2018-2019 Champions Cup

letowski

Good pool all things considered for Munster, again

vienne86

Avoided Toulon TG.

thomond2006

Pool 1: Leinster, Wasps, Toulouse, Bath
Pool 2: Castres, Exeter Chiefs, Munster, Gloucester
Pool 3: Saracens, Glasgow Warriors, Lyon, Cardiff Blues
Pool 4: Scarlets, Racing 92, Leicester Tigers, Ulster
Pool 5: Montpellier, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Toulon

Leinster probably have the toughest draw of the provinces even though they were Tier 1! They dodged Toulon.

Edit: Actually nah, Ulster have it worse.

irishbucsfan

Leinster dodge Toulon, thank ****!

vienne86

Leinster Wasps Bath Toulouse.

irishbucsfan

Bath are a handy team.

I am happy with this pool

testtech05

My stream skipped why couldnt Bath go into Pool 4??

vienne86

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Bath are a handy team.

I am happy with this pool

Me too. Might go to Toulouse if it is at a half decent time of year.

Synode

Heineken Cup

vienne86

No obvious group of death.

irishbucsfan

Nightmare pool for Ulster!

Ah lads, that's a shocker. Shouldnt have bothered qualifying

LeinsterDub

testtech05 wrote: »

My stream skipped why couldnt Bath go into Pool 4??

Ulster would of had to be with Leinster

ScrubsfanChris

testtech05 wrote: »

My stream skipped why couldnt Bath go into Pool 4??

The only other team left was Ulster, who can't be drawn with Leinster.

PTH2009

Happy with the Munster draw

When are the fixtures announced

Might try and go to one of the away England games

vienne86

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Nightmare pool for Ulster!

Ah lads, that's a shocker. Shouldnt have bothered qualifying

Almost inevitable for Tier 4 - they nearly didn't qualify at all.

Brewster

Ulster were very close to going into pool 5 which would have been a great draw. Toulon will be reasonably happy. Ulster got the hardest draw, but always possible as a 4th seed. Munster and Leinster much better off.

testtech05

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

The only other team left was Ulster, who can't be drawn with Leinster.

Cheers, hadn't realised that still applied for the 4th seeds as saw a couple of groups had 2 english teams for example, thanks for the iinfo

Buer

Leinster and Munster have pools that are neither particularly easy or hard. Leinster could have gotten a handier draw when you consider they're one of the top seeds and you look at some of the other teams. Think Toulouse is the hardest 3rd seed we could have been given and Bath are probably second strongest 4th seed after Toulon.

All winnable though.

Saracens are the big winners.

Faugheen

Am I the only one that thinks Ulster's draw isn't actually that bad?

Scarlets have been significantly weakened especially in the pack, while Leicester blow really hot and cold.

Definitely could have been a lot worse. There's wins in that pool for them.

On the other hand, I think Munster have got quite a tough draw. Exeter gave Leinster two good games last year and I think have the beating of Munster. Castres could go either way depending on how they're doing when they meet in France. Gloucester are Gloucester.

ScrubsfanChris

Could have been better for Munster but thats still a pretty good group.

thomond2006

Sarseholes are absolutely laughing. That's got to be the easiest pool since the inception of the Champions Cup with 20 teams.

roverjoyce

Why were Ulster not allowed in another Irish teams pool
That has to be an unfair advantage to them not being allowed in 2 out of 5 groups

BIGT4464

Good Draw for Munster SUAF

thomond2006

roverjoyce wrote: »

Why were Ulster not allowed in another Irish teams pool
That has to be an unfair advantage to them not being allowed in 2 out of 5 groups

No Pro14 countries can have two teams in the same pool.

As for your second point, I'm lost.

molloyjh

Tough pool for Leinster without being insanely difficult. Munsters fortunes will depend on their game away to Castres I feel. Exeter could well beat them home and away based on their performances against us this season. Saracens can go **** themselves. That's a stupidly handy pool. Poor Ulster.

Prediction time....

Leinster
Exeter
Saracens
Racing
Toulon
Montpellier
Munster
Scarlets

...all to make the QFs.

acer911

When do get an idea of when the fixtures will be?

Larbre34

Leinster's group is decent for a few reasons, solid opposition but not all on top form, they will all bring big gates though so from a revenue point of view its better than a Lyon or Cardiff.

Im delighted with Toulouse, an away trip there has always been on my bucket list so time to get organised!

vienne86

So, would Leinster/Wasps be the back to back?

Larbre34

vienne86 wrote: »

So, would Leinster/Wasps be the back to back?

Itd probably suit both clubs to do it IMO, cant see it being Bath with the small capacity at the Rec

Cookiemunster

acer911 wrote: »

When do get an idea of when the fixtures will be?

https://twitter.com/ChampionsCup/status/1009389422461308928

Buer

vienne86 wrote: »

So, would Leinster/Wasps be the back to back?

I wouldn't be surprised if the back to back game was Toulouse. It would be as attractive if not more so for Leinster fans and I'd imagine the domestic back to back matches would be tempting for Bath and Wasps, logistically.

umop episdn

No reason why Munster can't top that pool, good draw with some good games to come

Clegg

I think the opposite. Munster will be hard pressed to qualify from that group. Exeter's grinding game is one of the very best. Leinster had the forwards to win out in the end but they were the hardest side we had to play this season besides Racing. I'm not convinced Munster have the pack to take it to Exeter.

Depends on how Castres want to play this I suppose.

daddy pig

Last year Leinster won every game in a group containing Exeter, Montpellier and Glasgow.
Compare that to Wasps, Toulouse and Bath and each team is a step down in respective quality.
Saracens will be top two and would be very confident Leinster will join them there for a possible home semi final.

A lot of Munster fans seriously underestimating Exeter. They are a quality outfit and Munster will be doing very well to have parity in the two games. Vital to get Castres away later in the pool draw when they should be out of it.

umop episdn

Clegg wrote: »

I think the opposite. Munster will be hard pressed to qualify from that group. Exeter's grinding game is one of the very best. Leinster had the forwards to win out in the end but they were the hardest side we had to play this season besides Racing. I'm not convinced Munster have the pack to take it to Exeter.

Depends on how Castres want to play this I suppose.

No reason to believe that's the case tbh, we will have players back from injury, new additions to the squad we should be rubbing our hands with glee at that group, more likely the English side will implode again.

errlloyd

daddy pig wrote: »

A lot of Munster fans seriously underestimating Exeter. They are a quality outfit and Munster will be doing very well to have parity in the two games. Vital to get Castres away later in the pool draw when they should be out of it.

I'd agree with this. That's an Exeter team that won home and away v Montpellier, and really should have won in the Aviva, if we're honest that pass from Leavy to McGrath is a smidgeon forward and they had dominated the game.

Can't help but read pool 5 as:

Montpellier
Newcastle
Edinburgh
Ha! Fcuk you!

errlloyd

errlloyd wrote: »

I'd agree with this. That's an Exeter team that won home and away v Montpellier, and really should have won in the Aviva, if we're honest that pass from Leavy to McGrath is a smidgeon forward and they had dominated the game.

I thought that turnaround was a performance that heralded the coming silverware. The belief the pack had after that was partly on display during those 41 phases in Paris. It was a stunning win against a top team, I had great seats that day and it was a massive game of rugby with a significant and vocal away support.

Will be a handful for Munster, I think if Munster can win at home against Exeter they should be in good shape for the pool. They'll win all their other home fixtures and should win away against Gloucester and potentially Castres depending on their domestic form and pool position.

Clegg

umop episdn wrote: »

No reason to believe that's the case tbh, we will have players back from injury, new additions to the squad we should be rubbing our hands with glee at that group, more likely the English side will implode again.

I'm just not sure about Munster's forwards. They've a lot of good players in the pack but I've seen them wilt too many time when the pressure was put on. Exeter will pound away incessantly and seize upon any perceived weakness. I don't know anything about Castres, but since they're French champions I assume they've more than.a decent pack.

vienne86

Buer wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised if the back to back game was Toulouse. It would be as attractive if not more so for Leinster fans and I'd imagine the domestic back to back matches would be tempting for Bath and Wasps, logistically.

I can see BT pushing hard for the back to back to be Leinster/Wasps.

Neil3030

Both Exeter and Castres can overpower Munster so it will be interesting to see what JVG can do to combat that. Caldron of fire for Carbery.

Neil3030

Neil3030 wrote: »

Both Exeter and Castres can overpower Munster so it will be interesting to see what JVG can do to combat that. Caldron of fire for Carbery.

I think the team is going to have to navigate things this season, Van Graan is a Springbok sleeper agent.

Buer

vienne86 wrote: »

I can see BT pushing hard for the back to back to be Leinster/Wasps.

Potentially but I wouldn't be surprised to see Munster vs Exeter being their preference. Both fixtures would draw major interest.

Cookiemunster

Buer wrote: »

Potentially but I wouldn't be surprised to see Munster vs Exeter being their preference. Both fixtures would draw major interest.

BT have it all this year, so both could be double headers.

Shefwedfan

Really with the Champions Cup you don't see any "easy" groups anymore.

No real group of death but a lot of decent match up's......

From my point of view the winners from groups


Pool 1: Leinster
Pool 2: Exeter Chiefs
Pool 3: Saracens
Pool 4: Racing 92
Pool 5: Montpellier

Other qualifiers
Scarlets, Toulon, Munster

I feel Munster fans are underestimating Exeter. Remember they beat Montpellier away when Montpellier still had interest in the competition. They played very well against Leinster in the Aviva.

It will depend on when they get Castres of course as they typically give up the ghost after Christmas.

Unless something drastic happens to Scarlets and Racing I can't see Ulster doing anything, will be good experience for some of the younger guys.

turnikett1

Everyone keeps saying "Munster fans are underestimating Exeter" but I've yet to see a single Munster fan saying it will be easy? Can someone point them out? I would fancy our chances at Thomond but playing away might be a step too far. I don't know, it's impossible to predict any of this really. Munster will be a different team this season with new signings and a full preseason with JvG.

turnikett1

turnikett1 wrote: »

Everyone keeps saying "Munster fans are underestimating Exeter" but I've yet to see a single Munster fan saying it will be easy?

thomond2006 wrote: »

LOL11!!! Exeter sux, Lunster had an ez group last season, fresh for knock outs. I repeat - Exeter = EZ







EZ

.

Jump_In_Jack

roverjoyce wrote: »

Why were Ulster not allowed in another Irish teams pool
That has to be an unfair advantage to them not being allowed in 2 out of 5 groups

Because the other two Irish teams are better than all the other teams?

umop episdn

Only people saying Munster are underestimating Exeter are Leinster fans, how queer!

Rigor Mortis

Synode wrote: »

Heineken Cup

Leinster
Exeter
Saracens
Racing
Montpellier
Glasgow
Wasps
Castres / Scarlets

Unless Munster get lucky on scheduling they aren’t getting out of that pool.