Guinness Pro12 Season 2020-2021

Zzippy

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

Dragons play Edinburgh after the Pro14 final.

Talk about being demoralising

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56171172

I wonder is it a sign they are planning to scrap the Rainbow cup and revert to the original league format...

thomond2006

Paul Smeenus wrote: »

Think there's a difference between the Pro14 being a bit of a farce in terms of the rugby; competitiveness and results and so on, and a Rainbow Cup being a farce in terms of public health during a global pandemic.

The SA teams will probably base themselves in UK/Ireland for the duration. There will hardly be back and forth travel.

Eod100

Zzippy wrote: »

I wonder is it a sign they are planning to scrap the Rainbow cup and revert to the original league format...

Its only the day after the final and Rainbow Cup not set to start until 17th April so dont think so.

connachta

SA media and coach/players interwiewd are looking more and more convinced it's happening

1 and half months to go; 50% of the population should be immuned by then, except "variant" diverging a lot, i'm confident!

Zzippy

connachta wrote: »

SA media and coach/players interwiewd are looking more and more convinced it's happening

1 and half months to go; 50% of the population should be immuned by then, except "variant" diverging a lot, i'm confident!

50% of what population?!!!

connachta

Zzippy wrote: »

50% of what population?!!!

+ 50 y.o

those who die

sydthebeat

connachta wrote: »

+ 50 y.o

those who die

whos population are you talking about?

south africas?

connachta

sydthebeat wrote: »

whos population are you talking about?

south africas?

No

by mid-April in Europe, more than 50% of the population over 50 years old, that is to say 95% of those who die of covid will be immuned (priority of vaccination)

the most dangerous part of the pandemic will be less prominient, even if many poeple will still be contaminated

sydthebeat

connachta wrote: »

No

by mid-April in Europe, more than 50% of the population over 50 years old, that is to say 95% of those who die of covid will be immuned (priority of vaccination)

the most dangerous part of the pandemic will be less prominient, even if many poeple will still be contaminated

?? and what has that got to do with a lions tour?

Cookiemunster

sydthebeat wrote: »

?? and what has that got to do with a lions tour?

Nothing. The discussion is about SA teams basing themselves in the UK for the Rainbow Cup.

sydthebeat

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Nothing. The discussion is about SA teams basing themselves in the UK for the Rainbow Cup.

my apologies !!!

i was linking the SA talk to the lions... obvious i got that arseways !

sorry connachta for misunderstanding

connachta

sydthebeat wrote: »

my apologies !!!

i was linking the SA talk to the lions... obvious i got that arseways !

sorry connachta for misunderstanding

no problem:)

Thrashssacre

Edinburgh and scarlets doing there best super rugby impressions today, fantastic game too watch so far.

razorblunt

Thrashssacre wrote: »

Edinburgh and scarlets doing there best super rugby impressions today, fantastic game too watch so far.

That last Edinburgh try had everything, brilliant offloads, brilliant kicks, big hits, sloppy tackles, knock ons, missed tackle for the try and then a fight!

Awesome!

Boscoirl

Electric finish!!

Unlucky Edinburgh

connachta

Now pure maths
Connacht in ChampCup!

Lost Ormond

Zebre about to win against Dragons so will jump to 4th in Conference A

bilston

Read today that the SA franchises may base themselves in Dubai, Dublin or London so that the Rainbow Cup can go ahead.

Surely the Dubai idea is madness?

Why not base one SA in each of the other 4 countries...

Eg Stormers in Scotland, Sharks in Ireland, Bulls in Wales and Lions in Italy.

thomond2006

Leinster 60 points:
Ulster (A)
Zebre (A)
Ospreys (H)

Ulster 54 points:
Leinster (H)
Dragons (A)
Zebre (H)

bilston

thomond2006 wrote: »

Leinster 60 points:
Ulster (A)
Zebre (A)
Ospreys (H)

Ulster 54 points:
Leinster (H)
Dragons (A)
Zebre (H)

The game is up for Ulster.

thomond2006

Munster 50 points:
Connacht (H)
Scarlets (H)
Benetton (H)

Connacht 41 points:
Munster (A)
Edinburgh (H)
Scarlets (A)

Vinnie222

thomond2006 wrote: »

Munster 50 points:
Connacht (H)
Scarlets (H)
Benetton (H)

Connacht 41 points:
Munster (A)
Edinburgh (H)
Scarlets (A)

Looks like a Leinster v Munster final

Former Former Former

bilston wrote: »

The game is up for Ulster.

It will be a terrible indictment of the league if a team can win 15 from 16 and finish second.

Squidgy Black

bilston wrote: »

Read today that the SA franchises may base themselves in Dubai, Dublin or London so that the Rainbow Cup can go ahead.

Surely the Dubai idea is madness?

Why not base one SA in each of the other 4 countries...

Eg Stormers in Scotland, Sharks in Ireland, Bulls in Wales and Lions in Italy.

Direct flights to ireland and the UK and almost zero Covid restrictions in Dubai. So would be an 'easy' option in terms of training/movement of players, I'd imagine that's the only reason it's even in the mix.

bilston

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Direct flights to ireland and the UK and almost zero Covid restrictions in Dubai. So would be an 'easy' option in terms of training/movement of players, I'd imagine that's the only reason it's even in the mix.

Heatstroke might be a bigger issue than Covid!

Burkie1203

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Direct flights to ireland and the UK and almost zero Covid restrictions in Dubai. So would be an 'easy' option in terms of training/movement of players, I'd imagine that's the only reason it's even in the mix.

3000 covid cases a day in UAE the last month or so.

yerrahbah

https://twitter.com/cardiff_rugby_/status/1366357384403238913

So the Cardiff Blues are now Cardiff Rugby.

I'm not up to date with the whole Welsh rugby politics, but are they moving away from being a "region" and want to be identified as an independent club

thomond2006

Cardiff's traditional colours are blue and black so I imagine a new jersey will reflect that.

Most people call them Cardiff anyway. The "blues" terms didn't really stick, unlike the Scarlets.

Squidgy Black

yerrahbah wrote: »

https://twitter.com/cardiff_rugby_/status/1366357384403238913

So the Cardiff Blues are now Cardiff Rugby.

I'm not up to date with the whole Welsh rugby politics, but are they moving away from being a "region" and want to be identified as an independent club

It's to link in with Cardiff RFC I believe, so scrapping the region element of it and getting back more to the old club setup.

Welsh rugby is truly a mess, but at least they seem to be taking some steps to try and rectify it.

bilston

Why aren't Cardiff dominating the Pro 14 and Europe? They should be on a par with Leinster, or at least very close to them. The capital city of a rugby mad country and yet they struggle to be in the top 8 in the Pro 14.

I know the population of Leinster is a good bit more than Cardiff, but rugby is supposedly king in Wales which offsets that a bit.
They should have 20k at all their matches with the best players in Wales playing and they should have the financial pull to bring in some of the best players in the world.

Cardiff are a prime example of how the professional level of the domestic game in Walss has gone very badly wrong.

Lost Ormond

bilston wrote: »

Why aren't Cardiff dominating the Pro 14 and Europe? They should be on a par with Leinster, or at least very close to them. The capital city of a rugby mad country and yet they struggle to be in the top 8 in the Pro 14.

I know the population of Leinster is a good bit more than Cardiff, but rugby is supposedly king in Wales which offsets that a bit.
They should have 20k at all their matches with the best players in Wales playing and they should have the financial pull to bring in some of the best players in the world.

Cardiff are a prime example of how the professional level of the domestic game in Walss has gone very badly wrong.

mismanagement, crap management of branding etc since they turned to regions as only solution to having pro rugby teams within Wales.
Cardiff is capital city etc but the money isnt near to support rugby compared to here. Wales is rugby mad but has some of the most deprived areas in the UK compared to Leinster rugby.....

UAEguy2020

bilston wrote: »

Why aren't Cardiff dominating the Pro 14 and Europe? They should be on a par with Leinster, or at least very close to them. The capital city of a rugby mad country and yet they struggle to be in the top 8 in the Pro 14.

I know the population of Leinster is a good bit more than Cardiff, but rugby is supposedly king in Wales which offsets that a bit.
They should have 20k at all their matches with the best players in Wales playing and they should have the financial pull to bring in some of the best players in the world.

Cardiff are a prime example of how the professional level of the domestic game in Walss has gone very badly wrong.

Because there’s more that goes into rugby that the population of a city...

bilston

UAEguy2020 wrote: »

Because there’s more that goes into rugby that the population of a city...

Really...pray tell?

bilston

Lost Ormond wrote: »

mismanagement, crap management of branding etc since they turned to regions as only solution to having pro rugby teams within Wales.
Cardiff is capital city etc but the money isnt near to support rugby compared to here. Wales is rugby mad but has some of the most deprived areas in the UK compared to Leinster rugby.....

The comparison to Leinster is probably unfair. But they should be matching Ulster and even Munster IMO. That is probably more to do with mismanagement.

I thinknit just comes down to the fact that many rugby fans in Irelamd are just as passionate about their province as they are about Ireland. In Wales the passion is almost exclusively reserves for the national team.

Cookiemunster

bilston wrote: »

Why aren't Cardiff dominating the Pro 14 and Europe? They should be on a par with Leinster, or at least very close to them. The capital city of a rugby mad country and yet they struggle to be in the top 8 in the Pro 14.

I know the population of Leinster is a good bit more than Cardiff, but rugby is supposedly king in Wales which offsets that a bit.
They should have 20k at all their matches with the best players in Wales playing and they should have the financial pull to bring in some of the best players in the world.

Cardiff are a prime example of how the professional level of the domestic game in Walss has gone very badly wrong.

Cardiff City Football Club. Wales may be known as a rugby mad country, but the football team rules in Cardiff.

Burkie1203

Zebre 17-10 glasgow

sydthebeat

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Zebre 17-10 glasgow

20 - 24 glasgow

Edit 20-31

yerrahbah

With it now confirmed that its a Munster Leinster final, anyone else worried we wont see full strength sides?

The final is sandwiched in between two weeks of 6 nations fixtures and two weeks of Champions CUP K/O fixtures.

While not impossible I'd question whether the likes of Sexton, Murray Earls, Healy will play five really competitive games in a row

I hope I'm wrong, I'd love to see two fully loaded teams for the final, but at the moment I'm unsure

thomond2006

I would be stunned if there's full strength sides. Starting internationals playing five games in a row is unheard of.

Buer

You can go back to August and September to see how Leinster will approach the situation. Two interpros, two knock out Pro14 games and the Saracens match all in 5 consecutive weekends.

yerrahbah

thomond2006 wrote: »

I would be stunned if there's full strength sides. Starting internationals playing five games in a row is unheard of.

Ya its a bit crap. Munster's first final in years and we will likely be without Beirne, Stander, Murray and Earls at a minimum.

yerrahbah

Buer wrote: »

You can go back to August and September to see how Leinster will approach the situation. Two interpros, two knock out Pro14 games and the Saracens match all in 5 consecutive weekends.

Leinster put out the B team in the 2nd interpro vs Ulster.

not one player started all 5 games

PTH2009

So is the season ending on the 27th March with the Munster vs Leinster final or what's going on ?

yerrahbah

PTH2009 wrote: »

So is the season ending on the 27th March with the Munster vs Leinster final or what's going on ?

Edinburgh have two postponed games to play, which will probably have to be played after the final.

Then you have the Rainbow Cup starting on the 17th of April

PTH2009

yerrahbah wrote: »

Edinburgh have two postponed games to play, which will probably have to be played after the final.

Then you have the Rainbow Cup starting on the 17th of April

Jesus it's a little faracial

thomond2006

PTH2009 wrote: »

Jesus it's a little faracial

Why is it farcical and what is the alternative?

PMC83

thomond2006 wrote: »

Why is it farcical and what is the alternative?

Because the league will be over? If Edinburgh can scrape champions cup from those last two games then fair enough, if not its as dead a rubber as can be

thomond2006

PMC83 wrote: »

Because the league will be over? If Edinburgh can scrape champions cup from those last two games then fair enough, if not its as dead a rubber as can be

The only alternative to playing those games after the final is to play midweek games and that's not really a runner, particularly during international windows.

yerrahbah

PMC83 wrote: »

Because the league will be over? If Edinburgh can scrape champions cup from those last two games then fair enough, if not its as dead a rubber as can be

They are in contention for 4th,

If the Champions Cup remains a 24 team competition next season then 4th place in each conference will qualify for it.

PMC83

yerrahbah wrote: »

They are in contention for 4th,

If the Champions Cup remains a 24 team competition next season then 4th place in each conference will qualify for it.

Something to play for so