NH club rugby
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Young – ‘Piutau the complete package’
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young has revealed his desire to bring Ulster utility back Charles Piutua back to the Ricoh Arena.Piutau, referred to as the ‘complete package’ by the Wasps’ boss, has won 16 caps for the All Blacks and will be looking to add to that tally at the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup. “He’s got another year in Ulster, and the next World Cup was certainly his goal for after that when he left here,” Young told the Coventry Telegraph. “I think wanting to go back to New Zealand for that is still his focus at the moment, but things can change and we would love to have him back here. -
@Pot-Hale said in NH club rugby:
@Catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@Pot-Hale said in NH club rugby:
Who do you think might challenge Saracens next year, Cato?
Yeah, Sarries are looking a bit scary at the moment. However, in England I see Wasps as improving significantly, I wouldn't rule out Leinster either next year. It remains to be seen in Glasgow can maintain their good form and then take the next step up. Perm from several French sides with Clermont at the top.
As things stand I would see Sarries as mild favourites but would not be particularly surprised to see any one of about five other clubs take the trophy. As ever though in this competition, much depends on the group stages about how things progress.
Who do you fancy (other than Sarries)?
Wasps look like shoulda been contenders, but their tendency to bring in a flash import (Piutau, Beale) isn't doing them any favours. I think Dai Young has admitted as much.
Exeter would be a brilliant breakthrough and I'm looking forward to see if they can make the Prem final and win this year.
Munster and Leinster will be there or thereabouts. They both need to fix a couple of things. Leinster will miss the largely unreported but remarkably consistent Hayden Triggs. The advent of Scott Fardy as a replacement does not fill me with hope since he's spent a lot of time at 6. Unless there's some Nucifora-inspired provincial shuffling going to happen at season end. James Ryan who might do a breakout on the June tour might be a pleasant surprise. Byrne and O'Loughlin will be the better for getting a season under their belts and I think the Leinster backline is going to sing sweetly with Lowe coming in to add to the mix.
Munster will likely lose Saili - his time-card is stamped for exit after 2 years. Donncha Ryan is going to Toulon. Taute may return to SA - who knows?
Don't think they have enough in their front five to do the job against the top teams. And their backline is so-so even with the promising Sweetnam, Rory Scannell and ever-improving Conway.
Clermont just didn't have any real answers to get on top despite their thrilling comebacks (Abendanon's try was a thing of beauty in its making).
Toulon? Nah. La Rochelle? Pfft.
So, maybe, just maybe...... Leinster.
I'd rate Leinster a good chance. I think Lowe is a good signing. I agree about Fardy - not supposed to be played at 6, but he is more of a part-time lock. Otherwise this year's finalists will be in the mix again.
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@Pot-Hale said in NH club rugby:
@Catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@Pot-Hale said in NH club rugby:
Who do you think might challenge Saracens next year, Cato?
Yeah, Sarries are looking a bit scary at the moment. However, in England I see Wasps as improving significantly, I wouldn't rule out Leinster either next year. It remains to be seen in Glasgow can maintain their good form and then take the next step up. Perm from several French sides with Clermont at the top.
As things stand I would see Sarries as mild favourites but would not be particularly surprised to see any one of about five other clubs take the trophy. As ever though in this competition, much depends on the group stages about how things progress.
Who do you fancy (other than Sarries)?
...Exeter would be a brilliant breakthrough and I'm looking forward to see if they can make the Prem final and win this year...
It would be something of a fairytale if Exeter were to win the Premiership but I think Sarries, even at Sandy Park, will be too much for them. Exeter have played some good rugby this season and have built some impressive scores through continued pressure. Keep the ball, keep the ball. However Sarries are so comfortable without the ball and their defence has been mostly amazing. I feel that they will soak up the Exeter pressure without too many dramas and then strike. I'd love to be proven wrong but we will see come Saturday.
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@Stargazer said in NH club rugby:
Former Blues player Joe Edwards moving from Bordeaux-Bègles (Top 14) to Provence Rugby (Fédérale 1 Elite) ahead of the 2017-2018 season.
I find myself struggling to put a face to a name there Stargazer...
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@Billy-Tell He was a number 8/blindside, had big wraps but always seemed to be injured. Was. Nz u20s in 2013 alongside Ardie Savea
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Hayden Triggs to retire from rugby
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@Stargazer said in NH club rugby:
Former Blues player Joe Edwards moving from Bordeaux-Bègles (Top 14) to Provence Rugby (Fédérale 1 Elite) ahead of the 2017-2018 season.
