Champions Cup 2024

So based on what you seen over the weekend whose the best team?

Personally I'd pick Bordeaux.

I think Treviso will win it, they will beat Connacht i feel ( stacked with Italian team) Gloucester also have great shot. Sharks have been awful in urc, but maybe putting everything into challenge cup

you sad little boy

Yeah. Bordeaux for me. If Leinster do LaR gonna be hard to stop.... hopefully.

Holidayed in LaR last year (and year before) and heading to Bordeaux this year. Worried I might be a hex.

Wonder why Antoine Dupont was not playing for France in Hong Kong 7s? I thought he was contracted to play through to Olympics.

Also with Romain N'tmack back from injury Toulouse looking imperious.

I don't think there's as much to be read into it as that tbh

Just for that comment I'll be bringing my own cans of Treaty City with me and getting a last minute game ticket for cheap.

I'll be nice though and share the Dingle Single Malt from my West Cork branded hip flask so ye Leinsterites can taste real whiskey though 😂😂😂😂

La Rochelle were the best team last year and the year before and it's possible they do it again but they have been nowhere near the team of the last two years to this point in the season.

The wind affects both teams and they came back into it well after an awful first half. They got the lead and had a couple of opportunities to build on it but failed. In the end they were out if Libbok made a kick that wasn't that difficult.

Now they go to face Leinster and they'll have to improve a lot to beat them.

They'll be away again in the semi-final if they get there. If they meet Toulouse or Bordeaux in a semi-final it'll be very difficult, French teams have a massive advantage at home in the top 14.

From 2017 or 2012?

Might be hard to get face value at this stage tbh.

I'd say Adverts or Toutless would be the best place.

Someone on Toutless looking for one premium ticket already!

https://www.toutless.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=43425

There is an exclusion on the fan guarantee where bookings are within 14 days of the event.

The Super Rugby format when SA were involved was that you played 4 "out of conference games" in the regular season. For SA teams this meant they did 4 game tours if their out of conference games were in Aus and NZ and 3 if they played Sunwolves (Tokyo) but Jaguares (Argentina) were in the SA conference so there was always 5 games outside of SA and 10 in SA.

In the URC/CC they play 8 games every season in Europe regularly, 2 Irish, 2 Welsh 2 Scots/Italians, 1 English and 1 French but the flip side is they now have 11 home games and 14 in SA in total instead of the 8 home and 11 SA games they had in SR

IN SR the SA teams would obviously fly to Australia and NZ in a full 3/4 week tour so minimum of 2 flights and another potentially across Aus and another to NZ. So min of 2 long haul returns, max of 3 plus flights between Aus/NZ. In the 2019 SR for example Sharks had a game in Singapore against Sunwolves, 2 games in NZ, one in Aus and one in Argentina.

In the URC/CC they usually do 4 game tours at the start of the season, 5 if the CC goes their way. This year for example Stormers played 4 Rounds of URC and Leicester Tigers in a 5 week tour. Back to SA then until January when they came up for 1 game and will be there until May. So they've effectively covered their regular season in 3 trips to Europe

So there's a little more travel, but the financial benefits are huge for them

Chateauneuf du Pape

I'm more looking at it from a European pov. Flying to the bottom of Africa to play club games is insanity.

This was how their flights were organised.

It was €204,853.72 in total at today's exchange rate, apparently. And thats not even all business class - it was "33 in business class and 5 in economy class."

Its an absolute mess, and just under €5400 per person is also horrific value.

You'd think SARU would be able to negotiate some sort of promotional / regular / group travel discount like.

Leinster aren't pretending to be a small club though

Plus the travel alone generates about 1.9 tonnes of CO₂

Thats roughly the equivalent CO₂ for all of Leinsters Planes, Trains and Automobiles for their 16 away games in the 2011/12 season.

One tonne of CO₂ is roughly equivalent to 5,500 kms in a petrol car

African club teams should have no business playing in a European competition.

Back with nz/aus

Its the additional mileage European teams have to do that I have the issue with.

The SA teams playing in NZ/AU, and the NZ/AU teams playing in SA, generates even more travel co2. The flight distances are far greater. And its far less commercially viable given the time zones on top.

Europe is where they have to play.

SARU just need to plan their logistics better. Some sort of sponsorship deal with BA or KLM with seats in lieu of cash would do wonders.

It isnt the answer and would just see top players and many below that move to europe even more than now as they wouldnt be able to keep them if they played a south africann only league. Prior to super rugby wad the very earliest years of professionalism. Completwly different to now. Teams from namibia etc compwte in currie cup and not in top division in that. Theyre nowhere near ckmpetitive to play the top south african sides on regular basis right now