Rob Baxter's comments haven't covered him in glory - Andy Goode
Much of the talk ahead of the European quarter-finals has been about front row red tape, which isn’t a good look for the game, and neither Rob Baxter nor EPCR have covered themselves in glory.
I know Chris Boyd and he’s a straight-up, honest guy and to accuse him of “mind games” was a bit of an ill-judged remark from Baxter. Saints had one fit loosehead, who has recently converted from number eight and made his Premiership debut off the bench last weekend.
There’s clearly a health and safety issue and I don’t think Saints were trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. It’s also not as if they’ve brought in a superstar. They’ve signed up a 22-year-old in Alex Seville who has never started a Premiership game.
Even with that addition you fear for Northampton’s scrum but at least the game should be able to go ahead safely. The game has changed so much in recent years and anyone saying all props should be able to play on both sides of the scrum is out of touch with modern rugby.
All of this verbal sparring could have been avoided, though, if EPCR had acted more quickly. Rules are rules but there has to be some sort of flexibility built in for this eventuality and we knew this was going to be an issue on Sunday, yet it took until Thursday for it to be sorted.
It’s also not the first time it’s been raised as Newcastle had a similar problem in the Champions Cup a couple of years ago. Thankfully, common sense has prevailed and a permanent change has been made to the tournament rules but it shouldn’t have taken so long.
On the pitch, Exeter shouldn’t have any problem despatching Saints even without those front row issues and they’ll be rubbing their hands looking at their side of the draw. I expect Toulouse to have too much for Ulster and would back Chiefs to beat them at home and make the final.
The other side of the draw is tougher to call and all eyes will be on Dublin for the rematch of last year’s final. It’s a shame we won’t get to see Lions team-mates Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell face off but it’s actually the bench strength rather than the absence of Farrell that I think swings it in Leinster’s favour.
As many as 10 of Saracens’ starting XV played in last year’s final and the absence of a crowd at the Aviva Stadium will definitely play into their hands but the bench is where you can really see what has happened to them since the salary cap scandal.
I think Saracens will revert to type a bit and test Leinster with the kicking game, especially with Richard Wigglesworth’s box kicking and experience at scrum half, but I expect Leinster to just have too much in the end and take their unbeaten run to 26 games.
Statistically, there’s usually one away win out of a set of four Champions Cup quarter-finals, though, and I think Racing will be the ones to come up with it this year away at Clermont.
They won there at this stage in the competition a couple of years ago and, although there will be a few fans at the Stade Marcel Michelin, the absence of a big crowd makes such a difference there.
Racing are flying at the moment as well with Finn Russell looking like an absolute superstar, whereas Clermont have only just edged past a 13-man Toulouse at home and lost away at Bayonne since the new Top 14 season began.
Leinster v Racing and Exeter v Toulouse would be a hell of a prospect and it may have been a long time coming but we won’t have long to wait with the semi-finals coming next weekend. It’s been good to have rugby back and it’s even better to have some top European rugby back.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments