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I have looked at these monsters studied their form it will be a bloody miracle if we beat them. just now need to work out the points difference. which will depend on how many cows they eat for breakfast,

I cant see anything other than a drubbing here so reluctantly Boks 38- 12 Exe but I really hope I am wrong!

Team news not announced till 1300 Friday!

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Josh Hodge

14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

13 Ben Hammersley

12 Tamati Tua

11 Tommy Wyatt

10 Will Haydon-Wood

9 Stu Townsend


1 Scott Sio

2 Dan Frost

3 Marcus Street

4 Franco Molina

5 Richard Capstick

6 Ethan Roots

7 Jacques Vermeulen (c)

8 Greg Fisilau


Replacements:

16 Jack Innard

17 Will Goodrick-Clarke

18 Jimmy Roots

19 Christ Tshiunza

20 Ross Vintcent

21 Will Becconsall

22 Harvey Skinner

23 Will Rigg

Hollywoodbets Sharks

15.​Aphelele Fassi

14.​Eduan Keyter

13.​Ethan Hooker

12.​Andre Esterhuizen

11.​Makazole Mapimpi

10.​Jordan Hendrikse

9.​Grant Williams

8.​Siya Kolisi

7.​Vincent Tshituka

6.​James Venter

5.​Emile van Heerden

4.​Eben Etzebeth (Captain)

3.​Trevor Nyakane

2.​Bongi Mbonambi

1.​Ox Nche

Replacements​

16.​Dylan Richardson

17.​Ntuthuko Mchunu

18.​Hanro Jacobs

19.​Jason Jenkins

20.​Phepsi Buthelezi

21.​Jaden Hendrikse

22.​Siya Masuku

23.​Francois Venter

Match Officials

Referee: Jeremy Rozier (Fra)
Assistant referees: Luc Ramos (Fra) and Adrien Marbot (Fra)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (Fra)
Citing Commissioner: Jennifer Cram (Sco

Weather Forecast as at 1200 Friday

Light cloud and a gentle breeze from the east
Temperature 26 degrees will feel like 31 degrees
Low Chance of Precipitation

TV Coverage

According to ECPR, Premier TV has the exclusive rights to the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup in the UK and Ireland

I think we will lose but not as badly as is being mooted :
Sharks 40 - 26 Exeter

Sharks 45-21 Chiefs

WHW at 10 is THE SAUCE, but Sharks are Challenge Cup Champions and that is all I have to say.

Sharks 39 - 24 Chiefs

Cueto wasn't in touch, at least in my dreams.

With the trip and form I think we will struggle. Don't understand Capstick starting ahead of CT. Sharks 45 Chiefs 20

That Sharks squad is stacked full of world class players, so head over heart this week, Sharks 35 - 18 Chiefs.

well i think they will eat 2 cows between them for breakfast so its sharks 48 chiefs 10 lets just hope they dont come back to battered.

Expect a very tough day at the office and our pack will be under severe pressure at both the scrum and lineout. Can’t fathom why Rigg has been dropped and think we will be massively exposed defensively through the 13 channel. How can our back line develop partnerships when the same players do not play together more than one week at a time - who is our attack coach ? I thought Stu would be stood down after failing his HiA last week Isn’t that the player welfare protocol? Would have liked to see Brown on the bench but he seems totally out of favour!
Fingers crossed we don’t pick up any serious injuries and can score 4 tries which would be nice but having not achieved that in the league away from home for as long as I can remember it’s a long shot.

Sharks 48 Chiefs 19

Great experience for some of the younger guys. I just hope that they play to enjoy themselves rather than worry about the score or a loss.

Hard to predict anything other than a sharks win, but id like see us score a few tries. 40 - 23 to Sharks.

No injuries though please.

Sharks 45 Chiefs 22

In Rob we trust.
By the way - cream on first. There's nothing to debate.

We're going in hard but so are they. *gulps*

Sharks 30 Chiefs 15

Is it 9 or more current or very recent Springboks in their side?

Interesting on the iffy to see a list of injuries along with the team announcement. Is Ehren painter out of favour now, along with Lewis Pearson?

Can’t see us getting much from this game.
Sharks 39 Chiefs 15

I fear carnage. Long travels, terrible away form/ Roasting conditions to play. I will be surprised if they do not win by 40 points as I think they will dominate possession. Sharks 54 Chiefs 14. Sorry to be so pessimistic. I think we will be under tremendous pressure a lot of the time so expect us to concede penalties and cards especially at scrum and breakdown.

Sharks 41 Chiefs 17

Sharks 53 Chiefs 10

Would be pleased if we can hold on for a LBP and keep taking the pts when presented with any opportunity to keep the score moving.
Sharks 30 - 23 Chiefs

Sharks 42 Chiefs 20

I agree with my learned colleagues -
Sharks 45, Chiefs 10

Sharks 45 Chiefs 12

Playing Hammersley in the centre and Wyatt on the wing seems wierd. Rigg should be starting. Sharks 42 Chiefs 31.

Quote:

Lowerwatha
Playing Hammersley in the centre and Wyatt on the wing seems wierd. Rigg should be starting. Sharks 42 Chiefs 31.

