Am I right in saying that if La Rochelle win tonight and Connacht win tomorrow, Connacht are guaranteed the playoffs at least? They'd be 21 ahead of Edinburgh with 4 to play and only Blues could catch them via either route.

pinky wrote: With Ulster and Scarlets having beaten Dragons and Edinburgh respectively, any lingering hope Connacht had of automatic qualification is now effectively gone.
Likewise any danger of being pipped to a playoff spot has now passed. Only risk on that front now is if Edinburgh win the Challenge Cup.
So now it's all about finishing ahead of Cardiff to guarantee the playoff spot while secretly hoping we fail to do that and Edinburgh get beaten by La Rochelle in Murrayfield so we get a better playoff draw.
Last season ended in glory, this one is scheduled to end in confusion (with hopefully some glory for dessert).

defeatist. Shame on you pinky. Yes it would take an almighty miracle but some of us live in dream world. so let us dream.

With Ulster and Scarlets having beaten Dragons and Edinburgh respectively, any lingering hope Connacht had of automatic qualification is now effectively gone.
Likewise any danger of being pipped to a playoff spot has now passed. Only risk on that front now is if Edinburgh win the Challenge Cup.
So now it's all about finishing ahead of Cardiff to guarantee the playoff spot while secretly hoping we fail to do that and Edinburgh get beaten by La Rochelle in Murrayfield so we get a better playoff draw.
Last season ended in glory, this one is scheduled to end in confusion (with hopefully some glory for dessert).

Despite the prospect of ruining the Top14 season the FFR don't seem likely to face down Lorenzetti. Couldn't risk any flight of money from the Top14

Podge57 wrote:
if Stade are moved to 14th are all games played to date invalid and points amended on table?

Oh it's wayyyyy better than that. If they don't play Castres they lose 2 points and Castres get 5. Forfeit 3 games and they're automatically relegated in 14th place. But their results to date stand.

So if they don't fulfill all their remaining fixtures, Bayonne, Montpellier, Castres, Toulon, Pau and (of course) Racing get 5 points for nowt. That puts Montpellier within striking distance of La Rochelle, Clemont into the barrage, Racing clear of Bordeaux in 7th and Bayonne level with Grenoble (albeit with one more game played).

The strike threatens to make a joke of the whole Top 14 season, and the FFR as the body with legislative responsibility for the sport in France have the power to veto the takeover. I'd be amazed if it goes ahead.

Podge57 wrote:

salmson wrote:

pinky wrote:

clanman wrote: so what happens if either racing or stade finish in 7th, technically it's a new club next year so neither should be allowed to play in the playoffs

We play Racing in the Yves de Manoir and all the Stade fans come and shout for us!
Maybe even Pascal Pape comes off the bench in green.

Looks very like the [strike]merger[/strike] takeover won't be happening. Gavin Mortimer on Twitter is probably the best English language resource to follow on this one.

Even if it did happen I doubt there would be a "new" club. If you disband Racing to form a new club (as opposed to renaming the existing one) then the Racing players can walk away from their contracts (allegedly Machenaud & Nakawara are trying to get out of Racing already). It would be simpler & safer to disband Stade and sign whomever you want/whomever makes themselves available to Racing. In that case, if the "merger" goes ahead, Racing are fine to compete in the playoffs, while Stade are automatically relegated in 14th place due to the strike (and then disbanded).

if Stade are moved to 14th are all games played to date invalid and points amended on table?

"after 3 forfeits, the LNR rules state Stade will be automatically relegated to ProD2... & their remaining fixtures scrapped. Although their opponents in those games - Pau, Racing & Bordeaux - will be awarded 5 pts. "

Looks like results would stand

salmson wrote:

pinky wrote:

clanman wrote: so what happens if either racing or stade finish in 7th, technically it's a new club next year so neither should be allowed to play in the playoffs

We play Racing in the Yves de Manoir and all the Stade fans come and shout for us!
Maybe even Pascal Pape comes off the bench in green.

