Euro Challenge Cup

[Rugbyintheblood]

Can’t believe so many players in European matches are fixated on passing the ball one handed. So many promising moves are failing because of this. It’s spectacular when it comes off but risky.

[backdoc]

Slow
Services on board are sparse- mostly no cabins, for example.
But cheap, and they arrive in Dieppe early enough to be through Paris by rush hour. Except this time when it took 2 hours to get through passport control. Sitting in the car in Dieppe as I write this.

Lester - when did you book this trip?

20th March
The overnight ferry is rarely full, but it was cancelled as it had crashed into the dock at Dieppe, so we took the replacement the following morning.

[MarleyWasp]

Friday, 5.30pm UK time kick off:

https://twitter.com/ChallengeCup_/status/1513200693292711944?t=v92EHyYPd0HOvrp0xCVkog&s=19

[Chunky24]

Friday, 5.30pm UK time kick off:

https://twitter.com/ChallengeCup_/status/1513200693292711944?t=v92EHyYPd0HOvrp0xCVkog&s=19

Pudsey really might need to leave very soon!

[InBetweenWasp]

The Friday kills travel plans a bit.  Nothing particularly friendly to travel out Friday (which we'd have to with Thursday commitments). 

There are a few flights into France (Nantes/Lourdes) with Ryanair on the Weds.  Otherwise Bilbao is probably the best bet for a flight.  Approx £200 return for a Weds-Sat trip or £250 for a Thurs-Sat trip with Vueling from Gatwick.

With a bit more planning time and not having to fork out £250/head for the 5 of us, a long weekend split between San Sebastian and Biarritz would have been wonderful.

[will311293]

However, its nice to see a team like Biarritz about...

[baldpaul101]

its nice to see a team like Biarritz about

Seconded, I thought they had disappeared when they got relegated.

[DGP Wasp]

Other than the live streaming service apparently now offered (I've not fully investigated this yet), is there any mainstream TV broadcast of this game?  The 5.30 kick off time is an unusual one, and can only have been scheduled at such a time for TV purposes surely?  However, BT Sport are showing the Leinster v Connacht Champions Cup 2nd leg. kicking off at the same time, and Irish's game with Castres in the Challenge Cup is also at the same time, so they can't be showing them all.

We seem to have been lumbered with an awkward kick off time, with only a short time to arrange travel for a Friday game, and for no particular reason.

This Challenge Cup format has left most of the quarter finals with no realistic chance of having any visiting supporters which just seems a great shame when this is such a big part of what the European competitions are all about for me.

[Neils]

Other than the live streaming service apparently now offered (I've not fully investigated this yet), is there any mainstream TV broadcast of this game?  The 5.30 kick off time is an unusual one, and can only have been scheduled at such a time for TV purposes surely?  However, BT Sport are showing the Leinster v Connacht Champions Cup 2nd leg. kicking off at the same time, and Irish's game with Castres in the Challenge Cup is also at the same time, so they can't be showing them all.

We seem to have been lumbered with an awkward kick off time, with only a short time to arrange travel for a Friday game, and for no particular reason.

This Challenge Cup format has left most of the quarter finals with no realistic chance of having any visiting supporters which just seems a great shame when this is such a big part of what the European competitions are all about for me.

It should appear on EPCRTV but not on any UK TV service. Details may appear later in the week what matches they are selling.

https://epcrugby.tv/

[DGP Wasp]

its nice to see a team like Biarritz about

Seconded, I thought they had disappeared when they got relegated.

+1 more.  And the same for Perpignan.  Two great old French clubs in stunning locations who have been sorely missed from European competition in recent years.  Sadly the position of both in the Top 14 looks perilous, with Biarritz all but relegated already, and Perpignan probably facing a play off to stay up.

[Peej]

Give it a few weeks and Biarritz might collapse completely, as we so nearly did.