Other H Cup Quarter Finals Cardiff v Tolouse Leicester v Bath

wixfjord

Cardiff team announced for first game of the weekend:

15 Ben Blair
14 Leigh Halfpenny
13 Tom Shanklin
12 Jamie Roberts
11 Tom James
10 Nicky Robinson
9 Jason Spice

8 Xavier Rush
7 Martyn Williams
6 Maama Molitika
5 Paul Tito (c)
4 Bradley Davies
3 Tauf’au Filise
2 Gareth Williams
1 Gethin Jenkins

16 John Yapp
17 T Rhys Thomas
18 Deiniol Jones
19 Andy Powell
20 Richie Rees
21 Ceri Sweeney
22 Gareth Thomas


Game to be played in millenuim stadium and hopefully will be a free running affair. Rush picked over powell in back row for cardiff. Tough one to call but with skrela out (I think) cardiff may have enough. Robinson at o/h is becoming a very good game controller and in what could be his last heineken game for the blues will want to go well. Very interesting appetiser to Sunday!

The other game tomorrow is leicester- bath at the walkers stadium. Imo this nullifies somewhat home advantage, the tigers have only won 1 from their previous games at the crisp bowl However leicester have all the form and if mauger is fit and with a returning jordan crane, i expect them to grid out a result. Should be an interesting decision for cockerill if mauger is fit because two from flood, vesty (whos been the heartbeat of the team for the last couple of weeks) and mauger to fit into 10 and 12! Not a bad problem. Geordan Murphy may captain leicester.

thomond2006

Wow, Andy Powell has really been going backwards since he starred for Wales against the 'Boks in the Autumn. Xavier Rush is fantastic though.

remus808

Teams out for Barf v Tiggers:


15. Nick Abendanon
14. Joe Maddock
13. Alex Crockett
12. Shontayne Hape
11. Matt Banahan
10. Butch James
9. Michael Claassens
1. David Flatman
2. Lee Mears
3. Duncan Bell
4. Justin Harrison
5. Peter Short
6. Andy Beattie
7. Michael Lipman (c)
8. Jonny Faamatuainu

16. Rob Hawkins
17. Paulica Ion
18. Stuart Hooper
19. James Scaysbrook
20. Scott Bemand
21. Shaun Berne
22. Andrew Higgins


15. Geordan Murphy
14. Scott Hamilton
13. Dan Hipkiss
12. Sam Vesty
11. Alesana Tuilagi
10. Toby Flood
9. Harry Ellis

1. Marcos Ayerza
2. George Chuter
3. Martin Castrogiovanni
4. Louis Deacon
5. Ben Kay
6. Tom Croft
7. Ben Woods
8. Ben Pienaar

16. Mefin Davies, 17. Dan Cole, 18. Jordan Crane, 19. Craig Newby, 20. Julien Dupuy, 21. Ayoola Erinle, 22. Johne Murphy,

wixfjord

Bath team

15. Nick Abendanon
14. Joe Maddock
13. Alex Crockett
12. Shontayne Hape
11. Matt Banahan
10. Butch James
9. Michael Claassens
1. David Flatman
2. Lee Mears
3. Duncan Bell
4. Justin Harrison
5. Peter Short
6. Andy Beattie
7. Michael Lipman (c)
8. Jonny Faamatuainu

16. Rob Hawkins
17. Paulica Ion
18. Stuart Hooper
19. James Scaysbrook
20. Scott Bemand
21. Shaun Berne
22. Andrew Higgins

The move away from welford road to the wide open spaces of a football stadium should suit these guys. James being cleared from a citing is very important. Forwards look weak in grunt, but all great ball players (well maybe exceot harrison!)

wixfjord

Just looking at those two english teams and the benches really are no comparison to the sides which leinster and munster can put out, granted a few injuries but even still the strength in depth of irish rugby is heartening.

Stev_o

Tigers sticking with the same team that beat Sale last week. Personally id prefer Vesty 10 and Flood at 12. Surprised Crane hasn't been chucked in at 8 but i guess he is only back from injury and this would be a tough environment to stage a return.

@wixfjord Tigers have a huge injury list at the moment and Bath don't have a star studded squad just a very close knit skillful one.

wixfjord

Tolouse side named for tomorrow. Very strong :eek:
Medard, Clerc, Fritz, Jauzion, Heymans, Michalak, Kelleher, Sowerby, Dusatoir, Bouilhou, Albacete, Pelous, Perugini, Servat, Human.