+1
Not sure I would have sent as strong a team but I like the fact that Rob is keeping a level of consistency to allow the team to grow. Can only suspect that Pearson is injured again? Would be good to see him back next week with Rusi and Daffyd.

If temperature takes its toll, the last quarter could be tough.

Sharks 43 Chiefs 30

Sharks 50 - 28 Chiefs

Just saw that Pearson is a short term loan for Pirates!

I think we could be on to a thumping

Sharks 45 Chiefs 10

I hope I'm wrong

Quote:

Currychef
Just saw that Pearson is a short term loan for Pirates!

Yes I saw that too. He played well last season but was injured in the pre season open training day but was playing again in the past month. Hopefully we’ll have him back again soon once he’s had some good game time.

Like everyone else I predict a tough day at the office. Sharks 52 Chiefs 17. Think they will pile on the points as the conditions start to affect the boys. Few odd selections Not worried about this game, to be honest I've very little interest in this competition now.
I used to love it, the introduction of SA teams and the ridiculous format started to lose me, now it's on a tv channel I don't get I'm totally lost. Please no injuries

Quote:

Big Chief Little Chief
Like everyone else I predict a tough day at the office. Sharks 52 Chiefs 17. Think they will pile on the points as the conditions start to affect the boys. Few odd selections Not worried about this game, to be honest I've very little interest in this competition now.
I used to love it, the introduction of SA teams and the ridiculous format started to lose me, now it's on a tv channel I don't get I'm totally lost. Please no injuries

It doesn't help that our group is a foregone conclusion for us before the whistle has even blown.

It's basically the "whoever wins, we lose" from Alien vs. Predator of pools.

Cueto wasn't in touch, at least in my dreams.

Quote:

Currychef
Just saw that Pearson is a short term loan for Pirates!

I don’t understand this loan, still playing Capstick in the row! No Daf or Lewis in SA who’s the travelling lock reserve?

Quote:

tigersimon

Quote:

Currychef
Just saw that Pearson is a short term loan for Pirates!

I don’t understand this loan, still playing Capstick in the row! No Daf or Lewis in SA who’s the travelling lock reserve?

It surprised me. Maybe he is still on the naughty step for that crossfield kick last season?

As for today's score... 47-18 to Sharks

Looking at their team this won’t be pretty.

Radio Devon commentary is on but they're trying to commentate from the Premier Sports feed.

This lot seem to be as bad as Channel 5 were back in the day when they launched and tried screening football... pictures would drop out regularly and be really blocky on the screen if the camera attempted to pan from one side to another!

Great first 20 mins to g ok 7 - 0 up, then the Sharks found their mojo. Good to get a score right on half time to stay in touch. HT 26 - 14.

Madness. Sharks could potentially have been down to 10 with yellow cards at one point, but not able to score when the opposition are down to 12 men? That's terrible. A crossfield kick isn't the tactic to use, ball through the hands.

Brainfarts just about sums it up

Slade would have made the difference imo. Lacking on field leadership again.

Can't believe we didn't get anything out of that last 15 mins, RB should be livid!!

Players didn’t know what to do when Sharks went down to 12, all we did was stick to the plan and not play what’s in front of them

We gave them a much better game than I expected. Sharks indiscipline should have cost them a lot more than it did. At the same time, we should probably have come away from that with at least 1, probably 2, bonus points.

Looking forward to Toulouse next week.

The lack of quality at halfback is alarming at our club, the last 15m against 12 players was totally embarrassing and Hammersley dropping that simple try scoring ball sums it up for me, totally out of his depth at this level. Most other clubs would just pass offload and walk in tries. Such a shame as the forwards put in a great shift. Why take Frost off at 53m he was having a storming game, it’s like the decision is made before the game starts- mad. Sums up our season doing everything we can to blow a point scoring opportunity.

Astonishing aspects to that game. Our forwards must have fronted up well. Credit to the ref for giving three cards and not just stopping after one. Awful to not score with possession against 12 men for nearly ten minutes but for a long time many our backs fail to pass correctly, do not run into space, often crab sideways, ignore or do not take overlaps and waste them with loopy miss passes. All basic skills for back play. Passing through the hands is not for them. Cannot comment on individual performances as not seen the match.

A better performance than I expected they tried to bully us but I thought we did quite well. to hold out own A scoreline which summed up the game we couldn't capitalise when the yellow cards came. Frost taken off ten minutes to early . Stu did very well as did vermulan. Thought we missed slade but hey ho. we certainly are adrift at the moment in some positions.

Hollywood only had to play for 10 mins to beat us, they let us punch ourselves out and then turned it on. So many times we just switch off.

It use to be Skinner that got the blame for our attack being poor. Becconsall should be no way near an Exeter first team shirt and needs to go to Cornwall for a couple seasons, Cairns is much better. I dont get why Hammersley started ahead of Rigg or what he brings to the team, Skinner would have been better playing at 13. Why do we keep changing the centre pair around

Jimmy Roots does not look fit.

