Cardiff Blues Season Thread (Toulon fall in Cardiff)

[wales606]

First topic message reminder :

Keeping organised the ins and outs at the Blues leading into next season.

New Signing
Paetru Tamba (during the season)
Filo Paulo - North Harbour (confirmed)
Matthew Rees (confirmed)
Liam Davies (confirmed - until end of season)
Gethin Jenkins (confirmed)
Miles Normandale (confirmed)
Rhys Gill - Saracens (rumoured) Unlikely
Craig Mitchell - Exeter (rumoured) Unlikely
Adam Warren - Scarlets (rumoured)
Dan Lydiate - Dragons (mentioned) (rumoured)
Scott Williams - Scarlets (rumoured)
James Hook (rumoured - again)
Rodney So’oialo - Honda Heat (rumoured)
Aled Summerhill - Blues Academy
Ben Roach - Blues Academy
Ellis Jenkins - Blues Academy
Tom Pascoe - Blues Academy
Will Thomas - Blues Academy

Departures (all confirmed)
Jamie Roberts - Racing Metro
Ceri Sweeney - Exeter Chiefs
Tom James - Exeter Chiefs
Michael Paterson - Sale Sharks
Jason Tovey - Newport Gwent Dragons
Campese Ma'afu - Nottingham
Ryan Harford - Cardiff RFC
Nathan Trevett - London Welsh
Matthew Screech - Newport Gwent Dragons
Darren Harries - Scarlets
Jake Cooper Wooley - London Wasps
Cory Hill - Cornish Pirates
Petru Tamba - Unattached
Andi Kyriacou - Retired
Xavier Rush


Re-Signings
Alex Cuthbert (3 years)
Scott Andrews (2 years)
Josh Navidi (3 year)
James Down (unknown)
Andreus Pretorious (can't find the article...)
Marc Breeze (unknown)
Lewis Jones (unknown)
Lloyd Williams (3 years)
Tom Williams (3 years)
Rhys Patchell (3 years)
Sam Hobbs (?3 years?)
Rhys Williams (?3 years?)
Tom Davies (?3 years?)
Richard Smith (2 years)

[Cardiff Dave]

"Cardiff Blues appoint Dale McIntosh as new full-time defence coach".....

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/cardiff-blues-appoint-dale-mcintosh-6201632

[The Saint]

So they've gone from Rush, to Powell, and now to McIntosh. Where's the improvement?

[Cardiff Dave]

So they've gone from Rush, to Powell, and now to McIntosh. Where's the improvement?

Hammered by the Chiefs and we appoint the Chief to prevent us getting hammered. Almost a palindrome there.
Oh I dunno Saint. Ticks a box I guess and who knows it may work out and his appointment may fetch a few Ponty fans down to CAP.

[Steffan]

his appointment may fetch a few Ponty fans down to CAP

Booking my season ticket for next year as we speak

How does it go now.......'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

[LordDowlais]

It was only a matter of time before Dale Mcintosh's services were called upon, I read earlier that somebody said a coach who would give the players a bit of a kick up the arris, well Dale will do this if he feels the players are not giving 100 percent.

[Cardiff Dave]

his appointment may fetch a few Ponty fans down to CAP

Booking my season ticket for next year as we speak

How does it go now.......'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

As you know very well, it goes..... "CHIEF, CHIEF, CHIEF" and it's our chant now. 

[Steffan]

his appointment may fetch a few Ponty fans down to CAP

Booking my season ticket for next year as we speak

How does it go now.......'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

As you know very well, it goes..... "CHIEF, CHIEF, CHIEF" and it's our chant now. 

Really???

I thought it was against the Marquess of Bute rules of the Arms Park to chant anything other than the occasional repetitive 'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

[Cardiff Dave]

his appointment may fetch a few Ponty fans down to CAP

Booking my season ticket for next year as we speak

How does it go now.......'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

As you know very well, it goes..... "CHIEF, CHIEF, CHIEF" and it's our chant now. 

Really???

I thought it was against the Marquess of Bute rules of the Arms Park to chant anything other than the occasional repetitive 'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

"WAKE UP FFS" is an accepted and quite a popular alternative these days.

[Steffan]

I have also heard...

'Oym not coming down ere if Kaaaaiiirrrdiff keep playing loyk this. Oym nots boying any Peters poys oytha'

...is popular

[Cardiff Dave]

I have also heard...

'Oym not coming down ere if Kaaaaiiirrrdiff keep playing loyk this. Oym nots boying any Peters poys oytha'

...is popular

Now you're just being silly.

[bedfordwelsh]

An excellent decision and abut time.

[wales606]

Will be interesting to see what the Chief can do

If they bring in a quality backs coach then Phil Davies backroom staff with have gotten a billion times better

If Davies had a competent/decent number 2 then things could have gone very differently since the Zebre "incident".

[The Saint]

Amazing now how Phil Davies is no longer responsible. Just look at his previous track record with teams, and now his current one with the Blues is just as bad. Notice a correlation here?

[wales606]

Amazing now how Phil Davies is no longer responsible. Just look at his previous track record with teams, and now his current one with the Blues is just as bad. Notice a correlation here?

Where is Phil Davies not responsible?

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Has McIntosh worked as a defence coach before?

[XR]

I have also heard...

'Oym not coming down ere if Kaaaaiiirrrdiff keep playing loyk this. Oym nots boying any Peters poys oytha'

...is popular

It always amuses me when people poke fun at the accent by changing the C to a K. I know education standards in wales aren't the best but surely you know that a C and a K make the same sound so there's no need to replace them, right?

[ScarletSpiderman]

his appointment may fetch a few Ponty fans down to CAP

Booking my season ticket for next year as we speak

How does it go now.......'KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF KAAAIIIRRRDIFF'

As you know very well, it goes..... "CHIEF, CHIEF, CHIEF" and it's our chant now. 

I see your plan, steal Exeter's chant and then start to win like they did too. Good logic  

[Luckless Pedestrian]

They'll be buying plastic tomahawks next!

[The Saint]

Amazing now how Phil Davies is no longer responsible. Just look at his previous track record with teams, and now his current one with the Blues is just as bad. Notice a correlation here?

Where is Phil Davies not responsible?

You lot are implying it by saying "Phil isn't bad, he needs a good backroom staff" ,etc... It was thinking like that which got the team into this mess in the first place.

[Cardiff Dave]

Has McIntosh worked as a defence coach before?  

Good question.
Pass.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

You'd think previous experience in the role would be a prerequisite, but if he has been defence coach elsewhere, it's not mentioned on the Beeb nor in the Walesonline article.

[XR]

I imagine he has had some involvement with ponty as the head coach.

Personally, i would have liked him to come in as forwards coach and get a defence specialist.

[LordDowlais]

I think he is just there to firstly put some fire in the players bellies and secondly they need a no nonsense person who wil actually tell the players when they are not giving 100 percent, all in all, to give each and every one of the Blues players a good kick up the rear, which they could all do with, perhaps he could give Phil a kick as well, now that I think about it, he could leave the kick up the rear for Phill and just kick him out the door first and last.

[Knowsit17]

For that you'd have to clearly distinguish the head coach's role from that of his staff, all of whom are generally expected to specialise in a specific area of the game ie forwards, backs, defence, kicking and in some cases even more specific still such as the scrum or general fitness.

As far as I'm aware the head coach is not necessarily expected to specialise in any particular field but is there as the rudder, for motivational and leadership qualities as well as ultimately having the final word in selections. I don't know how common it is for a head coach to intervene in his staff's functions. I wouldn't be surprised if Gatland, being a forwards coach by trade when he's not head, had a regular hand in the Welsh forwards' drilling. Same might well apply to Ewen McKenzie with the Australian forwards, hence the ARU's initial reluctance to give him the job due to his supposed lack of knowledge working on the backs.

I'd assume the assistant staff are intended to play a more influential role than that of mere tools, if anyone does in fact use them that way. Although the head coach picks the final squad, his assistants must surely play an advisory role behind his calls, adding input on which players would best compliment the squad's tactics or overall strategy. It's not inconceivable that the result is meant to resemble more of a collaboration than power being concentrated in the hands of the head coach, as appears to be the case in many football and even some rugby clubs. This perhaps makes the appointments of the entire staff more important than is often realised, more so than that of the head alone anyway.

