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Season 2- Episode 13- Rouge Mist (Champions Cup Round 2)
28 Plays6 years ago
Champions Cup Round 2 is in the books and so is the latest episode of TFRY. We talk about some injury news that hit the Premiership clubs (eyes on those rosters this weekend kid). We take our semi-annual bite out of NBC Sports, things never change it seems. We also talk about all the action around Europe including some absolute madness from a pair of French sides. Finally, don't miss start or sit for Round 5 of the Premiership this weekend. For those like us in the States, let us help us through your long travel days for the holiday and of course a Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Have a question about your lineup on as the clock ticks down for game week start? Ask us questions via Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar, or by using #AskTFRY. Send us your thoughts for the show and questions for upcoming shows via e-mail fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com. Of course we welcome feedback via e-mail, twitter or by rating/reviewing the pod on Apple Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Introduction and Champions Cup Highlights
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey everybody, how's it going? My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glauzer. Welcome in, week two in the books for Champion Cup. There was some really good stuff going on, some exciting stuff going on with some teams that we've been waiting for to kind of pop a little bit.
Fantasy Game Experiences and Challenges
00:00:24
Speaker
Really good match going on over in Italy as well Which was probably not to everybody's expectation unless you've been paying attention to Benetton, but that we'll get to that in a minute How would have you been playing the the official Champions Cup fantasy game
00:00:40
Speaker
No, I need to take a break from fantasy. Okay, I will I will allow that between uh, yeah a couple of fantasy football teams of a whole bunch of uh, Oh, yeah premiership and then the world cup. I was like, you know what i'm gonna give it a break for this What are you talking about? You're out of our league. I know Yeah Hey, i'm hanging on by a fingernail i'm still in but I could get I could get booted this week if I lose um
00:01:05
Speaker
Yeah, I put up a decent number this week. I was able to go one-on-one in this little period here. We'll see what happens the rest of the way, though. There's some head-scratching stuff going on, like, mmm, it's been poorly for me. I did somehow end up with Johnny Hill. I'm just talking about it. There you go. And I know there's, sorry, guys. Anybody that listens to this, it's in my league. What the fuck were you paying attention to when it comes to lock?
00:01:35
Speaker
He was so he was widely available He was like just sitting out there. Nobody ever maybe you know that exit or haven't actually, you know, they haven't fared terribly well at this I Agree with that but he has been on the fire. So yeah, he has
00:01:51
Speaker
He's been he himself has been on fire. So totally worth it. So um, actually my opponent next time We play picked up picked up the guy I started with which was tyburn, but he ended up not starting that first match So I just ditched him and I was like, oh johnny hill works. There you go Yeah, yeah big time um So, oh wait, hold on we're missing something here. Let's uh, let's open these suckers up
00:02:20
Speaker
Please make sure that you are subscribed to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Play, and all your other favorite podcast apps that are out there that you find us on. If there's one that we don't mention and you want to know if we're on it, please ask, because I'm sure we are. It's just a matter of how you search it or something like that. And that's OK.
00:02:41
Speaker
All right, and also hey we're back to we're back into prem this week We are so time to time to go get that fancy fancy mag that rugby magazine upgrade That's the one event. Uh, the rugby magazine upgrade big time. Um, this is are we did I hear right that we're only on this for a week though? And then we're back to champions cup. Am I making that up in my brain? Uh, I thought we were on for two. I think so. I think you might I think I think you might be on okay
00:03:05
Speaker
Let me hold on. Let me let me look this up. Well, of course I should have done this beforehand, but you know amateur hour over here. Um, yeah. Yep. Nah. Yeah. 29th November is round five and then round six is the 20th of December. Oh, damn. All right. So we're just, we're just playing the one round. Yep. That's ugly. I mean, kind of had to squish everything together because of some stupid tournament over in Japan.
00:03:34
Speaker
which is kind of affecting the, uh, the, the, the champions cup tournament. Yeah. The, the teams that are
Tournaments Impact on Teams and Player Availability
00:03:40
Speaker
getting rolled rolled out there for sure. Um, in terms of the player personnel, right? You know, and some teams are waiting on others to come back. Like, uh, like, you know, sale finally got to Clark back this week. Um, other teams are still waiting on it.
00:03:54
Speaker
So it's it's a It's definitely had an impact on it in terms of the players we're seeing on the pitch. Yeah, they're coming back tired, obviously Yeah, and there's a lot of teams that are just not even they're not they're not bothering to pull back their players even in this competition. So it's Kind of fascinating to see who's who's rocking up for what games and who's right kind of saying, you know what? We're good. We're gonna concede some of these
00:04:18
Speaker
Right. Well, um, so let's get into, let's get in the news notes. You want to do the, uh, the rant or you want to do the injury news first.
Challenges of Watching Rugby in the US
00:04:28
Speaker
Uh, let's start with the rant because rants are fun and I enjoy them. Rants are fun. Um, so, and hopefully if you're in the United States, you, you understand this, um, watching rugby over here is a bit of a pain in the ass, less so than it was once upon a time. It's getting better. And we talked about, we've talked about many times about how we use, we used to watch it and now it's a little easier, you know, you have to pay for it. Um, which is actually okay though, because before you couldn't even pay for it. Right. You know, so that's, that's a step in the right direction, but,
00:04:59
Speaker
I have to just like have my my shot at nbc sports like what the fuck like to get comms up To take 10 minutes to get comms up and I don't know if you were listening to the that match The comms were ahead of the video. Yes So this is this is the gloster Montelier match. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's
00:05:20
Speaker
unacceptable that is jv bullshit for an organization as big as i didn't watch it live i saw the replay they had comms up but the referee mic was way too loud so i'm i was watching the first like 20 minutes or so at the gym yeah and so i have my earbuds oh geez
00:05:36
Speaker
And so like everything's finally starting to whistle. I'm like, oh, geez, what the fuck? Yeah. Thank you for not doing that ever again. Yeah. Oh, geez. So did they have comms from the word Joe in the replay? Yeah, the replay. The head comes the whole time. They fixed it. Fucking a dude. But still, that shouldn't happen to a live event. So NBC Sports, every time you screw up, do we do we get money back? You know, a little bit, you know, because if we didn't make the payments,
00:06:01
Speaker
You'd be pissed and you'd be harming us, but, you know, fucking up at a there's fuckups and there's amateur fuckups. That's an amateur fuckup. So that should not be acceptable. And that should be something that NBC Sports really looks at themselves for. Right. And they've been better, but it's still kind of bullshit because, I mean, every so often you'll get a game that doesn't have the referees, Mike.
00:06:21
Speaker
Yeah, we've had a couple in the last two weeks which is also really fucking annoying because I I want to hear what the referee is saying it changes the whole experience when you can't hear you know You don't hear a whistle or you know, you're you're seeing the play continue after the whistle
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah, and you're like, wait, wait, wait. No, what the fuck? That was a knock. And like, how is it not saying, what the? I'm so confused right now. Right. And then it stops and they're like, oh, okay, but you got it. It's just, it's, it's such a valuable thing to have that. And then you hear the cursing too, that they always apologize for. Which they legally have to apologize for. Right. Apparently I was like, oops, we don't have to lose, we apologize for shit.
00:07:01
Speaker
And we and we talk about how the American commentators always talk over the referees Mike You know, what's worse is not having the referees Mike to begin with so just Do better goddamn it, please pretty please like if you don't I'll just hoof you in the nuts How's that sound all right, I'm done
Injury Reports and Fantasy Team Management
00:07:24
Speaker
so some man some injuries like just going up and down the like this is usually not a reliable list but it's got some names on there that pop my that pop my eyes out the our friends are rugby mag are getting a little bit better about their injury report in here um i see some injuries and i go oh that's not good cardi law's out for at least a couple months looks like um
00:07:47
Speaker
Woodward has has uh, looks like he's gonna be out for at least a month. Uh, let's see who else I did see a couple other big names watson and mercer out for three to Yeah, three to four weeks. So they're gonna be out for a month. Give or take ewels is gonna be out for at least a month Which for this is really just one this one week. So right right, but still you're probably looking at even I mean mercer might be back for the next time we play this right um
00:08:13
Speaker
So what I'm saying is for some of these guys, don't rush to drop them. No, definitely not. I'm not dropping Mercer. I have so much stock in Mercer. It's ridiculous. I have him in this and both my prem FRD teams. I don't think I have him in my European team too. Yep, Zach Mercer. I have all kinds of stock in Zach Mercer. I am the president of the Zach Mercer fan club, apparently.
00:08:43
Speaker
Um, but yeah, there's a, and what else is there there? Vailanu for the wasps got, got hurt as well. Uh, launch very apparently either picked up an injury this weekend or came back with one that they're, um, rolling them out for Gasco. We knew, we knew it was kind of banged up. Uh, Brad shields got banged up as well. So I would at least expect not to see these guys anytime soon. See honey, Vailanu. That's a big one. He was actually having a decent season for them.
