0:06

And to the final moments, Alex Pain

0:08

Trying to keep the site going forward.

0:11

Haskell takes that on. know it. Relentless

0:13

chat largely about himself. And there's Ten.dot

0:15

the finishing touch of glamour and World

0:18

Cup winning stories and a slightly sideways

0:20

knows that is how your podcast a

0:22

dominant display by the good, the bad

0:24

on the rug. Be. A.

0:30

Good as this weekend you to be. As

0:32

good as it gets. really north Hampton

0:34

you know on a good day with

0:36

all things go right at their best

0:38

could exploit some of those those elbows.

0:40

A great opportunity for someone that they

0:42

will is the best line player and

0:44

give would be an absolute disaster for

0:46

Lanced. or if they lose that game

0:48

in the semifinal at home in and

0:50

Crow Park every in the commons with

0:52

that quins in their head will be

0:54

saying let's school fifty points they will

0:56

go from the gun is de Toulouse

0:59

back is much bigger than the Bilderberg.

1:01

They are absolute freaks. Of Nature. A

1:04

don't see both semifinals been

1:06

applied to amazing happens in

1:08

semifinals. Hello!

1:13

Dream Team will come along to this week's episode

1:15

of the good the Bad: the rugby parties with

1:17

a very good friends at Consul Tos hope you're

1:19

well as get better be was I was trying

1:21

keep you guessing and this week show I think

1:23

is the latest in a bit of a yo

1:26

yo and series. We had Apollo the Gladiator a

1:28

few weeks ago Gus can call him, he has

1:30

Steve Borthwick and last week we had to. Work.

1:33

As an award it was really the Millennials of

1:35

Haskell Johnny Way and that a sketch. I just

1:37

want it quickly pick up one piece of feedback

1:39

which was left by Loot Thomas on the You

1:41

Tube channels had. This is basically mom and Dad

1:44

have got a way of left big brother in

1:46

charge. Unreal. dynamic. It was absolute chaos. If you

1:48

haven't listened to and I can't imagine the three

1:50

of you have spent a lot of time this.

1:53

he's lost his coat and if you listen to

1:55

it, please do. But this week, Genetics thankfully is

1:57

very much back in the building and we have.

2:00

The Champions Cup Invested Champions Cup

2:02

special for you. With.

2:04

The three wise men on Oswego find much

2:06

will rugby opiate seats are it was it

2:08

had been case the same Hogan and Will

2:10

Grammars. With. How many European titles

2:12

between you? I got

2:14

none so you got a is European side

2:17

he did you look? I'm not delusional is

2:19

how the real one reich a while you

2:21

one with claremont be a challenge The cops

2:23

immediately under my telescope. As hot as a

2:25

society to have a sponsor about on several

2:27

what would we want? We want a couple

2:29

of the sun's gonna say the Lord's Prayer

2:31

for your master Alpha as account holder. The

2:34

Mickey Mouse Cup usually does does the are

2:36

you want to dirty mouth garage on knob

2:38

on and plan on playing Clement a new

2:40

your the big boy in the room. Graders

2:43

and blue of the day family finals,

2:45

losing finals or. To. Get

2:47

through that as well, we'll I had one and

2:49

I had one of the Ago and Senate as

2:52

well. You know from our daily for money or

2:54

kits I don't have many shares in. The guys

2:56

are times when when is it as I'm him

2:58

sit twenty dinosaur European special thoughts and I think

3:00

of course. Think about the cell

3:03

sought to is ah David David Vanity

3:05

Fair. Ah, Brave. Ninety Seven cost less

3:07

than that. A size or less to

3:09

beat. Put fifty on to lives in

3:11

the semi custom yet and to Michael

3:13

that so we rolled in exotic. Go.

3:15

He really does. Through these us a

3:17

brief that a potus laser like ours

3:19

is a couple of weeks ago. Assertive,

3:21

aggressive, As Holy See

3:23

has Gregory Catalyze, who could he get?

3:26

Oh my god. He's outset monster and

3:28

their backline out carbonneau scupper know at

3:30

nine. Damage. Punish.on

3:32

at Ten Good Christopher Amazon The

3:35

Architect to the Ninety Nine. Comeback.

3:37

Against New Zealand in this and to

3:40

with vaunted t always forget one wing

3:42

kara via I have the opposite is

3:44

hugely talks to say necessarily took us

3:46

to the slaves despite how big the

3:48

shit will you tell us amicus it

3:51

is how agree with family. Power

3:54

doesn't say I was shown. it's my youngest last

3:56

night. at least a

3:58

reasonable size only sixteen but It

4:00

literally could be a sleeping bag. Yeah. Extraordinary.

4:04

And weighing four and a half kilos as well. Even

4:06

if it was raining. That's 10 keg by our time.

4:09

What was funny about that game in many ways

4:11

was, because obviously Toulouse beat in Cardiff the year

4:13

before, in Cardiff, but almost

4:15

that final you've just referenced was the one that

4:17

really began to capture the imagination for exactly the

4:19

reason you've said, which was suddenly

4:22

it became this kind of tournament where teams were

4:24

arriving who you didn't really know and yet

4:26

they were lifting the pod. Do you remember it? Being a

4:28

big day, a big game, a big occasion. Yeah, huge.

4:31

I remember I got three points driving through a

4:33

little village called Kirby, I lived with Austin at

4:36

the time. And driving back

4:38

from training at Oval Park, I

4:41

got done for 36 in the 30, pulled over, speed

4:44

gun, policeman pulls me over, clocks.

4:48

So anyway, he gives me the ticket and I swear to

4:50

you, at the end he goes, I don't

4:52

suppose there's a chance of a couple of tickets on Saturday. And

4:55

I was like, well, you could have. There was.

4:59

But even though I was right, the following week I

5:02

bump into him in a nightclub in Leicester the Cornish Games

5:05

and he comes up and goes, oh, well,

5:07

I'm like, dude, you're not getting it, are

5:09

you? You're not getting it. No points, we

5:11

made it, you can have tickets. Points,

5:15

leave me alone, quietly. Amazing.

5:19

Do you want to answer the question that he asked or

5:21

should we just move into the show itself? What

5:23

about the number of finals lost? Look, nobody

5:25

in the world has lost more than me. So

5:29

it's a record on its own. Five. Is

5:31

there one in particular that stings more than the others or do you

5:33

just fumble them all in as well? No, no. Look,

5:36

genuinely I had a long time to think about

5:38

it, but it's quite a fair few times. I

5:41

lost five finals, four of them got

5:44

beaten by Bethesite. 2017

5:46

in Edinburgh against Saracens. It's a miracle we

5:48

don't lose by 40 points. They

5:52

were really better than us. 15 months

5:54

to two long team At

5:56

the pinnacle of what they've done. The Only

5:58

one that genuinely hurts. Is the

6:01

two thousand and thirteen a eva care

6:03

more too long limited on armitage, yeah,

6:05

that's a book jobs as we lose

6:07

by one point? So very very Nightmares

6:10

debt the only I can so it doesn't have you know

6:12

shape or form. Of so

6:14

much commotion you're taping. yeah I know that doesn't

6:16

give you a medal in any way shape or

6:18

form but your team we're at it was a

6:20

we wish we did a lot of work for

6:23

the guy and in the drawer would come out

6:25

would go please can we have them please can

6:27

that's the game you wanted to daytona did you

6:29

did you did the semi against Leinster Bertha you

6:31

stop the already in your yeah me because I

6:34

were that was I was like they were that

6:36

were sold as many drunk there or pile of

6:38

an hour ago hit by the egg recording might

6:40

me sick of it was obvious sort of the

6:42

presentation run around about. This year with a

6:44

gunshot they were under that was the Rob

6:47

Kearney that in Haiti in cycle with the

6:49

Iran Contra going to drop was no drop

6:51

over the my yes you out of the

6:53

stuff on our but that's that's that's another

6:55

semi final and bulldog. And two

6:57

thousand and eleven all and and you

6:59

guys smoke also the week after that in

7:01

the final at the airport for talking

7:03

on the as me with as often as

7:05

is go such as though the body idea

7:08

of the phone to drop. That said

7:10

what you're thinking of we've we've got to

7:12

get something without the we're always overgrowth Again

7:14

devil's bargain a lot I the com

7:16

or amazing games yes that was a phony

7:19

reminder Mate was a plan I mean is

7:21

as close the. As

7:24

good as outside. Sent to jail cells eleven

7:26

thousand and twelve. Best attacking player in

7:28

the world, probably. And then unfortunately

7:30

you can sustain couple of injuries. Bit of a

7:32

Ferrari he needs to be absurd the hundred percent

7:35

otherwise you can't really a perform but. Other.

7:39

You're not a great one for nostalgia, but as

7:41

he kept the medals in the shirts of. Nine.

7:44

Eleven am I had their their caps I

7:46

haven't My dad was was brilliant other he's

7:48

at the mall is very so touching him

7:50

he'd have them ourselves. it opens of my

7:52

lions begin to be lions bags that he

7:55

gets all the desert jerseys are there he

7:57

kept all the all the good ones and.

8:00

Out on them. On. A to the

8:02

middle manager. yeah so my dad died

8:04

a Christmas and death am one or

8:06

them. We're so we're having something to

8:08

put them into the certain Noranda around

8:10

the coffin and he had a nose

8:12

from the first game I played against

8:14

the All Blacks which is that Joe

8:16

Loma was play the opposite way says

8:18

and he had to. Am.

8:21

Be of and of either vs. New

8:23

Zealand's as two thousand and one would

8:25

ever was am saying I played as

8:27

it has a job alone is like

8:29

which is odious A.father would right yeah

8:31

so is a beautiful sort of message

8:33

that I did know but.actually be brought

8:35

I just ran Christmas of my brothers

8:37

had descended dad wrote you a message

8:39

that there was a very towards as

8:41

to nice know there's no such as

8:43

ours was an old I was when

8:45

I got my first cup that of

8:47

facts and have a fax ah never

8:49

backward step from Iowa. Really? I

8:51

just that was in set November

8:53

fifth Days Australia, Twickenham Horn and

8:55

little opposite. Oh think about a

8:57

service covered funds and little the

9:00

following week. Twice

9:02

in three weeks. And then the other one was

9:04

mode Remove Larue sort of a mother's goalies. That

9:07

the facts above you keep little bits are

9:09

that is never a backward step and a lotta

9:12

rules about know. I know he bought the

9:14

quote from someone else, but it's just one

9:16

of those things I thought every time a former

9:18

self genuinely of the field with yeah. Health

9:20

issues, family says whatever. just go back to

9:23

dad's facts and discuss. Just find a way

9:25

to keep movies out and so I don't

9:27

I don't have them everywhere but the I

9:29

know there there which I think is a

9:32

comfort you there and when let's define he

9:34

did it because you had a few run

9:36

apps and I remember doing that game in

9:38

the web will signal and your balls lord

9:40

I think as long as a service I

9:43

do say to the to lose lose us

9:45

or yeah but you had those amazing days

9:47

without any other months to gauge and well

9:49

when you finally. did it do you

9:52

remember the i remembered so well

9:54

the real i'm not actually just

9:56

pads and goose bumps there cause

9:58

it was just daniel relief.

