Champions Cup 25/26 - Round 1

Leonormous Boozer · 2025-12-04T09:02:06+0000

As **** as the whole thing is a Thursday night game would be sick. Not like they're selling out stadiums anyway.

Rinkadink · 2025-12-04T09:07:58+0000

No idea how Bris are going to do away at Scarlets. Before the season started I don't think it would be unfair to say that Bristol should pick up a 5 pointer but Scarlets have only just gone and beaten Glasgow... Which is troubling.

Ended up in a tough group; Pau at home after. Then in the next block away in SA with Bulls hosting. Final fixture is home v Bordeaux.

Avoiding a banana skin in Llanelli and any kind of win v second in Top14 who have beaten a bunch of the other top sides (gulp) is imperative. Bulls game will be huge and likely pivotal towards our progress in Europe.

Rinkadink · 2025-12-04T09:13:22+0000

TRF_Olyy said:
Gonna be a proper bin juice game

You say this but Sale at home is one of the toughest fixtures and Glasgow just lost to Scarlets.

If you can slow them down and stop the wide attacks (which Sale are traditionally fantastic at) it's yours, even with a depleted side. Keep it tight and gritty.

I'm really looking forward to a bunch of fixtures this weekend.

LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan) · 2025-12-04T10:03:02+0000

Looks like Tigers resting our Internationals

TRF_Olyy · 2025-12-04T12:01:12+0000

Sale Sharks Starting XV:
15. Arron Reed, 14. Tom O’Flaherty, 13. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 12. Marius Louw, 11. Alex Wills, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Raffi Quirke; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Nathan Jibulu, 3. WillGriff John, 4. Tom Burrow, 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Ernst van Rhyn ©, 8. Tom Curry.

Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Gus Warr, 22. Ollie Davies, 23. Gurshwin Wehr.

Edit:
15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Ally Miller, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Dan Lancaster

Yeah this is gonna be a bloodbath

Leonormous Boozer · 2025-12-04T15:04:59+0000

I personally would have started Byrne and not picked Iaone up from the airport.

No word re Porter, well deserved rest!

big ginger 8 · 2025-12-04T15:11:36+0000

Leonormous Boozer said:
View attachment 25154

I personally would have started Byrne and not picked Iaone up from the airport.

No word re Porter, well deserved rest!

Like the frontrow rotation. Bit disappointed Soroka isn't in but hard to disagree with Deegan. Similarly would have liked Tector to get a chance as a more physical option at 12 but it's Frawley's best position.

Edit:
Ulster
1. Sam Crean (7)

2. Rob Herring (259)

3. Tom O'Toole (128)

4. Harry Sheridan (46)

5. Charlie Irvine (2)

6. David McCann (73)

7. * Nick Timoney (171)

8. Juarno Augustus (4)

9. Nathan Doak (94)

10. Jack Murphy (18)

11. Zac Ward (13)

12. Jude Postlethwaite (34)

13. James Hume (104)

14. Rob Baloucoune (74)

15. Jacob Stockdale (137)

Replacements:

16. Tom Stewart (60)

17. Angus Bell (0)

18. Scott Wilson (40)

19. Joe Hopes (3)

20. Bryn Ward (2)

21. Conor McKee (5)

22. Jake Flannery (24)

23. Stewart Moore (84)

Which Tyler · 2025-12-05T11:26:49+0000

Ref: Jeremy Rozier (Fra)
TJs: Thomas Charabas (Fra), Benjamin Hernandez (Fra)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)

Bath Rugby: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid, 9 Ben Spencer ©, 10 Finn Russell (50), 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Cameron Redpath, 13 Max Ojomoh, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Tom de Glanville
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, Thomas du Toit, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Sam Underhill

Munster Rugby: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tom Ahern; Tadhg Beirne (C), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Ala’alatoa, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Alex Nankivell, Alex Kendellen

Leonormous Boozer · 2025-12-05T11:39:12+0000

Which Tyler said:
Ref: Jeremy Rozier (Fra)
TJs: Thomas Charabas (Fra), Benjamin Hernandez (Fra)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)

Munster Rugby: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tom Ahern; Tadhg Beirne (C), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Ala’alatoa, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Alex Nankivell, Alex Kendellen

Oooof Ala'alatoa off the bench, need at least a 14 point buffer and that doesn't look like a team to build it.

LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan) · 2025-12-05T12:01:34+0000

I fear tigers may not be taking this seriously

Just a hunch

Groundhog · 2025-12-05T12:23:35+0000

Which Tyler said:
Ref: Jeremy Rozier (Fra)
TJs: Thomas Charabas (Fra), Benjamin Hernandez (Fra)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)

Bath Rugby: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Miles Reid, 9 Ben Spencer ©, 10 Finn Russell (50), 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Cameron Redpath, 13 Max Ojomoh, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Tom de Glanville
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, Thomas du Toit, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Sam Underhill

Munster Rugby: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Tom Ahern; Tadhg Beirne (C), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Michael Ala’alatoa, Edwin Edogbo, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Alex Nankivell, Alex Kendellen

For the 10 battle you have a washed up has been nearing the end of his career…..and a former U20 WPOTY nominee

We are cooked with Crowley out

TRF_Olyy · 2025-12-05T12:30:47+0000

LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan) said:
I fear tigers may not be taking this seriously

Just a hunch

Me reading this team list:

Saintjay · 2025-12-05T12:39:46+0000

Everyday EggChaser · 2025-12-05T12:42:56+0000

Unavailable: Alex Dombrandt, James Chisholm, Ben Waghorn, Stu Townsend, Tyrone Green, Max Green, Simon Kerrod, Jordan Els, Ollie Streeter, Titi Lamositele, Guido Petti Pagadizábal

Unavailable (mandatory rest): Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham-South, Jack Kenningham

Groundhog · 2025-12-05T13:07:49+0000

Leonormous Boozer said:
Oooof Ala'alatoa off the bench, need at least a 14 point buffer and that doesn't look like a team to build it.

You were never good enough for him. He didn’t let you down you let him down.

I would actually be semi confident if we had a competent 10. To be fair the worst part is if Hanrahan plays badly, which seems likely we can’t change him out for Butler. Seems a terrible selection choice if Butler is fit.

Leonormous Boozer · 2025-12-05T15:09:54+0000

Leonormous Boozer said:
Presume we'll batter Quins' academy side

It's the potential of something completely expected happening that make us love sport.

Rinkadink · 2025-12-05T16:07:29+0000

Bristol Bears team to face Scarlets in the Investec Champions Cup at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday (8pm KO, live on Premier Sport):

15. Tom Jordan (5 apps), 14. Louis Rees-Zammit (5 apps), 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg (57 apps), 12. James Williams (58 apps), 11. Kalaveti Ravouvou (38 apps), 10. Sam Worsley (24 apps), 9. Kieran Marmion (59 apps); 1. Ellis Genge (63 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (49 apps), 3. Max Lahiff (113 apps), 4. Pedro Rubiolo (6 apps), 5. Joe Batley (82 apps), 6. Santiago Grondona (19 apps), 7. Fitz Harding (c) (104 apps), 8. Viliame Mata (24 apps).

System players. 16. Harry Thacker (141 apps), 17. Jake Woolmore (176 apps), 18. Lovejoy Chawatama (16 apps), 19. Joe Owen (44 apps), 20. Ben Grondona (27 apps), 21. Sam Wolstenholme (13 apps), 22. Aidan Boshoff (10 apps), 23. Josh Carrington (7 apps).

Unavailable: Will Capon, George Kloska, James Dun, Paddy Pearce, Steven Luatua, Kofi Cripps, Harry Randall, AJ MacGinty, Toby Baker, Joe Jenkins, Jack Bates, Gabriel Ibitoye, Rich Lane, Noah Heward.

Rinkadink · 2025-12-05T16:08:45+0000

Scarlets team to face Bristol Bears on Saturday, December 6 (20:00; S4C & Premier Sports)

15 Jac Davies; 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Eddie James, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Kemsley Mathias, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Archer Holz, 4 Sam Lousi, 5 Jake Ball, 6 Max Douglas, 7 Josh Macleod (capt), 8 Fletcher Anderson.

Reps: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Jarrod Taylor, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Joe Roberts.

Unavailable because of injury/illness

Taine Plumtree, Blair Murray, Ioan Nicholas, Archie Hughes, Alec Hepburn, Tristan Davies, Jac Price, Ioan Jones, Will Evans, Dom Kossuth.

--------

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita); Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Russo (Ita); Assistant Referee 2: Franco Rosella (Ita); TMO: Stefano Roscini (Ita).

TRF_Olyy · 2025-12-05T16:14:38+0000

If anyone doesn't have premier sports yet I just saw that if you buy it through Amazon prime it's half price for the first two months, so you can watch all the group stages then cancel it until the knockouts start:

Premier Sports

Unmissable football, rugby and more, with three 24/7 channels including LaLiga TV. Includes ads.

www.amazon.co.uk

higgik · 2025-12-05T19:18:21+0000

I am working on an 18 team competition, along lines of UEFA Champions League.
2 pots of 9 and every team plays 2 matches (1 home and 1 away) v each pot, guaranteeing some big games in group stages.

1 table of 18 teams, after the 4 games, top 4 into 1/4s, 5-12 into last 16 play offs, bottom 6 out.

Champions Cup 25/26 - Round 1

Fat Boi

First XV

First XV

G.O.A.T

English Arrogance

Fat Boi

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Fat Boi

G.O.A.T

Grond van der Hogg

English Arrogance

First XV

Academy Player

Grond van der Hogg

Fat Boi

First XV

First XV

English Arrogance

First XV

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