00:09:07
Speaker
Being there being there starting eight men, but he's also probably not used to that much playing time So I think that was one of the things like I'm sure he was chomping at the bed after being way down the pecan odor at Saracens But then he you know he gets a starting lineup when he's ready to go But there's a point where you have to reconsider like how much rugby has this guy played in the last like? Year, I would ease him into it instead of throwing him
00:09:29
Speaker
Out there to the wolves, right? Yeah. Watson was a was a big one. I saw him fall in that that match and I was terrified of what it could be. Thank God. It's only a a three four week monthish thing that could have been very, very bad. But yeah, so these will be guys that you obviously need to at least find a replacement for the week. You'lls will probably be somebody you need to find for a little while. Woodward in law. Same thing. Have we heard about Beaumont's injury yet?
00:09:59
Speaker
Nope, and that's not up on the site. That is not on the site. Um, I don't know. I don't know. It also depends on how good the clubs are at reporting it to the media. And I don't know who's, who's the manager at the coach at sale.
00:10:17
Speaker
Someone we all know and love. Yeah. Um, he's probably not great about it. He probably doesn't want to probably keeps his cards pretty close to the vest. So I don't think we'll see a report on that until basically until he's ready to come back. Yeah. So, um, just kind of sit on them if you want different, if you have an inkling about it, ditch them. Uh, yeah. Anything else I'm trying to think of. I thought I had one more in my brain, but I guess I can't remember it.
Game Analysis: Ulster vs. Claremont
00:10:49
Speaker
Oh, the Champions Cup. So round two, starting off Friday night at the Kingspan. This was a typical Jekyll and Hyde French team performance, like, you know, top 14 team performance. I won't say French team, because yes, they're from the French league, but God knows they got, you know,
00:11:07
Speaker
Clearly, it was super, super important.
00:11:15
Speaker
So many guys starting and I think somebody even somebody said oh, it's awesome that JP Doyle is Speaking French to the Claremont team. There's only like six of them that are French though Just speak English we know better you might be all right with that, but anyway to the game Ulster
00:11:36
Speaker
Tough place to win. Tough place to beat Ulster is up there in Belfast. It really is. And that crowd loves their team up there. John Cooney was looking every bit the part that he has been for that team. He's definitely been a big talisman for them. And I was extremely impressed with the way that Ulster were able to rock up against a team that just lit the world on fire the week before. You got to give it to them.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, I was disappointed a little bit in Claremont with their lineup, first off. I think, especially when things weren't going well for them, they left Laidlaw in way too long. And, you know, we at the Fantasy Rugby Yanks are not huge fans of Laidlaw to begin with.
00:12:27
Speaker
Not I mean not that he's a bad player, but if things aren't going well he gets in a bad place Mentally, yeah, definitely and he gets and he gets into that point where he gets really lippy and pissy, right and Most referees don't want that, you know scrim halves are tend to be that way as it is but when you're extra lippy and and pissy referees definitely aren't gonna give you the pen for the doubt you can you can better believe that and
00:12:53
Speaker
And I felt like Para came on and made a difference. And then Cammy Lopes. I would have loved to see him the whole match. Yeah. Lopez is a, I mean, we saw what quality he had when he played the US. Right. You know, I mean, it's, I know that it was the US, but again, you know, the US aren't quite the slotch as they once upon a time were.
00:13:13
Speaker
Look, I realize it's hard to, you know, to to have Jake McIntyre sitting in there in your team sheet and and and sit him over for a guy who's, you know, maybe, you know, playing one of the best tennis in the in the world. So he lit up the World Cup and then has been playing pretty well right outside of it. Yeah, I come back. Yeah, especially in a game like this. Like you said, you're on the road. You're a king span. Nasty weather.
00:13:40
Speaker
Right, you want to to have your you know, your your kind of gutsier players out there So you got to have a game manager at 10 and he can definitely um He definitely would have been putting the boot to the ball a little bit better and putting a clam on some and some better positions Maybe not attacking wise, but at least field position wise Um, what were the what was the field position stat stat on this one?
00:14:01
Speaker
Um, uh, 60, 40 Ulster pretty, pretty significant. You know, I consider anything above 54 to be fairly significant. And that's, that's significant right there. So, uh, I think that says a lot about how they were able to get things up. Um,
John Cooney's Performance and Team Exclusion
00:14:21
Speaker
Cooney obviously got himself over the line with just a wonder try. This guy is so good. You know, you wonder how you got left out over for Ireland. I look at him and I'm like, why aren't you here? Why aren't you there?
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah, no the try he had was was fantastic. Um, but then they he also took away a try earlier in the match He did i'll give you that. Um, so he ate it when he should get right. So so to me, uh Fantastic individual effort player, but if you're looking to play in a an assistant that that Needs distribution and really stresses the team over the individual i'm not sure he's your guy I think he I think he would be fine. He's he
00:15:06
Speaker
I mean, fine. Yeah, I'm not saying he's a bad player. I just when I saw certain things that it was like he's looking to make a play himself. And not that that's a bad thing. Ireland just isn't that kind of team. Yeah, he had.
00:15:21
Speaker
In terms of involvement, he had 76 passes to five carries. So it was just really that one glaring moment where he probably should have given it that really pops at you. But yeah, I totally understand. He should have given it, and that would have been an easy try. Made up for it, and also did his job off the tee. Yep. Yeah, I'm not getting down on them. It was just one of these, as far as his game, my notes on them were, you got to take the good with the bad. Yeah. No, I'm not arguing with that.
00:15:51
Speaker
How about the crowd getting on a bend and then Just on top of them fuck up once. Oh, that's all it takes. They're ruthless They were like they weren't even like letting him catch the ball to cheer They were like as soon as that ball he was he was in the neighborhood of that high ball. They were like you could hear the swelling Yeah, they'll put pressure on you big time yeah over the up there King span um one final one final note it was unfortunate that the broadcast even Paris had to
00:16:19
Speaker
Just hammer on I think it was adison that ended up making that hit on um, disarming from uh, the the young substitute for clermont and I I really find it hard to believe that i'm agreeing with what ugo said But ugo called it a rugby incident and i'd say it's probably pretty much the perfect way to describe it It wasn't something that adison intended. Yes, it was high and I know he's a big lock It was head to head good guy. Yeah, he got cited for it. I believe okay. Well, there you go
00:16:47
Speaker
Well, there you go. Justice for you. Justice for you, Stephen Farris. Either way, the call wasn't was the decision was made and he needed to let it go because every time I think it was Addison got again, I think it was I don't know. I'm a break out. No, it was Addison. Either way, every time he got mentioned.
00:17:03
Speaker
Ferris was on it. I'm like dude knock it off. Like you the decisions been made Stop stop harping on it. All right, right if he's gonna get side he's gonna get cited, you know The referees made his decision pay attention to the rest of the game. All right. Yeah, get off that and you know, I like Stephen Ferris he was a tough bugger when he played and But that's just that's just something he needs to need just kind of let go let go man. I
00:17:28
Speaker
Keep one there's more to the game those right. It wasn't this was still uh, it wasn't intentional. He wasn't like yeah It's right. We're sitting there agreeing with you go. It's a rugby incident. It happens Yeah, citing is one thing but we don't have to go and act like it was the worst thing in the world because you know What that cheapens other acts that are bad because then we're you know We can't just be clutching our pearls at every hit. That's not quite right We didn't say yeah, we don't like the outcome. We obviously don't like the outcome
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, it was it looked pretty horrific in the end, but there was no ill intent. It was just poor. It was just unfortunate heads
Game Recap: Saracens vs. Ospreys
00:18:06
Speaker
being in the same lowering down driving all that, you know, just things that happened in a rugby match and that, you know, and there was a close match at that point. It's not like it's not like you have nothing to talk about. It was a five point match at that point. Just call the game. Pay attention to the game. Call it. But I'll also do take care of Claremont and they are sitting pretty on top of their pool now.
00:18:26
Speaker
Which, uh, I kind of had an inkling that they would be the team to definitely at least be second, if not first in this, in this one. I don't see how they, um, they lose to either the other two teams. Obviously they didn't lose to bath. I don't, I think this back to back with Quinn's and, um, and there's going to just leave them right. Sitting pretty and probably ready to qualify once we're done in a few weeks here.
00:18:50
Speaker
Okay. And then we had a big block of games on Saturday morning for us here. It was, it was a fun time. You want to talk about, you want to talk about our guys first? Yeah, let's go through ours first, get it out of the way so people can, you know, stop here and it's like drooling all over the Saracens. Cause that's what we do when they, when they play like this. Well, when they play that well, it's hard, hard not to. Yeah. Um, and I said, I said it on Twitter, I'll say it here. Remember the name Roddy Shigen.
