Heineken Cup Final - Dublin 2013 [NO TICKET SALES HERE!!!]

P.C.

thomond2006 wrote: »

How poor were the weather conditions?

Not too bad.
A bit of drizzel towards the end of the first half.
A bit heavier in the last 20 mins of the game.

Quite cold in the stadium.

JustinDee

thomond2006 wrote: »

How poor were the weather conditions?

Not too bad bar a little greasy.

rrpc

schools rugby wrote: »

Handling was very poor from Clermont in particular . Kicking from hand was also poor i thought - must have been down to the weather conditions

Yes, they're more susceptible to the weather, being from central France and all and not being used to it.

awec

Went in to town for a few pints, its yellow and blue everywhere. Really impressive.

they're enjoying themselves even though they lost

vienne86

P.C. wrote: »

Not too bad.
A bit of drizzel towards the end of the first half.
A bit heavier in the last 20 mins of the game.

Quite cold in the stadium.

Clermont had far too many handling errors in the first half - so frustrating....and no dampness to blame.

neilmulvey

rrpc wrote: »

I can. Toulon only seemed able to defend and take kicks, Clermont seem to lose their focus in the red zone. Both teams have a lot of ageing players. For me this was Clermont's last chance with the current team, Toulon may well be strong next season but they need to find another dimension to their game.

Clermont need a fly-half who is ready to deliver when he needs to, not someone who puts himself at the bottom of a ruck to avoid having all his teams hopes rest with him. Every team changes personnel year in year out. Clermont will be no different. The majority of their team do have another year at least in them to have another crack at it but I dont see them doing it.

The manner of the defeat might mess with their heads in the french league now too

schools rugby

neilmulvey wrote: »

Clermont need a fly-half who is ready to deliver when he needs to, not someone who puts himself at the bottom of a ruck to avoid having all his teams hopes rest with him. Every team changes personnel year in year out. Clermont will be no different. The majority of their team do have another year at least in them to have another crack at it but I dont see them doing it.

The manner of the defeat might mess with their heads in the french league now too

If anything id call Brock James the bottler - He played well today but when it came down to the last 20 he should have kicked corners and let Toulon attack from deep.
Clermont will not win the Heineken with James at 10

P.C.

vienne86 wrote: »

Clermont had far too many handling errors in the first half - so frustrating....and no dampness to blame.

And yet at half time the score was even.
I think Clermont lost the game by not taking their chances in the last 12 minutes.

I also think that Toulon won the game with an opportunist try.
Ref said the ball was loose, Toulon played on and scored the try that put them a point ahead.
That said - they also took the three points earlier when they were on offer. At that point I was a bit surprised that they did not kick for the corner and try and get a drive on from the line out.

Hersheys

I had a great day.

Went to Merrion Square and marched with the Clermont fans.

Enjoyed the game even tho it was a bit boring. Result wasn't right, Clermont deserved it.

Had the best craic in the pub after with the Clermont lads. Such a great bunch.

Judgement Day

Highlights here - great to see JW back at the top!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL6FqYaoS9Q

rrpc

schools rugby wrote: »

If anything id call Brock James the bottler - He played well today but when it came down to the last 20 he should have kicked corners and let Toulon attack from deep.
Clermont will not win the Heineken with James at 10

Never mind the kicking corners cliché, they played like a junior cup side with white line fever. One opportunity near the end where they had acres of space out wide and Lee Byrne had the line at his mercy and all it required was quick hands and they drifted wide first rather than straighten and pull the defenders in and then to cap it all, threw the pass behind him. The crowd were roaring with anticipation of a certain try that never happened.

That was just one of many squandered opportunities they had.

matthew8

schools rugby wrote: »

If anything id call Brock James the bottler - He played well today but when it came down to the last 20 he should have kicked corners and let Toulon attack from deep.
Clermont will not win the Heineken with James at 10

He was only on for 10 of the last 20 and tried to get a shot for a drop goal. Toulon's 2 scores were nothing he could have possibly done anything about. Best player on the pitch today but because he had one bad game in Ireland everyone here thinks he's awful. If he'd stayed in Australia he'd have 50 caps for the national team.

WorldRugby99

there possibly will be a period now of french club dominance of heineken.In the end money and being able to put out world select XVs will win you titles.toulon tend to bear brunt of criticism but clermont have bought most of their team just the same.Racing metro doing likewise-sexton,roberts,lydiate,kruger,tonga'uiha signed for next season.When you are putting out teams stacked with top quality internationals,backed up by more on the bench-its hard to compete.Only leinster with their virtually all international team are capable of taking on the french teams and even leinster will surely be weaker minus sexton,nacewa and schmidt.
Reality is heineken cup is no longer a level playing field-and the gap between some teams is getting bigger as some of the pool results showed this season.the tournament will become poorer and predictable if the same teams continue to win all the time.

pleased for jonny wilkinson though.After the years he suffered all those horrendous injuries-great to see him win something again-deserves it-many players would have retired in similar circumstances rather than keep going.

schools rugby

matthew8 wrote: »

He was only on for 10 of the last 20 and tried to get a shot for a drop goal. Toulon's 2 scores were nothing he could have possibly done anything about. Best player on the pitch today but because he had one bad game in Ireland everyone here thinks he's awful. If he'd stayed in Australia he'd have 50 caps for the national team.

I disagree completely to be honest . Clermont were at their best in the quaters when he was out injured. Lets be honest Clermont should have won more Heinekens and Top14s in the last few years. James has to take a lot of responsibility for that as 10

Grimebox

Any clips of ROG as a pundit?

matthew8

schools rugby wrote: »

I disagree completely to be honest . Clermont were at their best in the quaters when he was out injured. Lets be honest Clermont should have won more Heinekens and Top14s in the last few years. James has to take a lot of responsibility for that as 10

Clermont are the richest club in the world. If he was so bad, they'd buy someone else. What's he meant to do? He made a great draw and pass for the first try and an excellent chip followed by beating 2 defenders for the second one. Inches away from a first half try too. RDS is the only time it was his fault. Everything else is on the team as a whole. An out-half who plays well with his pack under pressure is extremely rare. Besides, it's not like James didn't kick well towards the end. He sent a kick from his own 10 to the Toulon line but couldn't count on the Toulon hooker launching a 50 metre kick of his own.

thomond2006

Wilkinson interview: http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/8720810/wilkinson-a-champion-again

I'm so happy for him, such a driven and likeable player.

yosser hughes

Very disappointed with Clermont today. They had that game and blew it. Not only did Skrela go missing at the end but so did their fans, which really surprised me. What also surrpised me were the substitutions by Clermont. With the game in the balance,Parra, Rougerie, James were all off the field.
Armitage showed himself up again when scoring his try and Rolland had words with him just after too. He really has no class.
A full strength Leinster would have beaten either of those two today.
it was great to see so many jerseys from around the rugby world today. we have a great sport and a great camaraderie that we should cherish and keep hold of.
I'm sorry for Clermont but they have only themselves to blame.

awec

So I got on the luas earlier and someone had left behind them a HEC Heineken preview magazine. Anyway, in their legends section they featured this chap, I reckon thomond2006 will appreciate this the most.

leakyboots

athtrasna wrote: »

Glad I wore my Munster jersey, I counted more than 20 different jerseys there, it was great to see people bond over rugby. Bigger attendance than I expected.

Careful, some of the ultras on here don't take kindly to Munster jerseys being worn to finals they're not involved in :rolleyes:

CoDy1

It seems Leinster were the better team today lads..

:rolleyes: :pac::pac:

Delighted for Leinster and bringing silverware to Ireland this year but to say Leinster would have been better than both teams today is wrong.

Its the final of the biggest club competition in club rugby. If it had been a ****e game and Toulon had won 3-0 it doesn't matter to their supporters. As Rog said, these boys want to go to bed with a HC medal in there pockets, nothing else matters.

Feel sorry for Claremont but they have only themselves to blame. They def weren't the better team and Toulon held on and won by defending.

Jonny Wilkinson deserves his HC medal more than anyone else but the same can't be said for this chap:

trouttrout

Was routing for Toulon right up until the Armitage try. Jesus they guy has absolutely no class

Sad thing is, kids will see that and try and emulate it on the field. Delighted for JW though

CoDy1

trouttrout wrote: »

Was routing for Toulon right up until the Armitage try. Jesus they guy has absolutely no class

Sad thing is, kids will see that and try and emulate it on the field. Delighted for JW though

He could have just ran in the try but no he had to wave at Brock and act the dick. No need.

vkid

Thought it was a dour enough game to be honest. Sounded like there was absolutely no atmosphere in the ground for the most part (on TV at least). Diappointed for Clermont but they let things slip in the last 20-30 minutes and they have no one to blame but themselves.

ironingbored

Brian Moore ‏@brianmoore666
Heineken - if a player did to me what Armitage has just done I'd have to chin him after the touchdown.

@delonarmitage: @brianmoore666 anytime you fat prick! Go write another **** book.

What a classy individual. Contrast to Wilkinson.

Would he say it to Moore's face?

rrpc

CoDy1 wrote: »

Jonny Wilkinson deserves his HC medal more than anyone else but the same can't be said for this chap:

The look on Brock James face is priceless. It's like the look you'd give your shoes after you'd walked in dog crap.

vienne86

vkid wrote: »

Thought it was a dour enough game to be honest. Sounded like there was absolutely no atmosphere in the ground for the most part (on TV at least). Diappointed for Clermont but they let things slip in the last 20-30 minutes and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Pity if the atmosphere wasn't obvious on the TV - while I was in a mainly neutral area, I thought the atmosphere was great.....I just love the Clermont supporters, but the Toulon guys were fantastic - remember the Sarries match? The few Toulon fans there made more noise than the Sarries fans.

I feel so sorry for the Clermont fans - it is a awkward, and probably expensive, journey to Dublin, and the French salaries are (still) a lot lower than ours....as Rougerie said in his interview, people will have made huge sacrifices to get to the match. They're a fabulous crowd, but I'm glad Leinster won't be meeting them in the pool matches next season.

durkadurka

Here's a tweet from armitage from a few days ago:

@delonarmitage: I can feel another John terry photo coming!! #joker


Makes you wonder how his mind works.

thomond2006

ironingbored wrote: »

What a classy individual. Contrast to Wilkinson.

Would he say it to Moore's face?

I think his mindset is summed up by 'haters gonna hate'. I'd say he gives zero ****s about what anyone thinks. At the end of the day he's got the HEC medal, we don't. The end justifies the means...

It's a shame what he's like because he is actually a really good player, discipline/cheap shots aside.

MikeHoncho

matthew8 wrote: »

Clermont are the richest club in the world. If he was so bad, they'd buy someone else. What's he meant to do? He made a great draw and pass for the first try and an excellent chip followed by beating 2 defenders for the second one. Inches away from a first half try too. RDS is the only time it was his fault. Everything else is on the team as a whole. An out-half who plays well with his pack under pressure is extremely rare. Besides, it's not like James didn't kick well towards the end. He sent a kick from his own 10 to the Toulon line but couldn't count on the Toulon hooker launching a 50 metre kick of his own.

Yeah but he was missing for the crucial 10 minutes before he was subbed. Cotter obviously thought so as well or he wouldn't have brought on a plank like Skrela.