European Championship Rugby Cup 23/24

Handy deputy for when Ross Byrne is on Ireland duty!

Only joking, I’m delighted that Jordie (and his sock) is coming to play for us for a while. Very exciting news

I doubt that's an issue. He is contracted to Hurricanes and Taranaki as well as the AB. I don't think his wage demands were large or the deciding factor for him.

Half their team are in central contracts with the IRFU.

https://www.the42.ie/jordie-barrett-leinster-63557....

Well I've probably cursed Quins by buying final tickets ahead of the semi, but I figured better to avoid a last second scramble, and it'll be a fun day out even if I end up cheering on Saints or Toulouse!

Fingers crossed and ever positive, though, I reckon we're going to beat Toulouse in the first 20+ try match in Champions Cup rugby history by 2 points, having led by 31 at half time!

KP, if you get the chance, go down to Toulouse for the semi. We were there last weekend for the Exeter game and the atmosphere inside the stadium has to be experienced to be believed. You could do it as a day trip from Heathrow or make a weekend out of it, it’s well worth it.

I’d love to see 2 English teams in the final but my head is saying Leinster vs Toulouse and that will be a close one.

Well that was a bit closer than I would have liked! A proper wake-up call for the final

Looking forward to the other semi tomorrow, and best of luck to the Quins supporters on here

Saints did so well to turn that around, and away from home too. For a while I wasn’t sure if it was going to be payback for 2011!

I can see why you’re top of the Premiership

The way Leinster were allowed to cheat last season - even getting to play the actual final at home! - certainly made a complete and utter mockery of the entire tournament, and La Rochelle's victory really was the only fair outcome.

However, I think that's very different to saying that the knock out games cannot be played in the same country!

Sure, Croke Park was an absolute sea of blue yesterday, but none of the players from either side had ever actually played a game of rugby on that pitch as far as I know, so Leinster weren't getting home advantage in that respect, and if they'd had to play overseas at late notice, how many people would've been able to make it there full stop? Certainly nothing close to 82,000 if both Leinster and Saints fans had been forced to handle both the cost and logistics of getting to Paris or Rome, for example! I've also specifically gone for Paris and Rome there because whilst Murrayfield or the Principality might be in neutral countries from a rugby perspective, it would hardly have been fair on Leinster if their fans had to do the whole catching a flight and staying the night thing when Saints fans could've got the train or driven on a day trip.

So long as the actual ground is a neutral venue, I think that's the best we can realistically hope for.

Could make the Millenium stadium or whatever is called these days as the default final ground as tbh in the current state of Welsh rugby it's highly unlikely a home side would get there.

You're missing the point.

Last season the majority of the Leinster starting 15 in the final played far more minutes of rugby on the pitch at the allegedly neutral Aviva than they did at their theoretical home ground the RDS Arena. That's a real advantage! That's players knowing exactly how deep the in goal area is, which way the wind is likely to swirl, how the pitch bounces, etc.

Just playing in the same city? Meh. Okay, so you get more supporters, but the game has to be played somewhere, doesn't it, and it's nothing like as much of an advantage as knowing the pitch intimately.

Of course you could say that the game has to happen in a country that neither team plays in, but then you've just guaranteed that every fan who actually wants to go to the match has to stump up what, £200+ over and above the cost of the ticket on flights and hotels, and that's always assuming there are flights to be had!

Getting a rammed 80,000+ stadium like Croke Park yesterday is good for the game. Having a 14,000 Stoop barely 1/3 full for Sharks vs Clermont is not.

Lastly, there were plenty of times when the Quins fans in Bordeaux were drowning out the home fans last time, and it wouldn't surprise me if they do the same in Toulouse this afternoon. There was nothing actually stopping the Saints fans from supporting their boys yesterday, was there?