00:19:19
Speaker
Yeah, yes. Whoa. Wow Dude, the kid was unbelievable. Um, I just i'm i'm happy another wing that the expressions have turned out. I have text evidence for this That we were looking at through the lineups and I I told Jared that I really liked radi at at at 14 rather than 11 Um, he's he's solid on defense. He's not you're gonna be your your playmaking attacking wing um, and yet at the same time, I think he's
00:19:47
Speaker
Good enough to to to do damage against that playmaking attacking wing that the 11 who maybe it isn't the best defensive Players not yeah, so I think that that was a solid move on their part and shagan Helped prove me right right
00:20:03
Speaker
Obviously by proving the call, right? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely Showed some faith. Obviously there are serisons on a much better looking lineup that came in You had the like you had the likes of Jinx on the bench singleton started
00:20:18
Speaker
Yeah, Cruiser was in there, Mako is back. Yeah, Mako start. Elliot Daley, his debut appearance went very well. It went quite well. He looks like he's going to add a big time presence and speed, not that they needed any. But when they're feeling their best lineup, when everybody's back healthy,
00:20:41
Speaker
Um, I would see I honestly see daily at 13 and that speed at 13 for saris. Oh, that'd be great would be Deadly, but I mean and we talked about we love we love brad barrett, right? No question about it The the dude leaves the defense we you know when our defense is bad because he's not in there, right? It's not a question. Um
00:21:00
Speaker
You know, but you know, the day he's ready to hang him up is the day that the that midfield for Saracens gets just a touch faster because you're probably going to see the likes of Tompkins and daily pairing up in there. And that's going to be a very terrifying thought for a lot of teams, I think. I like laws, but I think he's going to be ready to move on at the end of this contract. Yeah. You know, fair enough. He he he got here. He got himself some titles. He played very well when he was called upon in a lot of spots.
00:21:28
Speaker
a lot more solid defensively than a lot of people thought he was. But again, I think there's just a little bit more dynamic going on with Nick Thompkins.
00:21:37
Speaker
We also saw the Saracens debut of, and I'm going to butcher his name because I have not said it yet. This is going to be my first even attempt. Josh Bonacape. Yep. Sounds like that. Do you pronounce all the letters there? I think so. I'll have to figure that out. Yeah. Yeah. He is a unit. The Saracens coaching staff needs to take him and point him over at Will Skelton.
00:21:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah, he's a bit of a and then go to have him work with will skeleton and the people that will skeleton worked with Because I see him I see him next, you know, he'll be he'll be decent this year Like he said, he's a hoose he can play he's a good maybe 20 to 30 minute prop Well, thankfully we have tight heads, right? You tight heads on this team. So but I you know make slim him down make him much more of a you know, a mobile force he Certainly got a little bit out of position and couldn't work because he couldn't work his way back into position fast enough
00:22:29
Speaker
So uh, but but good solid start for him Yeah, absolutely for his sari's career not start but you know when he came in start to the career, right? Yep, acquitted himself. Well, yeah Because he was on a ban for a high tack on the prime cup, which is unfortunate, but hopefully he'll just be the once incidents. Um
00:22:48
Speaker
They, the, the Saracens team worked quite well. Obviously their, their kicking game was much better. Uh, you know, Tom Whiteley started and played himself a hell of a match. Uh, good on him. First European, uh, appearance and ended up getting over the line. Yeah. Manu of a Napola.
00:23:04
Speaker
Yeah, so he got an expanded role this match. We talked about it last week how he was very limited He only had what we had said six passes last week. Mm-hmm We're gonna look this up in real time this week. See if they have him here a little bit better I got it. You had 22 22. Well, there you go. I mean that you know, they they let him
00:23:30
Speaker
Yeah, they'll actually let him play with the ball a little bit. And the results were there from it. We saw Sagan with the two tries and also setting up Lewington when Sagan was all the way across the field. They played a much more expansive game.
00:23:48
Speaker
Yeah, open that
Speculation on Saracens' Lineup Strategy
00:23:49
Speaker
up just a bit. They have the ability really what what I was looking for last week. Um, they showed this week, right and you know Sounds like we're completely dismissing the ospreys. Well, we kind of are because they didn't play very well They really didn't I mean, it's a shame it is and you know, I see I see guys on this team I'll let davies james hook um
00:24:09
Speaker
Adam Beard, you know Some some good names. I'll Owen Watkin who I definitely had a bit of a crush on him at the World Cup You know, you see some of these names you and you want to be excited But this was not an exciting game for them by any means whatsoever, you know had somebody try and get after me on Twitter for Roddy and I just like It was definitely a it was at least a Welsh man, right an osprey's fan Making fun of what was this company? What the hell he said I said
00:24:39
Speaker
A typical salary cap there, you know getting paid I was just like nah his his company's name is shigen 10 osprey's three. Yeah, I was like, there you go Because yeah They did not and I understand be a little bit bitter about it, but they did they were not playing well No, it's it is what it is. It's call it what it is, you know, yeah
00:25:00
Speaker
I mean, the Saracens played kind of certainly a mixed side. And not only that, but we've talked about it even at the World Cup, talking about Duncan Taylor. I mean, when you look across you and you see that there's a center pairing of Brad Barrett and Duncan Taylor, you should be licking your lips like we cannot run these fuckers.
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah, that didn't happen. Nope. They couldn't I mean that's that's that's a pair. You could probably run around but not through because they'll both hit you hard. Um, but yeah, you definitely could have run run around them if you chose so choose to and they they didn't, you know, that's where it is. Um, yeah, one more last last note and then we'll move on. Um,
00:25:39
Speaker
I would anticipate that you see a lot of lineups similar to this the rest of the way for Sarah since a mix of Their guys coming back from England some of the guys come back from injury and some of the guys that started the season both in the prime Cup and the early rounds of the premiership just because you know RPA only allows you to play so many matches at a whack and It's it's good for their health, but it's also gonna be good for the longevity through this season and to make sure everybody gets through and
00:26:07
Speaker
Playing well, but also being healthy. I mean you're gonna see a lot of yeah, you're gonna see a lot of Roddy And probably more Duncan Taylor than you probably would expect Certainly in matches like that that are gets more the lower tier teams like your Lester's and maybe even your
Match Overview: Benetton vs. Saints
00:26:27
Speaker
Uh part of wisters and and and even back Irish. Yeah, right You're not going to see a full bore lineup. You're going to see something like you said like this. They'll they'll rest guys Tactically, um, it's only going to be for the teams the the games that they really need to win that they will rock up Yeah, I agreed and take care of business agreed Yeah, so saris and the state care business and get themselves going on the champions cup They got a five-pointer and they ain't out of it yet, especially with the result that happened later on that day. Um
00:26:56
Speaker
To over to Italy we talked about it. We mentioned it before this was a Cracker of a match bent on and Saints given given the crowd what crap what little crowd they could draw I held of empty seats. I know is unfortunate a lot of a lot of yeah, fly me there I would have watched that I was a cheese and it turned into a fantastic game it did And you know, I was wrong about who won this match But I did say this is not a team that just go sleep go sleep on over when they're at home and
00:27:24
Speaker
And so this goes to a couple of tactical ideas that I've been thinking about too, especially around penalty kicks, where a lot of these premiership teams like to just penalty kick the other team to death. And once you get into this competition, that doesn't quite work.
00:27:43
Speaker
For instance, the Saints, their first possession, they drive down into Benetton territory and they take the penalty kick option early. It was like six minutes in. No, I'm sorry. Benetton scored first because they got in, they passed up a penalty kick attempt. They went to the corner and they- They got out of the line first. They got out of the line.
00:28:05
Speaker
So that just tells me like so the Saints took the penalty kick option because they were able to move the ball Pretty quickly and they felt I will do this all day and Bennett and said you know what we're not sure how many Bites at the Apple we're gonna get so we're gonna go for the the max points when we when we have to yep and that really that that difference in mentality is
00:28:24
Speaker
Really changed a lot of of that that early match and and and helped benetton seize The control of the game in the way that the saints weren't able to um left the saint scrambling uh later um very much Because now it turns into a wheat they scored first. So that means that that that benetton can just take penalty kicks a little bit now they can Work the score but a little bit easier right sure the sants got over. Um
00:28:49
Speaker
Oh, that pass from Dan Bigger. Oh, that was naughty. That was a great pass. Oh, man, what a pass that was. I was like, did he just replay? Oh, yeah, he did. He did it. Wow. But yeah. Oh, man, that was great. But he gets over and that, you know, makes it the Saints take the lead 11 minutes in. But then two minutes later is kicking for points to take the lead again. So that's just a little bit of
00:29:20
Speaker
you know, working the scoreboard to your favor and taking what's offered, but you've already got the try under your belt, so you can still extend the lead. And then they scored again pretty quickly after that, with the Ratuva try off that mall.
00:29:37
Speaker
It just changes, you know, that again, the idea of going to the corner early in the match and saving your kicks for late. Really to manage the scoreboard instead of just try to be like, oh, we'll put points up and that'll be enough. It wasn't enough for the Saints. No, they needed to figure out something more. And I just want to say the name Nacho Brex. How about him? Because that's a fun name to say and a fun fucking score he had.
00:30:04
Speaker
made I think it was Sladehome. You made him look silly. Yeah, I was like, oh, that's mean. That was very mean because he apparently not known for a tricycle or more known to knock the shit out of you. Right. That looked pretty good. It was a great line. And then he just made a silly move to make Sladehome looks look just embarrassed himself. These guys were hot to start. I was glad that these guys showed a little bit of a little bit of stones to say, nope, we are. We're not just getting shoved around in this over here.
00:30:34
Speaker
Although they took a physical toll on them. I mean, that, that Riccioni was, he had a really big hit on moon early, but then ever since then, his, his, you know, he'd been kneeling after the play every, every few minutes to the point where. Pasquale came on fairly quick.