Replacements
Poitrenaud, Nyanga, Kunavore, Lamboley, Montes, Basualdo, Skrela.

Skrela fit and more quality on the bench. Should be a great game!

thomond2006

wixfjord wrote: »

Tolouse side named for tomorrow. Very strong :eek:
Medard, Clerc, Fritz, Jauzion, Heymans, Michalak, Kelleher, Sowerby, Dusatoir, Bouilhou, Albacete, Pelous, Perugini, Servat, Human.

Replacements
Poitrenaud, Nyanga, Kunavore, Lamboley, Montes, Basualdo, Skrela.

Skrela fit and more quality on the bench. Should be a great game!

OMG, that's some bench: Skrela, Poitrenaud, Nyanga

Q: Why did EA Rugby08 make Nyanga an icon player when he never gets near the French team and doesnt start for his club. Seems strange.

gadaven

Allez Toulouse !!!

juvenal

3-3 after 26 mins.

gadaven

6-3 for the Blues :mad:

sock puppet

Toulouse seem totally brainless. They keep getting into promising positions and then making a balls of it.

sock puppet

Cardiff getting into the game now. Roberts just butchered a try scoring opportunity but a great break by Halfpenny got them back into Toulouse's half.

9-3 to Cardiff.

sock puppet

And Robinson hits the post with a drop goal attempt!

juvenal

Stream is gone to sh*te. Has Michelak being binned or taken off?

Edit: I just heard Skrela's name, so I guess he's replaced him.

gadaven

Médart, what a player !
9-6

juvenal

9-6 Cardiff; Skrela adds a penalty after Cardiff go off their feet in desperation to prevent a certain Toulouse try. Should probably have been a yellow there for Cardiff.

gadaven

Yes i think so.

sock puppet

juvenal wrote: »

Stream is gone to sh*te. Has Michelak being binned or taken off?

Edit: I just heard Skrela's name, so I guess he's replaced him.

I'm watching it on France 2 and its excellent. I've a feeling the commentators may be bit biased though. All I can here when Toulouse make a mistake is "Quel dommage!" and "Malhereusement":pac:.

yeah Williams really should have gotten yellow there.

Stev_o

****e match great result, lets hope Bath vs Leicester is more entertaining!

sock puppet

Game over. Cardiff won 9-6. Toulouse just lacked the execution to finish their chances. Well done to Cardiff.

Do they have a home semi now?

gadaven

My girl friend will be happy... No more french team, no more match to watch ....

Stev_o

sock puppet wrote: »

Game over. Cardiff won 9-6. Toulouse just lacked the execution to finish their chances. Well done to Cardiff.

Do they have a home semi now?

Yeah they do against Bath or Leicester.

thomond2006

9 - 6 to Cardiff. Well done. Good to see smaller names in HEC terms doing well.

Sabre0001

Stev_o wrote: »

****e match great result, lets hope Bath vs Leicester is more entertaining!

Only got to see second half but I thought it was quite entertaining...Very little tackling ability it seemed which led to lots of breaks. Plus a very close game! Interesting to see Toulouse crash out to Cardiff though.

suppafly

Cardiff win!! G'wan cardiff. delighted for them

juvenal

Full time: Cardiff Blues 9 Stade Toulousain 6.

Only saw patches of the game, but from what I saw it looked like a very edgy, defensive match.

I didn't see much of Cardiff in the Toulouse half, it appeared to be Toulouse trying to make all the running. In saying that, Cardiff's defence must've been immense, and Toulouse had to chase the game as it went on.

Doesn't appear to be have been much of an advertisement for the game, but I'm sure they won't care in Cardiff!

Gethin Jenkins MOTM. That's Cardiff 7-from-7 thus far in the competition, and they play the winners of Leicester/Bath in the Millennium Stadium in the semis.

chupacabra

Caught the second half, Toulouse were so poor. Thank god they didnt make it through and fairplay to Cardiff.

remus808

juvenal wrote: »

Full time: Cardiff Blues 9 Stade Toulousain 6.

Only saw patches of the game, but from what I saw it looked like a very edgy, defensive match.

I didn't see much of Cardiff in the Toulouse half, it appeared to be Toulouse trying to make all the running. In saying that, Cardiff's defence must've been immense, and Toulouse had to chase the game as it went on.

Doesn't appear to be have been much of an advertisement for the game, but I'm sure they won't care in Cardiff!

