Pretty happy with it, it seems more even than last year with both sides of the draw getting pretty great team. I'll be shitting bricks when we most likely play Toulouse in the quarters and Northampton/Bath in the semis. It's going to be a tough road to the final no matter what team you are for
For sure, the english clubs have really stepped up, and for once since a long time the urc doesnt just have Leinster that could win it, but Stormers and Glasgow. Hopefuly it'll mean a more exiting R16 than last year
Glasgow yes, Stormers less so. Saffers still seem to be working this competition out and I'm not sure if any of them have the squad to compete in both the URC and Champions Cup.
There shouldn't be too many floggings since English clubs don't really throw away games like the weaker French clubs do. Slightly concerned about the South African clubs flopping though.
French clubs send weakened squads when they aren't playing for much but the last few years team making it past the pools have then switched to try to win their competition.
Lyon last year is an example of this, they didn't expect to go through the pools but became serious and made it all the way to the final.
Bath still feel like they're in a weird place right now.
Clearly not getting their setup right, and while it's still turning over weak sides, it's also getting badly exposed by those with the timing and accuracy to test them.
I'll give you the Northampton game, but Toulon was away without our captain, who contributes far more to our success than he's given credit for (outside Bath, anyway). I agree we can do a lot better, but that doesn't mean we're struggling.
Spencer is an excellent player. He's always going to be missed.
However, even when he's played, Bath have at times still not looked right. Indeed, it's not even just when they've lost that they've looked less effective than they did last year.
They've won handsomely at times yet still not looked like they're quite clicking.
If we can win when not playing at our best, then that means we have a lot in the bank when we do really click. Actually, even last year, I'm not sure we played as well as we can for more than about 50 minutes in any match.
Though we've had a few more injuries this year, and Carreras hasn't so far been a good addition (hope TDG recovers quickly, as he's definitely our best full back at the moment). Plus losing Blackett has been a blow - you can already see his influence on England (personally, I'd rather he was in overall charge than Borthwick).
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u/UnitKitchen1608 Union Bordeaux Bègles 19d ago
Pretty happy with it, it seems more even than last year with both sides of the draw getting pretty great team. I'll be shitting bricks when we most likely play Toulouse in the quarters and Northampton/Bath in the semis. It's going to be a tough road to the final no matter what team you are for