00:30:50
Speaker
point where Saints were like, hey, they're just killing the game. They're not in shape. They can't do this. All they're doing is trying to stop. And the referee's like, there's not much I can do. They have physios out there. I'm not a physio. I'm not a physio. Yeah, you can't leave it on the referee to do that, unfortunately. Right. But Harrison was definitely, I think he was a little bit accurate. Oh, yeah, I know Tomano was talking about it. Yeah. I do want to say a name to that. I love the way he plays. He didn't necessarily light up the stat sheet.
00:31:17
Speaker
Um, this game, but, uh, Freddy Ruzza looks really good. Ball in hand as a second row, you know, almost like a, I mean, this is a high compliment to him and it might be too high, but almost like I'm a Toge light, like an Toge beta, like looks pretty good in the loose ball, good ball carrying.
00:31:36
Speaker
Can win you a penalty now and again definitely can handle the ball and pass it when needed. I Keep your eye on him. He's a pretty darn good player. I he played really well for Italy at the World Cup I would be I'd be very happy if I was bent and knowing that I had him on my team And then so let's talk about the end of the game and then we'll and then we'll get on to it Saints
00:32:01
Speaker
The last penalty, the last two penalties. It's more the last penalty was definitely a penalty. It's more the second, the last penalty. Forward pass and then following pass was an intentional knock. I mean, are we splitting hairs here? Are we just calling it?
00:32:20
Speaker
I that looked intentional to me. Right. Which at that point, yeah, I get that. That was a correct penalty, I think. The only penalty I had before then was the Jamie Gibson turnover penalty. Yeah, I saw that. Which was definitely a penalty. You earned that. That was huge. Yeah.
00:32:38
Speaker
I don't recall a panel the the second penalty that that It wasn't so it was the it was that one in between the there was the one because that wasn't the one that got them The point shot at goal the shot at goal. It wasn't it was the following one It might have been the Gibson one. I can't remember off top my head But before that pass came there was a potential forward pass That was that was not either not checked or they decided it was flat. I know I
00:33:06
Speaker
I feel like so again, there's the the referee's discretion with the checklist that they they go through to say whether or not to to intervene in the match is Was it did it impact the game? Like was it clear and obvious? And did it did it you know?
00:33:26
Speaker
positive, you know, was there an impact to it? And that it wasn't forward enough. And I kind of like that they're doing these just the past drift forward because they were running forward. Try not some of that shit off. Right. It's the ones that are. No, that was clearly thrown and intentionally three meters forward. We'll get we'll talk about one in a little bit. Right. But yeah.
00:33:48
Speaker
And so that one no, I I don't think there was anything wrong with that. I think there was um, you know, they've been letting the I think that's been consistent So i'm okay with it. Let's put it that way that they've been consistently. Okay with that kind of pass. Um Yeah, the deliberate knock. I don't even know how deliberate it was Um, you never shot catching you didn't have a shot of catching it and he touched it. I I but at the same time yeah
00:34:12
Speaker
I agree. It's hard to say no. It is hard to say no. So yeah. He did a very good job of not looking at the ball while he hit it. So that's why it's more of like an unintentional knock. But at the same time, that's a. He was a little too obvious. Yeah. But Benton played very well. Unfortunately, this is their second loss in the comp. So they're probably going to be left either maybe chase a second.
00:34:33
Speaker
Um, it's hard to have that home loss there. Yeah, um, or um, or maybe just consolidate and go back to pro 14 and make sure that you make sure that we qualify for this competition. That's important. I think that should be important for them. I think they have a shot at leon. So if I, you know, I think they can, they could, they could probably squeeze out.
00:34:49
Speaker
Two wins here. I think they'll I think they'll squeeze out one We'll squeeze out one. It's the question of can they win on the road? Yeah, that'll be I'll be we saw that they can play well on the road So let's see 35 32 to the Northampton seats with Dan bigger having big old cajones to hit that winner at the end And they are they're moving sitting pretty at the top of their pool right now
Recap: Toulouse vs. Conak
00:35:11
Speaker
And then we have, uh, Toulouse and Conak and Conak rocked it, rocked up a little bit for this one. I know the score didn't say otherwise, but they, uh, they played pretty well for the most part in this match. It was just, uh, it was just really unfortunate that the, they kind of let it get away from him at the end. I mean, the hockey try at the end was, you know, kind of the icing on the cake.
00:35:34
Speaker
Yeah, that was that that and that was the again just to get the bonus point just they they were they were working for it, right? Um, you know any other match than that. They're they're taking away a 25 17 win and And are okay with it, but they you know in in this kind of competition you need every point you can get 100 So, um
00:35:55
Speaker
Yeah, I there's just I don't know how much there is to talk about the, uh, um, flying a tackle on, on Intimac was silly. Yeah, that was bad. Uh, but it also didn't really damage them that much. Um, wasn't didn't score much. Yeah. Um, no, usually, usually I got over. Okay. Yeah. About five minutes. That's true. Yep. But then this year, I don't know if, um, playing a gotten back on, but the shell hit back with a drop goal. Yep.
00:36:24
Speaker
And that really ended up just being a plus two on that, because they missed a conversion on UJ Strike, because it was way out. Right. It was way out. So really, yeah, it didn't really change that much in the match. So, lucky for Kanak there.
00:36:45
Speaker
And then Kevin Toulouse wrestled the game away in the beginning of that last quarter. They hit the PK at around 60 minutes to take the one point lead. And then after a series of pick and goes, five minutes later, they get over. Yep.
00:37:04
Speaker
And that's really you know, that's that makes it an eight-point lead with 15 to go And that kind of the game kind of just settled from there the to lose You know just just worked on shutting them down and then at the end said yeah, we're gonna go for the For the try just gonna go for the try and get the bonus point which they did right which they did. So I thought
00:37:24
Speaker
Yeah, you know the game this is about the way I figured the game would go. Yeah, um 32 17 scrappy scrappy scrappy and then they pull right it makes sense. I I Honestly, though, um, I expected connect to not make it that much of a game for that long I thought that would be more of a maybe they'd get some garbage time scores
00:37:41
Speaker
Uh to to to get that 17, but it was the it was kind of the opposite so yeah props to uh, Connor Fitzgerald for playing as well as he did in you know, uh They didn't have the contact didn't have as much face faith in uh, Jack Cardi after the last game and he probably he'd probably of the two played better the last game Um, obviously they pulled off the win at the end. Uh, so I was that was very though i'll give him a lot of credit and he did the
00:38:07
Speaker
Situation was not too big for the kid. So gotta give him that and then Last player note on for a conduct is blade. He looks pretty darn good. He looks very lively He looks like he's gonna be the the guy the thing the the person that drives his team on
00:38:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, the names for Toulouse just don't surprise you. Ramos, Intimac, Medar, Kano, you know, guys that played really well and just made a, made a nuisance of themselves for one reason or another. Yep. So Toulouse 32, Conak 17. Toulouse are feeling pretty good about themselves after having to scrape by in England again, but, and then coming back with a fairly solid home one.
00:38:53
Speaker
And then we had some more fun going on in, was it France? I'm making this up in my brain.
00:39:01
Speaker
Which we owned the Leon. Yeah. Yeah, that was that was in France. Oh, this wasn't pretty. No, I took me. It took me like three sittings to get through this match.
Analysis: Leinster vs. Leon
00:39:15
Speaker
Wow. That says a lot. Yeah, I just wasn't much going on. Leon seem disconnected. They seem like they had like
00:39:27
Speaker
You had like two or three players arguing at the beginning of of of every play every phase about what they should do It wasn't there was no clear direction. There was no clear It seemed like leader like this is what we're doing. It was oh, I got my hands on the ball This is what I'm doing with it. I don't give a fuck what you wanted and not great. I
00:39:45
Speaker
Yeah, or like, Oh, I didn't really want this ball. Well, you're getting it anyway. Fuck you. Not a great way to play. Um, they were flat an attack. So they're, they really only had a chance to make one or two passes from the breakdown. Um, so like, you know, whoever was at that first receiver, they were either getting it or throwing one pass and that was it. Cause they were maybe five meters behind the game line.
00:40:06
Speaker
Um, also kind of screwed up. They, they did a little, little like chip and chase, which was fun. It worked a couple of times where they just, you know, did a short chip right over the defensive line as it rushed up and got behind. That was a good way to get behind the line. Yeah. Until Josh Vanderfleer said, you know what? I'm assuming this is how he said it to himself.
00:40:24
Speaker
Ah, all they're doing is is chipping it over us. I had fucking i'm not doing that anymore And they you know, they just reaches up smacks it down And and uh, yep, lenster puts it over the line and that was really the only that was the only real offense of the match um was was turning defense into attack um
00:40:47
Speaker
Okay. Between that and Jordan Larmor just having a complete fucking brain fart in a tackle contest. What are you doing? The ball's nowhere near out. The commentators were a little generous to him. They were super generous. They were like, oh, how could he? That was really, no, no, no. That was never close. That was not the close guys. The ball never appeared anywhere near close to out. And I don't even think the tackle contest was complete. And he's like running around the room.
