On fire: Montpellier
It is time for our weekly wrap up of who has their name in lights at the moment...and who is making the headlines for the wrong reasons.
They're smokin'....!
Harlequins and Clermont: Hats off to seeds one and two heading into the Heineken Cup knockout stages. Both won six out of six games in the Pool rounds and now face Munster and Montpellier respectively in the quarter-finals. With Clermont's home route to the final, they are now clear favourites.
Montpellier: What a performance it was from Fabien Galthié's team. Following the passing of coach Eric Béchu, the French side put in an excellent effort that saw Toulon come off distinctly second best. It was a showing that possessed immense power from their pack while Benoit Paillaugue was exceptional.
Simon Zebo: The second of his three tries against Racing-Metro was something out of the top drawer. Zebo's stocks continue to soar in Ireland and Europe so expect to see a good deal more of him in the Six Nations. We expect to see him in an Irish back-three with Rob Kearney and Craig Gilroy.
Tigers v Toulouse in the snow: Quote of the week, heard from Ed's wife as the players took the field at Welford Road: "Rugby is epic. If they were soccer players they'd be in their pyjamas at mommy's house."
King Carlos: Spencer will be in South Africa for a while yet after agreeing to help out at the Sharks in the upcoming Super Rugby season. He'll primarily work with the backline and that obviously includes Bok fly-half Pat Lambie. Invited by coach John Plumtree, Spencer is delighted to be there.
Someone turn up the heater...!
Lionel Beauxis and Guy Novès: More than a few pundits questioned the logic behind shifting Luke McAlister (who had won 10 out of 12 games for Toulouse starting at fly-half) into midfield to accommodate Beauxis's boot in Leciester. The move backfired badly as the recently-returned-from-injury former France pivot looked totally out sync and not very keen to be on the park. A bad situation was compounded by what we can only interpret as the Toulouse manager's failure to swallow his pride and change his plan. Yannick Jauzion was injured before the game but Novès still had two other options: Clement Poitrenaud could have moved to 12 or Jean-Marc Doussain could have shifted to 10. Isn't hindsight wonderful?
Heineken Cup semi-finals draw: Is it fair that the Heineken Cup semi-final hosts are decided by a draw rather than ranking? Harlequins are the top seeds after the Pool stages but if they win their quarter-final they will have to travel to either France or Ireland for their semi-final. There is some merit to the argument that not all pools are equally strong, making the rankings lopsided, but then surely it would make sense to have legitimately neutral venues for the semi-finals?
Edinburgh, Scarlets and Zebre: Winless after six games, which was expected from Zebre but not from last season's quarter-finalists, Edinburgh are without doubt the biggest disappointment of the European season. A big fat zero in the points column is not happy reading for fans of Scottish rugby. Scarlets could only manage two bonus points.
Antoine Battut: The Racing-Metro flank shouldn't book a holiday in Dublin any time soon, as there are a few Leinster fans who might have a few choice words for him after his stupid red card against Munster paved the way for a bonus-point win for the hosts at Thomond Park and sealed the champions' fate in the process.
Ronan O'Gara's one-week ban: We have a few problems with Judge Jeff Blackett reducing the prescribed suspension for ROG's kick from four weeks to one. Firstly, the good judge found that act was "out of character." Don't forget that one next time you get pulled over: "Sorry officer, I don't normally run red lights, it's wholly out of character. Best you reduce my fine by half." He also accepted that "O'Gara had intended to trip rather than to kick Cox." Did he watch the reply? And since when was tripping OK? Then he decided that, in his opinion, "a two-week suspension would be wholly disproportionate to the level of offending". What is the point of having guidelines if they can be ignored by those appointed to implement them?
Zac Guilford: News broke on Sunday that the 23-year-old All Blacks wing was under investigation after an alleged late-night incident at a residential home in Christchurch. A few hours later the NZRU released a statement saying Guildford had voluntarily stood down from involvement with the Crusaders, who "were very disappointed to learn of this incident". Hopefully the finisher can sort himself out and work his back into professional rugby.
Comments
new_j4a says...
@bimbo, so nice to hear from the plantation foreman's son or was he a colonial constable, dispensing harsh treatment right and left and explaining this all to you with late night whispers? And Scottish rugby? How goes it up there in that mecca of rugby talent? Do you think that your team might rise off the very bottom of the 6N even temporarily during the competition, perhaps when they have played one more game than Italy and have secured that lonely losing bonus point that every Scottish school boy dreams of? Talking of school boys,.....
Posted 07:14 26th January 2013
Bambo says...
Seems things turned nasty round here...again.