After my earlier rant thought for those who did watch my view of the match
Positives - scrum did well and in the main the lineout functioned well albeit Innard first throw which was overthrown cost us a try. Ethan Roots looks back to his best, Molina a must starter badly missed him last week when he should have started, Will and Jimmy the replacement props held their own. Christ had a good 15m spell at the end suggesting to me he should have started. Overall the pack did well Frost clearly the outstanding pick and why he was taken off is beyond me!! Outside Manni brilliant on the restart wins and beat players every time he got the ball. Wyatt also good. Not the hammering many posters including me expected.

Negatives - our back play as an attacking threat with ball in hand basically nil, somehow we decided not to give Manni or Tommy the ball despite their outstanding skills rather kicking wastefully and wrong options most of the time. Had a twenty minute spell where tackling was optional Sharks scored at will.
Half backs unable to distribute fast ball with clear opportunities to do so very disappointing performances from them imo. We just do not have halfbacks good enough to play at this level I’m afraid. If Hawkins is not featuring on form as Baxter suggests it beggars belief based upon what was on show again today. Finally if you can’t score points when you have a three man advantage you don’t deserve anything, game management awful - what on earth do the attacking coaches do all week !!! The dropped kick pass under zero pressure to score, you probably wouldn’t see in amateur rugby.
Missed Slade’s presence massively we would definitely have got something out of the game if he played.

Next week selection at halfback will be interesting as will the centres if Tua is out injured.

Before I comment on the game generally I want to mention two astonishing pieces of skill bravery and athleticism from Manny. After about 20’40” we kicked off and Manny took the ball cleanly in the air from ( I think the great Etzebeh) SA forward who was at his apogee after being lifted by his pod. It happened again in the second half and remarkably both incidents went entirely without mention from the commentators and summarisers. He was of course a high jumper when younger but I was hugely impressed.
To the game. I think it showed the strengths and weaknesses that have been apparent all season. Our pack made some surprisingly good progress in the loose and also did better than I expected in the tight. The linesout were a bit dodgy at times but ok. However we didn’t ever look like scoring via the backs and we completely mismanaged the period when they were down to 12, when our basic skills under pressure( whether mental and or physical) let us down badly.
I agree that some consistency of selection in the centre and the second row and half back would help .it seems that Tzchiunza s form has fallen off a cliff, Hawkins never really produced and the scrum halves ( all 6) and the 10s don’t really have it. Rigg and Tua show promise but it appears Painters time is past and Iosefa Scott will have to rehabilitate himself after his ban.

Does anyone know if the highlights are going to be available other than on Premiership sport?

I’m more glass half full than most. Against formidable opponents I thought we were much better than the score suggested . I hope we get to retain Molina who is the real deal and was a real handful around the park.
FWIW how were South African sides ever admitted to the European set up .. absolutel madness on so many levels

Manny did have two great restart catches but didn’t get in the game enough IMHO, find the ball Manny !!!!!!

Cross field kicking when you have 3 more players ….. thru the hands FFS…felt for Hammersley he dropped it but overall played well and yes Rigg might make a good starter but he needs to do the basics and run straight not impede on his winger by drifting across ( see the Bath game - basics]

pack fronted up …. But lose the white line fever and pass it out….

4 tries and 1 LBP would have been appropriate, 2 even better but nothing was very poor despite the effort

Quote:

cornwallchief
Astonishing aspects to that game. Our forwards must have fronted up well. Credit to the ref for giving three cards and not just stopping after one.

Indeed, though he seemingly felt compelled to not issue any more even though, from the commentary, it sounded like there should have been two more - a deliberate knock on and also for multiple infringements in the red zone. I didn't see the footage so can't comment, but if it was the case, why not issue them? Hollywoodbet boosted his account?

Quote:

mommentum
Jimmy Roots does not look fit.

The only pre-requisite neede to being a Chiefs prop is to be huge, that's all.

Morning all,
I listened to radio Devon and had some rubbish stream on the TV. The stream seemed to settled down late in the second half so I could see pictures.
I have a query.
As Sharks were being yellow carded, Esterhuizen returned to the field and packed down as flanker...he's the Sharks 12 and I thought he was kept quiet in the game.
Why was he allowed to return? Did he replace an injured flanker? It felt like we'd been conned by a more experienced team. Can anyone with a deeper knowledge of the laws advise please?
Apart from the inability to score the fourth try, I thought we did very well, given the travelling, turn around from Bath etc
I'm quite looking forward to seeing us against Toulouse...it could be surprising.

Full match is on Rugby24.net.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:12:08:11:50:23 by ouch!_that_hurts.

ouch I should have got points this week as I did have us to lose!!

Apologies, fisher. I hadn't spotted that you'd made your prediction before the teams were announced.

one of Goodrick-Clarke's better games for us.

Its a shame that Hodge and Manny do not seem to have an understanding and play well together.

Centres used so far this season :- Hawkins, Hammersley, Woodburn, Slade, Tua (12 & 13) Rigg (12 & 13) so I guest its time for a change and start Wimbush next weekend and Slade at 12?

Thanks Ouch I need to try harder and catch up a bit and thanks for doing this thankless task.