00:41:15
Speaker
Uh, no, you can't do that. No, you are not. Yeah. Easily yellow. Um, but they, again, nothing happens from it. Yeah. Something, something about French teams and not taking advantage of the yellows. So we had that one try and then a whole bunch of penalty kicks and there was Leon versus Leinster. Right. Um, I did screw up the, which player was, which last week it was, um, it was Kaitlyn Dorsett that started at EAP for Leinster last week. Not Deegan. Deegan played this week and, um, he ended up getting the,
00:41:44
Speaker
Get the ball to the line and give them the eventual win. 13-6, Leinster over Leon. And then we had something much more entertaining at the very least. Exeter and Glasgow. Fun match. Yeah, this is a great match. Obviously for Exeter especially.
00:42:04
Speaker
This is this this is their stamp of we're here. Yeah, we're here. We've got we know what we're doing in Europe now Stuart hog going against some of his old mates. That was kind of fun I'm sure he was giving him shit left left and right and I'm sure they were giving it back to him
00:42:19
Speaker
Oh, yeah, they weren't they weren't going to let him you could tell that they were kind of keen on him a little bit. Yeah, they were just like, you're not getting us. Let's see if we can make his life a little bit miserable. Yeah. Well, and well, then his first touch against that club and he threw it forward to know. So where are you going that? Yeah, that you could see there was a little bit of nerves there on his part, too. Right. But I mean, this was a this was a good game. This was a good game for extra. This was a huge statement game for them, like,
00:42:47
Speaker
Yeah, I know they beat La Rochelle and La Rochelle. La Rochelle isn't necessarily regarded that highly. Right. They're tough in top 14, but not necessarily that tough in Europe. They have had their moments, but not. Yeah, not necessarily of late. And I think it's I think it was pretty clear here. The Exeter were better before because they are better by far.
00:43:11
Speaker
They've been working on their open field play a lot better. They did work on their own. They did kind of revert back to, you know, Exeter rugby, where they're looking for the corner kick and the pick and go, pick and go, pick and go to score.
00:43:28
Speaker
But at the same time, they're doing well in open play too. A lot of their tries weren't in from that muckety-muck. I don't know if you can count that Skinner, because that was off of a mall, but at the same time they didn't pick and go. It was, nope, there's an open space. I'm going to go attack it.
00:43:48
Speaker
Which is always fun, whether or not it's off of a mall or just in open play. I mean, put Jack Noll in space. He's going to do some fun things. Right. Never a bad idea. Never a bad idea. Oh, Flaherty. He's good. He's coming out a little bit in this competition. Yes, he is. I will say I'm impressed, and you'll know how impressed I am when we do start and sit.
00:44:11
Speaker
But yeah, I mean this is this is good. This is good to have another english rugby team now that we have probably two Not named Saracens that are at least rocking up in this competition, which is really what the prem needs especially obviously if the Saracens aren't going to be in next year They really need a couple teams to step up and and at least carry the flag for a little while Because otherwise you're
Exeter's Performance in the Champions Cup
00:44:33
Speaker
going to have
00:44:33
Speaker
people are just gonna say, oh, you know, rugby shit. And, you know, I do remember, I remember who was but they were calling that England shouldn't have six spots. And I was like, well, good luck getting given them to somebody else because I don't know who else deserves them. Really, that's what it comes down to. And I don't know who else you give it to.
00:44:51
Speaker
Can't give it to another country really right? I mean because the countries that are eligible for it right now Probably are at their max in terms of the quality of the teams that they have. I don't know where else you you stick that so Sorry, it's gonna be six at least if not seven depending on how things shake out But Exeter do take care of Glasgow 34 to 18 and For the first time and since basically since Exeter's entered Champions Cup, they're looking pretty darn good and then
00:45:21
Speaker
This was a classic, Munster and Rassing. Finn Russell, my word, he is, we call him the magician. He's every bit that the nut, the nutmeg. Yeah. I was like.
00:45:44
Speaker
That's mean. And then he does a prop dirty on top of that afterwards. I was like, that's just not right. Oh, that's so mean. But he knows what he's doing. He's picking on the right people. He's super smart, obviously. I mean, it's too bad we didn't see it over in Japan. But man, he's playing like this is his style. This is his style of rugby that he's playing at wrestling. So it suits him so well. It does suit him very well. That was an excellent signing for them. You got to give that to him 100 percent.
00:46:11
Speaker
you know where I don't think he came from Glasgow as well but yeah just a huge signing for Rossing to get get a hold of him so they could so they could let this magician right perform that the control the baton for this act guys you just want to let
00:46:31
Speaker
Let them be them. You know, Finn Russell is absolutely one of them. If you have Finn Russell as your 10, you say, you know what? We're going to give you some structures, and just go play with them, and we'll let you do what you're going to do. Yeah, between guys like him, which I don't think he gets that opportunity, obviously, not as much with Scotland. And we know that Danny Cipriani doesn't get that at all with England. Hopefully that changes.
00:46:58
Speaker
No, I but there's just some guys and and you know, we talked about Dan Bigger a little bit earlier, too He's just guys you just want to let them If they see something and they do they saw it don't worry about it Not these are guys you don't second-guess you just let them do their thing
00:47:14
Speaker
And they usually lead you to good stuff more often than not. Yeah, because every fly hat's gonna fuck something up. But are they gonna do something as amazing as what these guys are doing? Probably not. But, and this is a, you know, big giant...
00:47:30
Speaker
what's the guy speaking of which doing their bum in this match too oh there was some bum there was some bum in the Ulster match the guy was facedown I don't remember who it was I don't remember but he is facedown in the ruck and his ass is out there and he's laughing so hard he's like I'm stuck at the bottom of the ruck I can't know anything about this right now
00:47:54
Speaker
I was like, oh boy. We need to do like every time we see a bum sighting. I was thinking That's my favorite that's one of my favorite parts of rugby you never know what you're gonna see bum How many other sports do you get where there's just random bum?
00:48:13
Speaker
Not much and this is probably one like one of maybe I don't know two and that's like that's probably pushing it You're right. You don't see it in soccer because they can't really grab like that You don't get in football as much pants are belted on right? You've got a heavy nylon belt that doesn't move hockey should have more bum, but you can't do that because they're all strapped in yeah, so Yeah rugby it is Yeah, but this was this was a good this was a
Game Recap: Munster vs. Rassing
00:48:43
Speaker
There's a reason that Munster are so fucking tough to beat at Tillman Park and they showed it. You know, they had they have a ton of grit. They have a ton of, you know, never quit attitude. They look at their you look at their lineup and it's full of guys who you don't you know, if it's in a back alley, you don't want to you don't want to be involved in anything. No, hell no. Imani, CJ Stander. Nope. Hard pass, man. Right. Now, Scannell, like, Mm hmm. Tommy Byrne. These are guys that you just.
00:49:12
Speaker
No, no, thank you. Even there, you know, even fucking Keith Earls. I don't I know. No, I'm not. No, he's a tough bugger. Yeah. I did find it weird that they gave was a Haley or whatever it was in the fullback for a monster, the man of the match. Yeah. I don't know how I don't know how I really don't know how you don't give that to Finn Russell. Hometown call. Oh, wicked.
00:49:33
Speaker
uh but it was our i believe their first ever draw in champions cup 21 wow first ever i think that's crazy because i think so for as many as many years between this and hiking hiking cup i think that's this is the first one so pretty crazy stuff um
00:49:52
Speaker
Nobody loses That works out kind of well for saris. I'm not yeah, it does. Actually. I was actually thinking about that I was like this probably doesn't work out that terribly for them because uh, both teams got bonus points beforehand beforehand So now they're only down two right to both these teams. So uh, you know, obviously back to back with monster is not going to be pretty but
00:50:14
Speaker
It's gonna be pretty fucking awesome. Oh, there'll be awesome. It's gonna be awesome games. So definitely be a awesome asset matches Rossing and Osprey's if you have a Rossing player and I'm here on your frd team stardom Way ahead of time right now, but damn stardom Finn pick up Finn for that one. I have yeah Yeah, propelled me to a win big time No
00:50:39
Speaker
I think that's it. I mean, great stuff. I mean, that was that. That is what we sign up for when we watch Champions Cup. That stuff right there. Right. I kind of kind of wish that you could have a winner. The American and me kind of crept in on that one. But at the same time, just a. OK, fine. A lovely match. And then at the same time with the Saris kind of benefiting from that tie. I'm OK. I'm wearing this. Oh, OK. I guess.
00:51:04
Speaker
Yeah, very good stuff and then oh to round out the the saturday matches queen's bath I just teach just a slog. Yeah, I didn't see any of this or the
Review: Quinn's vs. Bath
00:51:16
Speaker
sail match. So i'm yeah i'm out of my element on this don't Don't watch that much of this match Well 15 9 I I'm gonna go home and watch it now if you want you
00:51:27
Speaker
Do you need help sleeping? Maybe that's the question I need to ask. Do you need help sleeping? Are you having trouble sleeping? Go ahead and watch this match because you will fall asleep. That was close, yeah. Close second. I watched that too. I think that was better than this. I'm sorry. Oh, OK. Yeah, that was better than this. This was bad. This was really bad. It was rainy. A lot of kicking, obviously. Ill-disciplined on Bath is what did him in.
00:51:55
Speaker
We had, they had kind of a shot at it. So Lang hit a penalty near the end that put him out to an eight-point lead, I think, or maybe a nine-point lead. And that was pretty much what did it because they ended up with a yellow card. That was on the very terrifying hit on Watson, which I was...
