Agen v Gloucester - Pool 2

[An Tarbh]

Agen host Gloucester knowing that a bonus point win is a must to keep their slim chances of qualification alive, Gloucester are pretty much in the same boat knowing a loss will all but end their chances of making it to the knockout stages should Leinster win at Donnybrook against Edinburgh.

A lot will depend on whether Agen have already thrown in the towel, 19 points is unlikely to get them a best runner up spot but stranger things have happened. They'll certainly be relying on favours from the Ospreys and Cardiff to turn those chances into a more realistic prospect.

A win for Gloucester sets them up for a showdown with Leinster the following week at Kingsholm.

 

[An Tarbh]

Only one change for Gloucester with Christian Califano coming into the front row for tomorow's clash.

Agen bring in Ace Tiatia, Arnaud Mignardi and Sorin Socol who missed last weekend's clash with Albi.

Agen: 15 Pepito Elhorga, 14 Dave Vainqueur, 13 Manu Ahotaeiloa, 12 Arnaud Mignardi, 11 Rupeni Caucaunibuca, 10 Jérome Miquel, 9 Nicolas Morlaes (capt), 8 Thomas Soucaze, 7 Fabrice Culine, 6 Matthieu Lievremont, 5 Sorin Socol, 4 Wilhem Stolz, 3 Alessio Galasso, 2 Ace Tiatia, 1 Laurent Cabarry,
Replacements: 16 Jalil Narjissi, 17 Kees Meeuws, 18 Cezar Popescu, 19 Colin Yukes, 20 Andrew Fulton, 21 Morrisson Faaletino, 22 Conrad Stoltz.

Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Iain Balshaw, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 James Forrester, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Marco Bortolami ©, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Christian Califano.
Replacements: 16 Olivier Azam, 17 Patrice Collazo, 18 Will James, 19 Jake Boer, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Willie Walker, 22 Mark Foster.

 

[Gay-Guy]

JSD is gonna have his work cut out for him lol!

 

[An Tarbh]

well he didn't do too badly, made an awesome run in the second half but it was the flying fatman who was in superb form again tonight, getting the man of the match award.

Agen winning 26-18 and ending Gloucester's slim hopes of making the knockout stages. Should Leinster win tomorow this pool will be done and dusted.

 

[GAYPRACTOR101]

any links to any coverage???...

 

[An Tarbh]

wouldn't think so at the moment, there might be something on some of the torrent sites or you could check out youtube in the next few days.

 

[DonBilly]

any links to any coverage???...
[/b]

This match was on TV in France. As pointed out by our Irish bull it should be available soon thanks to BitTorrent file exchange system.

 

[toup]

It was actually a pretty good game. Agen really came out flying and it looked like Gloucester were in for an absolute hammering, so they did well to pull it back and even come close.

Rupeni, despite looking like a little barrel on legs, was exceptional - if anyone can get hold of footage of his break and offload to set up Agen's first try then it's well worth seeing. He looked dangerous throughout and deservedly won man of the match.

 

[GAYPRACTOR101]

well i hope he shows 100% commitment to the fijian team come world cup...he still is the exciting winger since jonah lomu

 

[thomas]

"A barrel on legs"

exactly

I agree with Tindall who said after the game...

"He's the best player I've played against, and i don't want to think what he could do if he would lose 5 or 6 kilos..."

:lol:

 

[shtove]

"Flying Fatman" He must have steel ankles to carry those step-offs with his weight.

What about the Agen 9? I thought Stringer was bad, looking about when he should be making sure of the ball at the base of the ruck. At one point, Morlays kicked the ball back into the ruck!

Those were two moderate teams. Last season I feared Gloucester would be the future of English rugby - now I sincerely hope they are. Tindall is about as good as it gets for them ie. pre-O'Driscoll Ireland.

 

[thomas]

I watched a video of Leinster - Agen on Youtube... saw one of the try, the one where BOD intercepts a pass from Leinster's 22 and run the all pitch to score...

If you see this try, have a close look to Caucaunibuca...

Incredible... BOD is like running at f.... top speed to the try line, and you can see Caucau on his side "walking" his way and he's just accelerating a little bit so that at the end he's on BOD...

Anyway... Brian scored but still... how's a guy that is at leat 10 kilos overweighted... can be that f...... quick !?!?!?

You have to see that video... Rupeni looks more than relax....

incredible !

have a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjh8RVQyLXw

 

[ALLBLACKS]

What a freak

 

[An Tarbh]

more like a lazy *******, he was walking back and then thought oh yeah I'm supposed to chase him down and would have easily caught O'Driscoll if he'd made any semblance of an effort.

 

[An Tarbh]

any links to any coverage???...
[/b]

Caucau v Gloucester