New Europe Tournament is a hit!

All the fiasco that was last season in formulating a new European tournament has paid off. The new condensed format of the pool stage with a much more intense and concentrated draw of the teams lead to a thrilling final weekend of games as teams fought hard in high quality games for the spaces in the knock-out stages. The game of the final weekend was by far: Bath vs. Glasgow as both teams strived for the top place in the pool. Glasgow scored the try of the tournament potentially with excellent offloading and team play but it wasn't enough as the Bath pack asserted their dominance over their Scottish counter-parts.

It wasn't just the final weekend that should be commended; the entire tournament week in, week out has been superb. Every team went into the tournament knowing that every game counted with each pool containing potentially three teams that could qualify for the knock-out stages. Drama filled each round, with Northampton Saints shooting themselves in the foot in the first round, before an extermination of the top PRO12 team a week later as former European greats Leicester lost to the Scarlets in Wales. Tigers then bounced back against reigning champions Toulon, and the Ospreys and Racing Metro battled it out in their double header with some superb displays of test match intensity. These sort of games were a constant occurrence in the tournament, and confirm that the effort that was taken to reorganise the format was totally worth it.

Perhaps the only really downside of the new format is that the second tier tournament - at the point that the pool stages took place - did not provide qualification into the Champions Cup. So the Challenge Cup has led to one sided games, but it has still led to the rise of certain players and teams most impressively of which is the Dragons. They have played some superb rugby against quality opposition, Stade Francais are no pushovers. The real story of the Challenge Cup pool stages has to be Gloucester, having a complete clean sweep of six wins from six games, and a total of 29 points from a possible 30 is ridiculous. Dropping only one bonus point, in the second round against Brive, has to be commended on their attacking flair and belief in their skills and team play.

Looking ahead to the knockout games of both tournaments has thrown up some seriously interesting games. Many of them are practically impossible to really decide who will progress to the semi-finals, but when you're faced with a Welsh Derby, and a mouth watering fixture like Clermont vs. Saints you know you're going to want to watch the games.

Champions Cup Predictions
Racing Metro vs. Saracens - Saracens (Racing's inconsistent form gives Saracens hope)
Toulon vs. Wasps - Toulon (Champions elect at home)
Clermont Auvergne vs. Northampton Saints - Clermont Auvergne (Home advantage wins - just)
Leinster vs. Bath - Leinster (Bath attack lethal, Leinster know how to win though)

Challenge Cup Predictions
Gloucester vs. Connacht - Gloucester (Form team, at home)
Exeter Chiefs vs. Newcastle Falcons - Exeter Chiefs (Home advtanage, and Gareth Steenson's goal kicking)
Newport Gwent Dragons vs. Cardiff Blues - Newport Gwent Dragons (Packed stadium and the backline talent wins it)
London Irish vs. Edinburgh - Edinburgh (Neither screams success but recent form in the PRO12 supports the Scots)

Six Nations Fantasy League

That's right in little under two weeks the Six Nations will start up again with Wales and England on a Friday night. And once again the folks over at ESPN are running their fantasy league. Rules are different from the previous Autumn International game, this time only a maximum of 15 transfers are permitted throughout the tournament, with a maximum of five per week. So pick your initial team well so you don't run out of transfers before the end.

The Tackle Pad private league is once again running to see who among the readers (and writer) is the best team manager. So go and sign up to ESPN Fantasy League and join the league (PIN Code: 79560) and see if you have what it takes to top the table.

Good luck!

The 2014 Awards Show! Who came out on top?

The year has come to and end, and what a year it's been. We have seen the unbeatable All Blacks defeated in South Africa, the Southern Hemisphere hold on the World Rankings broken and Leicester Tigers face some catastrophic defeats. It has been one of the most topsy turvy years of rugby, teams have risen and fallen, and seen players make claims for international shirts as the World Cup looms.

This is a post unfairly condensing this year down into a dozen awards, all selections in this article are my personal opinion.

Try of the Year
Cornal Hendricks (SA) vs Wales - [See 3:20]
Special Mentions: Bernard Foley (Waratahs) vs Brumbies, Francois Hougaard (SA) vs New Zealand

Northern Hemisphere Player of the Year
Jonathan Sexton (Ireland and Racing Metro) - Superb, no other word, has formed a lethal partnership
with coach Joe Schmidt to successfully defeat opponents. Goal kicking much improved too.
Special Mentions: George North, Samu Manoa

Southern Hemisphere Player of the Year
Richie McCaw (New Zealand and Crusdaders) - Has once again defied the passage of time to put in stellar performances all year round, one of the big differences between New Zealand and every other team.

Special Mentions: Julian Savea, Willie Le Roux, Bernard Foley

Match of the Year
New South Wales Waratahs vs Cantebury Crusaders (Super XV Final) - A game full of passion, plenty of tries, and a nail-biting conclusion all you can ask for.
Special Mentions: Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers (Aviva Premiership Semi-final), France vs Ireland (6 Nations)

Team of the Year
New Zealand - Not quite as good as they were a year ago, losing to South Africa, but still undeniable #1 in the world, need to pin down first choice 10 for World Cup.
Special Mentions: Ireland, NSW Waratahs, Toulon


Coach of the Year
Joe Schimidt (Ireland) - He has revolutionised Irish rugby, a very different out look on rugby. Focusing on opponents weaknesses and devising a brilliant game-plan to exploit it.
Special Mentions: Steve Hansen, Vern Cotter

Breakthrough Player of the Year
Tevita Kuridrani (Australia) - Australia's answer to Tuilgai and Jamie Roberts before the World Cup. One of the best line-breakers in the game at the minute, one moment where he blasted between two South Africans cemented his place on the international stage.
Special Mentions: Teddy Thomas (France), Finn Russell (Scotland), Samson Lee (Wales), George Ford (England)

Referee of the Year
Nigel Owens (Wales) - Has there been a better ref in recent memory? His compassion for the game is legendary, understanding that the game is the most important. His quips are superb too, keeping everyone lighthearted
Special Mention: JP Doyle (England)

Biggest Problem in the Game
Scrums - They continue to plague the game, what used to be very quick and efficient method of restarting the game, has become a snore-fest as fans lose interest for two minute periods throughout the game. There is a simple solution really and it's making sure the players do their jobs:

• The scrum-half must put the ball in straight - otherwise award free-kick
• The hooker must hook the ball  - otherwise award free-kick
• Once the ball is at the back, the referee calls "Use it" - if not taken out after five seconds, award free-kick

Rookie Moment of the Year
The Arkansas Dummy - A piece of sublime skill that you have to watch a couple of times, hopefully this player makes it to the USA Eagles team soon.
Special Mentions: Gigantor Prop, World's Oldest Player

World XV of 2014:
15: Willie Le Roux - glides over the pitch, lethal attacker
14: Tommy Bowe - back to his best, predatory finisher
13: Tevita Kuridrani - explosive powerhouse, transformed Australia attack
12: Jean De Villiers - consomate leader, solid defence, hopefully back for the RWC
11: Julian Savea - try stats speak for themselves, "better than Lomu"
10: Jonathan Sexton - tactical genius, scores tries too
9: Connor Murray - other half of Ireland brain, brilliant kicking game
1: Marcos Ayerza - greatest scrummager around
2: Agustin Creevy - mobile, ball carrying, leader
3: Samson Lee - brand new, replaced the ever present Adam Jones, solid
4: Brodie Retalick - IRB Player of the Year, can carry, clear out and offload
5: Alun Wyn Jones - never stops grafting, commanding at lineout too
6: Peter O'Mahoney - the best breakdown operator in the game
7: Richie McCaw - the greatest leader in the world, still a danger at the turnover
8: Ben Morgan - transformed England's pack, wrecking ball in attack