Sincero, you seem something of a fat head but I nearly choked on my bisque reading new_j4a laying in to you for insensitive or inappropriate comments! The irony. Irony squared when new_j4a appears to have taken offence at the French kicking nature of your comments. Mote and beam? Beam and mote? Whatever.
Bouche bee!
On a different note, well done BO for running ST so close tonight. Rugby is a great game despite a minority of witless fans. Allez!
Posted 22:18 25th January 2013
TVaddict says...
@Rosbif
You think I enjoy reading your stupid posts? Are you more of an idiot than I thought you were? Is that even posible?!
Joke! I totally agree with you! In busy times I only read the logical commentators opinions and skip the rest. Peace!
@Sincero
Do you not think that it is wrong to abuse your freedom of expression since so many people died for it? Is it not like your pi$$ing on your grandparents graves when you abuse the right they fought for with your inane and unintelligent comments?
@new_j4a
Haha! That remind me of am old joke my granddad told me (reformatted to make sense for me)
"Hey! You can't talk about the war like that, my granddad died in Auschwitz during the war!"
'Pause'
"He fell off the guard tower."
Posted 22:00 25th January 2013
new_j4a says...
@Sincero who says..."Both sides of my family served in WWII..." On which side? Authored Plan Kathleen, perhaps?
Posted 20:23 25th January 2013
APV1 says...
@ Sincero - pehaps you could go the way of Sexton and visit France for a couple of years. A wee tour of the Battlefields might make you less flippant about the Wars. Pop over to Belgium, Netherlands, Poland and beyond and visit some of the places where it all happened. It might make you think twice before such provocative posts.
It's one thing to troll about rugby topics, which are quite emotive to us diehard supporters anyway, but you're skating on very thin ice with this one and I would ask that you move on.
You may not care that you can potentially hurt many peoples' feelings, but I do.
Posted 14:52 25th January 2013
Sincero says...
Froggy, j4A, you're illiterate and very dim.
Coolhandsmike, you're entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine. You do not, however, have a monopoly on deciding what makes a good Leinster supporter, or on who gets to say what.
Both sides of my family served in WWII, my two grandfathers served at the highest level (possibly even higher than yours and APV's, unthinkably?!). That said, even if that weren't the case, I'd have as much right as you two squaddies to express myself in any fashion I choose, whether it includes a sly pop at a stereotype or not, because, thanks to the people who actually fought in the war, we live in a democracy and enjoy freedom of expression.
So, bearing that in mind, remove the 17 pokers from your posterior cavity and take it easy.
Posted 13:36 25th January 2013
Rosbif says...
APV1, coolhandsmike, TVaddict, Toulousain, sincero, dougie, froggy73, new_j4a (and the countless others I've missed out, as well as those who may be reading posts and not joining in).
We are all part of a kind of community here on PR. I enjoy reading all of your posts. I hope you might read mine from time to time. We share humour, banter, different points of view, rivalry, gently putting each other down, congratulating each other's teams for their success etc etc. All of life is here. And we are all passionate about rugby. A truly great sport.
Peace to all :-)
Posted 18:32 24th January 2013
APV1 says...
@ coolhandsmike - Hear! Hear! Having served in the Army, I can't say I entirely approve of the Royal Marines (naturally, I expect the feeling to be mutual), but there is a respect amongst those who wear (or wore) Uniform and served their country which will never be lost. As all those who have done it know, the nationality of the person you're shouder-to-shoulder with matters not a jot.
"Shoulder-to-shoulder"... I'm sure I've heard that sung somewhere too.
Posted 11:16 24th January 2013
new_j4a says...
@APV1, My post was mild, all about rugby, but I may have used the words racist, scum, and knacker. Not sure why the Ed is so sensitive (and variable).....may well be suffering from jock itch....or suffering from a complete absence of decent rugby (aka S15 or RC)? The HC final should be good....in Dublin...I can't help laughing at the idea that sincero probably has a decent seat paid for..LOL. My guess is that he hates Munster most because they are proper Irish and that a Toulon v Munster final would bother him most, so that's what I am hoping for.
Posted 22:04 23rd January 2013
TVaddict says...
@new_j4a
I made a comment relating to that article and I think PR censored it. :(
When did PR start censoring facts? So people can spew bias nonsense but posting historical facts is just offensive? If it's not relevant then why allow comments like, "It was logical to let the Germans walk into France every few decades". Strange policy.
Posted 20:52 23rd January 2013
coolhandsmike says...
I normally don't rise to this sort of nonsense and keep my comments to rugby however I feel compelled to address some of the stupidity that is on this rugby forum.
@Froggy73 "brave Irish" ....not sure I understand this. While the Republic of Ireland was neutral somewhere between 165,000 to 250,000 Irish citizens served with the Allied Armed Forces or worked in the factories. However I'm more than happy to give most people the benefit of doubt as they may not know this.