00:52:15
Speaker
holding me along with every other bath fan was holding their breath for like, ooh, I hope he's okay. Cause it looked bad. It wasn't anything nasty. Just the way he fell and you know, the awkward note in this of it was pretty much what made it look nasty. Nothing on Elly Elly by Amiens. I'm not calling him out here and trying to be a dickhead. But yeah, so it was,
00:52:36
Speaker
It was not a pretty match. Lang hit the penalty that won it. They ended up, you know, Bath ended up trying to strike first. They couldn't take care, they couldn't take advantage of the few times they had penalty advantage in the 22. And it really, had they, this would have been their match. So, Quinn's win, nothing really else to report on it, unfortunately, sorry to say. This is a slog, so if you can skip this match, kids, do it.
00:53:02
Speaker
Fair enough.
Game Recap: Sale vs. La Rochelle
00:53:04
Speaker
Sail La Rochelle. Much better match. OK. But what in the holy hell got into Boogery? I heard this was a weird match. It was a really weird match. It was just like you look at the stats, and it's like some of it says one thing, and then you like La Rochelle, loads of it, loads of possession, loads of territory. Couldn't do fuck all with the ball. And that's like, and every time, Sail even had the ball close, and they scored,
00:53:32
Speaker
scored what looked like a great long distance try for Chris Ashton, but the second to last pass to Fafte Clark ended up being a mile forward, because Fafte Clark was in front the whole time. I was like, nope, he's in front. And I was, unfortunately, I agreed with Healy. I was like, oh. Oh, no. You know the world's going upside down. I'm agreeing with Hugo and Healy in the same fucking weekend. That's weird. Strange things are afoot, isn't it? Champions kept riding me. Big time.
00:54:00
Speaker
But but it was a better match the curry twins. I mean good luck telling them apart It doesn't matter because they both play just as well and both but both are everywhere. They played awesome I thought faff was definitely a huge difference in this as opposed to if it had been papier So he played really well. I thought the I thought the if they I thought if
00:54:25
Speaker
They'd had dan deprea this match would've been worse. Um, they had to put jonah ross at eight because they put jl deprea in the second row Which is great because it gives them a nice mobile second row. Right obviously sans josh beaumont is uh Is a problem as well. So i'm i'm seeing uh, jl deprea
00:54:40
Speaker
Uh at five for the foreseeable future till beaumont returns. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean that that'll work right there If you got one curry you got John Ross and you got dandipria if he's healthy, right? And then you have some there's some other guys in there too. You could get phillips. Yep. Also was a possibility in there. Uh, i'm trying to think pulse weight came in this game it but really it came down to the boogery red card like just
00:55:09
Speaker
absolute madness and Ross pointed it out right away and referee got a got on the tmo and sure enough he's he's gone after his eyes and uh was one of the curry brothers i remember which one it was i think and somebody made the point i think you might have been trying to go for the tape just to be a dick but when you try and be a dick
00:55:27
Speaker
You don't deserve any bad for the doubt. So Sorry, that's just that's just how it goes Brock James was a better 10 in this game than the high West was last game So no no shot there. Yeah, I West and play very well Rotez
00:55:42
Speaker
still looking really good if you have him as a frd wing keep rolling him out there even when they've not played well he's done well so keep rolling him out there in the end lower shell fall 15 to 25 to the sale sharks sale sharks get their first champions cup win in a little while and that makes this pool a little interesting see how we can see how the rest of it goes um they got they got exit our home and away next that'll be that'll be interesting i'll be very curious to watch those matches at the very least
00:56:12
Speaker
And then Montpelier Gloucester, which you had yourself some enjoyment watching this one.
Gloucester's Playstyle Against Montpellier
00:56:18
Speaker
Oh man, this was a journey for me. For another reason. It took me a little bit to understand what
00:56:33
Speaker
what Gloucester were doing in this match. But once I figured it out, it was so fucking enjoyable. What Gloucester did was exactly what I wanted Saracens to do last week. So this is why I cannot have any complaints about Gloucester's game. The only thing, if I was going to complain about anything, would be obviously the fact that they did not kick from their own territory.
00:56:57
Speaker
What they did was they said, we're putting the boots away. They did not, so I'll get to it when I finally got to it, but it wasn't until I think 49 minutes into the match when I think the 12 trees boot up the field was the first time that Exeter kicked, sorry, the Gloucester kicked.
00:57:15
Speaker
this match. Of course, two minutes later, Montpellier's kicking a penalty kick. So maybe that kick was a bad idea. But at the same time, it really wasn't working out for them for Gloucester, that is, because they just had too many handling errors in their own end that were killing them. But what they were doing, which was fascinating to me, was not only were they just saying, we're going to play the ball, but they weren't just running
00:57:42
Speaker
phases just to run phases. To me, they were treating every phase like first phase. They were saying, we're going to try to do something. Every first, even when it was a forward crash, they were taking that ball and they were looking to see if a pass would be a better option than to take a run up.
00:57:59
Speaker
Um, fascinating stuff. Uh, something that I want to go back and rewatch because that's, it's almost like a coach's dream as far as here's how they were attacking. Here's what their structures were looking like. Here's how they use their players. Um, and in, here's their, was their decision-making. Um,
00:58:17
Speaker
Well on every phase because something they even when they were going through the forward sometimes it was still going through to the backs A lot of fun rugby that you can work with in different structures. Uh, no matter what kind of style you're playing There's there's something to be learned from Gloucester, which is why they're kind of my side piece, right? Yeah, we know that because this was uh, yeah, they just play fun rugby now then they were down 24 10 and a half which
00:58:41
Speaker
Yeah, um For just fucking nidolo try stopping him from five meters out. Oh, that was not fair You're not gonna do it He had the one that was called back But then the one after that it was it was almost identical like good luck stopping him from that distance and at that angle Right like that angle is what does it because it's not super shallow No, and it's not dead on and it just cuts through everybody that's standing right there and is his with his size That's just and he was coming from a
00:59:06
Speaker
Distance hmm like he's coming from like the 20 from behind 22 into the 22 and like good luck if you're a defense Planning for that preparing for it because he's running and they're not seeing him. They're seeing the the forwards It's right in front of them all of a sudden here comes nidola at a fucking nowhere Wait, he's just as big as a forward. He's fast Yeah, but also what what the fuck was that ref doing?
00:59:30
Speaker
I don't know. Well, I mean certainly not halftime with where they're around halftime where that Montpellier has like two or three walk-out what should be walk-over tries Oh, right and he's like, oh, no, no bring him back for school He would just blow it up and and and the Montpellier guy the eights turned around and being like I had let me fucking play the ball. We have a try. Yeah, stop and he's like, no, no, no, I don't know Whatever the fuck he was. He wasn't he wasn't fucking French
01:00:02
Speaker
But it was just, it was a, it was a George Clancy. He was Irish, so. Clancy's not that good. Obviously. People will talk about it. Yeah, and he, because he had a rough match even late in the game. It was just, you know, it was what it was. We obviously have to talk about that ugly red card on Duplessi. Where the fuck did that come from? What is, and I said it, I said it earlier this week, like, what is with,
01:00:31
Speaker
French French teams and red card dumb red cards and elbows in particular in this one Like he's just throwing his elbows around not giving a shit what he's doing You have to know that's gonna result in something bad you fucking idiot, right?
01:00:46
Speaker
And there wasn't this was a very fun very positive match Nobody like there wasn't there were no handbags before the print leading up to this remember They were just two teams going this was two teams just swinging at each other Not literally but but as rugby players and rugby teams as you do as you do when you're trying to play attacking rugby
01:01:05
Speaker
Right. And both teams are doing it. And that was that was great. And all of a sudden there was that which fortunately didn't make the match uglier. Everybody kept their head. You know, Gloucester's got their their young players. They're trying to to show. I mean, because Lloyd Evans didn't look that bad. He looked amazing. He looked pretty good. And Chris Harris did a great job. Yeah, young Irish Scottish senator there.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah. Thorley did okay. He acquitted himself pretty well. Sharples made a difference when he came on. Yeah, good for him. Good to see Charlie Sharples back. Really good to see him. They needed him back. He's a big piece of them. And of course, the way this year has gone, this match cannot end without a Joe Simpson try. So we got that. Gotta have that. It's a necessary thing. And Braley's try was good.
01:01:51
Speaker
Really sure I was good, too. I almost got cut in half by the post. Yeah, I'm just glad the post pads are there. Yeah. Although all you that shit on how big those post pads are. That's why there's a good reason. Yeah, I kind of, you know, there wasn't much else he could do because he couldn't run inside the pad because there was a defender there, too. So he's getting he's he went over where he could get over. Thankfully, the post pad saved him from anything nasty. Right. That's very thankful. You know, we've seen some some bad injuries around that. So so that was that was good to see. Yeah.
