Official EPCR Champions Cup Preview Thread - A New Hope

ktulu123

Northampton

thomond2006 wrote: »

Nigel Wray
Brendan Venter
The PA that drowned the Munster fans
The Wolfpack
Premier Rugby Limited
Mark McCafferty
The Fat Lady singing
BT Sport

This also: STAND UP FOR THE SARACENS

Diabhal Beag

Ulster

I like their cute hats. Toulon offer little to satisfy the hat category.

Dave_The_Sheep

Leinster

.ak wrote: »

I'd rather it was Leinster contesting it, just for the sake of something new.

Two cases of 'something new' in the event of Leinster coming up against Clermont or Saracens in the final and both would occur:
- Leinster actually losing a HC final.
- Sarries or Clermont actually winning a HC final.

You're not wrong about the Toulon scenario. It's troubling and I can't see those who have an argument that money (for some) is a good thing in rugby being able to defend it.

There are admirable aspects to Toulon (and, loathe as I am to admit it, Saracens) but the money side of things tend to outweigh them.

I would like Leinster to beat both, but I can't see it happening, not with our coach.

.ak

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

- Leinster actually losing a HC final.

We've been trying for years but always fall short of the mark!

:pac:

total former

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

Two cases of 'something new' in the event of Leinster coming up against Clermont or Saracens in the final and both would occur:
- Leinster actually losing a HC final.
- Sarries or Clermont actually winning a HC final.

Run this by me again Dave. A team that goes to the south of France and beats Toulon would be doomed to defeat in the next game? Makes sense...

.ak

total former wrote: »

Run this by me again Dave. A team that goes to the south of France and beats Toulon would be doomed to defeat in the next game? Makes sense...

No we're discussing the possibilities of 'something new' happening.

total former

.ak wrote: »

No we're discussing the possibilities of 'something new' happening.

Oh right. Dave's use of "and both would occur" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Leinster's prospects though.

Still, unlikely to be an issue in the first place.

aimee1

Sarries jacques berger cited for swinging arm on machenaud

ssaye2

ASM Clermont Auvergne
15. Nick Abendanon; 14. Noa Nakaitaci, 13. Jonathan Davies, 12. Wesley Fofana, 11. Naipolioni Nalaga; 10. Brock James, 9. Ludovic Radoslavjevic ; 1. Vincent Debaty, 2. Benjamin Kayser, 3. Davit Zirakashvili, 4. Jamie Cudmore, 5. Sébastien Vahaamahina, 6. Julien Bonnaire, 7. Julien Bardy, 8. Damien Chouly (c)
16. John Ulugia, 17. Raphael Chaume, 18. Clément Ric, 19. Julien Pierre, 20. Alexandre Lapandry, 21. Morgan Parra, 22. Camille Lopez, 23. Aurélien Rougerie


Saracens
15. Alex Goode; 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Marcelo Bosch, 12. Brad Barritt (c), 11. Chris Wyles; 10. Charlie Hodgson, 9. Richard Wigglesworth; 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Jamie George, 3. Petrus du Plessis, 4. George Kruis, 5. Jim Hamilton, 6. Maro Itoje, 7. Jacques Burger, 8. Billy Vunipola
16. Schalk Brits, 17. Rhys Gill, 18. James Johnston, 19. Kelly Brown, 20. Jackson Wray, 21. Neil de Kock, 22. Owen Farrell, 23. David Strettle

thomond2006

Leinster

Parra and Lopez back on the bench is huge for Clermont.

sydneybound

Clermont V Saracens is now sold out, 41,000 tickets have been bought. It's a stadium record too by all accounts, bit suprised it was never totally sold out before for soccer.

Toulon V Leinster has sold over 30,000 tickets. Would have sold more but the majority of tickets are priced between €55-€85 which is very expensive for a game in France. I got cracking Lyon Top14 tickets against Racing for only €20 earlier this year in comparison.

molloyjh

Leinster

sydneybound wrote: »

Clermont V Saracens is now sold out, 41,000 tickets have been bought. It's a stadium record too by all accounts, bit suprised it was never totally sold out before for soccer.

Toulon V Leinster has sold over 30,000 tickets. Would have sold more but the majority of tickets are priced between €55-€85 which is very expensive for a game in France. I got cracking Lyon Top14 tickets against Racing for only €20 earlier this year in comparison.

Yeah the ticket prices were extortionate for the Toulon-Leinster game. We'd booked our flights and hotel before we saw the price of them, but had we known in advance we probably wouldn't have gone. The flights were bad enough.

thomond2006

Leinster

molloyjh wrote: »

Yeah the ticket prices were extortionate for the Toulon-Leinster game. We'd booked our flights and hotel before we saw the price of them, but had we known in advance we probably wouldn't have gone. The flights were bad enough.

Who sets the prices? Is it still EPCR?

I recall the cheapest ticket for Clermont-Munster 2012 was €20 while Saracens-Toulon in Twickenham was £35/£40.

I think we paid €50 for behind the goals in Marseille last year. It was pretty expensive alright.

thirteen.

Do Sky have the final?

CatFromHue

I don't know.

I dunno why but I thought both would have it.

Actually they both will have it

The new TV agreement, subject to contract, concerns broadcast arrangements for the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup competitions, both of which would be broadcast jointly by BT Sport and Sky Sports.
The pool matches would be shared equally, both will show two quarter finals each, one semi-final each and the final would be broadcast by both live. The four year agreement is subject to contract.

techdiver

thirteen. wrote: »

Do Sky have the final?

BT announced yesterday that they are showing the final live.

Dave_The_Sheep

Leinster

total former wrote: »

Run this by me again Dave. A team that goes to the south of France and beats Toulon would be doomed to defeat in the next game? Makes sense...

I wasn't being entirely serious in that post.

vienne86

Leinster

Up Clermont!

phog

thirteen. wrote: »

Do Sky have the final?

I thought Sky broadcast an ad for it after today's game.

errlloyd

Glasgow

They both have it right? Sky put it on SS3, which is weird.

total former

errlloyd wrote: »

They both have it right? Sky put it on SS3, which is weird.

Premiership soccer is on SS1, England test cricket on SS2 - two French teams slogging it out won't get near either of those for viewers.

molloyjh

Leinster

So will we even see 50k at the final now? The Clermont-Toulon final in Dublin didn't sell out. There's no way they'll fill Twickenhan. It'll look pretty crappy for the maiden final in the new Cup to have a half empty stadium....

thomond2006

Leinster

molloyjh wrote: »

So will we even see 50k at the final now? The Clermont-Toulon final in Dublin didn't sell out. There's no way they'll fill Twickenhan. It'll look pretty crappy for the maiden final in the new Cup to have a half empty stadium....

Take a look on Ticketmaster and that's not including the tickets reserved for the finalists. There's your answer.

Maybe Mark McC will be handing out free tickets outside the ground.

bilston

Ulster

molloyjh wrote: »

So will we even see 50k at the final now? The Clermont-Toulon final in Dublin didn't sell out. There's no way they'll fill Twickenhan. It'll look pretty crappy for the maiden final in the new Cup to have a half empty stadium....

To be fair it's the worst possible outcome for holding the final at Twickenham. It would be like two English sides playing in Paris, I doubt even two Irish sides with all their travelling support would sellout the Stade de France (would give it a good shot mind).

Any news on next year's final?

It must be Cardiff's turn again soon...

rrpc

Northampton

bilston wrote: »

To be fair it's the worst possible outcome for holding the final at Twickenham. It would be like two English sides playing in Paris, I doubt even two Irish sides with all their travelling support would sellout the Stade de France (would give it a good shot mind).

Any news on next year's final?

It must be Cardiff's turn again soon...