3rd division club?
That's quite a plummet. -
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In other news London Irish (Ben Franks, James Marshall, Asaeli Tikoirotuma etc) play the first leg of their Green King IPA Championship play off final (English second tier) against Yorkshire Carnegie tonight.
LI won the league by the start of March and only lost one game all season, but the comp structure means they have to win the play off to be promoted to the Aviva Premiership. Can't think of a bigger game the club has played, despite having been involved in a premiership final and Champions Cup semi in recent history.
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@Catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@wowrp1 said in NH club rugby:
@Pot-Hale said in NH club rugby:
Saracens beat Clermont to win Heineken Cup again. 28-17.
Owen Farrell made European Player of the Year.
5 years in a row of disappointing results in the European Final, for anyone who isn't a Toulon or Saracens fan. Toulon/Saracens for 5 years in a row...ughh
And yet some of those games have been really good. Saturday's game could have gone either way up until the last few minutes. There was huge commitment from both sides and some bloody good rugby played. Certainly enough for this (almost) neutral.
Anyway, this is the nature of sporting competitions such as this, the stronger teams do better, until they are no longer the stronger team. You see this in many other comps - the Super Rugby one is an example. There have been times when one team is on top for several seasons and then gone...
Don't see the problem.
Not a problem, I just hate both of them
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@wowrp1 Valid answer
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I said previously that Hayden Triggs is a remarkably unreported player for Leinster and will be missed. Here's his thoughts. Top rugby bloke who's had a tough couple of years and come through the other side.
Hayden Triggs loves Leinster but out of love with rugby
For those who panhandle quotes for a living, an interview with Hayden Triggs is as precious as discovering a rare, first edition. He’ll be missed as a player but also as a bloke, not least for his candour, addressing topics like suicide, depression, the malaise of social media and how he’s become disillusioned with professional rugby.
He hankers after the days when Thursday evenings concluded with a beer after training, where teams bonded on buses travelling to club matches. There is an element of wistfulness or nostalgia but the former army mechanic makes no bones about being ‘old school’ in his rugby outlook.
The 35-year-old secondrow from Lower Hutt returns to New Zealand later this summer after two seasons with Leinster – 30 appearances and counting – a rugby journey he hopes will conclude with a Guinness Pro12 title.
Triggs has no interest in playing rugby anywhere else. “I’m of the firm belief, Leinster, to me, there’s nothing better, as a club.
“I’ve said it time and again this club is awesome, it’s the best I’ve been involved with. They say the grass isn’t always greener, and I firmly believe it with this club.”
“It’s not a case of wanting to win, a bit of silverware, but I need to. I’d love to leave my mark, my name, on this club with something positive. That would mean the world to me. I’m not getting ahead of myself; we need to deal with a good team coming to the RDS. I don’t want to sound like we’re going to be there, but me personally, I’d love nothing more.”
Triggs maintains that his body would allow him a couple more seasons but mentally it is time to check out; the sport rather than the people in it have gone to a place for which he no longer cares.
“Rugby has just changed beyond identity to me. I started when it was semi-pro, and just starting professionally.
“The game is different (now), and it’s almost like I don’t like it anymore. As professionals, we’re paid to do this, that’s kind of our product. The game is what I love, I’ve said that before, but all the shit around it is hard.
“I see the guys who have just retired, sadly passing away, or having heart complications or, the worst case scenario, committing suicide.”
He’s hugely critical of the intrusiveness of social media. “The people of rugby don’t change. So, like, what I’m talking about is the social aspect. “Look what social media has done to society in general, and the light is even brighter on rugby and sportspeople in general. They’re under the spotlight even when they’re not in a Leinster shirt.
“In New Zealand, and it’s a bit different here, but a sportsman runs a red light and there’s a dude with a camera giving out to him and going to report it to the cops.
“There’s so much pressure and stress and that’s what these young kids are coming into. They don’t know the beers after a Thursday night, they don’t know the bus trips to away matches. They know none of that and I do, that’s what I grew up in.”
When it’s suggested that what the young players don’t know they can’t miss, Triggs continued: “Yeah, fair enough, but for me it’s unrecognisable. I’m an old school guy, I’ve done well to keep going in this game, I’ve been able to adapt, that’s just my personality. Body-wise, physically I could keep going for another two years, but mentally, I’m done.”
