General Rugby Discussion II

Spook_ie

When do they do the draw for the Rugby Challenge Cup and the Champions Cup?

All I keep seeing is

Fixtures for the 2018/19 season will be announced at a later date

irishbucsfan

Spook_ie wrote: »

When do they do the draw for the Rugby Challenge Cup and the Champions Cup?

All I keep seeing is

The draw is already done, fixtures were released August 22nd last year

Spook_ie

irishbucsfan wrote: »

The draw is already done, fixtures were released August 22nd last year

Where can I find the schedule for 2018/18? All I keep finding is the results for 2017/18

I can see from the EPCRugby.com that the matches are scheduled for

Weekends for 2018/19 season
Round 1: 12/13/14 October
Round 2: 19/20/21 October
Round 3: 7/8/9 December
Round 4: 14/15/16 December
Round 5: 11/12/13 January 2019
Round 6: 18/19/20 January 2019
Quarter-finals: 29/30/31 March 2019
Semi-finals: 19/20/21 April 2019
Final: Saturday 11 May 2019, St James’ Park

but who's playing who?

Former Former

Former Former wrote: »

According to the Daily Mirror, he took two bottles of vodka from behind the bar and tried to walk out with them. Not the most heinous crime but still pretty stupid. It's the assaulting a police officer charge that is the most serious, if that holds up he's finished.

And the other question is, what were Gloucester at, letting a player with "previous" go on a pub crawl?

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Their head coach, who was involved in organising the pub crawl, was arrested for starting a fight in a night club less than a year ago...

EDIT: Sorry, I lied, he wasn't arrested it seems! But still, not a great environment

From Cipriani's point of view, it could be the ideal place to go where there is a culture of tolerance for off field shenanigans.

As FF said though, if he is charged with assaulting a police officer he's finished with Gloucester and England though I suspect the RFU won't allow him don the white again regardless. Doesn't sound like things got completely out of hand so I suspect they've charged him with everything potentially applicable with the intention that a plea will be made on one of the minor charges.

Did I read somewhere else that taking bottles from behind the bar is something he's done (and been in trouble for) before?

irishbucsfan

Deleted User wrote: »

Did I read somewhere else that taking bottles from behind the bar is something he's done (and been in trouble for) before?

Yes he did it when he was in Australia, if I remember right.

Supposedly, albeit according to a dirt-quality tabloid, he shouted out "loosen the cuffs, these wrists are golden" which is quite something.

jacothelad

Deleted User wrote: »

...Tell us your Jersey story?

I used to live there. I never sufferred personally but they are quite capable of any 's t r e t ch' of circumstance to suit their agenda. A friend of mine was arrested for having a tooth brush in his shirt pocket. He was arrested for vagrancy because he had less than £3.00 in his possession. Others have been charged with 'assasult for the crime of drawing attention to themselves.I doubt if even the dolt that is Cipriani is actually public enemy no. 1. More like public enema no.2.

jacothelad

sydthebeat wrote: »

the last time jaco was in jersey the french still owned it.

Mais oui mon petite choux. Actually Jersey 'French' is a bit like the stuff we blurted out erroneously during class in school. Webb-Ellis and I used to laugh and laugh. Nous montons comme un maison flambe.

irishbucsfan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Yes he did it when he was in Australia, if I remember right.

Supposedly, albeit according to a dirt-quality tabloid, he shouted out "loosen the cuffs, these wrists are golden" which is quite something.

That's ...amazing.

Surely there is a version of that we can adapt when the cards are flying on here?

"Loosen the infractions, these posts are golden"

The Lost Sheep

Spook_ie wrote: »

Where can I find the schedule for 2018/18? All I keep finding is the results for 2017/18

I can see from the EPCRugby.com that the matches are scheduled for

but who's playing who?

The groups are on the website.

https://www.epcrugby.com/2018/06/19/pool-draws-2018-19-heineken-champions-challenge-cup/

b.gud

Spook_ie wrote: »

Where can I find the schedule for 2018/18? All I keep finding is the results for 2017/18

I can see from the EPCRugby.com that the matches are scheduled for

but who's playing who?

They are announcing the fixtures tomorrow at noon

Spook_ie

b.gud wrote: »

They are announcing the fixtures tomorrow at noon

At last a date, rather than sometime soon

thomond2006

Cipriani's previous has given us possibly my favourite post on the forum.

swiwi_

Podge_irl wrote: »

It doesn't. But Jersey isn't in England :pac:

True. Although I thought they followed the English legal system. Maybe not.

pickarooney

swiwi_ wrote: »

True. Although I thought they followed the English legal system. Maybe not.

Are they the ones that still have caning or is that the Isle of Man?

Podge_irl

swiwi_ wrote: »

True. Although I thought they followed the English legal system. Maybe not.

Nah, they have their own judicial and legislative system.

irishbucsfan

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-45206046

Guilty plea, he's been fined for it.

Interesting to see what happens next for him.

stephen_n

pickarooney wrote: »

Are they the ones that still have caning or is that the Isle of Man?

You mean the whipping with the cat o nine tails? That’s the Isle of Man.

irishbucsfan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-45206046

Guilty plea, he's been fined for it.

Interesting to see what happens next for him.

As far as Gloucester is concerned nothing at all I'd imagine, from what I've read elsewhere they aren't in a position not to utilise him.

