Blair Kinghorn, CEO - Chiefs Extermination Order + History making Quins - MAUL OR NOTHING Ep. 39

The King of the South (of France) joins the boys to talk through the ton of tries which lit up a weekend of European action.
Blair / Smaug gives an insight into the pre match hysteria, the half time roasting and the post match celebrations at the home of the Kings of Europe.
Rugby is great and none more so than when underdogs get their day. Very few people saw that Quins win coming, least of all Mystic Max and The Oryancle Wilson. There is time though for Ryan (Jonny) Wilkinson to highlight how easy Maxime Lucu’s kick should have been (having never himself been in that position)
Leinster (yet again at home) send out a big message of intent in dispatching the Champions but the lads aren’t convinced that La Rochelle’s exploits in Cape Town vs the Stormers had anything to do with the loss.
We hear their take on the Bulls’ controversial decision to put the URC ahead of the Champions Cup…were they justified in their complaints or is it just what they signed up for…and either way Northampton keep doing what they’ve been doing all season…but is this the end of the road?
And the boys talk through Toulouse’s ‘Gone in 600 seconds’ job on Exeter…it was close until it wasn’t any more!
There’s also time to discuss Smaug’s best mate Adam Hasting’s outrageous piece of skill. But what was the real driver for that tekkers masterclass?

[@pattyspower9927]

The chemistry between these boys is so entertaining

[@zebra3608]

From a spectator viewpoint, I am watching far more rugby now than I was when we were playing in the Super Rugby championships. I think it's far better for our players to be playing in Europe than in Australasia and Argentina.

[@4eff79]

Marc, surely you've done the research on why the home QF and (basically) home SF was brought in. Because the English and especially the French teams wanted it. So La Rochelle made their bed and now they had to lie in it. Also Toulouse had a home QF and now a home SF too. Ryan was spot on that squeezing every point out of the group stages is where you pave the way for a knockout run. The bigger talking point is the French teams bottling the QFs outside of Toulouse.

[@gs8494]

It should be a neutral venue for the semi's, with player welfare being front and centre a two leg semi probably isn't the way to go especially as fixture congestion is an issue.

[@kerrylass2]

Leinster travel to Johannesburg today to play Lions next Saturday, fly to Cape Town to play the Stormers a week later then fly back to Dublin to play Northampton the following Sat. What team will they send to SA I wonder

[@pdewaal100]

That’s the Stormers in Cape Town, not the Bulls. Welcome to the new order.

[@kerrylass2]

@@pdewaal100 Yes of course thank you!

[@superbowljoel01]

the major issue I think jake white was juggling was the scheduling -- they played lyon at home, then the saints in northampton and then would have to fly home to face munster in a critical urc game. spacing in the fixtures is needed

[@whtwht]

Finn Baxter! What a player .Great all round game.

[@Blackbeard0456]

I think the whole Bulls issue is a storm in a teacup. The underlying issue is SA teams are not stakeholders in EC at the moment which causes financial and logistical challenges. Once they become fully fledged shareholders then they have the opportunity for Home QF/SF games, qualify to be covered by the Qatar flight arrangements and are unlikely to face this issue again as I think we will see a break between round 16 games and QF games given Le Rochelles took a similar hiding after travelling last week and they were all on the same flight.

[@jasonwall5012]

51:25 Toulouse Last 16 H, QF H , SF H... Northampton Last 16 H, QF H... i love to see this is only an issue when it comes to Leinster 🤔 if yous find this a problem, then the teams should have taken the group stages more serious.

[@ritchiebirnie6124]

Regarding Bulls. You do know that every team must name 41 players for the tournament beforehand....and what about pool stage games and Lyon last week

[@ericdavison6186]

Thank you, better every week.

[@pattyspower9927]

I love this show

[@GH-qp6dn]

Tried to listen to this on Spotify but the sound quality not great, struggled to hear it. Sounded like it was recorded inside one of Ryan’s plastic bags from Aldi Milngavie!

[@henrybullock4514]

Not saying Northampton will win, but the game will be a lot closer than people predict. Big underdogs going in, all the expectation on Leinster. Leinster also have to travel to South Africa for the next couple weeks. Tactically Northampton will also pose a very different challenge than La Rochelle. They don’t rely as much on the power game. Instead they construct their attacks with a lot of clever decoys and always have several options - much like Leinster. A huge improvement from them this year has been their defence too - the way they zonally mark could prove difficult for Leinster to break down. And as Max said they’re very solid around set piece. Honestly think this will be a 5-7 point game.

[@henrybullock4514]

Jesus Christ I’m so smart

[@superbowljoel01]

the bulls are owned by not one, but two billionaires. but SA Rugby's policy insists that SA rugby itself handles the travel arrangements -- which they proceeded to stuff up.

[@CraighJonas]

1:03:40 As a SAFFA I prefer SA teams playing in Europe. Most of our players play there, the time zone is more convenient, we participate in two prestigious competitions and the travel (though intense) is less severe than Super Rugby. Also, agree with Max SR is on the decline and way pass it's peak. So Europe is a much better prospect.

[@kendrick541]

your looking good and healthy max 🤝

[@frankcronin2675]

The Guinness 00 is much better Ryan, doesn't make you piss as much.

[@gs8494]

Every professional sport that has a cup competition along side its league has had the same issue, it has always been a thing and will always be a thing, it's a fart in the wind. More jeopardy in the group stage and ditch the round of 16, also make the semi's a neutral ground as well, if saying the Bulls team devalues the competition then surely calling it the Champions cup devalues it as well as there's only 3 actual champions in it. What the fuck did they expect with a congested fixture list and the SA teams involved? They can only complain if the Bulls fielded an player who wasn't eligible. For me personally as an Englishman I watch the Prem and the Champions Cup and since the SA teams joined the URC I've watch way more of that to see those SA teams, where as I would normally only watch Leinster Munster and Glasgow Edinburgh if any. If the people running the competition don't like it like then it's up to them to change it but it has to be for the quality of the competition not how much more money they can milk.

[@oj4249]

As a SA fan I prefer URC over super rugby.

[@ritchiebirnie6124]

Saffers love the time difference in Europe

[@oj4249]

From what I know for the first two years of the competition the 🇿🇦 SA teams won’t be getting the cash like the URC for the European champion/challenge cups . Won’t be able to have “home” semi finals too like the Sharks have to play in twickenham or the stoop for their next “home” game. Can’t expect miracles when the sword is against you for the first two years tho 🤷🏻‍♂️. Better to have a full go next year when all is “fair”. Plus just look how Leinster gonna send a B team to SA. Also Leinster sent B teams to urc quarter and semi last year to focus on Champions cup and that says it all. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@pattyspower9927]

Leinster could become urc and champions cup champs

[@oj4249]

The Sharks played Edinburgh last week and once again Duhan Van der Merwe was nowhere in the game. He’s never beating the allegations when facing SA teams. Still think the same about him Max? 😜

[@PFarrell]

This would actually be a decent podcast if Wilson wasn't on it. Christ what an unlikeable melt 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ant1056]

Hang on, SA used to moan and cry about the travel in Super rugby and now they are getting pumped by the north the same crying excuses come out, admit it, yes World champions and deserved but not that good at rugby otherwise 😢😂

[@oj4249]

The travel is still an issue now tho. Because you fly Qatar to Doha then to your location not a direct flight. It’s basically the same situation with super rugby. Plus in super rugby you spend like 4 weeks at same location not one week in sa then one week in wales for example. But urc is decent as fixtures can be one week wales then Scotland for example but because Europe is so central it’s better to fly between countries in Europe.