10:01

So there was an interesting lead up

10:03

to that. We were

10:06

very very strong then to the team very early,

10:08

kind of young guys all coming on, doing great.

10:11

We won a Celtic league and

10:14

it just never happened and the monster took over

10:16

and we were tipping away and doing okay but

10:18

just never quite getting there and then we had

10:20

quite a transitional period of different coaches. Then

10:23

we got to that year in 2006

10:26

where it felt like it was clicking

10:28

with check and we had that amazing

10:30

game in the semi-final

10:32

and we played against a monster

10:34

and a monster humiliated

10:36

us. First of all

10:39

we went out to the pitch and apparently there was

10:41

no lead to support us there. Somehow a monster had

10:43

got all the tickets. It was meant to be our

10:45

home game and so the

10:48

atmosphere was incredible. We didn't deliver

10:50

at all and I remember after

10:53

that we left the stadium and

10:55

I went up myself, Dennis Hickey

10:57

and Brian Drusco, went up

10:59

to Brian's house and

11:01

sat down and just started drinking because

11:04

we were too embarrassed to leave

11:06

to face anyone that would go even

11:09

for a pub. We had a few jars and we went out

11:11

afterwards but it was humiliating

11:13

because we were so badly beaten and

11:16

because it was a monster. So we

11:18

were carrying that through and next

11:20

year it didn't happen and then

11:22

the next year things were not

11:24

quite going right for us

11:26

but we kind of knew that the progression

11:29

was being made and I lost my place

11:31

for Ireland that year. So all

11:33

of a sudden I was staring down and I lost

11:35

my place for Leinster. I was ill before Christmas. I

11:37

spent a couple of weeks in the hospital so I

11:39

lost my place on both of them. Me

11:41

too. I said I was

11:44

playing on the wing instead of full back and

11:46

it was that new generation who come in with

11:48

Rob and Luke and

11:51

Tommy Bowe and

11:53

I was on the down, I was definitely on

11:55

the, I felt like the down road anyway and

11:57

they were coming in fresh so they took over.

11:59

Water ground slam. Haven't. We spent

12:01

the last it out. eight years of my

12:03

life trying to win the grand slam. So

12:05

they'd service eve in a minute. what I've

12:07

been trying to my whole life and then

12:09

you are. Then I wasn't. I didn't get

12:12

picked for the I'm at the Harlequins game.

12:14

I. Saw. This. Is it that

12:16

this is the my current like gate death

12:18

and I was dementia? go on as this

12:21

is my career. Whimpering, X

12:23

no such as women, this is it.

12:25

And and and have a not, she's

12:27

around slumps, haven't spent twelve years trying

12:29

to win a am I in corpus

12:31

of as then. With Lancer

12:34

and not happening and then

12:36

just flicked. And.

12:38

We were massive underdogs. don't into the game

12:41

against Munster he remember for someone off ugly

12:43

at least one I think of when may

12:45

be too but they were to complete dominant

12:47

force ago know six in a way yeah

12:49

so wasn't even the case that you know

12:51

we were gonna get pumped again that was

12:53

you know that on for the bookies were

12:56

like that as well and we went and

12:58

for us to check it was all a

13:00

for attack so he had me on one

13:02

wing and at a place is a full

13:04

bike and a was Lucille the other. And.

13:07

It just clicked for us. And. Then it was

13:10

all on and then was that that the game

13:12

against Leicester which was a vase. It was a

13:14

glamorous game that it was like as grind de

13:16

stress you games but the relief. And.

13:18

You know he the of though you've always say

13:20

because only the pictures afterwards where i my born

13:23

in crying and it's because of the relief that

13:25

actually to something tangible here in a career you

13:27

know and which didn't look like it was gonna

13:29

be. Can. i just three

13:31

one name you from that fun and particular

13:33

i think i notice like done it was

13:35

get that gone out of solitude i yes

13:37

yes insisting it because i easy and i

13:39

think it still guy for know that we

13:41

oh yeah absolutely bar on say so good

13:43

as to guns but the way it goes

13:45

viral because he's was you're bouncing oh that's

13:48

lovely sportsmanship from us has just a legacy

13:50

checks on the unpacked put the unpack say

13:52

hogan is not so dance with his head

13:54

on her voice continuous you just run a

13:56

sweet well yourself was it's whatever this whatever

13:58

the opposite of sportsmanship That's what

14:00

that was, what was going on. So we

14:02

had, there was a ball kicked through, and

14:04

I was hyper for the game, you know,

14:06

because you are hyper for the game, and

14:08

the ball kicked through, and a large part

14:10

of my game was chasing gigs. And

14:13

it was running into the right

14:15

hand corner, not far from your

14:17

goal line actually. And I

14:21

kind of, too laggy was blocking me off. I

14:23

sort of pushed him in the back, which in

14:25

retrospect was the smartest move. That

14:27

is the definition of pointing to the back. I wasn't

14:30

even really noticed, but he obviously had it in his

14:32

mind. I sure maybe had it in my mind in

14:34

the first place. And

14:36

then, sort of fast forwards, it

14:39

was a good, I would say, 50 minutes there, because

14:41

that was like maybe certainly into the second half. And

14:46

we kicked the ball deep, and we had a kick chase

14:48

line, and the kick chase line wasn't that great, and I

14:50

was almost a shooter out of it. And

14:53

I'm kind of like, lads, where's the defensive

14:55

line? Oh, no, I'm going to have to

14:57

tackle this. And he didn't even hesitate about

14:59

running straight into it. And he didn't no

15:01

sidestep, nothing. And he ran straight into me,

15:04

and there was no chance I was

15:06

going to knock him backwards. And he just rolled

15:09

me over. I think he fell over as a

15:11

result, not because of my tackle,

15:13

just because I was there. And

15:15

so I really felt it. But I

15:18

was proud of myself, because I got up and

15:20

got into the defensive line for the next time. I'm

15:23

sure eggs is eggs. What happens? The

15:25

next runner comes straight at me again. So I think we're

15:27

talking about 10 minutes to recover from that. Amazing.

15:30

The iconic moments. I love going down

15:32

memory lane with those of you who have been

15:34

there. We have pulled together, I mean, there are

15:36

10 sort of starter points, really, to get

15:39

stuck into around this weekend's Investech Champions Cup

15:41

semi-finals. Should we just go with the obvious,

15:43

which is that we've got four teams in

15:45

the semis that love to play. Lenz

15:48

and Northampton at Croke Park as well, which adds

15:50

a little bit of extra for the purists and

15:53

to lose against Quinn's, which is game meet

15:55

game. How good? How

15:58

good is this weekend going to be? as

16:00

it gets really. The symbolic

16:02

of Cork Park, the incapacity

16:04

for Toulouse to underestimate

16:07

the attacking ability and attacking threat of Quinn's.

16:09

And it will be at the stadium of

16:11

Toulouse which is the Ernest Vallon, the other

16:13

one slightly bigger and they don't go there

16:16

that often. So

16:18

I think everything will be set. Hopefully it will

16:20

be a dry day and ready for everybody to

16:22

play. North Ham have absolutely nothing to lose in

16:24

the symbolic moment of

16:26

Cork Park. Toulouse will play. Can

16:28

I just don't clap that sentence?

16:30

They have nothing to lose.

16:32

I don't quite

16:35

get that. It

16:37

comes out, I'm not having a word there. What if

16:40

they have nothing to lose actually in

16:42

a sporting occasion? They have everything to

16:44

lose. It means if you end

16:46

up losing, you're not afraid of stepping out

16:48

your house like he did when they got

16:50

crushed by Mancini. There's no humiliation at

16:53

losing Toulouse, that's all I mean. But

16:55

absolutely of course they will be heartbroken if

16:57

they don't manage to reach the finals because

16:59

that's what they want to do, that's what

17:01

they prepared the whole season for and they're

17:03

absolutely backing themselves at being able to

17:05

do it. That's the only thing that I mean. And

17:08

I think it's maybe more

17:10

from the outside as

17:12

opposed to out there. I agree with you.

17:14

I often hear that. And I mean

17:18

say Northampton's changing room now or

17:20

Quinn's changing room. Northampton's, are

17:22

they motivated by people saying there's nothing to lose?

17:25

There is different occasions where you do think

17:27

their expectation is higher. There's a comfort in

17:29

being an underdog sometimes. You go listen, you

17:32

just rock up and you know it's actually

17:34

our expectation that we believe we can but

17:36

nobody else does as opposed to there can

17:38

be an outside pressure that comes on that,

17:41

you know, it exists with

17:43

Leinster. Like it would be

17:45

an absolute disaster for Leinster

17:47

if they lose that game.

17:49

In the semi-final, in at

17:51

home, in Crow Park,

17:53

everything that comes with that against

17:55

a team that they should beat.

17:57

So, you know, we say they have, you

17:59

know, like they have everything to lose almost. Yeah,

18:02

no, I totally get it. I just

18:04

sometimes feel that in

18:08

Northampton, are we talking about the fact that if

18:10

were they to lose against Leinster this weekend, it's not

18:12

the sort of game they'll be remembering 15 years later.

18:15

Oh, that's the game we should have won. I think

18:18

that breathe, you think about that one

18:20

game against too long. Yeah, it's

18:23

sort of contextualizing where they

18:25

are as a team and the

18:27

opposition. The fact that

18:29

it's I think it's Quinn's first ever European

18:31

Cup semi-final, the extraordinary

18:34

stat for a club of the prestige that

18:36

they are. A bit of a

18:38

surprise, is it more of the same for

18:40

them? I mean, how do they travel

18:42

to Toulouse and shock the

18:44

aristocrat? How did they do it against

18:46

Bordeaux? I did not give them the

18:48

slightest chance. Bordeaux beat Sarri's by 50,

18:50

Sarri's beat Quinn's by 50, Quinn's

18:53

turn up, it should be 100, Quinn's beat

18:55

Bordeaux without Marler and Danica. Weirdly enough, has

18:57

Will Porter been playing better than Danica anyway?

19:01

And Finn Baxter is starting to turn up.