What does McIntosh specialise in? Has he held any post other than his leading position at Sardis Road? It's encouraging to see some proven off-field leadership being brought in as the on-field contingent of Warbs, Jenkins, Rees et al don't seem to be clicking for the Blues like they do for Wales. Additionally maybe this will signal a greater contribution from the region as a whole. Stability in the long run is vital in these times.

[Jhamer25]

He can't be too bad, has had a lot of success with Ponty over the years. Still need a Shaun Edwards figure though to kick the up their arse when they are playing like they were last week

[ScarletSpiderman]

He can't be too bad, has had a lot of success with Ponty over the years. Still need a Shaun Edwards figure though to kick the up their arse when they are playing like they were last week

I think I would find the cheif more frightening than Edwards, both are pretty much as aggressive as each other, but the cheif have more body weight to throw at you!

I think him and Phil amy work well as a good cop, bad cop type of team. Phil being the bad cop, obviously.

[wales606]

Amazing now how Phil Davies is no longer responsible. Just look at his previous track record with teams, and now his current one with the Blues is just as bad. Notice a correlation here?

Where is Phil Davies not responsible?

You lot are implying it by saying "Phil isn't bad, he needs a good backroom staff" ,etc... It was thinking like that which got the team into this mess in the first place.

Not really,

Gareth Baber is responsible for a LOT of the decline that has happened since the Amlin win (he was appointed the following season and I haven't seen a backs play since)

Rob Powell was brought in this season to replace Rush (who had never coached before), he was widely regarded as the worse defence coach in league - there was a facebook group campaigning for his sacking from the Broncos - whose fans cheered his departure.

Phil Davies was the forwards coach at Worcester, who had a pretty dire pack during his tenure and never improved much while Davies was coaching them


All 3 of those are as bad as each other, and all none of them should have been hired in the first place

As it is, as I said, if there had been a competent number 2 at the Blues this year (ie. not Baber  ) then I very much doubt Phil Davies would be head coach. I equally wouldn't be surprised if one of the new coaches they are bringing in will be more than just a specialist coach this time next year.

[wales606]

Iestyn Harris is apparently very keen on making the switch to the Blues

Would be a good signing for the Blues, we might finally have a coach who has won something, and dare I say, a competent backs coach!  

[Cardiff Dave]

Amazing now how Phil Davies is no longer responsible. Just look at his previous track record with teams, and now his current one with the Blues is just as bad. Notice a correlation here?

Where is Phil Davies not responsible?

You lot are implying it by saying "Phil isn't bad, he needs a good backroom staff" ,etc... It was thinking like that which got the team into this mess in the first place.

Not really,

Gareth Baber is responsible for a LOT of the decline that has happened since the Amlin win (he was appointed the following season and I haven't seen a backs play since)

Rob Powell was brought in this season to replace Rush (who had never coached before), he was widely regarded as the worse defence coach in league - there was a facebook group campaigning for his sacking from the Broncos - whose fans cheered his departure.

Phil Davies was the forwards coach at Worcester, who had a pretty dire pack during his tenure and never improved much while Davies was coaching them


All 3 of those are as bad as each other, and all none of them should have been hired in the first place

As it is, as I said, if there had been a competent number 2 at the Blues this year (ie. not Baber  ) then I very much doubt Phil Davies would be head coach. I equally wouldn't be surprised if one of the new coaches they are bringing in will be more than just a specialist coach this time next year.

I reckon Peter Thomas deserves a mention 606.

[Cardiff Dave]

I think he is just there to firstly put some fire in the players bellies and secondly they need a no nonsense person who wil actually tell the players when they are not giving 100 percent, all in all, to give each and every one of the Blues players a good kick up the rear, which they could all do with, perhaps he could give Phil a kick as well, now that I think about it, he could leave the kick up the rear for Phill and just kick him out the door first and last.

Mr Motivator? I like it.

[wales606]

Teams for the weekend


Cardiff Blues: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Owen Williams, Cory Allen, Harry Robinson; Rhys Patchell, Lloyd Williams; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Scott Andrews, Bradley Davies, Filo Paulo, Josh Navidi, Sam Warburton, Robin Copeland.
Replacements: Marc Breeze, Sam Hobbs, Benoit Bourrust, Lou Reed, Rory Watts-Jones, Lewis Jones, Gareth Davies, Richard Smith.