He may not feature for England but again, they are struggling for options at 10 and the world cup is right around the corner.

It's turned out minor enough, but I'd be dropping him if I were Jones because if he hasn't learned his lesson by now he is nothing but an ongoing risk. If England invest in him at 10 and he gets himself in trouble next Summer it would be a huge waste. Injury can happen at any time, but trouble with the law is something the overwhelming majority of players manage to avoid. Losing a key player at a critical time over stupidity like this would significantly damage the squad in a variety of ways.

I fully expect him to play in November!

RFU give Dougie their blessing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/08/16/rfu-would-not-stand-eddie-jones-way-selection-danny-cipriani

irishbucsfan

The World Rugby Executive Committee has given dispensation for the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) to operate a closed law trial in this season’s Top 14 and Pro D2 competitions.

Approval follows detailed consideration of a proposal by the FFR following a body of work by the national federation’s medical observatory in line with the game’s ongoing drive to enhance player welfare.

The trial composes two components:

the introduction of a blue card signalling a permanent replacement for any player with a suspected or confirmed concussion
an amendment to Law 3.32 which will permit up to four additional replacements where tactically-replaced players may replace any injured player (while retaining eight players on the bench).
For the purposes of this trial Law 3.32 a will now read:

Tactically replaced players may return to play when replacing: a) An injured player.
The FFR will operate a detailed study to analyse the impact of the closed trials, sharing all data with World Rugby for evaluation and analysis to determine whether there are player welfare grounds for further evaluation and trial.

World Rugby also welcomes the joint commitment by the FFR and Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) to enhance medical presence at Top 14 and Pro D2 clubs on non-match days.

Really interesting to see how this goes.

pickarooney

Does the injured player have to be certified as such (blue card?) by the ref or is it just up to him to decide?

They should just allow rolling subs and be done with it rather than introduce more levels of farce and skullduggery.

irishbucsfan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Really interesting to see how this goes.

Of all the countries I trust France least with this. No accusations have born out but I give zero benefit of the doubt to France at this stage and allowing for more subs simply plays into the desire to have bigger and bigger men on the pitch.

If this becomes part of the international game I can see it being a right pain in the knee.

irishbucsfan

pickarooney wrote: »

Does the injured player have to be certified as such (blue card?) by the ref or is it just up to him to decide?

They should just allow rolling subs and be done with it rather than introduce more levels of farce and skullduggery.

Up to teams currently. That's not a new thing, there's always been a mechanism to determine that, just never been a real reason to game it before (beyond front row subs I guess).

I've played with rolling subs. It works. It's not as major a change as I thought it would be. I'd be in favour of trialling it.

MJohnston

So wait I'm confused about these two rules in combination. 3.32 will say an injured player can be replaced by a previous subbed player. But does 'injured' in this case also include blue-carded players?

Or if you get a blue-card, can you only be permanently replaced by an unused sub?

MJohnston

MJohnston wrote: »

So wait I'm confused about these two rules in combination. 3.32 will say an injured player can be replaced by a previous subbed player. But does 'injured' in this case also include blue-carded players?

Or if you get a blue-card, can you only be permanently replaced by an unused sub?

My reading is that there are two separate aspects.

1. An injured player can be replaced with anyone on the bench, whether they are 16 - 23 or a starter who came off already.

2. A blue card can be used for an un-injured player who is deemed to have suffered a head injury. As a result this player can be replaced in the same way as other injured players.

As head injury substitutions and blood substitutions have slightly different rules to normal injuries or general replacements the two aspects needed to be dealt with albeit there is no change for blood subs.

My issue with this firstly is that it requires good faith on the part of teams which I think is laughable personally and will be completely taken advantage of.

My second issue is that because this is going to be roundly taken advantage of, fitness will become less important and size will become more important.

I'll have an open mind about it but there are enough examples of teams taking advantage of existing rules that I think this is a bad idea. I think it's quite laughable that France as the league which most promotes size and is a major culprit of silly buggers with substitutions are the ones spearheading this test.

irishbucsfan

MJohnston wrote: »

So wait I'm confused about these two rules in combination. 3.32 will say an injured player can be replaced by a previous subbed player. But does 'injured' in this case also include blue-carded players?

Or if you get a blue-card, can you only be permanently replaced by an unused sub?

Blue card would be an injured player. It'll be marked on the card when they're replaced whether its tactical or injury, its certainly not going to go down as tactical!

stephen_n

Deleted User wrote: »

RFU give Dougie their blessing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/08/16/rfu-would-not-stand-eddie-jones-way-selection-danny-cipriani

It would seem the RFU didn’t let him off

jacothelad

stephen_n wrote: »

You mean the whipping with the cat o nine tails? That’s the Isle of Man.

Not now. The I.O.M. used birch twigs in a bundle for corporal punishment up to 1976 when the last use of it occurred.

mfceiling

PJ with another good performance last night vs Racing. Seems to have slotted right back in to the game.

Bits_n_Bobs

From article below it appears the only option to watch Pro14 and European games is Eir Sport - does anybody know if that’s available with virgin media?

https://m.independent.ie/sport/which-sport-is-on-what-channel-your-complete-guide-to-watching-football-and-rugby-on-tv-this-season-37219933.html