General rugby thread

[the tribester]

XCP said:

Bears ran riot today. Butchered about 4 tries as well.

Bonus points are vital. But if it comes down to points difference, Briz did themselves a favour by not letting off today.

[SunsetZed]

the tribester said:

XCP said:

Bears ran riot today. Butchered about 4 tries as well.

Bonus points are vital. But if it comes down to points difference, Briz did themselves a favour by not letting off today.

Indeed they are so great to see that the Bath side that you lot were tipping for defeat not only stuck one finger up at you by winning but a second by getting the four tries

I'd say it was never in doubt but I wasn't brave enough to tip them on Friday!

[Smollet]

Another nail biter from Quins.

[XCP]

Smollet said:

Another nail biter from Quins.

And at Tigers, last kick of the game!

[BigBen]

Smollet said:

Another nail biter from Quins.

It was good that they were allowed to use their own referee to even up the sides.

[Smollet]

BigBen said:

Smollet said:

Another nail biter from Quins.

It was good that they were allowed to use their own referee to even up the sides.

True even though he sent off 3 of their players and completely missed the fwd pass that led to Saints first try

[BigBen]

Smollet said:

BigBen said:

Smollet said:

Another nail biter from Quins.

It was good that they were allowed to use their own referee to even up the sides.

True even though he sent off 3 of their players and completely missed the fwd pass that led to Saints first try

He didn't have a good day all round. The lack of obvious penalty tries later more than cancelled out the first one (full disclosure I did not see the first one, I was still playing)

A good game to watch as the two protagonists are the most exciting to watch in the premiership.

[XCP]

Apart from Bristol obviously!

[Leithen]

Vunipola allegedly tasered twice and arrested in a bar in Majorca.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/c...

[Smollet]

Leithen said:

Vunipola allegedly tasered twice and arrested in a bar in Majorca.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/c...

That's the end of his career then.

[DaveTheRave87]

Billy Vuniploa said:

"Contrary to media reports, there was no violence, no fight and I did not threaten anybody at any stage, with bottles or chairs or anything else,"

Stay classy.

I'm not sure he'd need a bottle or chair to threaten anybody.

[BigBen]

Just booked my semi-final tickets, an exciting weekend ahead seeing who our opposition will be.

Also keen to see if the Saints will field a strong side with the aim of finishing the regular season on top or not bother as we have a home-semi confirmed.

[Smollet]

Glaws deliberately fielding a second string XV resulted in them getting stuffed 90-0 on Saturday
Tbf they were resting their first team players for the forthcoming final but if relegation was still an issue and they were close to going down would they have done the same. Those who went must've been well pissed off.

[JerryEXE]

Isn’t it great going into the final weekend with so much up for grabs! I’m going for a Saints win but with Bath getting a bonus point and also a Sarries win (first and only time I’ll ever be wanting this to happen) … hence the top 3 will remain the same and Chiefs or Quins take 4th place at the expense of Sale. If the Chiefs can take their home form away to Leicester then I could see a bonus point win there, Quins have got to be favourites for a bonus point win at home but then you never know what Bristol will do. Will the Quins late bonus point on Saturday come back to haunt the Chiefs? I hope not but I’m nervous.

Falcons to get their only win of the season against Gloucester (especially if they rest the first team again).

[a311]

BigBen said:

Just booked my semi-final tickets, an exciting weekend ahead seeing who our opposition will be.

Also keen to see if the Saints will field a strong side with the aim of finishing the regular season on top or not bother as we have a home-semi confirmed.

It's going to be an interesting last weekend. On Saints I'm not sure, I don't think too many people will remember who finished top of the league in any particular season unless they went on to win the play-offs too so IMO it's a balance of maintaining momentum without risking injury to key players for the play-offs.

There's load of permutations for the play-off teams. With Saracens wanting to secure a home semi I think they'll beat Sale. I reckon Exeter will take 4th spot beating Leicester who have been indifferent this season. I don't come from an area with a prem team so don't have any particular allegiance to any one team but would like to see Saints win it. I'm starting to feel like Saracens might though which would be a bit boring. I think it's their last shot for a while with who they're loosing but feels like folk have been saying that for a few seasons now. I don't think anyone at Prem level has shown up their relatively weak front row.

[Tom8]

Is there any relegation or promotion this year?

[Smollet]

Tom8 said:

Is there any relegation or promotion this year?

No

[Pugster]

a311 said:

BigBen said:

Just booked my semi-final tickets, an exciting weekend ahead seeing who our opposition will be.

Also keen to see if the Saints will field a strong side with the aim of finishing the regular season on top or not bother as we have a home-semi confirmed.

It's going to be an interesting last weekend. On Saints I'm not sure, I don't think too many people will remember who finished top of the league in any particular season unless they went on to win the play-offs too so IMO it's a balance of maintaining momentum without risking injury to key players for the play-offs.

There's load of permutations for the play-off teams. With Saracens wanting to secure a home semi I think they'll beat Sale. I reckon Exeter will take 4th spot beating Leicester who have been indifferent this season. I don't come from an area with a prem team so don't have any particular allegiance to any one team but would like to see Saints win it. I'm starting to feel like Saracens might though which would be a bit boring. I think it's their last shot for a while with who they're loosing but feels like folk have been saying that for a few seasons now. I don't think anyone at Prem level has shown up their relatively weak front row.

On balance Saints deserve to win it but we all know that's not how it works. You can argue the merits of that all day long but I personally like the big day out.

Van Zyl has returned for Sarries and he makes a lot of difference to their attack and I'll think they'll beat Sale to give them a home Semi. Anything can happen but it's looking like it could be a Saints v Sarries final.

Saints are playing some great rugby and potentially could go on to dominate the Prem. I've followed Sarries for a lot of years and it genuinely feels like the end of an era but they've got one more thing to do. They certainly know how to win one off games.

[LankyMcTally]

BigBen said:

Just booked my semi-final tickets, an exciting weekend ahead seeing who our opposition will be.

Also keen to see if the Saints will field a strong side with the aim of finishing the regular season on top or not bother as we have a home-semi confirmed.

Have done the same and am looking forward to seeing who our opposition is on 31st (as well as on 8 June!)

[Hunky Dory]

I booked my tickets to the final ages ago as it’s the first time in years that it doesn’t clash with school half term holiday and I resolved at the start of the season to go for a family day out at HQ irrespective of who made it to the final.

As a Saints fan I obviously can’t believe the way it’s panned out this season (particularly given recent years!) although I still wouldn’t bet against Saints fluffing their lines in the semi and not getting there!

The last time I went to a final was 2016 (I think) for Sarries / Exeter. Exeter’s first prem final and pretty much everyone there who wasn’t in a Sarries shirt was cheering for Chiefs! Whoever makes it to the final this year, if one of the teams is Sarries, I’ll be screaming for the other one…!