Tiny margins

[artaneboy]

Ah but if we get knocked out of the H-Cup at the group stage you might be glad to have tickets to a Challenge Cup Final with us in it

We won one Challenge Cup (Amlin was the sponsor then), in 2013. It was grand, but even at the time, after winning three of the “real” Heineken Cups previously, it felt like weak beer. Can’t see any enthusiasm in the foreseeable future that we would be any happier now with appearance in the B final- especially after our recent record/ trauma.

We need to get over ourselves and celebrate our wins. Least we actually become the arrogant sorts that everyone is keen to paint us as.

And we will… when we win that fifth title. Amazing that we can be considered arrogant (or worry about that slander) for aspiring to win the premier competition and honestly prioritising that. We’ve come within a whisker twice in successive years, having won it four times previously- and that’s arrogance?

We will remain a piñata for the media and it’s pundit claque, alternatively and illogically accused of both hubris/ arrogance and lack of ambition/ weakness, until we win the Champions Cup again. That’s the only goal that matters. And I suspect we all know that.


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[Flash Gordon]

We won one Challenge Cup (Amlin was the sponsor then), in 2013. It was grand, but even at the time, after winning three of the “real” Heineken Cups previously, it felt like weak beer. Can’t see any enthusiasm in the foreseeable future that we would be any happier now with appearance in the B final- especially after our recent record/ trauma.

We need to get over ourselves and celebrate our wins. Least we actually become the arrogant sorts that everyone is keen to paint us as.

And we will… when we win that fifth title. Amazing that we can be considered arrogant (or worry about that slander) for aspiring to win the premier competition and honestly prioritising that. We’ve come within a whisker twice in successive years, having won it four times previously- and that’s arrogance?

We will remain a piñata for the media and it’s pundit claque, alternatively and illogically accused of both hubris/ arrogance and lack of ambition/ weakness, until we win the Champions Cup again. That’s the only goal that matters. And I suspect we all know that.


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There is clearly an ambition to win the Champions Cup for the 5th time but we probably have to shift from the mentality that it's the only thing that matters. The URC with the South African teams (and who knows, maybe the top English clubs) has the potential to be the best club competition in the world. We also have to consider the possibility that it may not last forever. The leadership of the tournament is patchy to say the least, the format is all over the place and the thing that's keeping it alive is it's history and tradition currently. The English and some of the french clubs don't regard it as the be al land end all as we do.

As for the media, only in Ireland can the country's most successful professional sports team be constantly questioned on mentality, on their ethics and values and on their performance on the pitch. Similarly, our fans are regularly sniped at despite the fact that we've consistently had the highest average attendances in both the URC and Champions Cup. Even a sold out stadium that's a sea of blue with the highest noise levels I've heard at a club rugby match gets a dig from the media.

All you can really control is our environment of course and Leo and the coaches do that really well.

[Mookie]

Well said Flash

[curates_egg]

Does anyone know when EPCR will release tickets for the Champions Cup only? Personally I couldn't be arsed going to the Challenge Cup - I had the tickets this year and didn't bother - not worth the 3-4 hr round trip door to door from Kildare (esp with a late kickoff). If we make the final next year I'd rather go out on the town with relations in London the night before.

Ah but if we get knocked out of the H-Cup at the group stage you might be glad to have tickets to a Challenge Cup Final with us in it

We won one Challenge Cup (Amlin was the sponsor then), in 2013. It was grand, but even at the time, after winning three of the “real” Heineken Cups previously, it felt like weak beer. Can’t see any enthusiasm in the foreseeable future that we would be any happier now with appearance in the B final- especially after our recent record/ trauma.

I may be alone in this, but I really enjoyed our season run-in in 2013. I was at all the Amlin knock-out games, and we played some woshkabommy stuff. We then also won the Pro12 after two pretty tough knock-out games.
I seem to remember it being a very fair May, and the atmosphere in the RDS for all games being great - serenading BOD for one more year, and so on.

We should have won this year, and it will take a long time to get over.
But we also need to stop putting unrealistic pressure on the players - next season will be very difficult for us to be competitive in Europe.
As such, we should not let the best be the enemy of the good and, if we win a trophy, enjoy it.

[Schumi]

Without wanting to sound arrogant, with 16 teams making the Heineken Cup knock outs, we're very unlikely to end up in the Challenge Cup next year. If we do, I'd be very happy to win it but the league would be the priority.

[Serb]

Without wanting to sound arrogant, with 16 teams making the Heineken Cup knock outs, we're very unlikely to end up in the Challenge Cup next year. If we do, I'd be very happy to win it but the league would be the priority.

Ulster won one game and made it to the last 16. Every team that won 2 games made the knockouts. Far from arrogant to think that we’re likely to at least win our home games.