RugbyRebels

PoolerSaint wrote:I don't think anyone in their right mind expects the SA sides & supporters/sponsors to fully integrate themselves & be ready for back to back competitions in what - 2 months. No one except the Western Mail.[emoji849]

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You can normally rely on the fail to be unrealistic and inconsistent.

PoolerSaint wrote:I don't think anyone in their right mind expects the SA sides & supporters/sponsors to fully integrate themselves & be ready for back to back competitions in what - 2 months. No one except the Western Mail.[emoji849]

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Rowan's pretty confident on the SH board - he believes that the SA franchises will "run riot" over the Pro 12 sides.

Puja

Puja wrote:

PoolerSaint wrote:I don't think anyone in their right mind expects the SA sides & supporters/sponsors to fully integrate themselves & be ready for back to back competitions in what - 2 months. No one except the Western Mail.[emoji849]

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Rowan's pretty confident on the SH board - he believes that the SA franchises will "run riot" over the Pro 12 sides.

Puja

It will be very interesting to see how it goes.... will they teach us a lesson or will they be crushed by the unrelenting celtic cold and damp? Or will they just be average?

Son of Mathonwy wrote:

Puja wrote:

PoolerSaint wrote:I don't think anyone in their right mind expects the SA sides & supporters/sponsors to fully integrate themselves & be ready for back to back competitions in what - 2 months. No one except the Western Mail.[emoji849]

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Rowan's pretty confident on the SH board - he believes that the SA franchises will "run riot" over the Pro 12 sides.

Puja

It will be very interesting to see how it goes.... will they teach us a lesson or will they be crushed by the unrelenting celtic cold and damp? Or will they just be average?

Given that the Kings have had to borrow 4 players from the Sharks because they're in danger of not being able to field a XXIII right now, I'd say average will probably be about the mark, at least for the first season.

Puja

Puja wrote:

PoolerSaint wrote:I don't think anyone in their right mind expects the SA sides & supporters/sponsors to fully integrate themselves & be ready for back to back competitions in what - 2 months. No one except the Western Mail.[emoji849]

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Rowan's pretty confident on the SH board - he believes that the SA franchises will "run riot" over the Pro 12 sides.

Puja

Meanwhile, back in reality....

The Italian teams and probably the Dragons will give them easier games, it looking at the chaos hey are in, I don't think the Bokke teams will be that competitive for a while.

Unlike the Italian teams, I do expect them to be competitive in du course.

Sandydragon wrote:

Puja wrote:

PoolerSaint wrote:I don't think anyone in their right mind expects the SA sides & supporters/sponsors to fully integrate themselves & be ready for back to back competitions in what - 2 months. No one except the Western Mail.[emoji849]

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Rowan's pretty confident on the SH board - he believes that the SA franchises will "run riot" over the Pro 12 sides.

Puja

Meanwhile, back in reality....

The Italian teams and probably the Dragons will give them easier games, it looking at the chaos hey are in, I don't think the Bokke teams will be that competitive for a while.

Unlike the Italian teams, I do expect them to be competitive in du course.

Cheetah's will be okay this year I think... it will be very, very tough to get results out there. Kings probably more of a mixed bag in fairness.

Lets not forget these teams were cut for a reason... I'm just excited at a new/different competition and playing new teams is always good.

Eugene Wrayburn wrote:The cheetahs have the advantage of altitude, but they won't be conditioned for a 22 game season, nor used to the rather softer ground that predominates in winter, even if they've had the odd trip to Chch.

I saw someone suggesting it's good that the Welsh teams will have some more challenging opposition. I have to say my dominant thought over the past years had not been "if only someone would challenge these Welsh teams."

lol ffs never change eugene

hmmm. Not sure about the SH excellence being added to the pro 13½

Well both sides offered enterprising and good rugby but not for long enough. As was said earlier in this thread it will take them time to acclimatise.

I suspect that they will improve, and we shouldn't underestimate the issues they have had of late. In a few seasons, I expect them to offer more than the Italians and be competitive.

Sandydragon wrote:I suspect that they will improve, and we shouldn't underestimate the issues they have had of late. In a few seasons, I expect them to offer more than the Italians and be competitive.

Hopefully the Blues and Dragons will also be competitive by then too.

Extremely poor showing from my lot on Friday especially after the optimism the Exeter pre season friendly gave me

Tre wrote: Hopefully the Blues and Dragons will also be competitive by then too.

Extremely poor showing from my lot on Friday especially after the optimism the Exeter pre season friendly gave me

I think that Edinburgh may be revitalised this season..that said the Blues looked a little disjoineed.

The Dragons have a good enough looking starting back line..its all whether the pack stumps up and wins some ball. But I think the SA teams may get to be a threat before Jackman gets that pot of problems sorted ...but we will see ..always hopeful.

I have to say that the Kings and Cheetahs did worse than I expected. Mind you, with a 7 week turn-around between the last round of Super Rugby and the first round of Pro14, it's not all that suprising. It's also important to remember that South African teams, by and large, are shit on the road. In 12 seasons of Super Rugby, the Cheetahs won just 9 matches outside South Africa (out of 51 played). They won 22/51 against foreign teams when playing at home.

The Kings weren't much better, picking up 4 overseas wins in 3 seasons although 2 of those were v Jaguares and Sunwolves.

Tre wrote:

Sandydragon wrote:I suspect that they will improve, and we shouldn't underestimate the issues they have had of late. In a few seasons, I expect them to offer more than the Italians and be competitive.

Hopefully the Blues and Dragons will also be competitive by then too.

Extremely poor showing from my lot on Friday especially after the optimism the Exeter pre season friendly gave me

I saw some of that game. Seemed to be a lot of effort for very little reward in attack.

