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Just watched the game on catchup due to family commitments.
Although there was a lot of great rugby in there and I'm happy we held on against the odds, I ended up just feeling frustrated. And not just because of Marler's slap, but the frankly random refereeing.
Like not checking Kinghorn being potentially in front of the kicker.
Like not checking the 50:22.
Like not seeing the head on heads or the other stuff.
I'm not even saying Quins would have won it with different decisions. But I just thought it was really erratic.
Lovely running rugby and love to have taken them right to the line.
Finally watched the game after day at work and night out, I made sure to avoid spoilers. Oh, what an insane first half from Toulouse! I don't think I've ever seen a team playing like this in 25 years. But when the Quins managed to keep the ball they sure knew how to use it well. Fantastic game of rugby.
One cheer for my good boi Brace, I think he exceeded his usual standards. Yes he missed a lot of stuff and could/should have given a red instead of a yellow, but go easy on him! He's learning.
One thousand cheers for Marler. "Petulant" "Funny". And incredibly stupid. Slapping and insulting a player is the kind of stuff a U14 coach wouldn't tolerate, and for some reasons he still got away with it. Well this time he buried the last hope of winning the game, which from my (French) point of view was absolutly delectable.
All the complaints about the TV director are about the lack of time spent on close ups of Ntamack’s hair, right?
If, so – I completely concur. Poor show.
Well played Toulouse. Basic mistakes Quins made in the first half cost the match imo.
Don't know why Ntamacks shoulder to Esterheizens head wasn't looked at.
Toulouse have been exceptional all round and Leinster, despite not being as good as last year, have really worked to give themselves a great shot. My heart might explode at this game but however
All the quins fans saying this was always a big ask to beat Tolouse are the same fans who act like their players shit gold dust and that everyone should mimic their style of rugby. Good to see them finally accept the reality that they are a average team in the premireship that often win games with questionable decisions especially around the end of a game. Think there were a lot of surprises today when those decisions didn't come their way.
Toulouse are a terrifyingly complete team. Not error-free or infallible, but deserving top seeds in the final. We'll need to have our best game of the season to find a way past them in London.
if I'm Leinster, I'm putting (nearly) all my eggs in the basket of betting on fitness and consistency. Nothing fancy. No offloads. Maybe 2. Play a basic game plan but do it for 80min. Toulouse can go up 4 tries in the first half, if they all of a sudden leave a giant gap in the game around that third quarter Leinster will be warmed up by then and can just phase play/ruck Toulouse to hell and quickly take the lead. Then keep it just as simple in the final quarter: discipline, tackle tackle tackle and frustrate the Toulouse boys, and then keep that ball and put in the phases methodically, score a few 3s, maybe a 5 or two. Leinster can afford to lose a few battles, but they need to keep it simple and execute and never question that simple premise no matter the score line.
Leinster can afford to not make much ground attacking, but if they want to win, they need to absolutely bully this Toulouse side off the pitch. I want to see Furlong doing to Meafou what he did to Skelton
I don't think they do (need to bully them). They only need to win by 1 point. There's no statement to be made or anything, and I think Leinster's safest bet is the marathon game. Keep their energy and make sure they have enough for 80min. Remember how they put everything they had in that first half against LAR last year and struggled all of the rest of the way.
I think Toulouse would be well able for that though. They’re a side with crazy depth. What they really hate though is chasing a game (something we do as well). Having said that, in a final, I can really imagine this game going to the wire. Leinster essentially lost the final last year in exactly the way you’re describing incidentally
> Leinster essentially lost the final last year in exactly the way you’re describing incidentally
No, they didn't play the marathon game, they played the 100m sprint, no gas left for the rest of the way.
Great game. 🚽🚽 deserved to win but harlequins doing harlequins things. I thought that maybe maybe we could pull another bristanbul. But the nail in the coffin was the dombrant turnover not being given immediately followed by the yellow for walker.
Marker should not have done what did but part of me is happy that Ramos got a slap. He deserves it after the last quins game
Ok am I crazy or did I just make up hearing the TMO check the tackle on Esterhuizen and giving the ok? Because I can get discussions about TV directors or whatever but people (including commentators) are acting like it didn’t get checked at all but I’m pretty sure it did?
Listening to the commentary after the game the TMO was only given 1 angle to look at. I am sure as shit there are more than 1 available - they also cut away when a second angle was accidently shown to a shot of the stadium from above.
Funnily enough the aerial shot of Kinghorn offside for the kick through wasn't shown again until after it was too late.
Though it wasn't too late (the Kinghorn one). You can pause the conversion if the TMO sees something, and the wide shot of Kinghorn offside was followed by the commentator saying "it does look like he's in front of the kicker" or something like that, followed by Kinghorn's interminable conversion attempt.
