MichaelRobartes

@Stortz Mickey Vann threw the towel back out in Katsidis v Earl. I'll have to watch it back, I remember it being an absolutely mad fight.

That's top shithousing from Bristol. I don't think I'd like it any more than Leicester do but I somehow can't help but recall the hand of Back in the 2002 Heineken Cup final

I thought it was a really good interview from Sinckler. I would have probably taken him over Fagerson but I don't think there's that much in it. I expect Furlong and Porter to be the first choice tightheads but who knows. There will definitely be injuries between now and the end of the tour so he may end up going anyway.

Nothing better than a maul and scrum fest in the wind and rain that finishes 3-0. Proper rugby.

I wasn't just talking about this season (which I didn't make clear) but you're right, they couldn't really win this year. I do think that it should have been a straight draw though. I suppose that giving the teams who won both rounds home advantage is ok, but I don't think there was any need to keep clubs from the same leagues apart at this stage.

In other news: Connacht and former Ireland U20 scrum half Stephen Kerins joining Bristol on loan.

The worst thing was that every time they took all the balls out to avoid messing up this insane system they've cooked up, they read them all out again! Hard to exaggerate how convoluted and amateur they've made a once-great competition seem.

This draw for the Super Duper Cup is absolutely interminable. Handy enough for Bristol until they run into Racing. Worst possible draw for Munster as usual!

cYdRaBaD m8

Another really enjoyable game this. I might have to watch more Premiership matches in future.

Have to say that I really enjoyed that game. I don't think Bristol will be too worried. Sale's defence was superb and it was an incredible try to win them the game. Yarde controlling the ball with his foot and McGinty's pass - wow. In spite of that, Bristol's set piece was good, especially the scrum, and it looked like they'd squeaked out a win until the last play so hard to criticise. I'd have wanted to kick the goal at the end of the first half, but their maul was looking good so not a terrible decision for me.

The queue at the humble pie stand will be long enough.

Personally I don't think that he's been scapegoated. I haven't seen anyone talk to an official in the way that he did and escape a card or a citing. I agree with Slacker that bans for this sort of thing are needed to try and stop it from creeping into the game.

Also, Sinckler banned for two weeks, as expected:

Football chat in the Non Football forum

Totally agree LR. We are seeing this creeping into the game a bit more now and we have to be careful in how it's dealt with. I don't want people to think that I'm only laying into Bristol or England players either. I was only complaining to my friends about a couple of the Munster players chatting back to the referee the other week against Clermont. There was also at least one Clermont player waving an imaginary card, which I'm sure nobody wants to see. Dylan Hartley got an 11-week ban for calling Wayne Barnes a ******* cheat. Obviously more serious than what Sinckler said but I expect him to get a couple of weeks to cool off all the same. It's good that he's apologised but he needs to be very careful. It's not the first time he's lost his cool on the pitch. I don't really care about a bit of swearing being picked up on the mic but when it's directed at the officials then it's another thing entirely.

I didn't realise that I was obliged to comment on the performance ? I didn't see the whole game. I watched most of the first half and parts of the second. I usually watch the PRO14 or TOP14 so probably all of the other posters here would know a lot more about the Premiership than me. The short answer to your question is yes. Bristol have already beaten Connacht in Galway which takes some doing. I think that they have quality players in most positions now and have certainly improved defensively in the last while. Most teams have to take their lumps for a few years in Europe before qualifying for the knockout stages and maybe going on to win it. We'll have to see how they get on. I think that Leinster or Munster would have too much experience for Bristol at this stage, but we obviously won't know until they meet. Long-term Bristol have a very good chance of being in contention to win a Heineken Cup if they keep Lam or hire a good replacement when he leaves. The Irish sides can't match the French and English levels of investment so there's no reason they can't beat us in the next while.

Agreed. I don't like to see that.

Sinckler is such a gobshite on the pitch

Forgot to post this before for anyone interested. The Loose Head is well worth a follow on Twitter and a podcast listen. He's got several other high-profile coaches on for this series too: