United Rugby Championship

[blockhead]

I think it has to be that way from now on, due to the SA sides being involved.
Unless they decide to hold the final in Qatar or the US.....

You might not be far off - 2024 final in Qatar. And you could see a sweetener like free flights for the teams and cheap packages for fans (or something like that)

Hmmm

Could work.

[bronxbull]

Nick McCarthy might want to miss the Qatar game.

Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk

[TMC]

Some of the ideas floating around rugby these days are like something you would see David Brent come out with. Quite apart from the optics/sports washing playing in the gulf shows zero consideration for the players. To the best of my knowledge only one of the stadiums being build for the wendyball world cup has a roof and once the world cup is over that is being redeveloped into a hotel and the top tier being taken off. While I know the other stadia will allegedly have state of the art air conditioning, they are open air, how do you air condition the entire desert? (Never mind should you be attempting to do so in the first place)
Appreciate the URC are desperate for sponsors but personally think this is a completely mindless suggestion. Preseason competition? Preseason games take place in August where the average temperature is 42 C. Perfect for tight forwards. Players welfare obviously front and centre in their thinking!

[nc6000]

Dunno bout the logistics etc., but those in the URC responsible for advertising and marketing are sure to be thinking in terms of the TV market of one billion persons approx. in India two to three hours behind Doha. If one even got a fraction of them and the quarter of a billion persons in Pakistan, even closer to Qatar, to tune into rugby on the gogglebox, that's a moneyspinner right there.

I would have thought this sponsorship is more about breaking into the tyre market here rather than raising the profile of Rugby in India.

[D4surfer]

For those dyslexic fans, please rest assured that the sponsorship is with the tyre company BKT and not the serial killer BTK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rader

[FLIP]

For those dyslexic fans, please rest assured that the sponsorship is with the tyre company BKT and not the serial killer BTK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rader

Think bucket!

[Dexter]

I think it has to be that way from now on, due to the SA sides being involved.
Unless they decide to hold the final in Qatar or the US.....

You might not be far off - 2024 final in Qatar. And you could see a sweetener like free flights for the teams and cheap packages for fans (or something like that)

Hmmm

Jaysus I hope not!

[LeinsterLeader]

Interesting Stuff! Would have bet money Jvdf would have been in there. Maybe he didn't play enough URC games

A new player ranking system measures performance in URC games and internationals
Expect points from Dan Sheehan, the URC's most effective player

THU, 15 SEP, 2022 - 21:00
CIAN LOCKE
Social share
Leinster had four of the top 10 most effective players in last year's United Rugby Championship, according to a new player ranking system that measures performance in URC games as well as international and EPCR competition.

The BKT URC Top 100 will measure player impact this season using the StatMaster xP algorithm which awards players points across a range of categories.

StatMaster applies an “expected points” (xP) algorithm to each event in a games, then measures the impact each player has on his side’s chance of scoring.

A player gains points by producing plays that increase his team’s probability of making the next score — such as crashing past defenders, nailing a 50/22 kick, earning a scrum penalty or winning a turnover on his own try-line.

Players lost points for costly errors such as turnovers or knock-ons. The algorithm adjusts for match factors, including a player’s position, his location on the field, the phase type, the time on the clock, and the quality of his teammates and opponents.

Leinster's Dan Sheehan merged as the most effective player in the URC when using these methods to measure performances over the last 12 months.

Leinster's James Lowe, Ross Byrne and Ronan Kelleher also featured in the top 10. There are two Munster players — Tadhg Beirne at 2 and Peter O'Mahony at 10.

The BKT URC Top 100 will be updated monthly on unitedrugby.com.

URC Top 10

1. Dan Sheehan, Leinster

2. Tadhg Beirne, Munster

3. Rory Darge, Glasgow Warriors

4. James Lowe, Leinster

5. Ross Byrne, Leinster

6. Sam Lousi, Scarlets

7. Toa Halafihi, Benetton

8. Ronan Kelleher, Leinster

9. Thomas du Toit, Cell C Sharks

10. Peter O'Mahony, Munster

[Ruckedtobits]

Interesting Stuff! Would have bet money Jvdf would have been in there. Maybe he didn't play enough URC games

A new player ranking system measures performance in URC games and internationals
Expect points from Dan Sheehan, the URC's most effective player

THU, 15 SEP, 2022 - 21:00
CIAN LOCKE
Social share
Leinster had four of the top 10 most effective players in last year's United Rugby Championship, according to a new player ranking system that measures performance in URC games as well as international and EPCR competition.

The BKT URC Top 100 will measure player impact this season using the StatMaster xP algorithm which awards players points across a range of categories.

StatMaster applies an “expected points” (xP) algorithm to each event in a games, then measures the impact each player has on his side’s chance of scoring.

A player gains points by producing plays that increase his team’s probability of making the next score — such as crashing past defenders, nailing a 50/22 kick, earning a scrum penalty or winning a turnover on his own try-line.

Players lost points for costly errors such as turnovers or knock-ons. The algorithm adjusts for match factors, including a player’s position, his location on the field, the phase type, the time on the clock, and the quality of his teammates and opponents.

Leinster's Dan Sheehan merged as the most effective player in the URC when using these methods to measure performances over the last 12 months.

Leinster's James Lowe, Ross Byrne and Ronan Kelleher also featured in the top 10. There are two Munster players — Tadhg Beirne at 2 and Peter O'Mahony at 10.

The BKT URC Top 100 will be updated monthly on unitedrugby.com.

URC Top 10

1. Dan Sheehan, Leinster

2. Tadhg Beirne, Munster

3. Rory Darge, Glasgow Warriors

4. James Lowe, Leinster

5. Ross Byrne, Leinster

6. Sam Lousi, Scarlets

7. Toa Halafihi, Benetton

8. Ronan Kelleher, Leinster

9. Thomas du Toit, Cell C Sharks

10. Peter O'Mahony, Munster

Looking at this selection of players suggests to me that the algorithm under-rates defensive attributes rather than attacking contributions. Furthermore, given his injury absences, I'm surprised to see the inclusion of Kelleher in particular.

Overall, I would have expected to see more SA players included.

[blockhead]

Dean Ryan-Gone after 1 game?

[Barry]

New fan zone is impressive, well done to all involved

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

[Dave Cahill]

New fan zone is impressive, well done to all involved

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

Yep, very good. Love the big screens!

[blockhead]

Zebre with another 2 pts. They have 4 now compared to last seasons 9. Based on the last 2 weeks against us and the Sharks, you'd have to think that they are going to be a handful for some teams at home this season. Treviso too look very good, even tonight in attack.

[ronk]

Zebre with another 2 pts. They have 4 now compared to last seasons 9. Based on the last 2 weeks against us and the Sharks, you'd have to think that they are going to be a handful for some teams at home this season. Treviso too look very good, even tonight in attack.

If they kept that up for the season they’d get enough points for 13th last season with zero wins.

[wixfjord]

Ulster attack is looking very slick so far.

We'll be up against it on Fri if we can't get the backline humming a bit more.

[cormac]

Really impressive so far from Ulster.

[cormac]

Less impressive there though. Scarlets get their hands on the ball for the first time and open up Ulster for a try.

[cormac]

Ulster good with the ball, much less so without

[Dave Cahill]

Very entertaining game to watch

[OTT]

Ref evening things up there.