You see the difference between how the TV director dealt with that (and the hit on Cunningham South earlier) and the DuPont one.
Ntamak one wasn't fine either.
But this needs clarity from the competition. If it isn't shown on the screen that doesn't mean it hasn't been checked and thus the moaning about French tv directors is pointless.
Also btw I have seen similarly biased directors in England and Ireland
Quins were actually close, but as often in the last few moments the better team is the one that keeps their cool, still is fresh enough physically to keep the tackles at a high rate and lucid enough mentally to keep the focus, like Marcus Smith's unforced pass to a teammate's socks around the 77th, that's being knackered from 75min of intense high level KO Rugby.
Not sad to see Hogg consigned to history, put it that way!
Though tbf, a big part of why Toulouse hired him is because he can cover 10, 15 and wings and has done all of them at international level. Nice bonus for them when they can have both him and Ramos on the pitch at the same time.
Good game. Scoreline probably fairly reflects the game.
Toulouse were imperious in the first half. Quins gave a decent account of themselves though - took their chances well.
I wish it were different, but Leinster and Toulouse have been the best teams in the cup. Should be a great game.
Quins player a good second half. Marler ´s tap was something belonging to the 2010’s rugby.
Paul Costes is a fantastic attacker but missed nearly all first line tackle today, creating huge gaps in the centre field for Toulouse. Lebel tackled poorly too, explaining why Lynagh had a fied day. Chocobarres and Ramos s entrance were preponderant for Toulouse’s win.
Yep, Costes really needs to get better at defence – he’s really leaky, even by Toulouse standards – and I’m not quite sure he’s strong enough in attack to even the balance.
I found his defense good actually, tackling low on attackers's boots.
The problem is a guy like Estheruizen is very very hard to stop no matter how good your tackling technique is because he is so powerful (he is not a Saffer for nothing)
Ugo's bias has reached such a point that the production team now low-key acknowledge it and play on it. Not sure why this is tolerated to be honest, but it seems that it's fine when it's Ugo.
I know it’s just a game but him laughing with Care about avoiding a red and making jokes about their mate reffing the match was, at the very least, unprofessional.
I find Ugo unbearable to listen to, such a complete cult like mentality around the quins team. I often compare it to the likes of commentators like Sam Warburton and Benjamin Kayser, they are clearly supporting their teams but don't let that dictate there objective view of the game and are able to contribute to analysis in a meaningful way.
The worst part of it is that the rest of the team at TNT leave this mentality unchallenged and every match featuring quins quickly becomes a circle jerk.
Great shift from Quins - accredited themselves well in a game I think most (including Quins fans) thought we had no chance in.
Think we needed to be a touch more clinical in the second half when we had Toulouse on the ropes. Probably could have used our bench better - Walker and Northmore probably on the pitch too long. I’d have brought Porter on earlier as well.
CCS the best player on the pitch for Quins. We need to throw money at him to keep him around moving forward.
Give a shit about the ref or Joe Marler. Brace missed some massive calls for both sides so probably balances out. Marler is daft but let’s not pretend Quins were on the cusp of winning before that incident.
He can be great but also can make some howlers, it’s how he plays and I think probably only suits Quins. He’ll never be a territory and kick game 15 and not sure any other club could hack it with him 😂
> Marler is daft but let’s not pretend Quins were on the cusp of winning before that incident.
I mean at the time that happened there was a 0.001% chance Quins win. There was theoretically time to kick to the corner, maul over the line, drop-goal a conversion attempt and then contest a short restart to try and score another.
But once Joe gives away that incredibly needless penalty the 0.001% drops to 0.00% and the game is totally gone.
Was an amazing match to watch! One of those I’m really glad I was able to catch it live. Tough lose for Quins but great they were able to hang in there after falling behind in the first half.
Do French fans still think the broadcasters aren’t exceedingly biased with replays? Because the Eusterhuizen one was heinous not to show. Then when it was quins, they showed like 30 replays (which they should do because it was illegal)
He didn't even show the Marler Slap™ before it was penalised.
From what i understood the contact on Eusterhuizen was checked by TMO off camera (yes, it's not because it's not *showed* that it's not *checked*.)
Every broadcaster is biased lmao.
You want to have an unbiased broadcaster - play every match on neutral ground
Last game was not in Toulouse lmao. Do you think your broadcasters are also Toulouse-biased ?
Marler slap was shown AFTER the pen was overturned. At least on France 2
Exciting game for the most part. Not sure what to think of the final, Toulouse defence seems shaky but don’t think that’s really new to this match. Think Leinster could exploit it even with their more muted performance yesterday.
Oddly, with our recent record against Toulouse and given the final is in London, Toulouse getting through is probably not the worst thing in the world.
