RugbyRebels

Not too far to go until Exeter take on Racing in the European Cup final, and there are some decidedly odd comments ahead of the game, but none so far as odd as that offered by Matt Dawson,who says it would be "one of the greatest upsets in European history" if Exeter Chiefs fail to win the Champions Cup". And that really is odd, I think you can make an argument for either side, but either side winning wouldn't even represent an upset, never mind one of the greatest in history. My best guess is Matt is confusing Racing 92 with Rugby Club Paris 15, because he cannot possibly have seen the Racing squad to make that comment.

Vs

Yeah - I thought that was very odd too. If anything, I’d have Racing as favourites. They certainly have the greater European pedigree.

Scrumhead wrote:Yeah - I thought that was very odd too. If anything, I’d have Racing as favourites. They certainly have the greater European pedigree.

I'd likely make Racing favourites too, just not so much Exeter winning would be a shock. If Racing are focused and work hard they should take the match for me, but I wouldn't in advance be sure Racing will do either of those things, certainly not over 80 minutes

Digby wrote:

Vs

Hey now. Exeter airport has been compared to chichen itza and the temple of artemis.

I'm not sure I understand the title of the thread. I've clearly missed something!

Teams up:

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (capt), Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Vermeulen, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Moon, Francis, Skinner, Kirsten, Hidalgo-Clyne, Steenson, Devoto.

Racing 92: Zebo; Dupichot, Vakatawa, Chavancy (capt), Imhoff; Russell, Iribaren; Ben Arous, Chat, Colombe, Le Roux, Bird, Lauret, Sanconnie, Claassen

Replacements: Baubigny, Kolingar, Oz, Ryan, Palu, Machenaud, Klemenczak, Beale.

Racing by a country kilometre!!

Peej wrote:I'm not sure I understand the title of the thread. I've clearly missed something!

Yeah, Diggers. Please explain to us lesser mortals!

francoisfou wrote:Teams up:

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (capt), Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Vermeulen, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Moon, Francis, Skinner, Kirsten, Hidalgo-Clyne, Steenson, Devoto.

Racing 92: Zebo; Dupichot, Vakatawa, Chavancy (capt), Imhoff; Russell, Iribaren; Ben Arous, Chat, Colombe, Le Roux, Bird, Lauret, Sanconnie, Claassen

Replacements: Baubigny, Kolingar, Oz, Ryan, Palu, Machenaud, Klemenczak, Beale.

Racing by a country kilometre!!

If you're talking comparing player for player, then I agree Racing have higher quality individual players. Exeter as a unit are a very different proposition though.

Interesting that Whitten's preferred to Devoto at 12. Wouldn't've been my pick.

Puja

francoisfou wrote:

Peej wrote:I'm not sure I understand the title of the thread. I've clearly missed something!

Yeah, Diggers. Please explain to us lesser mortals!

Think it’s a spoof on Cas’s threads, and I assume Heineken = tied house (pub chain) in Digbys mind. Criminals v Champions, no idea.

Whitten is mostly Baxter's go-to. I was surprised Devoto started against Toulouse.

If Exeter can establish a lead, I don't see Racing catching them given Exe's defence.

Beale is playing for Racing now? And they're starting Zebo?

Puja wrote:

francoisfou wrote:Teams up:

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (capt), Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Vermeulen, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Moon, Francis, Skinner, Kirsten, Hidalgo-Clyne, Steenson, Devoto.

Racing 92: Zebo; Dupichot, Vakatawa, Chavancy (capt), Imhoff; Russell, Iribaren; Ben Arous, Chat, Colombe, Le Roux, Bird, Lauret, Sanconnie, Claassen

Replacements: Baubigny, Kolingar, Oz, Ryan, Palu, Machenaud, Klemenczak, Beale.

Racing by a country kilometre!!

If you're talking comparing player for player, then I agree Racing have higher quality individual players. Exeter as a unit are a very different proposition though.

Puja

You're right, of course. My heart was overruling my head!

It's a very big game for Racing's lump of prop, the 22-year-old Georges-Henri Colombe, at 1m93 and 135kgs. He's been with Racing since he was 12 and has come up through the ranks, representing France at U16 and U20. He'll be in for a hell of a test against Exeter's experienced heads, but he's surrounded by experienced team mates like Camille Chat and Bernard le Roux.

Allez Racing!!

Puja wrote:

francoisfou wrote:Teams up:

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (capt), Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Vermeulen, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Moon, Francis, Skinner, Kirsten, Hidalgo-Clyne, Steenson, Devoto.

