It does seem so. I'd love for him to hang them up honestly. He's nothing left to prove and he's taken a lot of damage. Hate to see him being a wreck later in life.
Rugby Union 21/22/23 Discussion | RWC time!
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That's the stage he's at too where he's putting himself at serious risk. He took a huge hit about ten mins before he went off. He's always been targetted as the playmaker, but it's probably easier to line him up these days.
Oof, now Byrne getting absolutely run over.
Hmmmmmm. He was really close to a monster hit, but he was rising up immediately and hit him in the face. These days that could have been yellow or red. Possibly lucky it's a penalty only.
I'd have said a yellow was the right call there. Weird because rugby has been so strict on these things lately. Definitely didn't want to see the lad sent off though. Hopefully we can finish the match with a fly half still on the pitch.
I think he was saved by making the hit on the shoulder first. Byrne got a fair auld wallop in the face though.
Yeah when the ref said no force I was laughing. I actually thought the one on Keenan looked worse in terms of height. Anyway doing well after a disastrous start. This will end up tight but if we don't keep on top in defence I think Exeter will hurt us badly with their chances. Super clinical side they are.
This fecking O'Flaherty guy is killing us, been responsible for 90% of Exeter's points. Surely he has Irish roots.
That's fecking deliberate, if they avoid be punished for this accordingly then screw this.
Ah fair enough ball went back. My bad!
Larmour you beautiful fecker!!
This has been a great match. Ross Byrne doing great after coming on.
That's two yellow cards now not given. So weird with the new directives on high tackles.
Excellent defence there from Leinster
What a fun game
A real nailbiter! Leinster hanging on now.
Think we're ok now
That should be that alright. Extremely impressive performance from Leinster.
Thank God. Good performance overall. Exeter are terrifying when they get inside the 22.
Oh no! 
Ahhh dissallowed. Fantastic win all the same.Oh no!
I hope Leinster mark this as a changing of the guard, that Byrne can push on, and that he delivers the same for Ireland. He did a great job yesterday.
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Absolutely awful game between Bordeaux and Racing. So many mistakes by both teams .
P.S finished by Jalibert with a 55m kick
P.S finished by Jalibert with a 55m kick
There's going to be guaranteed Irish interest in the final now with Leinster away to La Rochelle.
Either Leinster going for their fifth title or O'Gara going for his first as coach.
Either Leinster going for their fifth title or O'Gara going for his first as coach.
Lions coaching team announced today.
https://www.skysports.com/rugby-uni...s-coaching-team-for-2021-tour-to-south-africa
https://www.skysports.com/rugby-uni...s-coaching-team-for-2021-tour-to-south-africa
Speculation in mounting here in Australia that TJ Perenara might be swictching codes to play NRL for the Sydney Roosters .
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I see that red card replacements, goal line dropouts and captains referrals will all be used in the Rainbow Cup. Uggh.
Not a big fan of the red card replacement, a cynical team would go straight out to injure the opposing teams best player like O'Gara when we played Wasps years ago, I'd of much preferred to see the 40/20 or is it 50/20 rule getting a run out
The league-ifying of union. Painful
@Xaviesta hasn't posted this yet, so I'll fire it in... This looked like a real nailbiter.
Also includes a well-deserved brainless red card - the kind of cheapshot one that the current rules were brought in to eliminate.
Also includes a well-deserved brainless red card - the kind of cheapshot one that the current rules were brought in to eliminate.
I would get on board with the captains challenge system if that was the only time the TMO was able to involve itself in the game.
The Chiefs defeated the Crusaders 26-25 (congratulations @JPRouve) to secure a 4th straight win all of which have come by margins of 3 points or fewer. Funnily enough since some Aussie commentators suggested the Crusaders could beat some national teams, the red and blacks have won once ( a 3 point golden point win over the Hurricanes last Sunday) and lost twice - 33-12 to the Highlanders and tonight's one point loss to the Chiefs.
The Crusaders have been a bit strange in the past weeks. They look a lot like the Chiefs often do, they are organized defensively and breaks opposing lines with relative ease but for some inexplicable reasons, overplay instead of being patient and methodical. For the Chiefs it makes sense because the team is often built around few confirmed All Blacks and a bunch of young players that are later poached by the Crusaders, Highlanders and Blues(no, I'm not bitter), The Crusaders are full of internationals and they shouldn't make the mistakes they are currently making.
Mckenzie's smile vs Mo'unga's robot dance...
For some reason, I was 100% certain that Leinster - La Rochelle was this weekend and I was really looking forward to it this afternoon 
I'm ready to give up on football. I'm grateful that Rugby is still around.
Between rugby going through a bit of a golden era and getting into NFL, I've barely watched any football in the past year. I've watched ten or fifteen times as many games of them as football.
Don’t know what you guys think, but rugby seems to be moving through that horrible kick-dominated period where all you saw was box after box, certainly in the premiership. I’ve just looked at the last 3 rounds of fixtures briefly, there’s been 1051 points scored over the 18 matches, over 58 points per game average. I don’t know how this plays out to other domestic leagues, and I think it’ll be much lower at international level (which is generally cagier) but it makes the sport as a whole so much more watchable. I’d much rather watch, say Northampton vs Worcester as opposed to Fulham vs Wolves (random teams I have no attachment to)
I see what you mean but it hasn't been a prevalent style outside of South Africa and the premiership. Super Rugby is totally different and Top 14 has moved on from it 5 or 6 years ago with Jake White being one of the last to use it. But yeah, a midtable rugby game is better than its PL equivalent. Now to be fair the players are comparatively better since the concentration of talent is higher in rugby top leagues.
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