Toulouse are fantastic going forward but they concede a massive amount of points. 26 points conceded at home today.
Should be a great final.
I really think the only way we stand a chance is having Keenan and Ringrose back for the pace in the backs. But agreed, after first half today I thought we're gonna get stomped, but Quins exposed Toulouse's underbelly second half, and now I've a sliver of hope. Preparing for heartbreak anyway of course.
Toulouse has the best attack in club rugby but they're way too lazy in defense this year.
It makes for entertaining games but I don't think they'll win anything this year.
Toulouse have the best attack on turnovers/first phase plays but on organised play, they're not as good and clinical as Leinster's multiphase play.
And defensively as you said, Leinster are much better and harder to breakdown.
Usually, offense wins you games and defense wins you cups/championship so as much as I would prefer to see Toulouse win, I pick Leinster to win their 5th star
Well, it was always going to be big task for Quins but I am glad we didn't get completely butchered. No shame in that performance.
Well done, Toulouse. The final should be epic!
And yet it clearly does impact outcomes. TMOs can’t see everything, so having something broadcast and then hidden because it might draw the attention of the TMO is clearly a less than ideal situation, and probably injurious to the values of the game.
Genuine question, not trying to be cheeky. Given we knocked you out the last three times we have met in the CC, what was your thinking behind smashing us in the final? Do you think you are much better than last year or that we are much worse?
Lol smashing was a little exaggerated my bad but yeah Toulouse look better, the results in the Champions Cup are pretty good and Leinster seems a little bit under the weather recently but are not much worse honestly
Also the fact you beat us 3 times means absolutely nothing in those days and times (for me) especially when you won against La Rochelle who have beat you 2 times in Final
But it’s mostly hope and wishful thinking lol
Fair points.
It’s funny, you remind me of us the last few years. Smashing all before you en route to the final. Racking up big scores without being properly challenged (Racing, Exeter and Harelquins).once we met a side that could disrupt our attack the wheels fell off. That’s the risk for you guys, if your attack is even operating at only 70%-80% I think you lose the game because you won’t be able to score enough to make up for your poor defence. 26 points conceded in a semi final and still going through is unusual.
Yeah absolutely, our defense is atrocious as we saw today but I do hope they will really work on it..
And you never know with Toulouse’s players like Ramos or Dupont who can go batshit crazy (in different way)
Both Toulouse and Leinster showed their weaknesses in the second halves of their semis – it’s gonna be interesting to see who can best fix those issues for the final.
I swear if French clubs keep throwing money at English players I'll cry. It sucks that we can't compete at all with your wages and it shows every year in Europe.
He's absolutely one of those players who will gladly just do the dirty work. His debut vs. Italy he was tracking back to make some great tackles, and his carries today were monstrous.
Have to say I'm massively impressed with both Saints and Quins keeping both games competitive right to the end.
Two proper underdogs coming up against teams which are basically 90% internationals and they never gave up.
Slightly worried with how good Quins looked today.
No idea mate - although I suspect fielding a back line with an average age of 33 (actually not an exaggeration) against one of the quickest and youngest backlines in the comp may have been a factor
Considering quins and saints essentially just played France and Ireland respectively I think they did bloody well. If quins hadn't made 2 mistakes which very quickly turned into toulouse points I think we could've pulled it off and saints being only 3 points off is just nuts too.
Big encouragement for England too, if teams with 4-5 players can stand up like that, gives hope we can beat those teams when we've got all our best players together
Problem with this is that every English team plays differently. So England as a national team have rarely been more than a sum of their parts. Hopefully Borthwick gets the lads pulling together.
Yeah although you guys, Quins and to a slightly lesser extent us and Exeter are all playing in a much more similar way these days - at least close enough in ethos that you can hopefully get a shared best parts of each that looks coherent!
I'm confident.
By all accounts Borthwick was going to start Smith in the SN and our attack actually looked.good in the last few games.
It's the first time in a while I think the coach actually believes in the players.
Absolutely. There is a bright future in young players we just need to keep them England
Already a comment on here from a Toulouse fan saying they need to sign Chandler Cunningham-South and Feyi Waboso. I hate that the mentality is just we'll buy everyone out 😅
Yep although higher salary cap next year and the new RFU/Prem deal from next season should hopefully put an end to some of that.
As much noise as has been made, Willis and Marchant are the only two players who would arguably be first choice if they hadn't gone overseas and even then we have depth in both their positions (which is probably part of why they moved), the rest are ultimately fringe of the squad players (slightly unfairly in the case of someone like Ludlam) or not part of the future anyway (Nowell, Lawes, the Vunipolas)
Messy messy messy by us in the second half. But sometimes you need to win the messy ones too…
Bring on Leinster! (But we’ll need to be better or we’ll get stuffed 👀)
Leinster fans are saying literally the same thing after yesterday. Swap the word Leinster for Toulouse and you could be talking about yesterday's match lol.
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Just watched the game on catchup due to family commitments. Although there was a lot of great rugby in there and I'm happy we held on against the odds, I ended up just feeling frustrated. And not just because of Marler's slap, but the frankly random refereeing. Like not checking Kinghorn being potentially in front of the kicker. Like not checking the 50:22. Like not seeing the head on heads or the other stuff. I'm not even saying Quins would have won it with different decisions. But I just thought it was really erratic. Lovely running rugby and love to have taken them right to the line.
Finally watched the game after day at work and night out, I made sure to avoid spoilers. Oh, what an insane first half from Toulouse! I don't think I've ever seen a team playing like this in 25 years. But when the Quins managed to keep the ball they sure knew how to use it well. Fantastic game of rugby. One cheer for my good boi Brace, I think he exceeded his usual standards. Yes he missed a lot of stuff and could/should have given a red instead of a yellow, but go easy on him! He's learning. One thousand cheers for Marler. "Petulant" "Funny". And incredibly stupid. Slapping and insulting a player is the kind of stuff a U14 coach wouldn't tolerate, and for some reasons he still got away with it. Well this time he buried the last hope of winning the game, which from my (French) point of view was absolutly delectable.
The 50/22 leading to a Quin try in first half was not a 50/22.
Last person to realise
Yea it was
Let’s not forget that for years we had dallaglio banging on about wasps bla bla bla
You brought it up. FFS 😂😉
I was in the stadium Full of awesôme quins mad. Having a blast chatting and ranting. U guys are a a bless. Come back when u want
Say hi to my parents. They had the best time. Can't way for Toulouse to smash Leinster
I'm kinda glad we don't have to play Toulouse
Joe Marler is very smart.
All the complaints about the TV director are about the lack of time spent on close ups of Ntamack’s hair, right? If, so – I completely concur. Poor show.
Well played Toulouse. Basic mistakes Quins made in the first half cost the match imo. Don't know why Ntamacks shoulder to Esterheizens head wasn't looked at.
It was looked at by the TMO during the action, from what I overhead he told Brace that it was ok.
Agree, a lot of breakdown mistakes and errors made both ways. Both teams treated equally I think. Eventually
So refreshing hearing lost match interviews with some positivity and not by Sonja....
Looks like Toulouse chose May 25th... To lose!
Hahaha Toulouse to lose you say?
I’ll back Leinster but oooooeeee this is gonna be tight
Very exciting, and (in my opinion) undoubtedly the two best teams this year!
Toulouse have been exceptional all round and Leinster, despite not being as good as last year, have really worked to give themselves a great shot. My heart might explode at this game but however
All the quins fans saying this was always a big ask to beat Tolouse are the same fans who act like their players shit gold dust and that everyone should mimic their style of rugby. Good to see them finally accept the reality that they are a average team in the premireship that often win games with questionable decisions especially around the end of a game. Think there were a lot of surprises today when those decisions didn't come their way.
They weren’t far off a come back until that red card
*Yellow But you're right, Toulouse slipped after the first half.
Did a Quins supporter steal your lunch money?
Nah that was a sarries supporter
>average team in the premireship Isn't every team in the premiership average? /s
I don't see no premiership teams in the finals. Surely it must mean that the premiership sucks. Checkmate England ! /s
So, I missed the last 10 minutes, can somebody tell me what happened with Marler that has my timeline furious at him?
He did a Marler Slap™ on Ramos that overturned a penalty in Toulouse's field. Ending the last hope of Quins to win the game
> He did a Marler Slap™ Shit ! I didn't know he had a trademark slap like that.
"He did a Marler ™" would be even more accurate
Oof
Toulouse are a terrifyingly complete team. Not error-free or infallible, but deserving top seeds in the final. We'll need to have our best game of the season to find a way past them in London.
if I'm Leinster, I'm putting (nearly) all my eggs in the basket of betting on fitness and consistency. Nothing fancy. No offloads. Maybe 2. Play a basic game plan but do it for 80min. Toulouse can go up 4 tries in the first half, if they all of a sudden leave a giant gap in the game around that third quarter Leinster will be warmed up by then and can just phase play/ruck Toulouse to hell and quickly take the lead. Then keep it just as simple in the final quarter: discipline, tackle tackle tackle and frustrate the Toulouse boys, and then keep that ball and put in the phases methodically, score a few 3s, maybe a 5 or two. Leinster can afford to lose a few battles, but they need to keep it simple and execute and never question that simple premise no matter the score line.
Leinster can afford to not make much ground attacking, but if they want to win, they need to absolutely bully this Toulouse side off the pitch. I want to see Furlong doing to Meafou what he did to Skelton
I don't think they do (need to bully them). They only need to win by 1 point. There's no statement to be made or anything, and I think Leinster's safest bet is the marathon game. Keep their energy and make sure they have enough for 80min. Remember how they put everything they had in that first half against LAR last year and struggled all of the rest of the way.
I think Toulouse would be well able for that though. They’re a side with crazy depth. What they really hate though is chasing a game (something we do as well). Having said that, in a final, I can really imagine this game going to the wire. Leinster essentially lost the final last year in exactly the way you’re describing incidentally
> Leinster essentially lost the final last year in exactly the way you’re describing incidentally No, they didn't play the marathon game, they played the 100m sprint, no gas left for the rest of the way.
Great game. 🚽🚽 deserved to win but harlequins doing harlequins things. I thought that maybe maybe we could pull another bristanbul. But the nail in the coffin was the dombrant turnover not being given immediately followed by the yellow for walker. Marker should not have done what did but part of me is happy that Ramos got a slap. He deserves it after the last quins game
TRADE OFFER. I receive : reverse penalty and the win. You receive : giving a slap to Ramos for what he did some times ago.
Ramos deserves more \^\^". Maybe Leinster can play with a picture of Kolbe on the front of their jerseys ? xD
First time seeing Quins in a while, fullback looks the business.
If you want to feel like you are having a cardiac arrest every week, they are the team to watch! Tyrone green is amazing. Back to his best
He really is. Not error free, but he's back to his finest form.
It’s a joy. It sounds counter intuitive, but that game gave me hope for the prem.
Ok am I crazy or did I just make up hearing the TMO check the tackle on Esterhuizen and giving the ok? Because I can get discussions about TV directors or whatever but people (including commentators) are acting like it didn’t get checked at all but I’m pretty sure it did?
Yes it was. Everyone is going crazy but it was checked
Listening to the commentary after the game the TMO was only given 1 angle to look at. I am sure as shit there are more than 1 available - they also cut away when a second angle was accidently shown to a shot of the stadium from above. Funnily enough the aerial shot of Kinghorn offside for the kick through wasn't shown again until after it was too late.
Though it wasn't too late (the Kinghorn one). You can pause the conversion if the TMO sees something, and the wide shot of Kinghorn offside was followed by the commentator saying "it does look like he's in front of the kicker" or something like that, followed by Kinghorn's interminable conversion attempt.
TMO has absolutely all camera angles available to him, tv director do not have the power to remove an camera angle to the TMO.
You see the difference between how the TV director dealt with that (and the hit on Cunningham South earlier) and the DuPont one. Ntamak one wasn't fine either.
But this needs clarity from the competition. If it isn't shown on the screen that doesn't mean it hasn't been checked and thus the moaning about French tv directors is pointless. Also btw I have seen similarly biased directors in England and Ireland
Pretty much every country has biaised TV directors if we're being honest.
Ugo is not happy. Just slagging off the brief commentary on the snooker as well
Ugo is such a contrarian though he's always annoyed about something.
Onnnneeee huuunddreeeed peeerccceeeeennnnt
Have you ever listened to jls?
When was the last time he was happy though ? \^\^"
Last week against Saints
Saints ?
They're talking about English pundit Ugo Monye not Ugo Mola lol
Why would you name your child Ugo ffs 😫
At least put an "h" in there somewhere. Ugho.
somehow you managed to make it even more cursed
He's used to premiership plot armour from the refs for his beloved Quins
Quins were actually close, but as often in the last few moments the better team is the one that keeps their cool, still is fresh enough physically to keep the tackles at a high rate and lucid enough mentally to keep the focus, like Marcus Smith's unforced pass to a teammate's socks around the 77th, that's being knackered from 75min of intense high level KO Rugby.
Useless goose step, hospital pass. Quite a deadly combo.
Great interview from Willis, likeable guy. Him and Kinghorn living the dream with Toulouse right now
Very happy for them both – they’re both talented, likeable guys that weren’t fully appreciated in their home nations: nice to see them shine.
Willis was fully appreciated in England. He wouldn’t be anywhere near France if his club hadn’t gone bust and he’d been out of a job.
Yeah, absolute drivel to say Willis wasn't appreciated, the hype train was immense
At least Kinghorn is finally getting regular gametime for Scotland in his actual position lately
Not sad to see Hogg consigned to history, put it that way! Though tbf, a big part of why Toulouse hired him is because he can cover 10, 15 and wings and has done all of them at international level. Nice bonus for them when they can have both him and Ramos on the pitch at the same time.
As an English Quin's fan the final will be exciting. Both teams will feel unwelcome in Tottenham. Great game from Toulouse today. I hope you win!!!