01:02:20
Speaker
Um, but but you know malpelier played it themselves, you know, and i'm talking a lot about glossary here But malpelier played a great match on their own Um, like we you know, we saw that they their scrumming was well, they put themselves out to a lead for a reason Yeah, it was 24 10 halftime. They they were in the red card kind of let them Really almost almost almost let the game away, you know, so it was a good thing it didn't right but
01:02:45
Speaker
It was uh, it definitely goes to show don't be that stupid because you can cost your team so badly
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah, um, but just that this was a probably the the most fun match of the of the weekend. Um And montpellier come away with a win 30 to 27. They hold on um Yeah, yeah to be to be luster and they're keeping them keeping themselves alive, right? Uh, uh, I guess ron ackerman has uh, or jon ackerman. Excuse me has said that he's I guess he's officially gonna concentrate on the prep now
01:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's what it seemed like. I mean, again, you don't play like this style in a competition like this, expecting, especially on an away match, expecting to win. But again, this is how I wanted Saracens to play last week. Say, you know what? If we're going down, let's have some fucking fun with it. And I think that's what Gloucester did. They said, you know what? If we win, great. If we lose,
01:03:37
Speaker
Whatever let's let's do this. Let's because this a game like this I mean we've seen that they've they've been struggling in premiership. Um and a game like this Uh can can turn things around because you're you're putting little things in that that that are gonna change how you play It's a little bit badonia. Yeah, and and of course again, jake pellegri I just wanted to mention that name because he played a fucking hell of a match himself. Yeah, I know that name
01:04:00
Speaker
All right, so that's round two of the champions. Excuse me. Prom coming up here. Start to sit. We'll get to that in a minute. Friday, if you have a question for Ben or I, or just need a little bit of fancy advice,
01:04:17
Speaker
Hashtag ask tfry. Um, i'll i'll be following it ben. We'll be following it. Um, it doesn't have to be just friday any anytime anytime But yeah, definitely friday because obviously it's when all the lineups come out, you know Thursday you get you get two lineups But then definitely friday is the mad rush like oh shit. This person's not starting. What do I do? Um, well, here's your options What do you do ask us? Yeah, we'll give you a hint
01:04:41
Speaker
Anywho starts it for Friday night the Saracens go and go to the wreck I'm gonna go ahead and I will just give the team if I don't mention them You can assume that I've at least I'm at least thinking about sitting them Well, and we'll go ahead and put the stuff up on on the Twitter feed on Friday to give you a hint and
01:05:03
Speaker
Anyway, Saracens, these are the guys you're probably starting, Earl, Spencer Tompkins, Faz if he plays, Jinx, if he plays, Mack O'Mara if they play, Daley, if Wigglesworth's the scrum half, play him in TRM only. Daley and Billy are FRD only as well.
01:05:21
Speaker
Bath, I would give Priestland their front row. Chudley, Obano, Stewart, Jules, McConaughey, and Samisa, Rachandaguni a roll out there, although Roccoo would probably sit in TRM, he doesn't do that well there.
01:05:38
Speaker
Worcester vs. Sale on the Saturday matches. Sale are, again, it was true last week, it's going to be, well, the last couple of weeks it's going to be true again this week. Sale are the worst fantasy matchup in the Premiership. They're giving up nothing to nobody.
01:05:54
Speaker
um wuster in the bottom half of the league so they're kind of open for for the picking um as far as starts you know for wuster players they're gonna get their points um they're just not going to be as significant as they normally are because because of sales defense so um i'm not going to make any recommendations to start if you got guys that that are that are playing well for for wuster yeah keep playing them
01:06:17
Speaker
What I will make is sit recommendations, and that's Duncan Weir and Francois Huguard. These are weeks to probably give them a pass. Maybe put them on your bench for TRM. If you have other options for TRM. I mean, for FRD, it's kind of hard to avoid them. Just don't expect much. Hopefully your points come elsewhere. Keep your expectations mitigated.
01:06:38
Speaker
for sale. We mentioned him earlier, but Jean-Luc Dupri, with Beaumont out for some time, probably a great ad. I know in FRD he's loose forward, but he'll be playing lock, I believe, for the next couple of months. You'll still be useful there. It's okay. Yeah, so he's useful there. Worcester given up the most points in the Premiership to fly-haves, so either AJ or Robert Dupri, whoever's starting,
01:07:06
Speaker
uh, you know you can for frd if they're both on the panel start because you can still get might get points from a reserve um More than you could for for somebody you you pick up off the waiver wire. Okay? Um for for for sits, uh, wuster are shutting down centers. So uh, uh rjbr Redpath, etc. Sit him in all formats. Oh, yeah redpath especially he's not that good. Yeah
01:07:31
Speaker
I agree with that one. And I would temper your expectations for Akka because we talked about how his line-up throwing hasn't been great lately. And that's where a lot of the hooker points come from. So keep that in mind just for you TRM, Akka, Rhonda and River fans.
01:07:48
Speaker
Okay, Watson Exeter, this will be interesting. Exeter give up the most points in both formats, or at least in TRM, I think FRD, they're second to last. So combined, the two bottom teams are bath in them. So I was like, okay, that seems a little bit off, but it's accurate. The Bristol game did them in, I think. That's what happened.
01:08:14
Speaker
Anywho, Wasps, I'll give you the starts that you need to keep your eyes on. Manasi, Kiberige, Sopewaga. Roland's looks like he's getting a run in there, so go for it. Jack Willis, DeYoung, Robson definitely has your hat back in TRM. He's done really well. Start the Wasps front row. They're actually pretty good.
01:08:32
Speaker
Either Hooker, Taylor Cruz, Marcus Watson, and Nizam Karr in TRM only. Exeter, they still have some good starts despite how they fared on the other side of it. Boal Simmons, Johnny Hill, Vermeulen, Kvesa Kefi's in, I don't know. Yandel is always worth a go if he's in there at Hooker. And then FRD only, and these are gonna be three names that are gonna just make your eyes pop.
01:09:01
Speaker
hog oflarity null cinnamon trm hogs not been doing trm. No, so um, and I and right for right now Neither's oflarity and I don't know what null's gonna do. So right. It's weird how oflarity has been lighting it up in the uh champions cup, but he's just not Maybe that this game is better suited to that. I have no idea
01:09:25
Speaker
Good for I mean good on him. I mean, it's also no coming back. Maybe he has something to do with that But I well, they're putting pressure on him. Yeah. Yeah slate. Yeah having slate inside you always helps, right? Yeah, so maybe I for me right now. Well, Flaherty's on a I'm looking at you, but I'm not signing you just now I'm not signing me either He's not used on the list, but we'll get to it a second. You're For where am I st. Lester?
01:09:52
Speaker
The Saints are shutting down backs, but not the Scrumhavs, but giving up points to forwards. Lester giving up points everywhere, especially Scrumhav, but they've been decent against Flyhav. For the Saints, I'm just going to list the entire Saints back line.
01:10:10
Speaker
Reinack bigger Hutchinson Nair Voro Who the fuck knows who's gonna start at the other positions at the moment Collins Collins Tom Collins played so well this past weekend He's not somebody we mentioned about man. Is he fast? Yes. Yeah, if he plays play him and not only that but I'm gonna go back to that match too with
Furbank's Performance and Selection Issues
01:10:31
Speaker
George for a bank who's been playing amazing. I thought he outplayed a city walla when when when fur bank came in better Yes, that changed things to agree So fur banks a guy who I would keep on you on your radar just because if when he's playing You should be starting him. I'm not sure if what what to all this deal is gonna be going forward.
01:10:50
Speaker
But you'll see him. Unfortunately, you'll see one of those. Yeah, he's gonna be one of those buggy problems That's gonna really frustrate the fuck out of you when he when for banks not starting even though you probably know He's the better
Discussion on Lester's Lineup and Player Impact
01:11:00
Speaker
player, right? That's like no get get get that guy out of there So I'm hoping to see more for a bank right as far as sits Lester does pretty well against eight So I would I would sit to him on a Harrison for this one. Yeah, the Saints are gonna have enough You know enough
01:11:00
Speaker
I
01:11:16
Speaker
success running through their back line that i'm not sure harrison's gonna get really gonna make you may not be required um for lester um i gotta look at their their guys that are coming back so ben young's george ford um george ford because he's gonna put up points if you can afford him um in trm if you have him in frd like some people do yeah rolling out there
01:11:38
Speaker
Uh, I put him out there and guy thompson because I think he's going to be playing more at flank now Um with yeah, it'll either be calumafoni or tafua, right? Um, and my sit for my big sit for for lester is is calumafoni Yeah, the devil because because north ampton's shutting down Eights both these teams is weird how a lot of these teams they give up points everywhere else, but they shut down eights Yeah, you know, sometimes they just haven't played equality eight either. Yeah, that's true, too Yeah, that's all it comes down to
01:12:08
Speaker
All right, and then we have Gloucester and Quinn's.
Gloucester's Defense and Key Players
01:12:14
Speaker
I think Quinn's are actually a decent team in terms of what they give up, but Gloucester is better. Gloucester doesn't give up much. They're one of the top teams in terms of defense.
01:12:27
Speaker
For Gloucester starts and they're gonna be names that just Light up light your brain up like oh, yeah that guy Thor Lee Simpson Morgan Sabriani. Yes stardom. He should do well this magical and give a bolt low points to fly offs. Okay Atkinson whatever the center is whether it's Atkinson 12 trees or Chris Harris go ahead Tom Marshall if he's if he's in there go ahead and roll him out there Murray and Piledry
01:12:49
Speaker
I said, Moray, do not play the front row. Sharples, yeah, don't play the front row in FRD. Sharples, if he's back, probably have to roll him out there in FRD because you probably picked him. I would wait on him. In FRD, the outside backs are a dime a dozen. So if you have a better option there, I'd say wait till Sharples really shows you that he's back. Because he got, what, 15 minutes? Yeah. Something around that?
