Domestic & European Rugby 2017-18

[Gareth]

I’ve never got the Ford love in from England, both Farrell & Cipriani are better 10’s for me....seems Cipriani is in the same club as Robson, face doesn’t fit

[Gareth]

I’ve never got the Ford love in from England, both Farrell & Cipriani are better 10’s for me....seems Cipriani is in the same club as Robson, face doesn’t fit

[cheltenhamlion]

Gloucester downed tools the last couple of weeks as they had already qualified for the big European competition. They had better get their shit together on Friday as we owe Cardiff after our pasting at Twickenham a few years ago.

[paul_e]

Great first half from Gloucester, well deserved 2 try lead. The 2nd try in particular was superb from the backs. To repeat a firmly held belief, Trinder is the best centre in England, he would have 40-50 caps by now if he'd not had so many injury problems, he's just a brilliant player to watch.

[UK Redsox]

I know that it clashed with the Villa game, but did anyone watch the Champions Cup ?

I see that having graced the hallowed turf at Regentsholme last weekend, Barnesy had to slum it refereeing the final

[paul_e]

So, Cipriani to Gloucester and Haskell to Saints (along with a brilliant unveil on twitter).

Gloucester have pulled off a masterstroke there, brilliant player for them given the quality they already have in the backline.

Saints I'm not so sure he's the right player for them but he is very good in the premiership so I can understand it.

[paul_e]

Oh, and whilst I'm saying nice things about Glaws ...

https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/995635015630311424

The Twelvetrees one is the clear winner for me because of the brilliance from Trinder, that's why I think he's the best centre in the league.

[cheltenhamlion]

So, Cipriani to Gloucester and Haskell to Saints (along with a brilliant unveil on twitter).

Gloucester have pulled off a masterstroke there, brilliant player for them given the quality they already have in the backline.

Saints I'm not so sure he's the right player for them but he is very good in the premiership so I can understand it.

Good signing that. Will give us far more than Burns or Owen Williams. There had been a bit of rattle about spending big on fly half but I presumed it would be a saffer. We have Banahan coming in next season as well.

[paul_e]

Exeter leading 6-0 after 25mins in the 2nd semi but that really doesn't tell the story, this game is ridiculous. The tackle count is currently 6-98 and the metres gained is 208-2.  They're probably a better reflection of just how much control Exeter have.  It must be 95% possession so far, I don't think I've ever seen a game like this before which hasn't been an absolute demolition.

[Dante Lavelli]

How was Joe Simmonds?  For all the talk about Marcus Smith Simmonds has quietly gone about his business and arguably achieved more (admittedly in a better team).

[paul_e]

How was Joe Simmonds?  For all the talk about Marcus Smith Simmonds has quietly gone about his business and arguably achieved more (admittedly in a better team).

It was really hard to tell, it was an hour of defence vs. attack and by the time Newcastle started trying to play the game was broken up and pretty much all over. They defended brilliantly but that was about the worst attacking performance I've seen in a playoff, the fact that the commentators felt the need to point out Sinoti's first touch (in the 46th minute) tells you just how ridiculous it was. That said he kicked superbly and the only mistake I can think of was him trying to throw a 30 yard pass and forgetting to consider the wind which almost gave Goneva an intercept.

In the other semi there was very dodgy decision to disallow a try for Daly and when Wasps responded to that and scored twice in about 5 minutes Sarries went back to script and got themselves 4-5 really ropey penalties.  Doyle also made a fucking mess of officiating the scrum, at one point he threatened a pen against wasps for an early push, reset it and then gave Sarries a penalty because they made an early push and wasps didn't.  On top of that there were 2 pretty clear yellow cards for sarries which he gave as penalties only.  The standard of refs in the rugby was fantastic about 10-15 years ago but the current crop are pretty poor.