Champions Cup Qualification

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

I believe Australia are in the Euro Song Contest, so who knows in this mad world.

Money talks....

[jgriffin]

Not sure I like the idea of SA teams in the European competitions. I mean aside from the obvious.

But may be the cat is out of the bag with them being allowed in the Pro14.

Again, I may have not been following events here but why are SA teams coming into the European league system?

Think the main issue is time Zones. So relative to British Summer time, South Africa is 1 hour ahead, (2 hours ahead during GMT). For South African teams therefore there's a lot smaller time difference playing league rugby with European teams than Australian or Kiwi teams.

There is a big health issue too, with many complaints of (non-performance) drugs and dietary schedules being used to manipulate circadian rhythms - a process that can lead to long-term illness.

[Dokie]

Not sure I like the idea of SA teams in the European competitions. I mean aside from the obvious.

But may be the cat is out of the bag with them being allowed in the Pro14.

Again, I may have not been following events here but why are SA teams coming into the European league system?

I don’t know if there are plans for change but when the Cheetahs and Kings played in the pro 14, they couldn’t qualify for the Euro competitions.

I guess if they are allowed to play in a European domestic league it makes sense they are eligible for European cup competitions.

Reading up I see the idea of USA or Canadian teams entering the Pro14 was once mooted and I don't believe has been entirely abandoned. Mmmm...

I think that ship has sailed because of Major League Rugby.

[TigerFeetSteve]

i understands there will be 24 teams in the Champions Cup again, including eight from England, but with one place reserved for the winners of this year’s Challenge Cup.

So Leicester, currently eighth in the Premiership, and Bath, one place above them and awaiting their own semi-final with Montpellier on Saturday, have two ways of returning to the top-tier event.

https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/l ... TO=newsnow

So it looks like top 8 qualify for Champions Cup OR if us or Bath win the Challenge Cup (if I read this right) it will be top 7, if the team that wins it finishes outside the top 8.

[Crofty]

i understands there will be 24 teams in the Champions Cup again, including eight from England, but with one place reserved for the winners of this year’s Challenge Cup.

So Leicester, currently eighth in the Premiership, and Bath, one place above them and awaiting their own semi-final with Montpellier on Saturday, have two ways of returning to the top-tier event.

https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/l ... TO=newsnow

So it looks like top 8 qualify for Champions Cup OR if us or Bath win the Challenge Cup (if I read this right) it will be top 7, if the team that wins it finishes outside the top 8.

My eye was more drawn to this titbit;

In the two years before I started last year, the team lost games 12 times when they had gone into the last quarter in a winning position.

I knew it had been bad, but I figured my, "wait for it, we're going to find a way to :censored: it up" was my own natural paranoia, looks like it's based on actual happenings. Not sure how to feel about that.

[Scott1]

That’s a crazy stat,me personally I only ever remember us getting tonked. I’m surprised that there were that many close games!

[Crofty]

That’s a crazy stat,me personally I only ever remember us getting tonked. I’m surprised that there were that many close games!

I remember the tonkings too but they hurt less in many ways, e.g. 45 nill away at Bath, there was a good hour of playing time to come to terms with it, losses with less than 20 mins left, those don't give you the time to be ready before the crowing starts...