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33 players newly registered by 14 clubs ahead of next week's Champions Cup resumption
By Sam Smith
Thirty-three players have been newly registered by 14 clubs ahead of the Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 matches over the Easter weekend, La Rochelle and Wasps the only two teams sticking by the squads they had before the remaining pool stage fixtures were scrapped in January.
The revamped round of 16 knockout stage kicks off in Dublin on April 2 when Leinster host Toulon and concludes on April 4 when Scarlets welcome Sale. In between, there is a multitude of other mouth-watering fixtures, Wasps versus Clermont and Munster against Toulouse to name but two.
Among the newly registered players to watch out for are Jordan Taufua, the former All Blacks back row prospect who moved from Leicester to Lyon in February, while prop Abram Venter joined Edinburgh in the same month from Cheetahs.
AN EPCR statement outlining the additions to the various squads read: "In advance of the resumption of the 2020/21 Heineken Champions Cup, the clubs which have qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament have registered their updated squads.
"To ensure that clubs will be able to select the strongest possible matchday squads in the current circumstances, there was no limit to the number of players each club was permitted to register.
"Subject to relevant union approval, the following players have been nominated to supplement each club’s tournament squad:
ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE
Joel Everson (second row), Reinach Venter (hooker)
BORDEAUX-BEGLES
Thomas Jolmes (second row)
BRISTOL BEARS
Stephen Kerins (scrum half), Tadgh McElroy (hooker), Nahuel Tetaz Chapparo (prop)
EDINBURGH RUGBY
Abram ‘Boan’ Venter (prop)
EXETER CHIEFS
Dan John (full back/wing), Max Northcote-Green (back row), Christ Tshiunza (second row)
GLOUCESTER RUGBY
Santiago Carreras (full back/wing), Giorgi Kveseladze (centre), Conor Maguire (prop), Bryan O’Connor (prop)
LEINSTER RUGBY
Greg McGrath (prop), Jamie Osborne (centre)
LYON
Temo Mayanavanua (second row), Hugo Ndiaye (prop), Jordan Taufua (back row)
MUNSTER RUGBY
Ethan Coughlan (scrum-half), Cian Hurley (second row/back row), Paddy Patterson (scrum-half)
RACING 92
Emiliano Boffelli (utility back), Arthur Bruges (flanker), Anthime Hemery (No 8)
RC TOULON
Adrien Warion (second row), Rudi Wulf (centre/wing)
SALE SHARKS
Rouban Birch (second row)
SCARLETS
Danny Drake (back row), Eddie James (centre), Callum Morris (scrum-half), Sam O’Connor (prop)
TOULOUSE
Juan Cruz Mallia (centre/wing)
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After a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
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