19:03

I think the reality is, I mean, we might get

19:06

into detail later. I mean, I know the monstrosity and

19:08

the size of the Toulouse pack and

19:10

their ability to play, I get the individual. I

19:13

don't see Toulouse's backline

19:16

as a totally coherent

19:18

narrative that says they are empathetic,

19:21

symbiotic to what's going on. Cost,

19:25

young kid coming through wants to pull some trees up,

19:28

Aki can shoot and jump out the line and make

19:30

his own call. Malia, I'm never

19:33

quite sure of, gets on the end

19:35

of some absolute bangers. Lebel, amazing feat

19:37

there, Kinghorn's relatively new to it, wonderful

19:39

player. So I think Quinn's go to

19:41

it going, we get our

19:44

game, our structure's going, and we go

19:46

bang bang, one, two quick tries, which

19:48

they can do. I think trying

19:50

getting to lose to Chet,

19:53

I give Quinn's a chance. but

20:00

the Leinster Toulouse game

20:02

in 2006 where Toulouse

20:05

were, and still ours, but the

20:07

aristocrats, and we were a good

20:10

team with good players that hadn't

20:12

delivered but were capable of scoring

20:14

tries and playing in a very

20:17

expansive way. And it

20:19

clicked with Leinster that day and

20:21

you do feel that the

20:24

way Harley Quinn's play,

20:27

they can click and they can score those tries,

20:29

which they may need to score from their own

20:32

And that doesn't mean it's not complete like Babazz where you're

20:34

throwing it all over the place. It's

20:36

identifying an opportunity under the baking

20:39

heat with maybe a forward

20:42

pack who are sucking in the

20:44

clouds a little bit, they're feeling a bit of pressure

20:47

and you go, right, it's on and then it's three passes and

20:49

then go. And having the

20:52

nous to do it and having the ambition and the bottle to

20:54

do it and being aware of it. I

20:57

don't I don't I believe it's mission impossible

20:59

for Quinn's unfortunately. Yeah, because because

21:01

two things because the Toulouse pack is much bigger

21:03

than the bottle pack. They

21:05

are absolute freaks of nature. Right. Meafu

21:08

at the moment is is just a force on it

21:10

on its own. They're going to

21:12

be able to to slow the ball down. They will

21:15

not care about not lightening up the player. Toulouse at

21:17

eight. Who will be eight? Probably

21:19

Ruma. Ruma or Francois Krosz, I

21:21

don't know. I

21:24

think we will definitely be in there anyway because

21:26

he's smoking it. I don't I don't know. It's

21:28

a good question. It might that might influence who

21:30

they will pick or not. But I think

21:32

they will have a 10 not till Garcia who played

21:34

for Bordeaux. They will have a 10 with Antemac who

21:36

will be ready to bomb it wherever they need. They

21:38

put plaking horn on the on the wing now. I

21:40

actually worked out really well last week and that might

21:42

be the balance that they needed to sort

21:44

out a little bit how they do it. So I

21:47

think they will keep the ball in the forwards

21:49

and they were so big and so powerful that

21:51

they can't just relax those Queens forwards as long

21:53

as it takes. And they will have a

21:55

10 to control the game for them. I think

21:57

that little sparkle of there's nothing

21:59

better than. And I think that

22:02

the Ugo Mora and all those guys will

22:04

show press coverage of, do you want to

22:06

be Bordeaux a couple of weeks ago? Do

22:08

you want to replicate all the mistakes they made? Do you

22:10

want to not give the

22:12

respect that Quinn's should have given

22:14

their past recent history? I think they will

22:16

show a 20. I can already see Ugo

22:18

Mora printing out a picture of the 28-0, I think it's

22:21

Bristol Bears, semi-final, the permiship, and Quinn's comeback.

22:23

They will just show it everywhere and then

22:26

wind the players up. Do not be the

22:28

fools to take it for granted. However, all

22:30

that are given, I don't think it's possible for

22:32

Quinn. Quinn's will go, let's make it 55-50

22:34

and get into it. And

22:39

you go, you think, that's great to take to lose

22:41

on at that game. But they have to go. They

22:43

have to go play that, have to make it as

22:45

loose as possible, drag them into it. Because they get

22:47

it as loose as possible. Marcus puts Caden Murley off

22:49

his outside shoulder. He drops Don Brant on his inside

22:51

shoulder by going. They have,

22:54

I don't think they, I think they, Quinn's in

22:56

their head will be saying, let's

22:58

score 50 points. And if

23:00

we lose a 50, then fine. It

23:03

was 42-41 or whatever it was against

23:05

Bordeaux. But in their mindset, they will

23:07

go from the gun. Absolutely.

23:09

I won't be worried about going 20-46-8 going

23:11

down. No,

23:14

no. Just make it as fast and

23:16

as loose as possible. Northmore's back and

23:18

could, given the direction in the midfield,

23:20

they can play off and behind.

23:23

Look, I'm sitting sort of here as

23:25

an Englishman and as an expert, I'm trying to find reasons.

23:28

I don't see both semi-finals being a blowout.

23:32

We've watched European Rubik for so many years,

23:34

and there are two dominant sides in it.

23:36

It's amazing what happens in semi-finals. You

23:38

get to 60 minutes, and there's a

23:41

yellow card or whatever. Something takes place.

23:43

And of the two that I can

23:45

see being closer, I

23:47

give Quinn's slightly more of a

23:49

chance than Northhampton. Take

23:52

us to events at Croke Park. That's

23:55

the calmest. When

23:57

was the last time I was here? A few weeks ago, before? In

24:00

the game and something in all and when.

24:02

Yeah, but I could see how. I

24:05

didn't think that they would with that that

24:07

I could see having them could win and

24:09

that's where the but I didn't believe they

24:11

would. I think you could make a similar

24:14

case and with Anthem I think you know

24:16

you could see a C o a circumstance

24:18

where where series events that them they could

24:20

win but damn and I would. You gotta

24:23

be honest about this Lancer their best I

24:25

think you know it's only to lose. I

24:27

think I could live with them in this

24:29

in this tournament. So am the of the

24:32

weekend depends whether I'm Dave amp deliver of

24:34

a performance. That in of in their

24:36

differential Really luxury worries that on his

24:38

ring road back know it but like

24:41

it's the average ring with less less

24:43

of an M an issue Bizarrely to

24:45

know when Osborne as as of right

24:48

very well they're Am the sensors are

24:50

the line speed is faster saying that

24:52

the am bar the difference that he's

24:55

made was that was notable release in

24:57

the last European Cup game he said

24:59

i think we have is already said

25:02

it's gonna take something like fourteen weeks

25:04

for. This new system Tibet in and

25:06

in. I think it was thirteen weeks

25:08

run and we saw some difference in

25:10

the way alonso descending and and if

25:13

they if they continue on with that

25:15

then I.is a big issue for for

25:17

North Hampton Bullet Gray opportunity to someone

25:19

at the Moolah is the best line

25:21

player in England. The best bloke outlined

25:23

a get it forty weeks maybe it

25:25

needs sixty weeks Tibet in and that's

25:27

what. Know that they'll go out them

25:29

hard on the go Nine twelve a

25:32

lot. Ah get spin out the back.

25:34

And a proud about six Freeman back

25:36

on the wing by that Litchfield and

25:38

said but they we'll go back into

25:41

the midfield. ah if I was Adonis

25:43

Hutchinson is for either. I'd go with

25:45

both. bonus and again go to Lensed

25:47

and Fry where this is the interesting

25:49

thing right so days because it offensive

25:51

system a slightly different study, more aggressive.

25:54

And I can't choose of loses. his may

25:56

be bigger opportunity for a full on boasts.

25:58

You know that's the way that system. operates

26:00

because previously, lengths are

26:02

very, very consistent the way they defended

26:05

and what maybe Owen did them in the biggest

26:07

days was that they

26:09

were slightly, while a consistent

26:12

line speed and certainly

26:14

not passive, but they

26:18

could, the bigger teams would just

26:20

roll numbers and gradually more

26:23

yardage and more yardage and not massive, but

26:25

just soaking tackles, soaking

26:27

tackles and then the big

26:30

proponents of it were La Rochelle that eventually

26:32

they're in the 22 and then they come

26:34

out with a score. It's just a pressure

26:36

building whereas the new defensive system puts them

26:39

on the offense a bit more, but it

26:41

does leave elbows and you would

26:43

think Northampton, on

26:45

a good day with all things going right at

26:47

their best, could exploit some of those elbows. It's

26:52

a loose question, but you reference that England

26:54

Ireland game and you look at Mitchell, Freeman

26:56

and Fairbank who obviously played for, is there

26:58

anything in what England did to Ireland in

27:01

the Six Nations which is useful for Northampton

27:03

coming into this weekend? Yes, but it's probably

27:06

more likely to be Coles and Lors trying

27:08

to deny Leinster some

27:10

possession and if they

27:12

can attack the touch line as in

27:14

attack Leinster, Leinster is so similar, they

27:16

do so many bounce out plays, the

27:19

way they get away with Jameson Gibson-Bark and Van Der Fleer

27:21

and Henshaw come short and then they go out the back

27:23

or they hit him. That variety that

27:25

they have in that 10 to 15 metre

27:28

challenge just off the edges of Moors, they're

27:30

so clever at that and the best way

27:33

to prevent that is to try and get at them in

27:35

the line-out. The problem is that Leinster's line-out

27:37

is fantastic, but it's Lors, Coles is

27:39

playing really well. They have to try, if they

27:42

can limit Leinster to 70% line-out

27:44

possession as opposed to their normal 90%, then

27:46

again we're finding things that give them a

27:49

chance. Leinster can still win with 50% line-out,

27:51

but Northampton will feel they can

27:53

be in it on minute 60

27:56

if they can deny them the up front possession. If they

27:58

go 100% possession. gram and line

28:00

out then you can't see anything other than

28:03

a lens to victory. Can

28:05

I ask you a quick question about Croke Park? And

28:07

I know the political

28:09

history that goes with it and it's a

28:12

sensitive subject but is this just a

28:14

one-off or is there any way that

28:17

Irish rugby would ever be able to

28:19

use Croke Park on a more regular

28:21

basis? It's such a phenomenal stadium. Yeah

28:23

and its size, the capacity... Is it

28:25

90,000? Yeah well it's not

28:27

kicking the arse off it, I think it's 80

28:29

something. It does make for

28:32

the democratisation of rugby as well which is

28:34

something that rugby needs to do. It's more

28:36

difficult even the capacity

28:39

of Twickenham or

28:41

Stade de France because of your populations

28:43

but actually it makes a difference in

28:46

Ireland if you open that capacity, difference between

28:49

just touching on nearly 50 and 80 especially

28:52

for a Leinster game at this stage

28:54

of the tournament makes a difference, it

28:56

allows people access to tickets which is

28:58

a cohort of

29:00

people who wouldn't normally go and that actually makes

29:02

a difference. That's a reason why people, kids follow

29:05

rugby because they have an experience with

29:07

their mum or their dad or their uncle or their aunt

29:09

going to a game and next thing they're bitten by it

29:12

and they don't have to go every week

29:14

but they have to have an experience of

29:17

an event so I think that opening up

29:19

of rugby and right

29:21

through all the countries in the northern hemisphere, rugby is

29:23

a private school,

29:26

a public school of games so in

29:29

order to expand the footprint

29:32

you want opportunities like this but

29:34

the answer is no because it's just a one

29:36

off. If there was a tournament potentially

29:39

it could be opened up, I don't think there's

29:41

any issue with the GAA who own the stadium

29:43

now, that sort of the genie is out of

29:45

the box after, if England played there surely

29:48

you know you're the lady you're being coped

29:50

there. That's not an issue, it's just that

29:52

the IRFU own the stadium and the Aviva

29:55

and just from an economic point of view

29:57

it wouldn't make sense.

