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We preview the best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this weekend as the Champions Cup presents all the same match-ups as last week but at different venues.
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Champions Cup: Glasgow vs Racing 92 (Saturday December 17, 3:45am HKT)
If you need any more proof that the world has completely flipped on its head in 2016 just look at Champions Cup Pool 1. Pro12 battlers Munster and Glasgow top the table while Premiership heavyweight Leicester languish below. Then there’s last season’s finalists and Top 14 champions Racing 92, who have yet to register a solitary point following their surprise loss to Glasgow in Paris last weekend. Even with a game in hand, their playoff chances seem cooked; they need to take all five points on offer in Glasgow this weekend.
Champions Cup: Leicester vs Munster (Saturday December 17, 11:15pm)
Two games played, ten points in the bag – Muster are making the Champions Cup look easy so far this season. That was all achieved at Thomond Park, though; this weekend they will have to show what they can do away from home when they travel over to Welford Road. After last weekend’s 38-0 thumping they should feel pretty confident they can handle Leicester on any rugby ground in the world, but this will be a vastly different game with Leicester will be determined to right their many wrongs from last weekend. In a group which has confounded all expectations, this match has plenty riding on it.
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Champions Cup: Connacht vs Wasps (Sunday December 18, 1:30am HKT)
Pool 2 has a good chance of harbouring one of the three highest-scoring second-place teams to progress to the playoffs on account of Zebre seemingly being an easy five points for anyone who plays them this season. Of the three other teams Wasps look the safe bet to top the pool, but Connacht and Toulouse aren’t far behind. This weekend’s match at Galway Sportsgrounds should see the home side give Wasps a good run for their money; it should be a lot closer than last weekend, when Wasps celebrated the long-awaited arrival of Kurtley Beale with a fairly comfortable 32-17 win at Ricoh Arena.
Champions Cup: Clermont vs Ulster (Sunday December 18, 11:05pm HKT)
Last weekend’s match in Belfast was the game of the tournament so far – nine tries, seven lead changes, and a well-deserved five points for Ulster. But can they do it again at Clermont’s fortress Stade Marcel-Michelin? The odds will be heavily stacked in favour of the home side, whose position at the top of the Top 14 table is built on a solid strategy of never losing at home. They still have a firm grip at the top of Pool 5, and a win here would all but see them through to the playoffs. After the quality on show last week this should be a fun game to watch regardless of the outcome.
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments