2015-16 Champions Cup thread

former total

Ospreys

Davies has been brilliant.

Nice "I'm happy for him" face by Biggar there.

thomond2006

An Ospreys win sets up Pool 2 for a crazy finish! If Exeter beat UBB then there will be three teams left in the running.

vienne86

Scarlets

Another fabulous kick for Davies.

And this rain will suit Ospreys just fine.

Diabhal Beag

Underhill is some man

vienne86

Scarlets

Great tackling from Ospreys.

Diabhal Beag

Keeping Clermont from a BP would be some achievement.

molloyjh

Some great work from Ospreys but Clermont just lost it altogether in the second half. They have been rudderless for the last 20-30 mins.

crisco10

Ospreys juSt aren't giving clermont penalties here.

And with that they win one of their own.

Borders no.2

Fair play to Ospreys. Clermont flattering to deceive once again. Looked a routine win for them for a long time.

Flipper22

Sam Underhill certainly loves a good tackle.

AWJ too. Loved that one where he stopped a man dead from a standing start at the side of a ruck, such power.

kuang1

That's spine tingling stuff from ospreys...
MOTM Alan Wyn Jones...deserved.

vienne86

Scarlets

Clermont all over the place in the second half while Ospreys have just fronted up. Fair play to them.

thomond2006

Borders no.2 wrote: »

Fair play to Ospreys. Clermont flattering to deceive once again. Looked a routine win for them for a long time.

They'll probably get 5 points at home to Bordeaux next week. 19 points should be enough, regardless if Ospreys win at Exeter. It's not the best start to Ulster's weekend mind.

Diabhal Beag

Now that's an exciting group

LeinsterDub

Great win for the Welsh side.

bilston

This is a crap start to the weekend for Ulster.

irishbucsfan

Denying the bonus point is huge.

Great performance from some of those young players

Guy:Incognito

Thought Leonard was great tonight. Seemed to be everywhere and involved with everything (aside from normal scrummie involvement :-) )

vienne86

Scarlets

I'm not a fan of Ospreys, but they deserved that win thoroughly. Clermont were awful in the second half, while Ospreys really stepped up - forced Clermont to make errors, and Clermont just didn't know what to do about it.

Buer

Awful result for Ulster. Significant blow to their chances and, if they don't get something from tomorrow, their future in this season's tournament may be out of their hands.

Felexicon

Well that was a very enjoyable game of rugby to watch. Fair play to Ospreys I think they were well worth the win.
Underhill looks like a serious talent. And only 19!

CatFromHue

Wasps

Surprised to hear Ospreys win.

For them to qualify though I think they'll need to get a result away to Exeter next week though.

Clermont have Bordeuax at home next week and Bordeaux are pretty much out already.

ArmaniJeanss

I don't think Clermont appreciated having the cast of Children Of The Corn in the stadium, turned it into a very eerie atmosphere. Perhaps Ospreys can followup with a touchline 1970s exorcism or suchlike in their next game.

awec

Tuned out for second half. Bad result for us.

funtime93

Id be more worried about Exeter than ospreys from ulsters point of view. Exeter could beat Bordeaux away tomorrow and then ospreys in round 6. Not a chance ospreys will win in Exeter.

matthew8

Wasps

Exeter don't have a very strong team out tomorrow, Bordeaux have named a strong one and are heavy favourites.

Buer

Bordeaux are decent and beat the Ospreys out there. They win tomorrow and Exeter are done.

I can definitely see two teams qualifying from that pool. If SF win tomorrow, Ulster are in trouble.

CatFromHue

Wasps

Looks like Munster hold a few Pro12 teams faith in their hands.

If they can win tomorrow there's an outside chance that we could have maybe 3 Pro12 teams squeaking into the QF's.

swiwi_

Didn't see the game, but this guy is surely facing a hefty suspension.

Big Ben got 5 weeks for this, which still seems light.

pickarooney

He should have just politely told him to piss off à la Van Der Merwe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijf8OLnXplc

former total

Ospreys

Flicking on to the Bordeaux Exeter game every now and again, epic game in progress.

Buer

former total wrote:

Flicking on to the Bordeaux Exeter game every now and again, epic game in progress.

Have watched whole thing. Best game of tournament. Big blow to Ulster if Exeter get a BP win.

bilston

Buer wrote: »

Have watched whole thing. Best game of tournament. Big blow to Ulster if Exeter get a BP win.

At this stage 19 points might not even be enough, never mind 18!

Diabhal Beag

Jesus AAC was mm's from a brilliant try

vienne86

Scarlets

Seems that Bordeaux v Exeter has been a good game. Last chance for Exeter to draw level....have to settle for LBP.

aimee1

vienne86 wrote: »

Seems that Bordeaux v Exeter has been a good game. Last chance for Exeter to draw level.

that bad for ulster ?

matthew8

Wasps

Bordeaux aren't out of this. Bonus point win against Clermont next week and an Exeter win with no bonus points for anyone puts them through. Wouldn't be a shock for Bordeaux to get a BP win either, they've done so in both their home games.

thomond2006

aimee1 wrote: »

that bad for ulster ?

Bordeaux won. That's very good news for Ulster.

captbarnacles

Am I in a group of one who thinks Ulster can beat Saracens away?

vienne86

Scarlets

captbarnacles wrote: »

Am I in a group of one who thinks Ulster can beat Saracens away?

I'd say maybe yes. Won't stop us cheering though.

vienne86

Scarlets

Class little chip from Payne to put Marshall over.

That was excellent from Ulster.

CatFromHue

Wasps

That win by Bordeaux puts Ospreys know exact;y what they need to top their group. Win next week in Exeter and they go through.

Assuming Ulster get the tbp win next week to Oyannax their faith could come down to how Leicester beating Stade and Leinster beating Wasps (and Bath today)!

pickarooney

Sorry for this but it's 'fate' (destiny) not 'faith' (belief).

Buer

Bit of a better picture developing now for Ulster. Essentially, Ulster have to win with a bonus point next week to put themselves on 18 points and give themselves a real shot at qualifying. Qualification is already out of their hands as they require results to go their way elsewhere.

Pool 2

Bordeaux are out of the tournament (barring a complete miracle) and away to Clermont next week. I'd expect Clermont to blow them away and, at the very least, get a win and improve their points difference in doing so. If they finish on 18 points, I'd expect them to have a better PD than Ulster. I think they'll get the TBP though and remove any doubt.

The Ospreys know exactly what they need. Any sort of win means they top the pool. They're away to Exeter who, similar to Bordeaux, need a minor miracle to progress (Bordeaux beat Clermont without a TBP and they beat Ospreys by more than 15 with a TBP). Given how they're going in the league, I can see them taking the foot off the pedal a little. I'd expect them to be game but ultimately not to have the level of commitment they'd have otherwise.

I can see Clermont and Ospreys getting the wins and both of them going through.

Pool 3

Racing look certain to top the pool. Northampton are looking to go through as a runner up. The final game of this weekend sees them host Glasgow (who are still in contention, just about). If they win well, they've an away game to the Scarlets whose form has really deserted them of late. I think they'll get two wins but not sure they'll get a TBP needed to put them ahead of Ulster. I think they'll finish with a worse points difference. If they get a TBP tomorrow, I think they'll finish ahead of Ulster but I'd be dubious.

Pool 4

Leicester have already secured their BP against Treviso and have topped their pool and, given no team in Pool 2 (Ospreys/Clermont) can reach 23 points, they're also guaranteed a home quarter final. I can see them putting out a pretty mixed team in Paris next week and not putting in too much effort. That's bad for Ulster. I'd fully expect SF to get the win they need to secure one of the runner's up spots (their points difference is far superior to Ulster's already).

Pool 5

On reflection, Bath winning tonight may have actually been better for Ulster. They'd only finish on 17 points if they won tonight and next week (assuming they're not putting a TBP on Toulon). Now they're out of the tournament already and Toulon will go to Bath needing a win to progress (on the presumption that Toulon beat Wasps tomorrow which is not a foregone conclusion). Bad news for Ulster.

Given Wasps points difference, a win in either of their last two fixtures should be enough for them to progress.

All in all, Ulster require a lot of chips to fall their way to progress at this point. One will always have to come back to that utterly bizarre selection last weekend where they rested some of their most important players and scraped to a 1 point win.

Hopefully I'm wrong but I would say Clermont, Stade and Wasps to progress in the runner's up spots.

Saracens, Ospreys, Leicester, Racing and Toulon to top the pools.

matthew8

Wasps

Exeter named a very weak side today and still almost got a result. They're also second in the premiership. I'll be surprised if they don't beat Ospreys, and if they get the bonus and win by 16+ (not unrealistic given they did it to Clermont, and almost to Bordeaux as well) it's not out of the question they could go through in second place. They would only need wins for 2 of Leinster, Leicester and Scarlets, given Northampton and Toulon win tomorrow.

Buer

matthew8 wrote: »

Exeter named a very weak side today and still almost got a result. They're also second in the premiership. I'll be surprised if they don't beat Ospreys, and if they get the bonus and win by 16+ (not unrealistic given they did it to Clermont, and almost to Bordeaux as well) it's not out of the question they could go through in second place. They would only need wins for 2 of Leinster, Leicester and Scarlets, given Northampton and Toulon win tomorrow.

Unfortunately for Ulster, the Exeter/Ospreys game is the final game of the weekend. If the other fixtures don't go their way, Exeter will have a pretty good idea if they're mathematically eliminated by kick off.

CatFromHue

Wasps

pickarooney wrote: »

Sorry for this but it's 'fate' (destiny) not 'faith' (belief).

Sorry what I really meant was that if both Stade and Wasps when next week Northen Ireland will convert to Scientology

aimee1

Treviso PD is -157, an average of almost 32 point defeat

matthew8

Wasps

aimee1 wrote: »

Treviso PD is -157, an average of almost 32 point defeat

I'm sure the money cancels things out and then some, but you have to feel the Italians are better off in the challenge cup, at least Zebre are competitive there, just completed a season double over Worcester giving them their third win this year, and neither of their 2 losses were embarrassments.

errlloyd

Ospreys

Racing first try was very good