HC this weekend !

[stimmers]

Come on then, predictions please, Irish vs Toulouse is a tough one to call a scoreline on;

Sat
London Irish 16 vs Toulouse 30

Sun
Sarries 12 vs Munster 27

[Jinx]

F-off stimmers - Exiles 24 Toulouse 8, Sarries 35 Munster 14

Exiles v Sarries final

Irish Irish Irish.

Guess which game I'll be at.....

[stimmers]

Jinx said:

F-off stimmers - Exiles 24 Toulouse 8, Sarries 35 Munster 14

Exiles v Sarries final

Irish Irish Irish.

Guess which game I'll be at.....

Ha Ha, i'd put money on the fact you have not put money on your above predictions !!!!!!

I'll be at Twickers too, cheering on the Exiles. Clerc out is good for Irish, but if they stand any chance they have to disrupt Toulouse from the first whistle and tackle like demons

Munster beating Sarries is nailed on for me. There is no way on earth Sarries can win this game (famous last words).
If the odd were not so crap, i'd bet my house on Munster. Munster are 2/7 to reach the final and 6/4 to win it.

[Jinx]

stimmers said:

Ha Ha, i'd put money on the fact you have not put money on your above predictions !!!!!!

I'll be at Twickers too, cheering on the Exiles. Clerc out is good for Irish, but if they stand any chance they have to disrupt Toulouse from the first whistle and tackle like demons

Munster beating Sarries is nailed on for me. There is no way on earth Sarries can win this game (famous last words).
If the odd were not so crap, i'd bet my house on Munster. Munster are 2/7 to reach the final and 6/4 to win it.

I would but I need the money for beer on Saturday Just looking forward to a good day with some great rugby

[Fourmotion]

stimmers said:

Munster beating Sarries is nailed on for me. There is no way on earth Sarries can win this game (famous last words).
If the odd were not so crap, i'd bet my house on Munster. Munster are 2/7 to reach the final and 6/4 to win it.

Did you not see the Ospreys game? Munster could always have an off day!

On another note, why is it on Coventry? I've got to travel for more than 2 hours each way on a Sunday. They could have at least made it an earlier kick off.

[stimmers]

Fourmotion said:

stimmers said:

Munster beating Sarries is nailed on for me. There is no way on earth Sarries can win this game (famous last words).
If the odd were not so crap, i'd bet my house on Munster. Munster are 2/7 to reach the final and 6/4 to win it.

Did you not see the Ospreys game? Munster could always have an off day!

On another note, why is it on Coventry? I've got to travel for more than 2 hours each way on a Sunday. They could have at least made it an earlier kick off.

Sarries were at home vs Ospreys - that makes a massive difference.
Plus Munster are far too experienced and clever to let Sarries do a number on them. They have all the experience in the world of HC Semi's and Final's and they have a game which will shut Sarries down. Sarries back row will not dominate Munster's and the Munster pack will be too strong.
Even on an off day Musnter have a team that can grind it out, something the Ospreys couldn't

Coventry seems a strange choice for this game, but maybe its the only stadium they could get for this date?
If you have never seen Munster away support in the HC before, be prepared to be amazed of the numbers that will be wearing red in the crowd. Honestly its amazing.

They will turn it into a home crowd atmosphere.

Cracking laugh though and brilliant supporters

[BigMansZetec]

Well I think my prediction on one of the matches will come as no surprise.....come on you Irish!

Irish are capable of beating anyone on their day (proved this season, even if it is only at the MadStad), so there's no reason to believe they can't win. Underdog status is fine by me.

As for the the other game, Munster definatly , Irish v Munster would be a cracking final.

Rumour has it that there will be no Guinness at Twickenham on Saturday due to Heinekens policies.

[Fourmotion]

[quote=stimmers]
They will turn it into a home crowd atmosphere.

To be honest, it felt like an away game at Vicarge Road there were so many Ospreys fans! I think Sarries will get quite a contingent travelling up, as it's only an hour or so drive (especially as it is likely going to be there last game in the competition!).

Last week against Wasps Haughton was on fantastic form, and if he is firing again anything could happen. Defensively, they will really need to pull their fingers out though.

[stimmers]

Heard Mke Catt is out and Irish may play Richards in the centre - fear for them if thats true

[BigMansZetec]

stimmers said:

Heard Mke Catt is out and Irish may play Richards in the centre - fear for them if thats true

Team:

15. Peter Hewat; 14. Topsy Ojo; 13.Peter Richards*; 12. Seilala Mapusua*; 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau*; 10. Shane Geraghty*; 9. Paul Hodgson*; 1. Dan Murphy; 2. David Paice, 3. Faan Rautenbach*; 4. Nick Kennedy; 5. Bob Casey* (captain); 6. Declan Danaher; 7. Steffon Armitage; 8. Phil Murphy*.

Replacements:

16. Tongo Lea’aetoa*; 17. Stuart Mackie; 18. James Hudson; 19. Richard Thorpe; 20.Juan Leguizamon*; 21. Nils Mordt; 22. Eoghan Hickey.

Yup, your right. Catt was always a doubt though. Personally, I would have played Hickey at FH with Geraghty at 12.

[BigMansZetec]

Oh, and the Toulouse team, I guess they have a few good players....

Toulouse: 15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Maxime Médard, 13 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 9 Bryon Kelleher, 8 Shaun Sowerby, 7 Yannick Nyanga, 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Fabien Pelous (c), 3 Salvatore Perugini, 2 William Servat, 1 Daan Human.