Gethin Jenkins MOTM. That's Cardiff 7-from-7 thus far in the competition, and they play the winners of Leicester/Bath in the Millennium Stadium in the semis.

Jauzion/Medard MOTM for me to be honest. Toulouse were very unlucky not to score a few tries.

sock puppet

karmabass wrote: »

Jauzion/Medard MOTM for me to be honest. Toulouse were very unlucky not to score a few tries.

Medard made far too many mistakes. If he'd taken that pass from Jauzion near the end he would have been in and Toulouse would have won. It's a pity as he was the most dangerous player on the field.

wixfjord

karmabass wrote: »

Jauzion/Medard MOTM for me to be honest. Toulouse were very unlucky not to score a few tries.

:eek::eek:
What game were you watching. Jauzion was well marshalled any time he got the ball, had one good kick but other than that did nothing and medard faffed around a bit but definately didnt deserve MOTM. Also when were toulouse close to scoring a try apart from the tmo decision and the penalty Good win and well deserved. great defence.

Serenity Now!

As a neutral, I thought the game was poop. Error-ridden, cynical and played with hardly anything on the mind except getting in position for 3 pointers bar one or two occasions.

Hopefully Leicester v Bath is the better proposition.

juvenal

Two penalties from Vesty, and it's 6-0 to Leicester after 22 minutes.

juvenal

Try Bath, conversion should be a formality.

36mins: Leicester 6 Bath 7

Half-time: 6-7.

NickNolte

Poor game so far but I suspect the second half will be a different story altogether. I fancy Leicester to come out all guns blazing and put a good few points on the scoreboard. They're looking at lot more threatening.

robgloster

This game needs a try early in this half. Be a shame if it turned into another Toulouse v Cardiff came

juvenal

robgloster wrote: »

This game needs a try early in this half. Be a shame if it turned into another Toulouse v Cardiff came

No sign of one coming anytime soon.

Two more Leicester penalties, and they're back in the lead.

56mins: Leicester 12 Bath 10

juvenal

Try Bath, against the run on play. Got the possession from a charged down kick.

Coversion off the outside of the post.

65mins: Leicester 12 Bath 15.

Then from the resulting restart, Bath give away a penalty, which Vesty converts.

66mins: Leicester 15 Bath 15.

Stev_o

Tense stuff, Murphy having a blinder. Lewis is refusing to acknowledge players holding on though which is ruining the breakdown contest.

juvenal

Some serious hits going in now. Murphy was absolutely smashed by Banahan as he offloaded, and Tuilangi just took Abendanon out off the ball, but was not penalised.

Abendanon has gone off as a result of that hit.

Really opened up now, could be extra time here, or a late drop goal to split them.

75mins: 15-15.

juvenal

Stev_o wrote: »

Tense stuff, Murphy having a blinder. Lewis is refusing to acknowledge players holding on though which is ruining the breakdown contest.

Yeah, the breakdown is a mess at times.

Huge turnover by Tigers there. They smell blood now. And now Bath turnover in their 22, only for Leicester to turn it over again. Leicester with the ball on the Bath 22.

Pick and go, could be a drop goal here.

WHAT A MATCH WINNING TRY. Depuy fakes for the drop goal pass, then snipes through the Bath defence who are charging the drop goal! Goes in under the posts from 30m.

Full time: Leicester 20 Bath 15.

sock puppet

Bath self-destructed there. 2 minutes from the end and they ran it from their own 22.

Stev_o

Jaysus what a try by Dupuy! Fooled everyone including the camera man and probably even himself! Great finish for Leicester

barnesd

sock puppet wrote: »

Bath self-destructed there. 2 minutes from the end and they ran it from their own 22.

Yeah, was screaming at the TV. Mears it was, runs it and throws a dreadful offload.

thomond2006

WHAT A TRY, TOUCH OF CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thomond2006

What were Bath thinking, just kick it out and take extra time!! :rolleyes::p:p

Stev_o

thomond2006 wrote: »

What were Bath thinking, just kick it out and take extra time!! :rolleyes::p:p

Tigers would of got the line out and it would end up being the same result all be it a DG instead of a try.

juvenal

I think Bath didn't want to give Leicester a sniff of a drop goal attempt at all, and were somehow thinking they'd run the clock down and retain possession.

There were something like three turnovers in four phases there towards the end - great finish!

Colm_OReilly

It was an amazing try I have to say.

But seriously, how was the conversion missed I don't know.