29:59

So the Aviva. by Sharon Croker. You've got

30:01

it sorted. You can do a negotiation. Even

30:03

if it's just a one-off, it will be

30:05

a proper one-off and people will be hooked

30:07

after a performance like that. It is a

30:09

special stage. I've got nothing against Aviva. It's

30:11

very pretty. Cookbok is something

30:14

else. It's a big window. It's huge.

30:16

And it's deep. It

30:19

was a very small period of history

30:21

where Irish rugby players got to play

30:23

in it. While Aviva was being redeveloped,

30:25

and I only played in it twice,

30:27

that first season, played against France had

30:29

an absolute devastating loss.

30:31

It could have been our Grand Slam,

30:33

Vincent Quirk. I like Vincent so much,

30:36

but I hated him that day. And

30:38

then we played the game against

30:41

England, which was just the most

30:43

emotional game, well, the most emotional

30:45

game I ever played, part

30:48

of social history. And then a

30:51

little later we got to play in Spain. And then

30:53

a world record attended the game, Leinster

30:58

versus Munster, the semi-final. So, you know,

31:01

we don't know when the next opportunity for this to

31:03

happen again will be, but it's both this

31:07

and the Northampton players, but the Leinster

31:09

players will be a special experience. What

31:11

will Leinster be nervous of with regards

31:13

to Northampton? I

31:16

think they'll feel they'll be, this kind of feels like what's

31:18

called a media speak,

31:24

but they will be almost entirely

31:26

focused on themselves and their level of delivery of

31:28

what they could do. And I suppose that is

31:30

a little bit of a slight to Northampton actually,

31:32

because there's a little bit of a, we

31:35

are better than you. And if

31:37

we deliver our best game, it actually doesn't

31:40

matter what you deliver. So in terms of

31:42

the sort of the offensive pattern, I

31:44

think, you know, they know what they're doing, you

31:46

know, and we all kind of know what they're

31:49

doing, but trying to stop it is very difficult.

31:51

And the other element of it then

31:53

is this development of the defensive system.

31:55

And you kind of think maybe that

31:58

was the, that was the last

32:00

piece of the puzzle. They'll also have

32:02

learned a number

32:05

of things from their La Rochelle performance

32:07

and you know what they

32:09

did with the selection was slightly different.

32:11

Connors at seven was really interesting purely

32:13

because he's a chop tackler. I

32:16

don't think they'll be thinking the same way this week

32:18

but they might be if they get into the final.

32:21

So on that did they drop,

32:24

I mean it's pretty just that you rested, rotated

32:26

horses for courses. We did genuinely, we're gonna take

32:28

the world prayer of the year and

32:31

stick them on the bench because we're so worried about Aldret and Skelton

32:33

getting around the corner and we need someone in the blue cap

32:35

who's just gonna take them down at

32:37

the knee. I think so. I think there had

32:39

been some injury you

32:41

know in the background but I think it was a

32:43

genuine pick and if you capture

32:46

my back to maybe three years maybe

32:48

maybe not four maybe three years Connors

32:51

was getting picked ahead of

32:53

Ander Fleer for Ireland and then you know

32:56

sort of you know had a couple of dormant

32:59

years because of injury and obviously Ander

33:01

Fleer just went bananas and then but

33:03

I think what they're looking at that

33:05

back row in particular as a unit

33:08

of five you know you know

33:10

there is a lot of good players in the back

33:12

row and Baird you know

33:14

whether he starts whether you know. I run

33:17

a 400m in an Olympic five. You've got

33:19

Connors, you've got Ander

33:21

Fleer, you've got Conan,

33:24

you've got Doris. That's a

33:26

huge unit of power. They're gonna

33:28

be through the whole 90 minutes they're gonna

33:30

make a big difference. So

33:33

I thought Lancer

33:36

looking at things in

33:39

a totally different way against La Rochelle. So

33:41

they had lost the three previous games and

33:43

big big games but what they didn't do

33:45

and maybe what they did in the final last year

33:48

was right we're gonna do what we did the year

33:50

before but we'll do it harder. And

33:53

that didn't work in the final. Now so there was

33:55

still a chance and maybe it's the easy thing to

33:57

do to go weeks if we go even harder again.

34:00

We will beat them this time, but they

34:02

didn't. They looked at things differently and they

34:04

tweaked it. So their defense obviously changed because

34:06

of the Ambar. Their selection was tweaked as

34:08

well, but also they were absolutely ruthless around

34:11

and stopping Bautia from

34:14

the sort of dominant role that he

34:16

has had in those fixtures. I think

34:18

that's what Lancer will be

34:20

looking at again. Clean, fast ball will

34:23

be okay. Okay, you want to speak about Bautia.

34:25

He played his 200 game for La Rochelle last

34:27

week, and so they did a highlight just of

34:29

his highlights. It's the guy who's melting

34:32

people for about 10 minutes. Like

34:35

a kill can through the bottom left corner.

34:37

He is a human cannonball. Every single ball

34:39

implication that he's had is like melting this

34:41

guy, melting this guy, destroying this one, just

34:43

an unbelievable set. But to go back

34:46

to your point, I think what they learned from La Rochelle is

34:48

that the defense needs to change. Now it will be

34:50

really interesting, just purely on the neutral side, to see

34:52

if they have to adapt their defense system.

34:55

Because I think La Rochelle was about

34:58

win the game line, sorry, not allow

35:00

ever La Rochelle to win the game line. So

35:02

you need to go fast off the blocks, win

35:04

those leads as you saw them sprinting at each

35:06

other. Todd Furlong was on a different plan that

35:08

you can tell he was really on a mission

35:10

to stop the big fellas. Was that man marking

35:12

as much? Yeah, well that's

35:15

what I heard, apparently. That's what he asked me to do.

35:17

But also you could tell. You

35:19

know who the La Rochelle ball carriers are.

35:21

You know who's getting the ball. So,

35:25

and you know the difference between me and you

35:27

here, or me there and you here. Like that

35:29

can be done in those close quarters because it's

35:31

not a very wide, it's

35:33

not a very wide attack when they go to that, those

35:37

forward carriers. You kind of know who's getting it,

35:39

but it's trying to stop them. It's a difficult

35:41

thing. Whether it be Aldred, whether it

35:44

be, a different Antonio

35:47

or Baudier, skeleton.

35:49

Yeah, you know who's getting it. But

35:52

you know, it's a different man trying to stop them. But

35:54

I'll be really interested to see if they do the same

35:56

thing in Saints. If it's about not

35:58

allowing them to win the game. or just slowing

36:00

them down period. Yeah. So you might see another

36:03

Jack, you know, Niederberg card

36:05

pull out about, you know,

36:07

choke tackles a little bit more. Just slow

36:09

down anything, every single ruck that you possibly

36:11

can. It's not so much about racing out

36:13

the line, maybe being a little bit tighter

36:15

together. Never let them have under two and

36:17

a half ruck, you know, speed. Because otherwise,

36:19

that's when things get really, really threatening. The

36:21

question being, have you ever known a South

36:23

African changes defensive system? I don't know. Plant

36:27

A, go hard. Plant B, go harder. Go hard.

36:30

Go hard again. You're not going hard enough. With a few

36:32

expected thrown in. Very interesting. I'm going to

36:34

come back to who wins and why a little bit later on.

36:36

Can we just take a little bit of a step out of

36:38

the weekend's fixtures and just look at the tournament at a

36:41

hole? And I say that going back to the weekend's fixtures because

36:43

you've got Claremont against Sharks, the

36:45

Twicken and Stu. We're talking about Toulouse

36:47

and the events at Croke Park are going to be

36:50

the best of Europe. I'm not

36:52

quite sure what that is. Claremont, Sharks,

36:54

I mean, obviously you'll be there, so it'll be a fantastic

36:56

broadcast. But it throws the

36:58

question around South African sides in what

37:01

was Europe is now just the Champions Cup into

37:03

question. Bulls have done no favours

37:05

to the pro South African teams in this

37:07

competition with what happened in the

37:09

last round. South Africa in

37:11

the Champions Cup yet to

37:13

fully fire, therefore yes or no. Look,

37:18

I had a small glimpse of hope

37:20

because I saw things better. I saw

37:22

some French teams delighted about going down

37:24

once to South Africa to face those

37:27

big teams just living a different experience,

37:29

coming back and being really happy. I

37:33

just think we shoot ourselves in the foot.

37:35

Logistically, it's a nightmare and we keep on

37:37

making it so complicated. I thought we hit

37:39

the worst of the worst last year when

37:41

you heard those guys had to do six

37:45

different travels to get to Europe just because we

37:47

signed a contract with Qatar Airways, I think it

37:49

was. So they couldn't fly British Airways Straight

37:51

to England. I was thinking surely we could have done

37:53

a little bit better, right? They Had to go through

37:55

Doha and then go back to Europe and then again

37:57

do those six flights. That

38:00

is purely stupid. When you signed the thing

38:02

you make sure that loses his dick and

38:04

works and as you would is going to

38:06

get back forced back forth. So yes the

38:08

bulls. I'm not questioning what Jake why did

38:10

in the team selection that's a different story

38:12

but surely we can. We could give ourselves

38:14

a chance of making it better and I

38:16

just think we should yourselves in the first

38:18

or still disappointed the so frustrated because he

38:20

can be better so I'm not totally. A.

38:22

Do I haven't reached a conclusion of

38:24

should they be here, are a part

38:26

of the tournament or not and I'm

38:29

not. Convinced. That it's adding

38:31

anything. it's the free, not European rugby.

38:33

On his side note, I still got

38:35

a call saying that the wording just

38:37

yet so I would in two thousand

38:39

sixty. Was around with the

38:41

begs, a referendum, a Css as sweet as.asia

38:43

was so so so so I saw it.

38:45

I don't know, I don't see what do

38:47

you think about the selection. Certain.

38:49

Things on that super quick on. At one

38:52

it's you're either. We. We welcome

38:54

them with open arms and they can have

38:56

a semifinal hub he can't deny them a

38:58

semifinal which will deal with because was so

39:00

scared me why is this come about so

39:02

sorry for that I did a nice are

39:04

not actually sure thought i was is there

39:06

are other say like it's like everyone here

39:08

see eye to the main and use of

39:10

half about them and see him play. But.

39:13

It is a semi final by the way. You've

39:15

gotta come up and play with such want This

39:17

building the got to be a sort of get

39:19

in the pool stages where you rotate. This has

39:21

to be a follow week. Between.

39:23

Quarterfinals and semifinal. yeah, foot rub sixteen

39:25

and quarter as he's gonna kiss in

39:28

I'm sure lensed would still have been

39:30

Marshall Bill or Sell. Played. Mix.

39:32

it liberal about mister kick that and on

39:34

a plane that had stayed in west of

39:37

ireland to they just wrote home for starting

39:39

fires and were aware of wrote and had

39:41

is there at his wedding or is there

39:43

were twenty years ago right i said there

39:45

is still squeeze number for you buy a

39:47

soda added another sarah gonna have added a

39:49

monster what are the irish water know where

39:51

the la rochelle was a lot i sell

39:53

assets i will play with in six days

39:55

and go play lansdowne and bulls have six

39:57

days of seven days and then have to

39:59

go find themselves at Northampton. And

40:01

so there's two, the

40:04

conclusion is, I don't mind them in,

40:07

but if they're in, you've got to give the

40:09

opportunities in the knockout stages to have a week

40:11

off to travel between South Africa as a joke,

40:14

and then the second thing is, they've got to be allowed

40:16

to have us, you've got to be quarter semis. If they're

40:18

in, they're in, and they can play, if they're the best

40:20

top seed, they get to play at home, and then they

40:22

go hard at it, and we get to see some of

40:24

the best players in the world playing. Okay. Yeah,

40:28

I'm not sure if it's working, to be honest with you,

40:30

but once you let that genie

40:32

out of the bottle, you can't put it

40:34

back in, and I think it's only, it's

40:37

not gonna change. I think there's

40:40

actually a chance that, the

40:43

Springboks is a viable team in the

40:45

six nations. That comes up

40:47

every so often, and it may well do

40:49

again, certainly because of financial

40:52

considerations, and it feels like this

40:55

is the, only, the

41:00

only thing contemplated when we were, bringing

41:03

these teams in. It's not a natural fit,

41:05

it damages the hemisphere of rugby, and

41:08

from my perspective, you know, what's super rugby now,

41:10

used to be one of the, like, you know,

41:13

the most pristine rugby events in the world, the

41:15

ones that we loved watching now. It

41:17

doesn't exist in any sort of other form,

41:19

so, you know, it's not for the betterment

41:21

of rugby, all over the

41:23

world, there's a consideration that it's, it

41:26

makes some financial sense for some

41:28

teams in Europe, and maybe in South Africa,

41:31

but I don't think it is working,

41:33

and the fact that, I get your

41:35

points, it's not fair, they're set up to fail,

41:37

in fairness, but, you know, come on.

41:40

From a PR perspective at least, it's the

41:43

top team, it's the quarterfinal, like, whatever you have

41:45

to do to get the players out, to get

41:48

the best players, yeah, you have to get them

41:50

out, and that is, I think, more

41:52

than anything, I don't think we're necessarily having this

41:54

conversation in the same way, if

41:56

they didn't do, if the Bulls didn't do what they did in the last

41:58

round. had to go away in

42:01

the semi now their seedy puts them there anyway but

42:03

if they knew they had to go away anyway they're

42:05

gonna go well we can win the irk, do they

42:07

call it the irk? Whatever

42:10

it is, you ask, it's a rugby club in

42:12

Rome called irk, that's right. Only

42:14

a couple of things, far too many teams in the bloody

42:16

competition. So I think the final question is then you can

42:18

get through to knockout stages having one-one game so

42:20

the format's a joke. So what

42:22

should it look like then? We've got 8 out

42:25

of 10 from the prem. 5, 6, 7. 5,

42:28

6, 7. 5 from prem, 6

42:30

from top 14, 7 from them because there's 10

42:32

in yards, 14 in there and 16 in there.

42:36

The winner of the challenge cup goes in, winning

42:38

the champions cup goes in. You go back

42:40

to 4 pulls of 5, you have a narrative

42:42

in the knockout in the group stages and

42:45

the top two go through and there's... Anyway

42:48

just a couple of ideas but there was

42:50

a time when there was, I get it because

42:52

of Covid, there were those couple

42:54

of years where there were two 12-team pulls. And you

42:56

knew CAST were never going to turn up. So

42:59

you could pick... It became like

43:01

the Champions League as in the pull stage were a

43:03

complete waste of time. Can we just skip forward to

43:05

February? Yeah. That's the

43:07

whole complexity of we

43:09

are not a world sport yet.

43:13

We need to be, economically,

43:16

sporting wise, I don't know. But

43:19

we're just not hitting the bigger major

43:21

markets. And unfortunately there's

43:24

this equilibrium which

43:26

is impossible to get between more

43:29

economical value by more games and better games

43:31

by more games. And unfortunately for

43:33

me they do not... They

43:36

don't equalise each other. You cannot ask to

43:38

have more teams, to create more TV

43:41

rides, to have more people coming around, to spread

43:43

the world about these beautiful games and create

43:46

quality entertainment. It's just simply undoable because you

43:48

can't ask the players to play more and

43:50

to play more than one week. Because there

43:52

aren't that many fantastic teams that you can

43:54

put in front of each other everywhere. So

43:58

saying that we need to play more. to generate

44:01

more cash is to the

44:03

detriment of the quality of the rugby. And

44:05

also, if you do it too fast, then that's where we

44:07

are. And there's the other thing. Let's look at other markets.

44:10

And that's the solution to everything we're doing. Do you

44:12

remember Saracen's saying over

44:15

in New York a couple of years ago? So

44:18

it's actually not about that, I don't think. It's

44:20

not about finding those markets.

44:22

Come, if your product at home is sorted,

44:24

concentrate on what we're doing here. Lean

44:28

into all the brilliant stuff about European

44:30

rugby, about Six Nation rugby, what makes

44:32

them different, what differentiates themselves. The history

44:34

of rugby. Develop all the

44:36

structures that we need here, the playing base, all

44:38

that stuff. You can't let that wither and just,

44:40

what's over here? What's over at this other big

44:43

market in the States? Oh, shit, that will be

44:45

the solution to everything. It won't be. Actually,

44:47

sort things out at home. Develop

44:50

the game here. Expand this as much

44:52

as it can in Europe, in

44:54

all our countries. And then

44:56

you've got a good footing for the people

44:58

maybe being interested in it then. But not

45:00

letting it wither. And this competition has withered

45:03

over the years. Because they haven't got the format right.

45:05

They've messed around with it, brought it in teams, teams

45:08

out. And it

45:10

doesn't have the, I suppose, the coup,

45:13

not managed to coup, it doesn't have the authority that

45:15

it had a number of years ago. There's a nice

45:17

little suggestion from Charlie Richardson in the Telegraph. They did

45:19

a piece about four weeks ago about how you could

45:21

improve it. I mean, he was thinking left field. He

45:23

goes straight to an FA Cup, straight knockout from round

45:26

one. Which would be

45:28

brilliant. Totally incentivised winning from day one.

45:31

32 teams in it. I'll

45:34

tell you one thing, if that was the case, you'd be

45:36

watching every week. You know, at the moment, you're going to

45:38

get, and I don't, I'm not necessarily a proponent of it.

45:40

I'm not a proponent of it necessarily. But you do think

45:42

that if that was the case, there's not like, oh, I'll

45:44

check in the quarter finals. And

45:46

listen, you know, truth be told, if I wasn't

45:49

watching it, sometimes I have to watch it, you go on, listen,

45:51

I'm not that interested in that game. You know, lengths they're going

45:53

to be in, or months they're going to be there, going to

45:55

be at the knockout stages. So like, why bother? And I know

45:57

I have a lot of friends like that. So,

46:01

you know, if it was an archive... Did

46:03

the Bulls beat Leon? Did

46:06

the Bulls beat Leon together? What team did

46:08

Leon rotate? Second, Bulls.

46:10

Again, again, pointing Kayshira. That's

46:15

a good point that the Greens just made, is that we

46:17

keep on bashing on the South Africans, but

46:20

France did it a couple of times, you know,

46:22

rotating from Scotland. I remember a 70-something

46:24

win from Leinster against Montpelier, and I

46:26

was there, and I was embarrassed. He

46:29

really was a rotated, didn't care type of squad

46:31

type. They went through, because they backed themselves to

46:33

win their 3-up, because they know if I win

46:36

two games, out of my 6 or out of

46:38

my 5, I'll get through anyway. I'll just win my home

46:40

games. They sent an absolute... I

46:42

mean, the kids tried their best, right? But it

46:44

was on second 15, Montpelier's second 15, against Leinster's

46:46

best at the RDS. And you just go... You switch

46:50

over. So, a very quick question, just on

46:52

the Investict Champions Cup as it is now. You

46:55

referenced Super Rugby, which we all used to get up and

46:57

enjoy Saturday mornings watching back in the

46:59

Rockstar days. There is absolutely no doubt that

47:01

that as a tournament has declined, and significantly

47:03

so. You mentioned the fact that the

47:06

Investict Champions Cup, or Honking Cup as it

47:08

was, has drifted. Are we seeing it beginning

47:10

to trend upwards again? What is the direction

47:12

of travel for this competition now, to all

47:14

through? Are we feeling more

47:16

positive about it, or is there still a lot to sort? I

47:19

still love the competition. I really do. I

47:22

think it's still the pinnacle of competition in

47:24

the Northern Hemisphere for clubs, and probably the

47:26

pinnacle in Club Rook. Maybe

47:30

we get a North South. I don't know how

47:32

that's never happened. That's been in the offing, I

47:34

think. In Abu Dhabi, we've got the Abu Dhabi

47:36

Tourism Board on, and we're going to play in

47:38

Sheikh Zaire Stadium. We

47:41

had all the individuals set aside saying, we'll

47:43

do it. When was

47:45

this? Me and a couple

47:47

of mates managed to put a little consortium together

47:50

a few years ago. And then, so all the

47:52

rest would go. Crusaders would go. Sharks would go.

47:55

And then they all found out about

47:57

it, the governing body, Sanzhar, and like,

47:59

that's it. That's not happening, we're not letting

48:01

some private musketeers put on again.

48:03

But Abu Dhabi was prepared to throw a

48:05

bucket load of cash at it. I remember

48:07

there was floated the year we won with

48:09

Cheka, the first year of 2009, there was

48:11

something floated in potentially Monaco bringing Crusaders up

48:14

as well, which was... Albert, Albert of Manichae,

48:16

that's getting better. That's getting better, isn't it?

