In the absence if SH rugby - I warched the Heineken Cup matches

In the absence of SH rugby and bearing in mind Ceradyne's constant preaching about how good NH club rugby is I set time aside to watch the following Heineken Cup games this weekend:-

*   Ulster vs Montpellier

*   Clermont vs Harlequins

*   Toulon vs Cardiff

*   Munster vs Gloucester

Ulster vs Montpellier

This actually was the nicest game thus far this weekend - some really attractive rugby was played and Ulster definitely showed some class - Pienaar was outstanding. 

The match was a bit one-sided though and I was thinking this shows that some good rugby is being played in the NH.    My mood was spoilt when Ceradyne said that Montpellier has been weakened by ijuries to players.

When a weakish team is fielded it often happens that the opposition falls into a trap and does not play good rugby.   To the credit of Ulster they did not fall into that trap.

Clermont vs Harlequnns

This game can at best be described as a mess.   It was basically made up of ball handling mistakes and turnovers in possession.   It was disappointing to see how poor the skillset of players was - especially as to ball handling.

Toulon vs  Cardiff

Watching this game was a serious waste of time.   Cardiff must have the weakest tight five forwards in the whole competition- hence the farce that ensued in the second half.  Halftime the score was 15 -13 in favour of Toulon - with all the Toulon points coming from penalty kicks -  basically resulting from the poor display of the Cardiff forwards.

Then followed the complete collapse of the Cardiff forward pack and the unique first I have ever seen in any rugby match I watched - the awarding of three penalty tries to Toulon.     In the process the referee was handing out yellow cards to Cardiff players like it was unbelievable.    Toulon actually managed to score one try through a backline attacking move.   However despite the Cardiff joke forwards they actually managed to score two tries by individual players.

Was this game a farce?   It was and was a waste of time to watch,

Munster vs Gloucester

Gloucester obviously is a weak team and the game was marred by penalties awarded against both sides   Ball handling skills was not much better than in the  Clermont - Harlequins  game.

Saffex is always on about CJ Stander and I was disappointed to see he was on the Munster bench.    He got about 5  minutes playing time at the very end of the game when the outcome was already on the cards.  Is he another seriously over-rated player?   The fact hat e do not make the Munster starting line up indicates as such. 

Summary

On average the games confirm my opinion - the rugby played by NH clubs are basically on par with the level the Vodacom Cup is played in SA.   Some of the stronger clubs might be able to compete on Group 1 CC level  - nothing more.

Incidentally Edinburgh won their game against Perpignan as well,  During broadcasting of the Munster game - te commentators said the club is now known as the Edinboks.      

 Mozart

There is no difference between the young players who are bench players and the experienced ones who only manage to make the bench for club sides.   In the case of the young players Safffex have touted we have Stander - in the case of the experienced ones we have Morne Steyn and Gurthro Steenkamp.   The difference is that the latter two were selected erroneously for the Springbok side - end of story.  

Mozart

I think you are referring to Quinn Roux - Saffex will know what happened to him.    However, it really is not important.   Saffex often have some weird selection - often based one match wonders or the size of players.  I do not base my own observations on same.

I look at what actually happen during games and if others differ - I look at the stats as well - whilst trying to watch the game again making note of the participation in particular of the controversial players. 

I do not run down players like Morne Steyn and Alberts - they do it themselves by what they actually produce during games.  

Oh sure Dave, Quinn is making his  way back.....by the long road. He played for the B team in early December and hasn't even made his way onto the bench for the A team in January!

That's what we would expect from a Springbok candidate? Face it these guys are already slipping away. Ludeke and Alistair Coetzee had it dead right.

 Saffex

We will see next week which players are selected for their clubs.  By the way I was not overly -impressed by Saracens today - which team  is the present log leaders in the Aviva competition?

Saffex

It could be a close game because most of the Sharks players have played no rugby for three months and they are playing in the NH under conditions they are not really used to. 

I did not write of CJ Stander - my comments were I was disappointed because he was on the bench - came on for 4 minutes and did nothing in that time.   I saw Mozart's comments and yours and my remarks relate to team selection next week.

You may be overrating Stander - he definitely last year when he did play a few games in Super 15 and on CC level  - was nowhere near either Arno Botha or Labuschagne insofar as performance is concerned.   Have not seen enough of him to make a call on his potential though.    

What is the log position in the Aviva championship at this stage - please?