ALunpg wrote:

Tre wrote: Hopefully the Blues and Dragons will also be competitive by then too.

Extremely poor showing from my lot on Friday especially after the optimism the Exeter pre season friendly gave me

I think that Edinburgh may be revitalised this season..that said the Blues looked a little disjoineed.

The Dragons have a good enough looking starting back line..its all whether the pack stumps up and wins some ball. But I think the SA teams may get to be a threat before Jackman gets that pot of problems sorted ...but we will see ..always hopeful.

Our pack is dire. Leinster won't be the only team to rough us up in the forwards.

Lizard wrote:I have to say that the Kings and Cheetahs did worse than I expected. Mind you, with a 7 week turn-around between the last round of Super Rugby and the first round of Pro14, it's not all that suprising. It's also important to remember that South African teams, by and large, are shit on the road. In 12 seasons of Super Rugby, the Cheetahs won just 9 matches outside South Africa (out of 51 played). They won 22/51 against foreign teams when playing at home.

The Kings weren't much better, picking up 4 overseas wins in 3 seasons although 2 of those were v Jaguares and Sunwolves.

Is there any reason for this...are the teams that retained Super Rugby Status better on the road?
To be honest both SA teams ran the ball well at times but at 60 minutes were totally out of sorts.
But in context challenging a pretty much full strength Scarlets with a lot of international capped players this outfit at home is a task not many will relish this season.

The same can be said for Ulster at the Kingspan, it is not a place that many are successful at away from home.

I fully expect both SA teams to be a more formidable opposition at home and additionally after the Currie Cup finishes.

ALunpg wrote:

Lizard wrote:I have to say that the Kings and Cheetahs did worse than I expected. Mind you, with a 7 week turn-around between the last round of Super Rugby and the first round of Pro14, it's not all that suprising. It's also important to remember that South African teams, by and large, are shit on the road. In 12 seasons of Super Rugby, the Cheetahs won just 9 matches outside South Africa (out of 51 played). They won 22/51 against foreign teams when playing at home.

The Kings weren't much better, picking up 4 overseas wins in 3 seasons although 2 of those were v Jaguares and Sunwolves.

Is there any reason for this...are the teams that retained Super Rugby Status better on the road?
To be honest both SA teams ran the ball well at times but at 60 minutes were totally out of sorts.
But in context challenging a pretty much full strength Scarlets with a lot of international capped players this outfit at home is a task not many will relish this season.

The same can be said for Ulster at the Kingspan, it is not a place that many are successful at away from home.

I fully expect both SA teams to be a more formidable opposition at home and additionally after the Currie Cup finishes.

The Cheetahs have the worst record overseas of all the SA teams. Only the Rebels (2 wins from 29) and Sunwolves (0/15) are worse. The Kings are actually second best of the SA teams but they have a small sample skewed by wins v Sunwolves and Jags. The full list for all nations' teams is here http://rugbyrebels.co/board/viewtopic.p ... 248#p92248

Lizard wrote:

ALunpg wrote:

Lizard wrote:I have to say that the Kings and Cheetahs did worse than I expected. Mind you, with a 7 week turn-around between the last round of Super Rugby and the first round of Pro14, it's not all that suprising. It's also important to remember that South African teams, by and large, are shit on the road. In 12 seasons of Super Rugby, the Cheetahs won just 9 matches outside South Africa (out of 51 played). They won 22/51 against foreign teams when playing at home.

The Kings weren't much better, picking up 4 overseas wins in 3 seasons although 2 of those were v Jaguares and Sunwolves.

Is there any reason for this...are the teams that retained Super Rugby Status better on the road?
To be honest both SA teams ran the ball well at times but at 60 minutes were totally out of sorts.
But in context challenging a pretty much full strength Scarlets with a lot of international capped players this outfit at home is a task not many will relish this season.

The same can be said for Ulster at the Kingspan, it is not a place that many are successful at away from home.

I fully expect both SA teams to be a more formidable opposition at home and additionally after the Currie Cup finishes.

The Cheetahs have the worst record overseas of all the SA teams. Only the Rebels (2 wins from 29) and Sunwolves (0/15) are worse. The Kings are actually second best of the SA teams but they have a small sample skewed by wins v Sunwolves and Jags. The full list for all nations' teams is here http://rugbyrebels.co/board/viewtopic.p ... 248#p92248

Thanks for the information

ALunpg wrote:

Lizard wrote:I have to say that the Kings and Cheetahs did worse than I expected. Mind you, with a 7 week turn-around between the last round of Super Rugby and the first round of Pro14, it's not all that suprising. It's also important to remember that South African teams, by and large, are shit on the road. In 12 seasons of Super Rugby, the Cheetahs won just 9 matches outside South Africa (out of 51 played). They won 22/51 against foreign teams when playing at home.

The Kings weren't much better, picking up 4 overseas wins in 3 seasons although 2 of those were v Jaguares and Sunwolves.

Is there any reason for this...are the teams that retained Super Rugby Status better on the road?
To be honest both SA teams ran the ball well at times but at 60 minutes were totally out of sorts.
But in context challenging a pretty much full strength Scarlets with a lot of international capped players this outfit at home is a task not many will relish this season.

The same can be said for Ulster at the Kingspan, it is not a place that many are successful at away from home.

I fully expect both SA teams to be a more formidable opposition at home and additionally after the Currie Cup finishes.

Ulster were stripped of all their international players, so do get thumped by us early season is a pretty poor show.

The Cheetahs won't be strengthened by the end of the Currrie cup as they'll only be picking up players not already contracted to Super franchises.

One problem both franchises will have is conditioning for a 9 month 22 match season, having just finished their standard season. would be surprised if they didn't pick up abnormal rates of injury later in the season.

Yeah, this season will be tough for them but they might be helped by not having European games