There's more than a touch of hubris in the fact that they seemed to think that there would be at least one premiership team in the final and now it seems that they'll be outside their own stadium looking in...

thomond2006

Leinster

I hope Italy gets it as they were shafted out of it this year (2015 Heineken Cup was supposed to be at San Siro). I doubt it's going to happen though and empty seats at Twickenham certainly won't help their chances.

Leinster

Should be able to get final tickets on the day for peanuts. Will probably wander down alright.

thomond2006

Leinster

Deleted User wrote: »

Should be able to get final tickets on the day for peanuts. Will probably wander down alright.

The ticket prices are mental and the €/£ rate doesn't help either.

European Rugby Champions Cup final:
Twickenham Stadium; Saturday, 2 May 2015 (17.00)
Category A £80
Category B £64
Category C £48
Category D £38

Prices above don't include that effing monopoly's fees (£80 ticket comes to £86.40). Today GBP 1 = EUR 1.38. :eek:

I know why they did it but having two week gaps between the knockout rounds was stupid and it's really going to hurt the attendance at the final.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35004CF1F3BEADB2

Swiwi.

A few thoughts from the weekend

1) I was at the Clermont-Sarries game, and the Clermont supporters are great, and the atmosphere and noise was impressive. Lucky if there were 100 Sarries supporters there, they were non-existant.

2) Quality of rugby on display from both matches wasn't great. Scrum penalties, maul and box-kicks were about the sum of the attacking intent. The Clermont scrumhalf dithered about all day, no quick ruck ball as a result.

3) I'm not surprised Leinster took Toulon close, there are a lot of 35-somethings in that Toulon team, Ali Williams was a spent force (in NZ at least) since 2012, yet here he was in a semi-final. He played like a spent force.

4) Leinster are lucky Sexton is back. Without having to rely on Madigan to do the goalkicking, he can go back to being jack-of-all-trades master of none in the 22 shirt. He has been the cause célèbre for a diminishing number of Leinster fans, often at the expense of Gopperth (who is no great shakes himself) but Noel Reid & Darcy must have been wishing they were out there yesterday. His goalkicking is world class, the rest of his game is Pro 12-ish at best. Schmidt in the stands must be hoping he doesn't have to rely on Ian at the sharp end of the RWC tournament. I know I'm being harsh, but if Gopperth had played like Madigan yesterday, forum meltdown.

5) Ireland (& Leinster) are really well set-up in the propping department. Leinster could (should) have won that game off the pack of the pack, immense.

(oh and apparently in response to the Clermont fans chanting "ici, ici, c'est Montferrand", the Toulon fans will sing "ici, c'est ici, et là-bas, c'est là-bas"...)

thomond2006

Leinster

thomond2006 wrote: »

The ticket prices are mental and the €/£ rate doesn't help either.

European Rugby Champions Cup final:
Twickenham Stadium; Saturday, 2 May 2015 (17.00)
Category A £80
Category B £64
Category C £48
Category D £38

Prices above don't include that effing monopoly's fees (£80 ticket comes to £86.40). Today GBP 1 = EUR 1.38. :eek:

I know why they did it but having two week gaps between the knockout rounds was stupid and it's really going to hurt the attendance at the final.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35004CF1F3BEADB2

Zero chance I'll be paying near those prices. Would expect tickets will turn up very cheaply at all normal places for re-sales.

Twickenham Train Station on the day being a particularly decent option.

irishbucsfan

Leinster

You never know, might be a box or two going on the cheap.

irishbucsfan

Leinster

irishbucsfan wrote: »

You never know, might be a box or two going on the cheap.

boards.ie box?

Anyone known any over-confident Bath or Saracens fans?

molloyjh

Leinster

We paid 53 for the game yesterday but they were being sold for 16 in the days leading into the game. The same will happen for the final. Wait until 2-3 days out and the tickets will be cheap as chips.

thomond2006

Leinster

irishbucsfan wrote: »

You never know, might be a box or two going on the cheap.

What's the craic Mark McC? We've always been big fans of yours, surely you can sort this out for us? :pac:

irishbucsfan

Leinster

I think I must be mad and I'm clearly in a minority but I don't think 80 quid is expensive for a category 1 ticket to (in theory) the biggest club game of the season?

I'm sure prices will fall, but I don't think they're that high really.

thomond2006

Leinster

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I think I must be mad and I'm clearly in a minority but I don't think 80 quid is expensive for a category 1 ticket to (in theory) the biggest club game of the season?

I'm sure prices will fall, but I don't think they're that high really.

It's £86.40 with TM fees and some of the seats aren't the best places (halfway line). That's €120!

Leinster

Think my tickets for Toulon Clermont in Dublin were €105 in fairness.

That's the cost for final tickets!

Swiwi.

Something else. Can't speak for the Leinster match but for the Clermont one EVERY TIME there was a break in play on came the physios, water boys etc. too much like gridiron for my liking. Should be seriously reduced it was basically delaying tactics from sarries.

Grandpa Hassan

I never understood why in both the old and new competitions, there was not a clause whereby if two teams from the same country were in the final, then the final would be moved to that country.

irishbucsfan

Leinster

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

I never understood why in both the old and new competitions, there was not a clause whereby if two teams from the same country were in the final, then the final would be moved to that country.

Because people book tickets and accommodation a year in advance.

.ak

Swiwi. wrote: »

Something else. Can't speak for the Leinster match but for the Clermont one EVERY TIME there was a break in play on came the physios, water boys etc. too much like gridiron for my liking. Should be seriously reduced it was basically delaying tactics from sarries.

The ref has final say about that. A lot of refs won't allow water on the pitch unless there's a serious reason for stoppage.

BBDBB

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

I never understood why in both the old and new competitions, there was not a clause whereby if two teams from the same country were in the final, then the final would be moved to that country.

not only the above answer but the logistics of organising a final would mean you couldn't wait that long from the venues perspective

bilston

Ulster

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I think I must be mad and I'm clearly in a minority but I don't think 80 quid is expensive for a category 1 ticket to (in theory) the biggest club game of the season?

I'm sure prices will fall, but I don't think they're that high really.

I think that's fair enough, it is the biggest European club game of the season (and not in theory either) so you shouldn't expect to get tickets for peanuts.

bilston

Ulster

thomond2006 wrote: »

I hope Italy gets it as they were shafted out of it this year (2015 Heineken Cup was supposed to be at San Siro). I doubt it's going to happen though and empty seats at Twickenham certainly won't help their chances.

I bet it's Cardiff.

bilston

Leinster

bilston wrote: »

I think that's fair enough, it is the biggest European club game of the season (and not in theory either) so you shouldn't expect to get tickets for peanuts.

I absolutely do now though!

techdiver

I was looking at flights yesterday before the game for the final (eternal optimist) and the cheapest was €140 return. Checked again today and they are down to €40 return. The airlines don't miss a trick!

As with everything, whether it be ticket prices, transport and accommodation (although London prices usually seem steady regardless or what is on, not like the disaster that is Cardiff), there will always be profiteering based on supply and demand. The problem for EPC Rugby is that this has backfired this year and the structure they have put in place whereby the richest clubs will only get richer will ensure this continues.

If they want full stadia for finals from now on, they might as well play them in France.

bilston

Ulster

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I absolutely do now though!

Sure what's £80 to someone on a London wage :-)

irishbucsfan

Leinster

bilston wrote: »

Sure what's £80 to someone on a London wage :-)

I could get a pint for that!

sydneybound

From the Guardian..... "Toulon have already returned 40% of their ticket allocation & Clermont have been allocated only 5,000"

Clermont have great support but they don't travel. Twickenham is going to be half empty, interesting to see the Aviva Prem twitter page really push tickets for the final, don't think they would have done that under the ERC days.

Podge_irl

For all that I understand it is two French teams and people are wary, I'd suggest anyone who can go does. It has the elements of being an absolutely cracking game and the French fans who do go will make a bloody good show of it.