48:18

Let's get off the yacht. So anyway, listen,

48:20

there's a little bit of a sidetrack there,

48:22

but I still, like then, there

48:25

are, for all its flaws, from

48:29

quarters on, I am absolutely absorbed

48:31

by it. I

48:33

really am, and these games are brilliant. Not

48:37

every one of them, but there's always a couple

48:39

of cracking games in the

48:41

knockout stages in each round.

48:44

So it's a test for you this year. So the quarter-final

48:46

has been amazing, the semis and final will be awesome. And

48:50

I might be completely wrong, you might name four of me now,

48:52

but we all like watching I rugby. Knockout

48:55

game, you remember from this year. Not knockout, pool game.

48:57

Paul Hampton winning at Munster. Paul

48:59

Hampton, Northampton winning at Munster, Northampton winning at Glasgow.

49:01

Yeah, okay, so there are a couple. A

49:04

couple. Oh, yeah, I know. But

49:07

any great LaRochelle had a couple of those,

49:09

they went down to... Was it a

49:11

bull? But we're picking singles here,

49:13

aren't we? Whereas you think back to the glory

49:15

days of the Miracle match, and you

49:18

can go, oh, no, no, no, no, he says

49:20

without going along. Yeah, but are we also, I

49:22

think, a little bit of... Roasted

49:25

to class. Yeah, a little bit of roasted. There weren't all

49:27

those games weren't great, you know, there weren't, but there were

49:29

many good games. I

49:32

remember going to the rec, you know, to play back.

49:34

They were like Rockstar game, really

49:36

good fun, like it on the line.

49:38

There was a lot more games that

49:40

you thought were watchable. It

49:43

was Jeopardy, only two teams get out, or at one

49:45

stage was it Wenes plus two

49:47

runners-up. Those back-to-back fixtures. I love them.

49:49

Yeah, phenomenal in December. I love them.

49:52

The spice that went from game one to game two.

49:55

But even the early days, you'll know there's even

49:57

better that. French

50:00

team or the Welsh team where there was

50:02

like a hundred points. Pong the priest. A

50:04

hundred points. A hundred points week. That also

50:06

happened between Leicester and Ulster. Leicester,

50:08

Ravenhill. Yes, you're absolutely right.

50:12

Wind one way, Belfast, 33-6. Ulster

50:15

beat Leicester. Back to Leicester the next week,

50:17

65-8. Literally a hundred

50:19

points. And

50:21

Jordan Best was mentioned eight times in commentary

50:23

because he was born just round the back

50:26

of the stadium and who's our wonderful, our,

50:28

Matt Robson. Matt Robson would always bring, you

50:30

couldn't do a Ravenhill game without getting Georgie Best

50:32

there. That was straight off the back of

50:34

the World Cup win in 03 because I remember Johnson being booed

50:37

in his track seat on the touchline. Got beat by 30. Yeah,

50:39

exactly. Good luck to them. None of you

50:41

have answered the question. Are we, where are we trending? You were

50:44

trending out from quarter finals. Okay. So

50:46

all the polls say that. You heard a lot of

50:49

criticism, but you heard the love for the game

50:51

and for the quality of rugby that's been displayed.

50:53

And I totally agree with what's been said, you

50:55

know, from corner, quarter and onwards, super

50:58

exciting games with the top teams really

51:00

delivering. You mentioned a couple of French

51:03

teams, Bordeaux have been on fire. And when

51:05

they put 45 on Saracens in Chabon el-Mast,

51:07

that was a proper performance. You

51:09

know, a Toulouse going, going to two

51:11

Quinn's and put it 40 on them. That

51:14

was a proper pool game. So

51:16

there's been some outstanding performances in my

51:18

mind. And

51:20

we, you sort of mentioned it. It's the

51:22

top eight that qualify in top 14 and

51:24

the permanship that is just simply not working

51:26

because it's not giving you the exquisite of

51:28

the elite of the elite, you know, to

51:30

qualify. It's almost mission impossible. I

51:32

mean, what the permish, you've got

51:35

10 clubs now. Yes. Top eight

51:37

qualify. One of those Newcastle Falcons who come with it.

51:39

So from the get go,

51:41

you're killed and your pool stages have to be

51:43

unbearable, have to be with the clubs who've got

51:45

a ton of other things to worry about. And

51:47

simply if you could ask them, would you have

51:49

the, you know, if the money wasn't there to

51:51

do the incentivize to play the Champions Cup, would

51:53

you? They would simply answer, no, thank you. I

51:55

would focus on the club. So I think it's

51:57

about how you qualify to that. That's the problem.

52:00

bit on the Mayanousha that totally confused me this year

52:02

was were there in

52:04

the last 16 there

52:07

are eight matches obviously were seven of

52:09

them repeats or five of

52:11

them repeat from pool matches. We

52:14

should have just gone to the FA Cup. Do you remember why

52:16

they changed the format? It was

52:18

four or five years ago. It's

52:21

been four years consecutively with the same

52:23

teams in the semi-finals and they thought

52:25

that's a disgrace. It was Clermont, Saracens,

52:28

Leinster and I can remember. In too

52:30

long. Yes, in too long. And

52:32

they were like look it doesn't, why not? What's the

52:35

problem with that? Explain to me what the problem is

52:37

with having guys who are working there sucks off to

52:39

get to the semi-final every time. There's a reason why.

52:41

There's a reason why they're there. So

52:43

you try to shuffle it and in the end while you have remixes

52:45

of the pool stages and it's relatively the same teams in the semi-finals

52:48

anyway. But you know interesting you should

52:50

say that. The other thing that

52:52

I think the competition needs is

52:55

consistently good English teams that

52:58

are getting to the final or winning it.

53:01

And that's a one-eyed Irishman.

53:03

That's not really usual. But

53:06

it is really important. It's not enough that

53:08

French teams win every year with sort of

53:10

Leinster thrown in here or there. It's

53:13

actually the need to come to the

53:15

plate. Now that's not even talking about Scottish or Welsh

53:17

teams which would obviously use what you

53:19

want but it doesn't seem at the moment

53:21

very attainable. So what is attainable? English

53:25

teams being successful and that means finals or

53:27

winning. So with that in mind, one

53:29

from URC, one from top 14, two from

53:31

Prem in the semis. Does the Prem

53:34

need a bit more of a pat on the back given what

53:36

that head looks like? Does

53:38

it need a pat on the back or is

53:40

it by default because three teams disappeared and all

53:42

the best teams then all the best players have

53:44

found themselves. I mean I don't want two clubs

53:46

to go bust and lots of people to lose

53:48

their jobs but less

53:56

is more going back to the whole thing and then open up

53:58

some more weekend for some big year. European stuff. So I

54:00

think the reality too of them and getting to the

54:02

top are being helped by what's happened in

54:05

the in with the British with the

54:07

sorry with the English early.

54:09

Okay. We've

54:11

got a quiz for you. You can be as you

54:13

can be as one team and you can do it together and I want to

54:16

ask you who wins and why I did the last thing I wanted to quickly

54:18

ask you about in Ireland specifically

54:20

was Jordy Barrett. Rogers

54:22

come out and had a lot to say

54:24

about the fact that every all the cards

54:27

seem to be sliding into Lancers colors at

54:29

the moment and Ulster and Connick and Munster

54:31

are sort of

54:33

trailing a little bit. Is Jordy Barrett

54:35

brilliant for you

54:37

or see you know

54:39

the European Champions Cup as it

54:41

is? Are we beginning to see a bit

54:44

too much of one province

54:46

holding all the power? I think yeah.

54:48

I think that's a legitimate

54:50

position to hold. So my

54:53

old team I think a

54:55

really strong signing. I think good

54:57

for him as well. He's got an attachment in my own

55:00

home county. He's County Mead. He spent time there growing up

55:02

as a kid. So I think he very much wanted to

55:04

do it. You know I think he

55:06

would have a good time. The proposition with going to

55:08

Lancer is at the moment you have to say very

55:10

different than the proposition of going even to Munster never

55:13

mind Ulster or Connick. So it's

55:15

something that you know players will want to do.

55:17

Likely to be successful, likely to be

55:19

being in semi-finals and finals and whatnot.

55:22

He will bring intellectual property that's really important

55:25

to Lancer and those Lancer players and I

55:27

think you know Lancer players will develop as a result of

55:29

it. He will take intellectual property

55:32

back I'm sure to somebody which is something maybe

55:34

we never spoke about before but I think that's

55:36

a legitimate thing and

55:38

maybe not insignificant in his

55:40

decision making as well. But

55:45

the amount of players that Lancer

55:48

can generate, the amount of players they have

55:50

on Irish contracts which means it doesn't come out

55:53

of their pool of costs. I

55:55

think if I was the other teams I'd be

55:57

saying that this is not particularly fair. think

56:00

as well, at some point, you

56:02

know, Leinster can go, we

56:06

are sort of, you know, we, we select

56:08

only from Leinster, especially when things are going

56:10

well. Now, I benefited from a Leinster team

56:12

that didn't have the quality and we needed

56:14

overseas signings in a couple of places. And

56:17

they came in and they made a huge

56:19

difference. Look at the difference sort of, you

56:21

know, Easton the Sea were made to Leinster,

56:23

like incredible. So like, like, they left a

56:25

mark there long after he left and the

56:28

mark is still there. So I can see

56:30

the benefit of getting to the point, but

56:32

I do, I do think it's tough for

56:34

the teams looking at Leinster in Ireland going,

56:36

so how come they're getting, getting, how does it

56:38

work? How does it work? Exactly. You say the

56:41

contracts are, you know, by the federations, it doesn't

56:44

come out of their money. How does that work?

56:46

So you've got, you've got a central Irish contract.

56:48

So, you know, the top, I think, you know,

56:50

20 or so Irish players, maybe not even that

56:52

many, get paid for in effect

56:55

from directly from the IRF view.

56:58

And then the individual provinces have their

57:00

own budget as well. So, and I'm

57:02

not, you know, I'm not an authority

57:04

on this, but if for example, you

57:06

know, the top to back

57:08

row, you know, for Leinster are all

57:10

on Irish contracts, that means that, you

57:13

know, they don't have to fund it out

57:15

of their own Leinster budget,

57:17

whereas Munster will be funding

57:19

their back row and they may not have

57:21

the money to go for majority bar. Or

57:23

they'll go there for more Irish internationals. No,

57:25

it's not. And

57:29

so you don't want to penalize someone for that. You

57:31

should actually, you know, you should encourage it. But there

57:33

is, there is a need to have strong provinces as

57:36

well and share the wealth a little bit. Now it's

57:38

difficult because if you're from Leinster, you want to play

57:40

for Leinster. Yeah. As simple as that. And if you're,

57:42

you know, part of that Leinster back room staff, you're

57:44

going, who are the very best players we can get?

57:47

Who's going to make sure we win European cup every

57:49

year? So from a Leinster perspective, it's brilliant.

57:51

You know, what a signing. You know, I

57:53

think slime and as well, like him coming

57:55

in, what, you know, that's another piece of

57:57

jigsaw you think, you know, Leinster could be

57:59

mad. He's massively dominant, he's fit next year. He's

58:01

like, what kind of a pack do they have

58:03

then? Him coming on or rotating in. So

58:08

from Leinster, they've done everything right. But

58:10

if I was one of the other provinces, I'd

58:12

be a bit sniffy about this. Has anyone left

58:14

Leinster done well? Have

58:17

they ever got rid of anyone and he's gone and turned around and

58:19

said, I told you. Oh

58:21

yeah, well, the best example, I think

58:23

one of the best players in the world at the moment, is

58:26

Tyke Byrne. Oh yeah. He

58:29

was in the Leinster Academy, got released,

58:34

went to Scarlett's. Life was

58:36

phenomenal then, came down to Munster, his

58:38

best player. Maybe Ireland's best player as

58:40

well. So it's not many.

58:43

Not many. But it's where England are going now.

58:46

But actually, Macaulay's saying, can we sort this out because we

58:48

need to plan for next year because Itoje and Jamie George

58:51

are two of the people who'll be on central contract. But

58:54

as yet, it hasn't been organised and sorted and

58:56

the ink isn't dry. And Leinster

58:58

are obviously understand they're working within a wage

59:00

cap. But if the central contracts can supplement

59:02

their income to a think of value, again,

59:04

apologies for those who

59:06

know the detail. Sunday's available at £150,000 a year. They'll

59:10

be paid by England, which will

59:12

allow them to rest more games, which will

59:14

allow Saracens within their player pool or their

59:16

fund, their salary cap, to then potentially go

59:18

and get some players that can then start

59:21

to compete with LaRochelle or with

59:23

Leinster. And that's obviously the longer term plan. Sharing

59:25

the load with the England players. There's a lot

59:28

going on backstage. We're actually hoping to have a

59:30

sit down with Bill Sweeney before the end of

59:32

the season. So hopefully there'll be some news to

59:35

announce in that regard. Three

59:37

members of Mensa, it is time for

59:39

your Continental Tires quiz. Quick quiz with

59:41

you. Who is Bill Sweeney related to?

59:47

England rugby player? No. I was

59:49

going to say, what was the woman in the EastEnders? Claire Sweeney.

59:52

No. Austin Healy. Shut

59:55

up. I think first or second cousin, yeah.

59:57

Right. Anyway, weird. There you go.

1:00:00

heading into the corridors of power? Who

1:00:02

knows? God help us all. Your

1:00:04

Continental Tires quiz of the week. Good

1:00:07

luck. It's not that difficult but let's see how you

1:00:09

get on. Question number one. In

1:00:11

2022, Ronan O'Gara joined Leinsterman

1:00:14

Leo Cullen as the only

1:00:16

two people to have achieved

1:00:18

what? Ah, it's too easy. Yep, playing

1:00:20

coach wins as player and

1:00:22

coach. Correct. Question number

1:00:25

two. If Leinster win the Champions Cup,

1:00:27

who becomes the most decorated player in

1:00:29

EPCR history? Keon

1:00:31

Healy. Very good. 2009, Shane and Ben,

1:00:33

you both played in the Heineken Cup

1:00:36

final with Lester and Leinster. Will, we

1:00:39

were at Murrayfield with Sky. Who was

1:00:41

the player of the match? You

1:00:47

guys won it. I'd

1:00:49

have guessed I'd always go a number eight sort of. I'm

1:00:52

thinking he's lit would always be in amongst

1:00:54

it. They say no. Back

1:00:58

row forward. If you

1:01:01

remember that year, there was

1:01:03

only one person. Rockstar. Oh,

1:01:05

Rocky Elson. Very good. Never

1:01:08

by the way, there has never been a

1:01:10

more influential player in European Cup history than

1:01:12

that guy. Because. Wow. That's a big one.

1:01:14

In one season. In that one season, why

1:01:16

he, you know, he was, look

1:01:21

at the tapes. He was man of the

1:01:23

match in almost every game we played. It

1:01:26

was like having your big brother, he

1:01:28

was 18 playing the under 14. That's what it was

1:01:30

like that year. He was why so good. I don't

1:01:32

know. And he never repeated this and he was

1:01:34

good. He was great. He never, he

1:01:37

never got it back together.

1:01:40

But something, the stars aligned that year.

1:01:42

He was a phenomenal. You

1:01:44

were trying to think of another player. Was

1:01:46

someone from Toulon? They won three on the spin.

1:01:49

Well, Johnny Wilkinson was quite close to

1:01:51

win three on the spin. You say

1:01:53

we're talking about one season that he

1:01:55

was something who's

1:01:58

dragged a team to glory. Okay, good. I will

1:02:00

let that shoot. Yeah, but great opening gambit. And

1:02:04

just an additional question, who lost the final

1:02:06

possession for Leicester Tigers in that final against

1:02:08

Leinster? Oh, interesting. Just

1:02:11

to make it even more. My

1:02:15

head was still spinning from the nut. You

1:02:17

were picking it up. I'm glad you're over it. Yeah,

1:02:21

that's a good thing. Question number

1:02:23

four. Tawira Curbalo was the latest

1:02:25

player to complete the Super Rugby

1:02:27

and Champions Cup career double. But

1:02:30

who was the first player to achieve it? I

1:02:33

know. I know. Brad Thorne. Thorne.

1:02:36

And then he also won Queensland, but you're about to say

1:02:38

no. That's not correct. So is it Victor Vito? No.

1:02:41

Oh, Ethan Aceva. Nope. Why

1:02:44

not Brad Thorne? So

1:02:47

it must be before him? Yeah, before

1:02:49

Thorne. Howlett.

1:02:51

No, Paddy Howard. Jim? Very

1:02:53

good. I went Paddy Howard. It's not Paddy

1:02:55

Howard. But you're the right... You're very, very

1:02:57

close to the right space. Jim Williams, same

1:02:59

two teams. Leicester and Brumby's. Yeah. Oh!

1:03:04

No. Yeah. Yeah. No. Yes. But

1:03:07

he didn't play. But he didn't play. He did. You

1:03:10

know who it is. I know who it is. I've got Rodney's

1:03:12

name. Your nickname. Ah,

1:03:15

nickname. No, different one. The one that you got

1:03:17

called as you walked off the quarter final. Oh,

1:03:19

who else? It's Rodney Trotter. Rod. Rodney Soel. No,

1:03:21

Rod B. Rod... Rod Cape.

1:03:23

Oh, Cape. Come on, Caper. Yeah, yeah,

1:03:25

yeah. Rod Cape. Brumby's 01, Leicester 02.

1:03:29

Complete the sequence of EPCR players

1:03:32

of the year. And

1:03:34

you'll get it. 2013,

1:03:36

Johnny Wilkinson for too long. 2014,

1:03:39

Stefan Armitage. Too long. Get

1:03:44

out. No. Mitchell. There's a theme. Wilkinson,

1:03:47

Armitage. Too

1:03:52

long, wasn't it? Yeah. No, number eight. 2015,

1:03:54

too long, won it again. Don't

1:03:57

write for Englishmen abroad. I

1:04:01

wasn't Dylan, it wasn't... You

1:04:06

would have played with him. Ah, Nick Abendenon. Very good.

1:04:09

Nick Abendenon. Oh, best

1:04:11

quote ever. We were

1:04:13

at Claremont, because he played at Claremont. Oh yes,

1:04:15

I remember that. Because we were talking, is that

1:04:18

how you're loving it down here? Oh, I'm loving

1:04:20

it. I'm talking French.

1:04:23

And he goes, you know, things like,

1:04:25

yeah, libite, liberté, egalité. I

1:04:28

can't remember the third one. The whole...

1:04:30

It's a fact that... He

1:04:33

can't come out with the third word

1:04:35

in the trickle-off. Bendy.

1:04:37

How could we say, well,

1:04:39

that year, outstanding. A

1:04:42

lovely bloke, a fantastic team mate to

1:04:44

have a smile on his face, just

1:04:47

a positive shine of positive energy. No

1:04:50

Rocky Hellstone maybe in the way that he played, but 2014,

1:04:52

2015. Where's

1:04:54

his skills coach, Nabel? He is skills coach at

1:04:56

the bottom, correct? Yeah. OK, here's

1:04:59

another question. How many players available for

1:05:01

selection this weekend can you name, whose

1:05:04

dad's also played in the Champions Cup? We've got

1:05:06

seven. If you can get three, we'll move to

1:05:08

beyond. Penno? No, he's out.

1:05:10

Penno's... They're available, available. Intermak.

1:05:13

Yeah, Intermak, Penno. Roomah. Roomah,

1:05:16

very good. Brennan. Brennan, very good. Two

1:05:19

Englishmen. From the team's play.

1:05:23

From the team's play. And one of the Northampton won quins.

1:05:27

Oh, merely? No. Think

1:05:29

of Marley. He

1:05:31

played high level, but obviously not. The title's got liner and...

1:05:34

Michael and Lewis liner? Yeah. Northampton?

1:05:37

Wing. Oh, but it's Zle Thank. John

1:05:40

and Ollie Zle Thank. And the curveball, I'm not

1:05:42

sure who's going to be in selection, with Kenny

1:05:44

and Reuben Logan. The Northampton?

1:05:48

112 Frenchmen, you've actually answered this already. 112

1:05:51

Frenchmen have won the Champions Cup more than any other nation. But

1:05:53

can you name a nation that has one winner? And

1:05:57

name the player. You've already said it. You

1:06:00

played with one of them. The

1:06:03

Polish, the Makila. Yep. Kekalak.

1:06:06

Kekalak. Kekalak. Actually, you'd have

1:06:08

played with another one. What,

1:06:12

Jorgin? You've already got one

1:06:14

in your locker. You've played with one, and you played with one as well. 2009.

1:06:18

I know. Cook Islands. Oh

1:06:21

yeah, Stan. Stan Wright. Very

1:06:25

good. You

1:06:27

remember the guy who was on the bench who barely

1:06:29

played that season? I remember I

1:06:31

was coached by Jono Gibson. He always had that quote. You

1:06:34

know how you said the quote about your dad's stuff, never backwards. McDormack?

1:06:39

Yeah, Ronnie McCormick. Who's

1:06:41

going to be McCormick this week? Because it was the

1:06:43

guy who never played, but he came on for the

1:06:45

one scrum to win the final. Who's

1:06:47

going to be the selfless

1:06:50

guy who's going to be in the season? There's going

1:06:52

to be a McDormick somewhere. Ronnie

1:06:55

McCormick was hilarious. He always used to go like, you

1:06:57

know, props don't come in. Props don't

1:06:59

come into that prime because of that 34, Shag. Shag,

1:07:02

I'm only coming to be prime at 34. And

1:07:06

then we go back to the 33. Do you

1:07:09

want to... your poll was... Gregor

1:07:11

Kekalak. Yeah, Gregor

1:07:13

Kekalak. Winston Stanley of

1:07:16

Canada, who played with Leicester in 2001. And

1:07:19

the other was Fiannel Maca, who was a

1:07:21

rep. Ford Cruz

1:07:23

would have been. Yep, he's the only

1:07:25

one on my trumpling. He's the only

1:07:27

trumpling trumpling on the Champions

1:07:29

Cup, is he? Unless

1:07:32

producer Tom has failed in his due diligence

1:07:34

and research. Here's on for the

1:07:36

North's. In 2007, who made

1:07:38

their first start for the club in

1:07:41

the Champions Cup final and went on to

1:07:43

claim a winner's medal? So,

1:07:45

Wasps? Correct. The

1:07:47

Prop? Correct. Will? No. Hobson?

1:07:49

No. No. Bull

1:07:51

fellow, Olly Higgins? No. Tom. Tom.

1:07:54

Hobson? No. Tom. It's a

1:07:56

prop. Yep. And he was dragged in,

1:07:58

the injury crisis. He apparently... went absolutely phenomenally

1:08:00

well on the Thursday training session until

1:08:03

Adrian said he's got to start. I

1:08:06

know who it is that I can't remember his name. French. This

1:08:09

weekend, Keir and Healy could become what? The

1:08:13

most capped player in European

1:08:15

Cup history? Overtaking Róg Nóggere.

1:08:18

Double win. There's

1:08:22

a thousand points up for grabs on this.

1:08:24

Only one foreign or non-European player has ever

1:08:26

won the EPCR Player of the Year. Who

1:08:29

is it? It's Inaseema. No.

1:08:32

One foreign or non-European player has won the EPCR

1:08:34

Player of the Year. EPCR.

1:08:39

That'd be amazing. Yeah. He

1:08:45

won the Pro 12 with Glasgow but

1:08:47

he got the Nacawa. Very good. Leonin

1:08:49

Nacawa. Leonin Nacawa. Do

1:08:52

you remember how good he was? Yeah. Second

1:08:54

rule. Yeah. Absolute basketballer.

1:08:56

He was incredible. He never went die with the

1:08:58

ball. No. No. He

1:09:01

offloaded every single time. No. How

1:09:03

many arms he got? Yeah. I'll never forget

1:09:05

that. I can't remember if you did that game

1:09:07

when Glasgow beat Munster in the Pro

1:09:09

12 final and Nacawa played like a Harlem Globetrotter

1:09:11

in a fighter. Absolutely over the top, out the

1:09:14

back. You couldn't just have him offloaded because he

1:09:16

was an 11 foot tall man. Exactly. 11

1:09:18

foot tall. was

1:09:21

stick to the nuts and bolts. I don't want any offloads at

1:09:23

all. And the guy played like Jordan.

1:09:26

Well done team, Mensa. I'll give you four marks. And well

1:09:28

done if you're playing like him as well. I

1:09:31

quite enjoyed that. That was our Continental Tires Quiz of

1:09:33

the Week. This

1:09:36

weekend the winners will be... What's

1:09:38

the Challenge Cup? Semis by the way. Gloster

1:09:41

Benaton. Clermont Sharks. Where'd you

1:09:43

Gloster go? Gloster. Benaton

1:09:46

win that, don't they? Gloster.

1:09:50

So we've got a Benaton. He

1:09:53

wins Clermont Sharks. Crikey. Crikey.

1:09:57

A better I

1:10:03

hope they take it very seriously. They had to

1:10:05

get themselves out of the hole by beating Stad

1:10:08

at home on Saturday, otherwise they would have been

1:10:10

almost in a relegation zone. Sometimes they're not flying.

1:10:12

But they had a great game, I hope they

1:10:14

take it seriously and I hope they beat the

1:10:17

Sharks. Again, impossible question to

1:10:19

answer in reality because who knows what team the

1:10:21

Sharks will send. If

1:10:24

they send everyone, they'll have a hell of a team.

1:10:26

For their 18 minutes from a Cup Final, surely

1:10:28

you can't ban the shit at this point. The

1:10:32

owner is now a Benettoner, I

1:10:34

watched Exeter win

1:10:36

pretty comfortably. I wonder if Krossto had an

1:10:38

eye on this weekend though. Yeah, okay, I

1:10:41

get that. Benettoner is the only player. Okay,

1:10:45

good luck to those in the Challenge Cup

1:10:47

Final. The winner of the Champions Cup semi-finals

1:10:50

will be Toulouse Quinn.

1:10:52

Toulouse. I see

1:10:55

them beating them convincingly, dominating

1:10:57

the forwards, not letting Quinn's

1:10:59

play. Romain Tamak will kick

1:11:01

around the corner. They will

1:11:03

learn the lesson that Bordeaux

1:11:05

displayed for them. And I believe they

1:11:07

will handle it like big boys. I

1:11:10

know you don't want consensus here. It

1:11:12

doesn't make for great podcasting but

1:11:15

I agree. I think there's two

1:11:17

relatively confident wins and then you've

1:11:19

got an aristocratic final.

1:11:24

Slightly awkward to lose to win the tournament before

1:11:26

it started. Did

1:11:29

you say 5-1 before the tournament

1:11:31

started? Yeah, I still think that's quite easy.

1:11:33

When was the last time they won the

1:11:36

European Cup? Three years ago. Three years ago.

1:11:38

There was a thought that Dupont was to

1:11:40

play sevens and wouldn't be involved. Anyway,

1:11:43

and so I hate to back it. I think

1:11:45

Quinn's will make it competitive. But

1:11:49

if you're looking for form

1:11:51

and fitness and location, then

1:11:54

you'd be a pretty wild gambler to

1:11:56

pick either of the English teams. Well

1:11:58

done, Gen. See, a fantastic weekend in the

1:12:00

Investech Champions Cup coming up with

1:12:02

the semi-finals. Enjoy all of that on your

1:12:05

telly box. Before we go, a few little

1:12:07

bits for you. We've been sent a message

1:12:09

by Oswald Street RFC and it's some sad

1:12:11

news. If you can help,

1:12:13

we'd love to offer our support and

1:12:16

perhaps one or two who will join the party

1:12:18

as well. Their under 15's Captain Hugh has very

1:12:20

sadly been diagnosed with a brain tumour a few

1:12:22

weeks ago. He's been rushed into Birmingham Children's Hospital

1:12:25

and following a lengthy operation, the surgeons were happy

1:12:27

with the results but now he begins the

1:12:30

long road of recovery. On the

1:12:32

back of this, his team mate and his coach Stu

1:12:34

wanted to help Hugh and his family and they've set

1:12:36

up a GoFundMe page. The money will be used to

1:12:39

help the family having to travel and to stay in

1:12:41

hotels in Birmingham for his homeschooling. If you'd like to

1:12:43

get involved and to support Hugh, the

1:12:45

website is gofundme.com/F/Hugh hyphen fund. So

1:12:47

if that is something that touches you

1:12:50

or you know other people who've been

1:12:52

affected and you'd like to support

1:12:54

Hugh, please do go visit that

1:12:56

link and we wish you obviously the very very

1:12:58

best with your recovery. One other

1:13:00

line this week and I want to send

1:13:03

my thoughts to Battersea Ironsides who've had a

1:13:05

really tough few weeks with one of their

1:13:07

coaches who has recently passed away. Neil McDonald

1:13:09

was a hugely popular figure at the club,

1:13:11

a great coach and a huge role model

1:13:13

for the young lads and essential

1:13:15

to the age group rugby promoting the

1:13:18

love of the great game of ours. We were

1:13:20

actually at the Waterfall Cup Final Awards

1:13:22

on Sunday with Richmond and Battersea Ironsides were in

1:13:25

the final. Neil's boy was playing in that, he

1:13:27

had his brother and his mum there watching as

1:13:29

spectators as well. We send all

1:13:31

our very best wishes to the family and to the club as

1:13:33

well at what is obviously

1:13:36

a very very difficult time. So thoughts

1:13:38

with all of the McDonald family and

1:13:40

Battersea Ironsides. That is

1:13:42

it for this week. Gents, thank you very much indeed.

1:13:44

You've certainly given us enough to clip up and put

1:13:47

out when it all goes horribly wrong. Is anyone going

1:13:49

through? I'm going, my

1:13:51

brother's stag is on Saturday. Is he dressing up

1:13:53

as him? Why did we get for

1:13:55

that earlier? What is

1:13:58

it? Classified information. The

1:14:00

twinkle in the eye tells me it's not going to be a quietly

1:14:03

pen. Or that tears. I don't

1:14:05

think at this stage it could be either. Panic! Panic!

1:14:07

Panic! Are you going to tell us? Yeah.

1:14:09

Wow. Working or just working?

1:14:11

Yeah. We are the obvious,

1:14:13

the students on Saturday and then going to Toulouse

1:14:16

on Sunday for the weekend. Quite

1:14:18

different. Feedback on your yellow gloves? I

1:14:20

love them strong. Oh, I love them. Love

1:14:22

them? Yeah. They got their own

1:14:24

Instagram channel, yeah. They

1:14:27

have their own accounts. Yeah, they're alive. I

1:14:29

am pushing it. I mean,

1:14:31

the other day, the principalities, the roof was closed, so

1:14:33

we're technically inside. Still trying

1:14:35

to win a win. Just to wind up

1:14:37

all the haters. Is that glove sponsorship or is

1:14:39

it just a... Zero free gloves. I've tagged the

1:14:42

shit out of that brand everywhere. What brand

1:14:44

is it? I can't even remember now. It's

1:14:46

probably Hestra. Hestra. Oh, beautiful. I've

1:14:48

got two gloves. I like the North Pole in those. It's a

1:14:50

proper date of one. Zero discounts. Nothing to disgrace.

1:14:53

Wow. Now after this, surely. Yeah,

1:14:55

absolutely. Hestra

1:14:57

with an L. Don't think so. Good. I'm

1:15:00

rapping. I'm putting on a knockoff on a good partner. Sergio, George, Amy.

1:15:02

No one ever has got colder than us. Oh, I had their own

1:15:04

gloves. Good. Right, let's wrap this up

1:15:07

before the whole lot goes into the bin. Thank you

1:15:09

very much, guys. Very

1:15:11

nice to see you. As

1:15:13

always, we have been the good, the bad, and the rugby

1:15:16

in punch with our very good friends at Continental Tires. Stats

1:15:18

and facts provided by Oval Insights were a folding pocket production.

1:15:21

This episode was produced by Tom Edwards. Enjoy all of

1:15:23

the Investing Champions Cup rugby this weekend. And we'll see

1:15:25

you soon. Bye-bye.