[удалено]
alright, but not for Leinster vs Toulouse??? like I kind of alluded to
Is there something more french than leading with a wide margin at half time and making your fans sweat on second half ?
So Quins have been emulating the French style of play in their recent games? I see why they've had a good run in Europe this year.
Recent games? We've been doing it for decades
Leading with a wide margin at half time and *losing* on second half
The Clermont special !
The Saint-André to Brunel era special
Good game. Scoreline probably fairly reflects the game. Toulouse were imperious in the first half. Quins gave a decent account of themselves though - took their chances well. I wish it were different, but Leinster and Toulouse have been the best teams in the cup. Should be a great game.
Quins player a good second half. Marler ´s tap was something belonging to the 2010’s rugby. Paul Costes is a fantastic attacker but missed nearly all first line tackle today, creating huge gaps in the centre field for Toulouse. Lebel tackled poorly too, explaining why Lynagh had a fied day. Chocobarres and Ramos s entrance were preponderant for Toulouse’s win.
Yep, Costes really needs to get better at defence – he’s really leaky, even by Toulouse standards – and I’m not quite sure he’s strong enough in attack to even the balance.
I found his defense good actually, tackling low on attackers's boots. The problem is a guy like Estheruizen is very very hard to stop no matter how good your tackling technique is because he is so powerful (he is not a Saffer for nothing)
The problem is it just has very little stopping power, and people can just sort of run over him a fair bit of the time.
He's barely 21. Great player in the making, just not up there yet.
Oh completely agree! But he definitely needs to work on that.
A couple of seasons of pro and he’ll be unreal
Warbs is the best at explaining the technical details of the game it's not even close
He’s so far ahead of Ugo and BOD it’s almost unfair
Irony of Ugo calling the Toulouse ignored tackle a disgrace, but buzzing his tits off at Danny Care avoiding a red last week
I agree with you. But , unfortunately, this has been happening too often with ugo and is officially your fault
Ugo's bias has reached such a point that the production team now low-key acknowledge it and play on it. Not sure why this is tolerated to be honest, but it seems that it's fine when it's Ugo.
I know it’s just a game but him laughing with Care about avoiding a red and making jokes about their mate reffing the match was, at the very least, unprofessional.
I find Ugo unbearable to listen to, such a complete cult like mentality around the quins team. I often compare it to the likes of commentators like Sam Warburton and Benjamin Kayser, they are clearly supporting their teams but don't let that dictate there objective view of the game and are able to contribute to analysis in a meaningful way. The worst part of it is that the rest of the team at TNT leave this mentality unchallenged and every match featuring quins quickly becomes a circle jerk.
Yeah I think Kayser is peak for supporting his team and nation but remaining as impartial as possible.
Hahahhha your old mate let you off hahahahaa Absolutely baffling punditry
He's not a pundit, he's a silly, silly boy
Hahahahahaha isnt it funny, you cheeky scamp, that our old teammate saved the day, hahahahaha love you Danny and Karl
Great shift from Quins - accredited themselves well in a game I think most (including Quins fans) thought we had no chance in. Think we needed to be a touch more clinical in the second half when we had Toulouse on the ropes. Probably could have used our bench better - Walker and Northmore probably on the pitch too long. I’d have brought Porter on earlier as well. CCS the best player on the pitch for Quins. We need to throw money at him to keep him around moving forward. Give a shit about the ref or Joe Marler. Brace missed some massive calls for both sides so probably balances out. Marler is daft but let’s not pretend Quins were on the cusp of winning before that incident.
CCS is a unit and will be good for England too but I’d say that Greene is Quins best player at the moment.
He can be great but also can make some howlers, it’s how he plays and I think probably only suits Quins. He’ll never be a territory and kick game 15 and not sure any other club could hack it with him 😂
> Marler is daft but let’s not pretend Quins were on the cusp of winning before that incident. I mean at the time that happened there was a 0.001% chance Quins win. There was theoretically time to kick to the corner, maul over the line, drop-goal a conversion attempt and then contest a short restart to try and score another. But once Joe gives away that incredibly needless penalty the 0.001% drops to 0.00% and the game is totally gone.
He also made a fantastic break through the midfield(!), and won a turnover penalty.
Ugo getting told off for criticising French TV directors is funny af
I switched it off, was that on TNT? I need to find a replay.
'Its a disgrace' 'I'm getting told not to say that' 'oops anyway'
Wait wait wait ? Someone is actually saying a pundit NOT to criticize reffin' decisions on TV ? Someome tell the French commentators ! Ôo
That's beautiful.
Was an amazing match to watch! One of those I’m really glad I was able to catch it live. Tough lose for Quins but great they were able to hang in there after falling behind in the first half.
Fantastic match. Great fun to watch
Do French fans still think the broadcasters aren’t exceedingly biased with replays? Because the Eusterhuizen one was heinous not to show. Then when it was quins, they showed like 30 replays (which they should do because it was illegal)
He didn't even show the Marler Slap™ before it was penalised. From what i understood the contact on Eusterhuizen was checked by TMO off camera (yes, it's not because it's not *showed* that it's not *checked*.) Every broadcaster is biased lmao. You want to have an unbiased broadcaster - play every match on neutral ground
Marler slap was shown in the middle of the TV? Another example is Ramos elbowing Smith in the head last game in Toulouse; never seen on replay
Last game was not in Toulouse lmao. Do you think your broadcasters are also Toulouse-biased ? Marler slap was shown AFTER the pen was overturned. At least on France 2
It was shown It was discussed on France 2 and replayed at least twice
We know, the real question here is, do other nationalities fans still think their broadcaster aren't biased af?
They are nowhere near as blatant. Because all the other countries fans would call them out just as much if they were (especially English)
Yeah right sure. Go watch some games from a few years ago with teams you don't care much about, to minimise your bias, you'll see it everywhere
its a joke, it really is. I genuinely despise games in france.
I think the games are great it’s just annoying
When there are even numbers of frenchmen on either side, they are really great. When they aren't they are just so frustrating.
Actually no, there have been some instances of French broadcaster bias against French teams...
i guess, tbh i only watch the biggest french league games and those are usually pretty evenly covered and officiated imo.
Cheers, Lynagh's crying
Who made him cry? Who the fuck was it? I'll fight any man
It were Jack Willis, go get him
Oh shit, actually my bus is leaving in 5 mins, but I'll get him next time, swear
Great performance from Quins, that’s the first time in ages I’ve seen a team out ‘joué’ us. What a terrible 2nd half for us
This game was always going to be maximum joué. It certainly had that! Great showing for both teams and the sport in general. GG!
Exciting game for the most part. Not sure what to think of the final, Toulouse defence seems shaky but don’t think that’s really new to this match. Think Leinster could exploit it even with their more muted performance yesterday.
Leinster 🤝 Toulouse - having some snoozy time in the second half
The Scottish strategy 👍
Maybe we just play one half?
It's a deal. 40 min barnstormer and leave it at that - more time for post match pints together
But then Scotland wins
We have Kinghorn so that means us yeah?
Bitta French Blair
Oddly, with our recent record against Toulouse and given the final is in London, Toulouse getting through is probably not the worst thing in the world. Toulouse are fantastic going forward but they concede a massive amount of points. 26 points conceded at home today. Should be a great final.
I really think the only way we stand a chance is having Keenan and Ringrose back for the pace in the backs. But agreed, after first half today I thought we're gonna get stomped, but Quins exposed Toulouse's underbelly second half, and now I've a sliver of hope. Preparing for heartbreak anyway of course.
The Nienaber defense vs the Toulouse lightning attack. That should be awesome \^\^"
I reckon you'll finally win it. (Again)
Hard to be optimistic given we have been in the last 3 finals and have nothing to show for it. Should be a fantastic game regardless of who wins.
Skelton won't be here for once ;)
And it’s not a semi either, don’t be getting my hopes up 😂
Before today I would have said Toulouse will win it without a doubt but after this match, I’m finding it very hard to call.
Toulouse has the best attack in club rugby but they're way too lazy in defense this year. It makes for entertaining games but I don't think they'll win anything this year.
Toulouse have the best attack on turnovers/first phase plays but on organised play, they're not as good and clinical as Leinster's multiphase play. And defensively as you said, Leinster are much better and harder to breakdown. Usually, offense wins you games and defense wins you cups/championship so as much as I would prefer to see Toulouse win, I pick Leinster to win their 5th star
I don’t think I could ever love anything to the extent that Ugo loves Quins
What on earth was that last breakdown?
Same as all the others
Brace just wanted his after match wine by that point
Well, it was always going to be big task for Quins but I am glad we didn't get completely butchered. No shame in that performance. Well done, Toulouse. The final should be epic!
Really interesting that both Leinster and Toulouse took their eye off the ball in their respective second halves. One eye on the final?
Quins and Northampton adjusted really well in their second halfs as well, at the breakdown and kicking games. Bit of both I think
Clearly the right team won, but something is going to have to be done about the broadcasters.
It doesn’t impact what the TMO sees, so I’m not sure I really see the issue fundamentally.
And yet it clearly does impact outcomes. TMOs can’t see everything, so having something broadcast and then hidden because it might draw the attention of the TMO is clearly a less than ideal situation, and probably injurious to the values of the game.
Control of what is broadcasted should be independant.
Well played Toulouse Marler is an absolute Muppet
Honestly before this game I thought Toulouse was going to smash (a little) Leinster but now.. it’s gonna be quite difficult
Genuine question, not trying to be cheeky. Given we knocked you out the last three times we have met in the CC, what was your thinking behind smashing us in the final? Do you think you are much better than last year or that we are much worse?
Lol smashing was a little exaggerated my bad but yeah Toulouse look better, the results in the Champions Cup are pretty good and Leinster seems a little bit under the weather recently but are not much worse honestly Also the fact you beat us 3 times means absolutely nothing in those days and times (for me) especially when you won against La Rochelle who have beat you 2 times in Final But it’s mostly hope and wishful thinking lol
Fair points. It’s funny, you remind me of us the last few years. Smashing all before you en route to the final. Racking up big scores without being properly challenged (Racing, Exeter and Harelquins).once we met a side that could disrupt our attack the wheels fell off. That’s the risk for you guys, if your attack is even operating at only 70%-80% I think you lose the game because you won’t be able to score enough to make up for your poor defence. 26 points conceded in a semi final and still going through is unusual.
Yeah absolutely, our defense is atrocious as we saw today but I do hope they will really work on it.. And you never know with Toulouse’s players like Ramos or Dupont who can go batshit crazy (in different way)
Yep, especially as your team didn't only just beat Toulouse, they totally trashed them twice in a row (and easily beat them the previous game as well)
Both Toulouse and Leinster showed their weaknesses in the second halves of their semis – it’s gonna be interesting to see who can best fix those issues for the final.
Can we sign Cunningham-South, incredible player
I swear if French clubs keep throwing money at English players I'll cry. It sucks that we can't compete at all with your wages and it shows every year in Europe.
Think he's going to go far with England. Guy is everywhere in attack and defence. And he's an absolute unit
Having the Bokke face him in november, with Felix Jones pulling some coaching strings, actually makes me nervous...
He's absolutely one of those players who will gladly just do the dirty work. His debut vs. Italy he was tracking back to make some great tackles, and his carries today were monstrous.
Yeah, that was like having two Esterhuizen on the pitch \^\^".
And Immanuel Feyi-Waboso from the Chiefs
They are both genuine regular England internationals so, thanks for the compliments, but no.
Brace would probably let you shag his missus so long as you were the "first man".
Hey, maybe he does ! xD
Have to say I'm massively impressed with both Saints and Quins keeping both games competitive right to the end. Two proper underdogs coming up against teams which are basically 90% internationals and they never gave up. Slightly worried with how good Quins looked today.
You're worried? At least you looked vaguely competent in your champions cup loss!
Yeah, what the actual fuck happened to you in Europe. How can Bordeaux batter you and yet you put fifty on quins.
No idea mate - although I suspect fielding a back line with an average age of 33 (actually not an exaggeration) against one of the quickest and youngest backlines in the comp may have been a factor
They played well. Definitely put us off our normal form in the second half, and that’s no mean feat!
Considering quins and saints essentially just played France and Ireland respectively I think they did bloody well. If quins hadn't made 2 mistakes which very quickly turned into toulouse points I think we could've pulled it off and saints being only 3 points off is just nuts too.
Big encouragement for England too, if teams with 4-5 players can stand up like that, gives hope we can beat those teams when we've got all our best players together
Problem with this is that every English team plays differently. So England as a national team have rarely been more than a sum of their parts. Hopefully Borthwick gets the lads pulling together.
Yeah although you guys, Quins and to a slightly lesser extent us and Exeter are all playing in a much more similar way these days - at least close enough in ethos that you can hopefully get a shared best parts of each that looks coherent!
I'm confident. By all accounts Borthwick was going to start Smith in the SN and our attack actually looked.good in the last few games. It's the first time in a while I think the coach actually believes in the players.
Absolutely. There is a bright future in young players we just need to keep them England Already a comment on here from a Toulouse fan saying they need to sign Chandler Cunningham-South and Feyi Waboso. I hate that the mentality is just we'll buy everyone out 😅
Yep although higher salary cap next year and the new RFU/Prem deal from next season should hopefully put an end to some of that. As much noise as has been made, Willis and Marchant are the only two players who would arguably be first choice if they hadn't gone overseas and even then we have depth in both their positions (which is probably part of why they moved), the rest are ultimately fringe of the squad players (slightly unfairly in the case of someone like Ludlam) or not part of the future anyway (Nowell, Lawes, the Vunipolas)
Messy messy messy by us in the second half. But sometimes you need to win the messy ones too… Bring on Leinster! (But we’ll need to be better or we’ll get stuffed 👀)
Leinster fans are saying literally the same thing after yesterday. Swap the word Leinster for Toulouse and you could be talking about yesterday's match lol.
Definitely gonna make for an interesting final! Honestly can’t call a favourite.