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Investec Champions Cup

Rugby Pass Podcast: A Dip In The Champions Cup Pools

Leicester and Racing 92 meet again in Pool 1

This week on the pod Scotty Stevenson is joined by Northern Hemisphere correspondent Tom Hamilton of ESPNScrum.com. The pair put on their Speedos and dive right into the five pools of the European Champions Cup before the action kicks off this weekend.

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More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

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101

Comments on RugbyPass

f
fl 15 minutes ago
England's preparations for All Blacks get off to far-from-ideal start

Coles is less physical than Chessum just because he’s a slightly worse player. Chessum on an off day is basically a carbon copy of Coles. Coles on a really good day is basically a carbon copy of Chessum.

Roebuck is a pretty dynamic runner. I’m really not convinced he’s any worse in that regard than Freeman. I think that Freeman scores more tries is mainly down to his intelligence and his ability to consistently get in the best positions and make the best decisions. That’s a difference between the two guys, but I still can’t think of another winger with a profile as close to Freeman’s as Roebuck.



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5 Go to comments
f
fl 26 minutes ago
'Why should we be worried about Ireland now?'

at least a 36 point margin?

5 Go to comments
L
LE 29 minutes ago
England's preparations for All Blacks get off to far-from-ideal start

Coles is a less physical presence and Roebuck offers a less dynamic running threat but the upside is coles lineout work is excelent and Roebuck is better in the air than Freeman in both attack and defence.

Id like to see us put a few contestabe kicks in and to contest their lineout which looked wobbly vs Ireland



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5 Go to comments
T
TL 30 minutes ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

Yeah that stands out doesn’t it. We’ve played out best when forced into a more immediately expansive style. But not the unhappy middle ground.

101 Go to comments
B
Blackmania 33 minutes ago
At least one injury-enforced absence looms for All Blacks at Twickenham

The backline at Twickenham is intriguing. Fainga’anuku missed a few tackles in Edinburgh and could shift to the wing in Clarke’s absence. I imagine Proctor returning alongside Tupaea. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jordan on the wing with DMK also out wide, so:

Fainga’anuku, Tupaea, Proctor, Jordan – McKenzie



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2 Go to comments
S
SteveD 35 minutes ago
'I’m not sure about him yet' - Eddie Jones not sold on rising England star

I obviously don’t think either Joe or Eddie could have done much with the Aussie team.

Oh and yes, I’m worried about the ARU - especially having Robinson as the chairman of WR - trying to change the union game into boring ‘five tackles, kick; five tackles, kick; five tackles, kick ad nauseam’ rugby league and trying to compete with it and Aussie Rules in Wallieland.



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4 Go to comments
M
Mark 37 minutes ago
Mick Cleary: 'It’s time for England to take aim.'

It seems that articles such as this have now been written about England for a long, long time.

They’ve been the coming thing since, well it seems forever.



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5 Go to comments
f
fl 48 minutes ago
England's preparations for All Blacks get off to far-from-ideal start

Not an issue. England have one of the deepest squads in world rugby. If we don’t win against the ABs (which we might not!) its because they are a better team, not because we had 2 players go down injured.

5 Go to comments
L
LE 48 minutes ago
'As hard as it is to swallow for fans of Damian McKenzie...'

When will the media and fans get to grips with the fact its a 23 man game the bench is just as important as the starters. To be honest the wider squad players have an important role in prepaing the 23 in the week leading up too also so performance is a squad effort.

11 Go to comments
j
johnz 49 minutes ago
‘Start him’: Ex-All Black centurion pushes for Rieko Ioane recall

I agree, Carter hasn’t been at his best the last two matches. Not sure if that can be described as “iffy”. I’m still waiting for him to be released into wide open spaces. He’s supposedly the fastest man in the team, but clean breaks have alluded him. But given Clarke is out, he’s got to stay. Neither Reiko or Sevu inspire much as the other options.

27 Go to comments
G
Gavin Gilbert 49 minutes ago
Colossal shock in final Rugby World Cup qualifier as RWC regulars stunned

Well the have not moved forward with the times. Only keeping the game in Namibia opened to a select few. (whites) Not bringing blacks into the game which would give them a bigger pool of talent to select from.

2 Go to comments
f
fl 53 minutes ago
England's preparations for All Blacks get off to far-from-ideal start

Not sure it’ll have to change much. They’re pretty similar.

I guess Roebuck offers a little bit less playmaking than Freeman, but their primary attributes are ability in the air and powerful running out wide. Coles and Chessum are both tall lineout options who offer a little bit more pace and handling than others in their position.



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N
NB 55 minutes ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

I don’t think it was a material offence which affected he outcome of the play tho Miz… Would you really want a try rubbed out for such a marginal offence? And Ntamack does milk it.

101 Go to comments
N
NB 57 minutes ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

I think Joe’s attack pattern can work TL, but I am not sure his high-possession game is really suited to the current rules. Aussie beat SA at Ellis Park on the counter after all.

101 Go to comments
M
Mzilikazi 58 minutes ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

“I’m finding the amount of coaching the referees are doing on the field a bit weird.” Agree, HH. It is so over the top. Annoying even to me. The players know what is expected at, for example, the scrum. Just make the three calls. No chatter needed.

101 Go to comments
N
Nickers 58 minutes ago
‘Start him’: Ex-All Black centurion pushes for Rieko Ioane recall

It would be nice if Clarke could stay fit for more than 2 games.

I don’t think we want Leicester on the wing for this game. Arundell and Feyi-Waboso are very quick and Ford has a great kicking game, which could expose LF out there. Reiko is not as fast as he used to be but he must still be right up there as one of the quickest in the team, so it just makes the most sense to slot him in there and not disrupt the entire backline.



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d
dw 59 minutes ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

I thought so but haven't read confirmation of his official team. Will keep an eye out. There was talk of the qld forwards coach joining him but don't think anything is confirmed

101 Go to comments
N
NB 59 minutes ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

Yes and a very weird replacement for Geoff and Harry, to say the least!

101 Go to comments
N
NB 1 hour ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

And they outlasted them for the equivalent for four yellow cards, and won 19-0 in the last quarter.

101 Go to comments
T
TL 1 hour ago
More questions than answers for Wallabies as Schmidt era enters final year

Thanks for the enjoyable if depressing read Nick. Morgan T had any interesting discussion with James Slipper on Between the Posts this week about whether Slipper thought the Wallabies needed to try a different attacking pattern because the current narrow then to space simply wasn’t working. Slipper stuck to his guns tho and said rather than change they just needed to execute better at the breakdown. Let’s see how it goes. There are too many chinks now in that backline accumulated through injuries that when Ikatau is out it is a stress multiplier of a different kind more than different degree.

101 Go to comments
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