Replacements: 16 Omar Hasan, 17 Alberto Basualdo, 18 Millo-Chluski, 19 Grégory Lamboley, 20 Thierry Dusautoir, 21 Vincent Courrent / Finau Maka, 22 Maxime Mermoz.

[Jinx]

stimmers said:

Heard Mke Catt is out and Irish may play Richards in the centre - fear for them if thats true

He didn't play for long in the Perpignan game so hopefully Geraghty will step in and up as it were.

NB (to anyone going) - I'm intending to get down to twickers at about midday have a couple of beers in the local pubs near the train station and walk down to the ground. If you spot a curly hippy in black jeans and cowboy boots singing badly - either say hi (my mate Mark - fat ginger bloke - will be somewhere near) or smile and don't make eye contact
C'mon you Exiles

[stimmers]

Well toulouse are without Clerc, Poitrenaud, Fritz, Kunavore, not to mention Dusautoir in the pack. But Jauzion will be looking at Peter Richards at 13 and rubbing his hands. He will drift into the gap in between the 12 and 13, Richards won't know what to do and Toulouse support players will expose his defence in the 13 channel. Im gutted that we wont see what Geraghty is made of vs Jauzion in the 12 shirt

Jauzion is one of those players i would pay to see no matter what.

[BigMansZetec]

No shame, no humiliation for Irish at all. They played enough rugby to deserve a win, but Toulouse are a class side. Matched them in the try count, and provided what was an entertaining game overall.

Disappointed, but by no means ashamed.

[stimmers]

BigMansZetec said:

No shame, no humiliation for Irish at all. They played enough rugby to deserve a win, but Toulouse are a class side. Matched them in the try count, and provided what was an entertaining game overall.

Disappointed, but by no means ashamed.

Toulouse should have won by more, they butchered 2 simple try's and to me, some of their play looked pretty lethargic.

Take nothing away from Irish, they pushed them all the way and put pressure on their defence. Irish backs looked good. Geraghty simply must be handed the 12 jersey, don't rate him at all as a 10. Irish coaching staff deff did their home work. One player always rushed up in defence to try and cut off the supply out wide where Toulouse are very strong and in attack, Irish always seemed to hit gas around the slower defenders. Hit of Ellis about that.

A few more of the Irish backs need calling up for Eng too.

Iirsh are a good side. Possibly a couple of props and a world class 10 away from being a seriously top level club side.

Have to say, i really fancy Munster to beat Toulouse in the final (should thy get there)

[Jinx]

BigMansZetec said:

No shame, no humiliation for Irish at all. They played enough rugby to deserve a win, but Toulouse are a class side. Matched them in the try count, and provided what was an entertaining game overall.

Disappointed, but by no means ashamed.

It was a good game only let down by the result (I have no illusions of not being biased )
Great day - good atmosphere and still suffering the after-effects must be getting old. Season's not over yet; there is still an outside chance to get something from this season (two ridiculous results for the Irish and some crazy scores else where) .

[stimmers]

I thought Sarries were magnificent yesterday. Really rammed my prediction and pre games thoughts down my throat by producing another seriously good performance. Sarries have simply been a different team in the HC this season from the GP team. They were so committed, but with variation and control. I was staggere with how much they rocked Munster. Sarries really could have nicked the game. They were all set for a Jackson drop goal twice in the final 5 mins and both times a stupid knock on ruined it.

Munster are a class side and don't often get tested all over the pitch like Sarries did yesterday. Cracking game.

I really do fancy Munster to beat Toulouse now in Cardiff. They are so efficient and Toulouse seem to be world beaters one min and lazy the next.

Couldn't ask for a better final. Not sure if i will go or not, kinda feel in a game like this i'd rather give my tickets to genuine Munster or Toulouse supporters than me, a Neutral go.

[BigMansZetec]

Jinx said:

BigMansZetec said:

No shame, no humiliation for Irish at all. They played enough rugby to deserve a win, but Toulouse are a class side. Matched them in the try count, and provided what was an entertaining game overall.

Disappointed, but by no means ashamed.

It was a good game only let down by the result (I have no illusions of not being biased )
Great day - good atmosphere and still suffering the after-effects must be getting old. Season's not over yet; there is still an outside chance to get something from this season (two ridiculous results for the Irish and some crazy scores else where) .

Yup, it was still a good day out, and yes I was still suffering late into Sunday!

There is an outside chance of a top six finish and the HC next season but I think it would require the max 10 points available from the final two games, and then results to go our way.

But still, final four in the HC is a great result for Irish, and shows they are going in the right direction.

Personally, I'd back Toulouse in the final, they missed a few opportunities on Saturday, and they are usually so clinical.

[Fourmotion]

stimmers said:

Munster are a class side and don't often get tested all over the pitch like Sarries did yesterday. Cracking game.

It was a shame Sarries weren't better supported. There were loads of free seats, would have made for a better atmosphere if it was more balanced.

Wish I had bought a ref link, as we sat there bemused as to what was going on half the time.

Oh yeah, and we got wet. Very wet.

On a car related note, I hired a Zafira to take us all to the game. What a pile of st that was.

[BigMansZetec]

Ok, so its the HC final Tommorow, Munster v Toulouse.

Who's going to win? If it s dry pitch, I think Toulouse, Munsters form in the Magners hasn't been great recently, but they are a different animal in the HC.

Should be a good game.