@Sincero - the immaturity of your comments is astounding. As a life long Leinster and Ireland supporter I find you an embarassment for such thoughtless comments. I have 5 uncles who proudly served in the the Army, Navy and RAF during WW2 and never spoke about their actions or experiences, nor did they have to fall back on stereotypes and demean other nationalities as part of their debating or conversational skills especially when it came to sport. Having served in the Royal Marines myself including a secondment to the French military, I think I'm more than qualified and quite accurate in saying you have no place in making comments of the nature that you have. Earn the right to put on a uniform, stand a post, serve with some French forces and then we'll see how brave you are. Until then, I'd politely suggest you restrict your comments to rugby. A little objectivity and respect might get your opinions debated rather than dismissed but you're most likely on here for no reason other than to incite an inflammed response. Sad really because all you've done is reinforce the Leinster stereotype - well played.
Posted 20:27 23rd January 2013
Norm says...
When do we talk about those bloody Belgians?
Posted 18:46 23rd January 2013
new_j4a says...
@Toulousain, Ahhh leinster_goy, a "son" to be proud of. I was confused. in my old age I thought I remembered maternal rumblings about our petulant little racist sincero who behaves like a spoiled 4 yr old, throwing all his toys out of little prison because somebody doesn't play the great game rugby according to his misbegotten plan.
@froggy73 who says "while the brave Irish remained Neutral !" Have a look at this http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hyde-and-de-valera-offered-condolences-on-hitlers-death-228426.html
Posted 17:36 23rd January 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
@patrickh how about this
Pot1. Premiership 1 premiership 2, T14 1, T14 2, Pro12 1, Pro12 2
Pot 2 Premiership 3 Premiership 4, T14 3 T14 4, Pro12 3, Pro12 4
and so on.
If that were drawn today there would still be one Italian side, one Scottish side and the usual Welsh and Irish contingent. Even better, with Edinburgh, Dragons and Connacht all in striking distance of 8th - an end of season qualification would mean that the remaining Pro 12 fixtures involving those clubs might have some meaning.
Just a thought, surprised its never been suggested really.
Posted 13:22 23rd January 2013
APV1 says...
@ PatrickH - naturally, as a Bath fan, your proposal is proposterous as we're missing. But that aside, I still feel quite strongly about the HC being merit-based and the Amlin "mopping up" the rest of us (including Bath, atm). Rather than rehash it all, have a mooch at the HC threads - the ones about the meetings and proposals, rather than the current competition and matches - and you'll see it there.
@ Ed - I dread to think what J4 and Sincero's other comments were, considering you published this:
"Sincero says...
No fan of Toner. No fan of Toulon's mercenaries. No fan of surrendermonkeys. French teams... Stereotypes confirmed.
It was logical to let the Germans walk into France every few decades... not honourable.
Posted 03:41 23rd January 2013"
Good grief!
Many of us lost family to the World Wars and have served in the Armed Forces since. This sort of disrespectful, spiteful tosh is beyond the pale. Please remove it.
Posted 11:32 23rd January 2013
Toulousain says...
ah justice mon ami, i try not to respond to the truly ridiculous, like all this ww2 stuff (which certainly doesn't remind me of anyone in our family!)
re the other part of your post, i think you might be referring me back to a past post when i suggested that leinster_goy's "passion" about his team reminded me a little of my son. i stick to that. he may be almost 40 now, but in my eyes he's still just a boy :-)
Posted 09:29 23rd January 2013
froggy73 says...
@Sincero muppet who wrote: "It was logical to let the Germans walk into France every few decades... not honourable." This has nothing to do with rugby.
I would had you saying proves that not only your knowledge of rugby are quasi inexistant, but your knowledge of history are also nil and one sided.
Btw, during the WW2 that you obviously like to refer, the alies to France were British, Australians, Americans, Saffers, etc... while the brave Irish remained Neutral ! So one advice: please shut up on the subject.
I hope PR will be kind enough to publish this.
Posted 08:55 23rd January 2013
froggy73 says...
@ArmchairGeneral: Gunther and Suta are both French. Get the fact right !
Posted 08:43 23rd January 2013
chancer says...
Sincero, I suggest you read History boks instead of folk tales handed down by media and other ill informed idiots.
Posted 07:35 23rd January 2013
new_j4a says...
@Toulousain, So when sincero talks like this about the French..." No fan of surrendermonkeys. French teams... Stereotypes confirmed. It was logical to let the Germans walk into France every few decades... not honourable..." does he still remind you of your son? Or is that only when he provides an echo of your own prejudices?
Posted 06:51 23rd January 2013