Does he worry about how he’ll cope in retirement? “No, I’m pretty good at expressing my feelings. I don’t mind chatting to people. I mean (Dan) Vickerman (the South African born Australian international who committed suicide), that hits home to me; same age, same kind of deal that’s going to be happening. He seemed fine and dandy until it was over.
“I think about that, not constantly, but I have to check myself every now and then, make sure that I find away to deal with it. As much as I’m looking forward to getting away from the spotlight and all of the stuff that comes with the rugby, I know I’ll miss it.”
He’ll take away cherished memories: those from his first day at Leinster when he was convinced everyone was called ‘Dave,’to, on a more sombre note, the support that he and his wife Mikala received after the tragic death of their two-day-old daughter, Stella.
“Through our tragedy this year, seeing the people around us in a non-rugby sense support us. To me, that was mind-blowing. We were here 12 months and we had, from all different directions, love, prayers and support; as a mature adult, that was probably one of the best things, off-field anyway.
“I hate to blow his trumpet but I knew who Johnny Sexton was from New Zealand for a long time. He was the first person to invite me and my family around for a barbeque. To me, that speaks volumes of the characters in this club.
“That was significant to me, one of the biggest names in Leinster history opened his arms first and said ‘Come and chill out, and meet us’. It was cool.”
He won’t be going home immediately after the end of the season, hanging round for a couple of months to catch-up and enjoy a few beers. The future can wait a while.
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EPCR announces key changes to Champions Cup qualification
At the conclusion of 2017/18, the seven highest-ranked clubs from the Guinness PRO12 will qualify for the following season's Champions Cup regardless of their country of origin. This will replace the current format which requires that at least one club from each of Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales is included in the seven qualifiers. The qualification process for the Aviva Premiership and the TOP 14 which sees the six highest-ranked clubs secure places in the Champions Cup will remain. There will also be an added incentive for Challenge Cup clubs with the tournament winner automatically taking the 20th spot in the Champions Cup. If the Challenge Cup winner is already qualified, then the losing finalist will take its place...........................................
Related:
Italy to lose automatic Champions Cup spot as qualification revampedItaly will lose its right to an automatic Champions Cup place from next season after tournament organisers announced an overhaul of its qualification process. Treviso will compete in European club rugby's top competition next season despite finishing 10th in this season's PRO12 table. (...) The 20th place in the Champions Cup will be taken by the winners of the Challenge Cup, bringing to an end the current end-of-season playoff system. -
@Stargazer To me that all makes sense apart from the avowed intent of growing the game (in Italy). This is unlikely to help that. Is that a good or a bad thing though given the more meritorious qualification. Dunno is my answer
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@Catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@Stargazer To me that all makes sense apart from the avowed intent of growing the game (in Italy). This is unlikely to help that. Is that a good or a bad thing though given the more meritorious qualification. Dunno is my answer
It's a tricky one. The Irish and Scottish unions supported their inclusion in the revamped Champions Cup, and Italian teams have had a chance to improve further over the last 2-3 seasons since the format changed. But they haven't. And sooner or later the team actually in seventh spot was going to start to feel aggrieved about not qualifying. So, overall, I think it's the best move. The fact that they're making the Challenge Cup winner an auto-qualifier instead of a play-off between lower ranked teams is a good compensatory move to beefing up the lower-profile competition and ensure that teams put out their best side.
So on balance, I think it's a good move.
Edit: From an Irish Times article on the subject:
“I absolutely agree with it and feel it is something that should have been in place a long time ago,” said Conor O’Shea, the man charged with transforming the Italian national side into something resembling a competitive force come the 2019 World Cup in Japan (granted, they were drawn in a horrid group alongside the All Blacks and Springboks).
“It’s a very positive move for the Pro12 league and Europe,” O’Shea continued. “We are very supportive of it.”
A practical man to his fingertips, O’Shea is willing to stake his coaching career and reputation as an organisational savant (see the turning of post-Bloodgate Harlequins into Premiership champions within three years) on the Azzurri believing they are sipping from a half-full glass.
And he’s right. This ups the ante for everyone. The Challenge Cup just got very interesting and while the Italians will almost certainly be choked into submission along that route, a top seven finish in the Pro12 was something Treviso achieved, with 10 victories, as recently as 2013 (when Connacht finished eighth).
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39957336
Jimmy Gopperth won player of the year, try of the year & golden boot in the premiership. Before the hail of "he was shit 10 years ago" starts, he was fricking superb this year for Wasps. Really outstanding.
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