Racing 92: Zebo; Dupichot, Vakatawa, Chavancy (capt), Imhoff; Russell, Iribaren; Ben Arous, Chat, Colombe, Le Roux, Bird, Lauret, Sanconnie, Claassen

Replacements: Baubigny, Kolingar, Oz, Ryan, Palu, Machenaud, Klemenczak, Beale.

Racing by a country kilometre!!

If you're talking comparing player for player, then I agree Racing have higher quality individual players. Exeter as a unit are a very different proposition though.

Interesting that Whitten's preferred to Devoto at 12. Wouldn't've been my pick.

Puja

Indeed, although that’s normally the way Baxter seems to go.

Devoto can’t make a serious claim for an England spot when he can’t consistently see off the challenge from the solid, but very unspectacular Ian Whitten.

Mikey Brown wrote:Beale is playing for Racing now? And they're starting Zebo?

Yes, and he copped a red card for a highish tackle against Montpellier in a second round Top14 match and was banned for three matches, so hasn't played since September 11th.

Fair enough. Easy to forget all the other stuff that comes along with Beale.

Scrumhead wrote:

Puja wrote:

francoisfou wrote:Teams up:

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (capt), Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Vermeulen, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Moon, Francis, Skinner, Kirsten, Hidalgo-Clyne, Steenson, Devoto.

Racing 92: Zebo; Dupichot, Vakatawa, Chavancy (capt), Imhoff; Russell, Iribaren; Ben Arous, Chat, Colombe, Le Roux, Bird, Lauret, Sanconnie, Claassen

Replacements: Baubigny, Kolingar, Oz, Ryan, Palu, Machenaud, Klemenczak, Beale.

Racing by a country kilometre!!

If you're talking comparing player for player, then I agree Racing have higher quality individual players. Exeter as a unit are a very different proposition though.

Interesting that Whitten's preferred to Devoto at 12. Wouldn't've been my pick.

Puja

Indeed, although that’s normally the way Baxter seems to go.

Devoto can’t make a serious claim for an England spot when he can’t consistently see off the challenge from the solid, but very unspectacular Ian Whitten.

Ian looks hilariously old sometimes, poor bugger.

Could Baxter be holding Devoto back for a more expansive game later in the match. He was very open about letting Toulouse blow themselves out early during the semis. Given Racing are very short of both matches and training, on top of general poor conditioning in France, I wonder if that holds doubly so this weekend.

Banquo wrote:

francoisfou wrote:

Peej wrote:I'm not sure I understand the title of the thread. I've clearly missed something!

Yeah, Diggers. Please explain to us lesser mortals!

Think it’s a spoof on Cas’s threads, and I assume Heineken = tied house (pub chain) in Digbys mind. Criminals v Champions, no idea.

I don't know about Cas's threads. It was linked to Heineken and their accidentally trading in illegal fashion with pubs that no longer wanted to operate as tied houses, for which they've just been fined a pitiful sum which doesn't come close to offsetting their illegal behaviour

Yeah, I definitely missed all that....

I also listened to Tom O'Flaherty on 5 Live earlier this week - they were asking him about international aspirations, and whether he was Ireland qualified given his name. Turns out it's from his Jamaican heritage instead, which is interesting. He's had an interesting career path to get to where he is.

I think he could be a decent option for England.

twitchy wrote:

Hey now. Exeter airport has been compared to chichen itza and the temple of artemis.

Ruined?

Peej wrote:I also listened to Tom O'Flaherty on 5 Live earlier this week - they were asking him about international aspirations, and whether he was Ireland qualified given his name. Turns out it's from his Jamaican heritage instead, which is interesting. He's had an interesting career path to get to where he is.

I think he could be a decent option for England.

quick but prone to brainfarts. So ideal replacement for Jonny May (I know that's unfair, but...)

Banquo wrote:

Peej wrote:I also listened to Tom O'Flaherty on 5 Live earlier this week - they were asking him about international aspirations, and whether he was Ireland qualified given his name. Turns out it's from his Jamaican heritage instead, which is interesting. He's had an interesting career path to get to where he is.

I think he could be a decent option for England.

quick but prone to brainfarts. So ideal replacement for Jonny May (I know that's unfair, but...)

Can he scrummage?

Fascinating match up overall. Don’t think the difference in individual talent is all that great tbh. Plenty of those Chiefs players would get into that Racing team, or pushing to.

Set piece will be massive as always, and I can see Racing having a slight edge there. They have a very strong scrum- their new tighthead is a beast- and I can see them getting after Chiefs’ lineout. I do think Racing need to get the better of those two areas to win, whereas Exeter just need parity.

Le Roux back is massive, as he’s got to be a top 5 lock in European rugby. Will be a big test for Johnny Hill’s credentials as a potential test player.

I’m going Racing by 3.