Toulon squad: Delon Armitage; Josua Tuisova, Maxime Mermoz, Matthew Giteau, Rudi Wulf; Jonny Wilkinson (capt), Frederic Michalak; Xavier Chiocci, Jean-Charles Orioli, Martin Castrogiovanni, Bakkies Botha, Ali Williams, Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Steffon Armitage, Chris Masoe.
Replacements: Benjamin Noirot, Emmanuel Felsina, Carl Hayman, Juan Smith, Virgile Bruni, Drew Mitchell, Alexis Palisson, Jocelino Suta.


Well, on paper, that is the strongest starting XV we have, the bench looks about a billion times off the Toulon bench though.

That Toulon pack is massive, the back5 will have a field day I fear.

[butterfingers]

Do i count right...

Blues - 2 non welsh qualified players in VX

Toulon - 12 non French qualified players in VX

Poor old FFR

[The Saint]

At least it's Blues best XV this time. There is bound to be an improvement from last weeks... Guys like Warbs and Geth need to each put in a big performance, and lead the others. Chances of victory could well hinge on them.

[Guest]

Iestyn Harris is apparently very keen on making the switch to the Blues

Would be a good signing for the Blues, we might finally have a coach who has won something, and dare I say, a competent backs coach!  

I'm struggling to see why, like I said. He's made at Wigan.

[George Carlin]

Teams for the weekend


Cardiff Blues: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Owen Williams, Cory Allen, Harry Robinson; Rhys Patchell, Lloyd Williams; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Scott Andrews, Bradley Davies, Filo Paulo, Josh Navidi, Sam Warburton, Robin Copeland.
Replacements: Marc Breeze, Sam Hobbs, Benoit Bourrust, Lou Reed, Rory Watts-Jones, Lewis Jones, Gareth Davies, Richard Smith.


Toulon squad: Delon Armitage; Josua Tuisova, Maxime Mermoz, Matthew Giteau, Rudi Wulf; Jonny Wilkinson (capt), Frederic Michalak; Xavier Chiocci, Jean-Charles Orioli, Martin Castrogiovanni, Bakkies Botha, Ali Williams, Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Steffon Armitage, Chris Masoe.
Replacements: Benjamin Noirot, Emmanuel Felsina, Carl Hayman, Juan Smith, Virgile Bruni, Drew Mitchell, Alexis Palisson, Jocelino Suta.


Well, on paper, that is the strongest starting XV we have, the bench looks about a billion times off the Toulon bench though.

That Toulon pack is massive, the back5 will have a field day I fear.

I must confess that I fear for Scott Andrews if they bring on Felsina. Jon Welsh is a very good scrummager for Glasgow but he got his backside handed to him in the last game.

[Artful_Dodger]

Come on Blues! Give me something to laugh at Boudjellal about.

[wales606]

Put a bit on a heavy Toulon win, the odds do not seem to reflect how cr*p the Blues are if you ask me  

[wales606]

Toulon are getting so overhyped on sky.

Saying that only the New Zealand national team could match them - whereas I would say that most of the top 6/7 international teams could beat them (certainly South Africa for example), not to mention club teams like Clermont and Leinster.

Toulon have already lost 3 and draw 1 this season, but Sky don't seem to realise that.

Also saying that none of the Blues players would strengthen the Toulon squad - while the Blues are playing like crap, i'm sure Toulon wouldn't turn down Halfpenny, Warburton or Cuthbert, and indeed have made offer for all of them in the last few years.

[Guest]

The more that hype them the more impressive the Blues will seem if they play well

[wales606]

The more that hype them the more impressive the Blues will seem if they play well

Big birthday present for Davies when we lose by less than 50... 

[wales606]

And apparently the Blues camp has been swept by illness - Matthew Rees is out, how many other won't be 100%?

[wales606]

Why is Patchell going for goal?

Surely Halfpenny has the same distance at Patchell at least!

[wales606]

Fair play...

3 - 0

[wales606]

And now Patchell's confidence is back - bring it Wilkinson...

[kingjohn7]

Frak

[wales606]

Copeland trying to demonstrate why he wasn't starting last week  

[wales606]

What on earth is wrong with Halfpenny?

[Artful_Dodger]

Did I just hear someone shout "Get in the hole!" as Patchell struck his penalty?

[Artful_Dodger]

Great stuff from Harry Robinson.

[wales606]

Cuthbert down injured  

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