 Cardiff Rugby
Munster 17:30 Northampton
Stade Francais 17:30 Stormers
Saracens 20:00 LyonSunday 21st January
Sale Sharks 13:00 La Rochelle
Toulouse 15:15 Bath
Bayonne 17:30 Exeter -
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@cgrant said in NH club rugby:
La Rochelle - Leinster should be a cracker.
We will back Leinster. The Stormers have a 6 day turn around from Leicester Tigers to La Rochelle in Cape Town. We were looking forward to a Libbok vs Pollard & Roos vs Wiese clash but it wont happen. B team will go to Leicester.
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La Rochelle boss Ronan O'Gara has been given a touchline ban for Sunday's Investec Champions Cup opener against Leinster.
The former Ireland fly-half has been handed a one-match suspension by the French National League for ill discipline during last month's Top 14 defeat by Racing 92.
It is O'Gara's fifth suspension from the league since he took over as La Rochelle's director of rugby in 2021, amounting to 21 weeks of punishment.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in NH club rugby:
La Rochelle boss Ronan O'Gara has been given a touchline ban for Sunday's Investec Champions Cup opener against Leinster.
The former Ireland fly-half has been handed a one-match suspension by the French National League for ill discipline during last month's Top 14 defeat by Racing 92.
It is O'Gara's fifth suspension from the league since he took over as La Rochelle's director of rugby in 2021, amounting to 21 weeks of punishment.
He genuinely needs to pull head in a bit if he wants to get an internayional team gig doesn't he?
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@Daffy-Jaffy Irish 10s huh!
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A decent weekend of European Cup rugby up here, Quins game was v good this evening. Surprising to see the English clubs do so well, the concentration of talent this season as a result of two clubs going bust may have something to do with it.
Apart from the quality of the rugby though, another thing stands out and that’s just how low the attendances are. Scary really. I blame the English clubs for fucking up the Heineken Cup in the first place but I think there is something more worrying going on. After 8 rounds of the Premiership the attendances are way way down on last season. Could be the World Cup causing fatigue but I doubt it, could be cost of living issues, could be price gouging by the likes of Bath and Quins, but the fact that Northampton vs Leicester wasn’t sold out a few weeks ago is a huge concern
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@Dodge For comparison, if possible, could you post a few of those crowd numbers?
I found these crowd numbers of the first round of the Japan League One competition (Division 1). I have no idea whether those crowd numbers are high, or not, as I have no idea what the numbers were in previous years.
Kobelco Kobe Steelers 80-15 Mie Honda Heat (11,419 spectators)
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 30-29 Hanazono Kintetsu Liners (7,852)
Brave Lupus Tokyo 43-30 Shizuoka Blue Revs (11,553)
Toyota Verblitz 15-8 Black Rams Tokyo (9,059)
Kubota Spears Tokyo-Bay 26-52 Tokyo Sungoliath (18,110)
Saitama Wild Knights 53-12 Yokohama Canon Eagles (12,582)
What would be interesting to know is whether the lower crowd numbers in the Premiership are offset by increased tv viewership, similar to what happened in Super Rugby. With the high cost of living and expensive ticket prices, watching from home is attractive financially as you can watch more games for less. -
Not just Bath and Quins. Dearest available ticket for Exeter v Munster is £70. Plus of course we are top of the expensive pasty table.