01:13:17
Speaker
Um, yeah, we'll see what happens. So he's gonna be eased back in and he'll be hooked at a half probably something like that Yeah, and then uh, yako kreel. I would play in trm if you have him but uh find somebody else in frd For the quins gabriel abatoya has impressed me. So go ahead and roll him out there. Mike brown is looks like he's back in form James chisholm Yes, if he's playing if he's playing on the flank play him marcus smith is dazzling right now for the most part, you know, this last game wasn't
01:13:46
Speaker
Pretty but he's still got the job done. So good on him Don Brandt will Evans there to yeah, there are the two young back rows Chris Rob Shaw if he's in there Marshawn if he's in there you better find an option if you have Joe Marshawn in FRD and TRM because he's leaving probably in January And then Danny care if he's your half back go ahead and roll him out there
01:14:08
Speaker
And for the last match of the week, Bristol versus London Irish.
Match Predictions and Key Players
01:14:13
Speaker
This is going to be a bloodbath. Let's put it, you know, put it out there. The London Irish are giving up a ton of points. They're close to the bottom of the premiership. You mentioned Exeter and Bath.
01:14:25
Speaker
But the Irish are right there, neck and neck with them. Bristol among the best in the Premiership, second to sail. So they do give up points to back row players though. So that kind of helps clear things up. For Bristol, I really think this could be Thacker's coming out party this season. He's kind of struggled a little bit. He is a little bit, yeah. But this could be where he gets his mojo back a little bit. The Irish are the worst in the Premiership against hookers.
01:14:55
Speaker
column sheet is a is definitely a key start this week uh... both scrumhaves to uh... same thing especially in um...
01:15:04
Speaker
in FRD. So we've talked about I have Harry Randall, but I don't have Andy Uren. I'm starting Randall without even a second thought. That's funny. Because even if he only gets 30 to 40 minutes, he's still going to put up some decent points. Both of them just, all they do is score points. So it's hard. That's fair. Yeah, sure. That's why it's hard for them to pick a starter. But you're going to get a contributor either way.
01:15:28
Speaker
For Bristol, don't sit anybody. If you've got a... They're on the starting roster, or they're the backup nine, play them. Fair enough. For the Irish, I would be looking at Blair Cowan and Albert Tuisui. Because again, the Bristol do give up points to the back row players. But those are the only two Irish I'd be looking at. They may get O'Brien for the... I don't know what the fuck O'Brien status is. I think he's still broken.
01:15:57
Speaker
Um that yeah, but we don't have any we don't have any I honestly don't have an update on it right now So well, maybe maybe he comes good. Who knows right? Um So but other than that i'd say count count into a suit and and sit everyone else because that's yeah It's just a not gonna be a good matchup for them. No fair enough. We're still gonna have a lot of ball in this patch Yeah, I would anticipate. So this is yeah, it's at ashtong gate. So yeah, i'd back it
01:16:22
Speaker
Okay, let's do some goodbyes real quick. Goodbyes. And then, oh wait, hold on, start of the week, start of the week, duh. As it stands, without seeing lineups, my start of the week for premiership will be Sean Maitland, a bather at the bottom of
01:16:40
Speaker
everything just about in TRM and FRD especially wings and outside backs and so I'm gonna go ahead and rock Sean Maitland who is again a little bit underrated in my opinion but in the Saracens team he is so important and he will get the job done for you I think this week so Sean Maitland in your lineup if he's starting don't even bat an eye.
01:17:02
Speaker
from my start of the week again also mentioned in when I was talking about this particular match this guy who is a fantastic at his position has a fantastic team around him that's gonna lead to some some good points for him and More than that. He's very well rested and that's Cobas Reinach
01:17:22
Speaker
Yup, I have him in FRD, so I'm looking forward to his return. I think he's going to tear up Lester this week. Yeah, I think he's going to. I mean, he looked pretty good in Benetton. Yeah, he's going to find some space and test Lester's defense in tight around the breakdown. Somebody's going to feed him a pass that shouldn't be thrown. He's going to snag it and go. That's why he's good at it. He's going to be running those nice inside lines at those. He's really good at those.
01:17:48
Speaker
And the and they're gonna he's gonna get opportunities because you know, I mentioned hudson and nair voro And yeah, they're gonna be they're gonna be breaking the line Yeah, there'll be some live breaks for him to get the opportunity right and not only that but we all know rhynak loves those interceptions and right exactly Then lester will do that. They they they'll probably throw one doesn't have the best service. No, he doesn't so agreed Opportunities will be there, right?
01:18:12
Speaker
Well, you mentioned how much you are not loving the Worcester Warriors this week. And it's funny that you mentioned it's because my city of the week is Ted Hill. Wow. And he's a guy that I love. Let me just tell you that much right. I love this guy, but you got to use your brain in this. And I would not play him if you have that you.
01:18:32
Speaker
look for other options, really like look for matchups at this point because I think he's going to have a really, really tough time this weekend. So just caution with that. I'm glad you picked Ted Hill because my my set of the week also comes from the same match.
01:18:48
Speaker
But it's also a guy I mentioned earlier, and that's going to be Duncan Weir. Oh, there you go. Because, you know, it was basically between him and who because I'm looking at when I when I think of a sit of the week, I think of a guy who you're going to be playing most times more often than not. And this is a weekend to maybe take it off. I've had some some we've been.
01:19:06
Speaker
hit or miss with this um so i didn't want to challenge that with hugard because hugard is again one inside line away from a try that that makes him what the fuck were you talking about sit in um whereas who told me to sit right Duncan Weir is very unlikely to do much of anything this week so it's gonna be tough sled for the for the 10 here yeah so that's that's where i'm going with Duncan Weir on that one
01:19:31
Speaker
Okay. Let's go to pick them real quick. Um, bath Saracens. Nope. I'm going to go. Um, I'm back on the boys in the black. Yeah. I bath to me are still on the kind of pretenders and, and saris are going to put together a team that can. Yeah. Walk them over. Agreed. Um, at six ways. What's your sale? I am really tempted to take sale here. So I'm going to do it. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Thanks for the loss.
01:20:01
Speaker
Sorry, until W.O.F.S. have not played well outside that one game. Well, you know, we're so broke up about that here at the Fantasy Rugby X. I'm feeling really bad for Dion.
01:20:15
Speaker
Midland Starby, Northampton, Lester. The Saints are going to be marching in and marching out. Yeah, they're going to walk all over. And marching all over the field wherever they want to go. I think so too. Yeah, it's going to be bad. Quinn's Gloucester. If Gloucester play the way they played this weekend, I'm going to go ahead and back them.
01:20:32
Speaker
I'm going to back them too. I'm still not sold on Quins. No, I agree. I'm not really sold on Gloucester this year either, but for this matchup, I think it was. Of the two of them? Yeah. Yeah. And then at Ashton Gate, Bristol, London, Irish, I will back the Bears. The Bears are going to fucking route them. Yeah, I think this will be fun. It'll be fun if the Bears, and we talked about you and I, I think it'd be fun if the Bears won the Challenge Cup.
01:20:58
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be great. I think it would be great for that club. I hope they do. Yeah, I like what the Bears are doing. You know, we've talked about Gloucester being my side piece, but it's fun. It's fun to watch them, too. It's fun to watch the Bears. So there, you know, these are it's fun to have multiple teams. I think this year that are are really fun to watch the Saints are always they were fun. You know, they picked it up towards the end of last year.
01:21:23
Speaker
Oh, yeah, they were awesome to watch and and there's and they're they're carrying it over into this year Bristol are really coming into their own and Gloucester are kind of sorting themselves out So I think these are gonna be some and and I like the way exit are playing now that I didn't like watching them last year But but they're fucking fun. This is better. So better
01:21:40
Speaker
I think we're getting a much better class of rugby, certainly towards the top of the division. We're seeing some of these other teams that are still struggling, like your Wasps and your Leicester, and to a lesser extent, the Harlequins. Yeah, so we'll see how this goes.
01:21:58
Speaker
Alright, so thank you guys for listening.
Closing Remarks and Audience Engagement
01:22:01
Speaker
You guys are awesome. We appreciate always Check out your rugby mag upgrades This is a good this is a good week to pick it up because you get a chance to kind of get used to it for a little bit You know try it out all the and not not might not make too many bad decisions for only one Yeah, I mean, you know you have this one week and then you're gonna have off for a little bit and then comes back around Christmas So think of this is if you buy it now, it's kind of an early Christmas present Yeah
01:22:27
Speaker
Merry Christmas to me. Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, check us out on those. Make sure you subscribe, download it. There's probably other apps as well that we are on because we're on those. So go ahead and have a look. Fantasy Rugby Podcast at gmail.com if you want to email us.
01:22:45
Speaker
a question or hashtag ask TFRY on Twitter. We will get to you, especially on Friday when you have live questions. I'm sure there's gonna be a boatload of them. And feel free to give us a bell and ask us a question. We will do our best to give you a hand. Until then, we will talk to you guys next weekend. Have a good one. Enjoy the fun this weekend. Cheers. Later.