Looks very like the [strike]merger[/strike] takeover won't be happening. Gavin Mortimer on Twitter is probably the best English language resource to follow on this one.

Even if it did happen I doubt there would be a "new" club. If you disband Racing to form a new club (as opposed to renaming the existing one) then the Racing players can walk away from their contracts (allegedly Machenaud & Nakawara are trying to get out of Racing already). It would be simpler & safer to disband Stade and sign whomever you want/whomever makes themselves available to Racing. In that case, if the "merger" goes ahead, Racing are fine to compete in the playoffs, while Stade are automatically relegated in 14th place due to the strike (and then disbanded).

if Stade are moved to 14th are all games played to date invalid and points amended on table?

pinky wrote:

clanman wrote: so what happens if either racing or stade finish in 7th, technically it's a new club next year so neither should be allowed to play in the playoffs

We play Racing in the Yves de Manoir and all the Stade fans come and shout for us!
Maybe even Pascal Pape comes off the bench in green.

Looks very like the [strike]merger[/strike] takeover won't be happening. Gavin Mortimer on Twitter is probably the best English language resource to follow on this one.

Even if it did happen I doubt there would be a "new" club. If you disband Racing to form a new club (as opposed to renaming the existing one) then the Racing players can walk away from their contracts (allegedly Machenaud & Nakawara are trying to get out of Racing already). It would be simpler & safer to disband Stade and sign whomever you want/whomever makes themselves available to Racing. In that case, if the "merger" goes ahead, Racing are fine to compete in the playoffs, while Stade are automatically relegated in 14th place due to the strike (and then disbanded).

As usual, the English clubs get what they want, the French never seemed too bothered about the playoffs, hence why they had to play away in the final a couple of years ago (even though Bordeaux ended up beating Gloucester)

clanman wrote: so what happens if either racing or stade finish in 7th, technically it's a new club next year so neither should be allowed to play in the playoffs

We play Racing in the Yves de Manoir and all the Stade fans come and shout for us!
Maybe even Pascal Pape comes off the bench in green.

so what happens if either racing or stade finish in 7th, technically it's a new club next year so neither should be allowed to play in the playoffs

No, you read that wrong, they are away.
(or more accurately the fixture list is wrong - ignore the Home/Away columns for the semis)

Rules are here: www.epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychallengecup/rules.php

If Cardiff win, they get a home semi by virtue of having won an away quarter.
If Gloucester win, they get a home semi by virtue of being seeded ahead of Edinburgh in the pool stage.

salmson wrote:

Accidentally Onside wrote: I'm sure they were aware

You're not suggesting they don't care, are you?

I'm not sure it is as inherently unfair as people are saying:
We knew the Pro12 teams would play away in the first round
50/50 chance of home draw in the final.......came out the short side of this one.

Once the draw was fair and open (and if it wasn't serious questions need to be answered) then I don't have any problem with this.

salmson wrote:

Mark Mostyn wrote:
Not if Edinburgh win the Challenge Cup! They have a home quarter against La Rochelle who aren't going to be bothered and then a home semi so it's very possible

Edinburgh are away if they win their quarter final, regardless of opponent.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_Eu..._Cup#Knock-out_stage

But good point. 9th seed might not get to play at all, which is reason enough to aim to be 8th seed.

For us it's much of a muchness, the fact that if we finish 8th seed we're away in the final is softened by being in France (where we have a great record) rather than England (where we have an awful one) in the semi.

For Cardiff on the other hand, whose record in England and France is pretty appalling (2010 notwithstanding), playing to lose would almost make sense.

www.epcrugby.com/matchcentre/fixtures_eu...by_challenge_cup.php

The official website has them at home vs the winner of Gloucester vs Cardiff.

salmson wrote: For us it's much of a muchness, the fact that if we finish 8th seed we're away in the final is softened by being in France (where we have a great record) rather than England (where we have an awful one) in the semi.

Good point salmson. Connacht battle Cardiff for a trip to France (in summer). That's incentive enough.

Fair chance if we play the French team away in S/F it will be a Sunday?