Champions Cup : Le Stade Rochelais confirme sa relance

limiting the prem to 5 teams would have excluded bath, harlequins, and exeter from last years competition. Bath made the round of 16; exeter made the QF; harlequins made the SF.

on merit, the english teams deserve to be there far more than the teams finishing 6-8 in the URC and top 14 do.

your wilcard ideas remain terrible, but are also just incomprehensible. when did you learn to write?

So this is a question I've asked in the past as well, do you want to plan it properly, or be needing to make a knee jerk reaction when the above scenario happens (given nothing happens to turn things around)?

Yeah just watching the game now, his skills especially with those long balls are superb. Can he throw off his left just as well? He's certainly not at the level I was just talking about yet, just simple things like when he looked up with Moala on him and dropped the ball. Still too many of those moments but they're no reason not to give him gametime now for being right in 2027. More good league style play as well just threatens the D a bit more in which is so necessary in todays climate.

I don't think JD was in anyway demeaning Sam's ability was he?

The Anglo Welsh cup is long gone but in any case, the reason why England doesn't pick from overseas isn't because their players play in the European comps. They'd still play in those if they played for French clubs. It's because they want to access to their players and don't want to weaken their domestic comp.

The Blues were transformed this year because of Vern Cotter, not Harry Plummer.

Personally I think he is going to have to pick up an overseas contract soon. Jacobson is going to have to play in his position of openside next year with Sititi taking his 8 spot, and with Finau on the other flank I can only think this is going to make Jacobsen look extremely good and an automatic AB inclusion given given his cohesion with Vaa'i and Lord as well (though he may also decide to leave if back up isn't doing it for him). Then there are a number of young players who are 7/6 dual flankers like him that it's just very doubtful he doesn't get overtaken. He's going to have some tough competition at the Crusaders alone, Cristie, Kellow, Lio-Willie, Cullen, the other young 6, some pretty good depth.

Oh, and Hotham played behind Christie and both the XV and Tasman level, so you clearly just can't handle the Chiefs being a better team than the Crusaders.

You'll need to give a reference for that Robinson quote, I've not heard him say anything of the sort.

So yeah, you can see why I don't try to elaberate my posts so everyone can understand and sadly theyre too succinct for some with a slightly different lingo or thought.

and two years of >85% win ratio on the trot - I’d love to see how he’d have down with better coaching.

the none TLDR version reply..

two years = but weren't you following the similar line of this article that Razor needs to open it up? Why would you think that when you're suggesting he's got another 3 or 4 years before he reaches that point in tenure when he should also be trying to hit the 85 mark?

>85% win ratio on the trot = WC years are short and provide easy opposition, you don't normally include them. 22 would be more relevant, and this year you had both other top teams at home, so you'd think that 85 number is overs, or 'above' average based on circumstances (85 is a really fabulous number however so going back to 80 would also still be great)

love to see how he’d have done with better coaching. = well it's exactly the opposite of above isn't it, it's operating at well over 70 for 4 (excl covid) of those 7 years instead of his 60%, before hitting the 80s mark.

You might also ask well how could that be possible when he's done so bloody well just to do what he's done? Well I'm not going to take him (or SA) down a beg or two, instead I'll give you the hint (because I'm over thinking how to type long versions of replys), the answer is in this article!

Can you think of any specific players that became instrumental to the team from those 36 new players? One's plucked out of nowhere so to speak? I know for the first two years after covid he switched up you're team and tactics after each game against NZ (for the second), I think winning both 1st games and losing both rematch's? You don't think he should ever have done that differently, not been so happy to give up a victory against the ABs?