Champions Cup Review - Round 4
Disappointing end for SA sides in another poor campaign
Thibaud Flament, one of the in-form players in the world currently.
Photo credit: Daily Mail
The world’s premier club rugby competition has come in for a lot of criticism during the pool stages this season, with the poor performances by the South African teams being particularly harshly judged. A number of French players have bemoaned our inclusion in the competition and the travel demands it places on sides from Europe - ironic as we have to make the same trip but anyway. The Sharks did nothing to revise the narrative as they were put to the sword by Bordeaux in a chastening defeat on Sunday.
As many pundits and coaches have said, it will take a few more years before the SA franchises are able to compete properly in both the URC and the Champions Cup. None of the three SA sides made it through to the round of 16, a sad indictment of the squad depth available to the unions. It was a blessing that the Sharks and the Bulls only made the Challenge Cup, as progress into the Champions Cup knockouts would have seen them make a trip to Leinster/Bordeaux/Toulouse - a pointless exercise at this stage in our development. Having said that, they both still face tough trips to France in the Challenge Cup round of 16 in April as the Sharks face Lyon and the Bulls meet Bayonne.
It was another busy weekend of rugby and lots to get one’s teeth into, here are my thoughts on the nine games I watched, and the reasons for not watching the others.
Pool 1
Ulster 52-24 Exeter
My beloved Exeter were done wrong in the draw for this season’s Champions Cup, as they had to face the top two sides in the Top 14 in the form of Bordeaux and Toulouse (thank God they were both at home!) and a Sharks side who had all their Boks in Durban.
Being so far adrift of 8th place (and a spot in the Champions Cup next season) in the Premiership, I was stunned to see the weak squad that the Chiefs took across the Irish Sea.
Despite taking a surprising 12-0 lead in the first quarter of an hour, the wheels fell off spectacularly in the second half to take another 50.
Ross Vintcent scored a cracking try from his own half, showing amazing speed for a loosie, but I still he has some glaring deficiencies. He is the King of the negative tackle and lacks the physicality to win collisions. Jury is out for me, let’s see him in the Six Nations.
I will be doing a deep dive into this result and the wider malaise at my second favourite club later in the week.
Bordeaux 66-12 Sharks
Bordeaux was my favourite city on my tour of France for the 2023 RWC and I would have loved to have been there this weekend to witness their mauling of the Sharks.
The Sharks took an unexpected 12-0 lead in under ten minutes but this only served to poke the Bordeaux bear, Damien Penaud in particular seemed to take those two early tries personally. Bordeaux came back strongly and scored a crucial try on half time to take the lead, thanks to one of the countless poor tackle attempts by Masuku.
Bordeaux started the second half strongly and were playing basketball out there, with the Sharks chasing shadows. When Bordeaux get on a roll they are impossible to stop as we saw last week in Devon. Penaud is unreal, it is incredible how he manages to beat defenders at will and how much luck he gets with kind bounces etc. After his hattrick last weekend against Exeter, Penaud scored SIX to make it nine in two games - incredible. Him and Jalibert are lethal together and they exploit space like no other team in the competition. To concede 66 unanswered points against anyone at this level is shameful!
After beating a poor Exeter side in round 1, the Sharks were unable to collect even ONE more log point int heir next three games - hilarious but true.
Toulouse 80-12 Leicester
Toulouse saw Bordeaux’s 66 points and raised them 14 more at the Stade Ernest Wallon. In a brutal display of the gulf between the Top 14 and the Premiership, the home side delivered a masterclass in ball retention and offloading, as their ruck speed made them an irresistible force, scoring TWELVE tries! It was a procession, but I do not tire of seeing a Michael Cheika side get thumped.
My favourite French player for a number of seasons now, Thibaud Flament is starting to put in the dominant displays his class merits and he must be one of the first names on the Toulouse and France team sheet.
Almost every try was a ripper as their handling was assured in more conducive conditions than last week in muggy Durban. They play the best rugby in the world and even the English commentators were applauding this display.
Leicester took a full strength squad to the south of France but they had no answer to the pace and power of Toulouse in an embarrassing day for the club. If they didn’t have Montoya to get a few jackal penalties this would have been a 100! They face Gloucester this weekend and will be desperate to put this game behind them.
France put down a marker on Sunday with the two massive victories for the Top 14 clubs in Pool 1 as they combined for 39 points out of a possible 40 in the pool stage. Les Bleus are surely heavy favourites for the Six Nations which begins in two weeks. France’s first game? Wales. LOLOLOLOL!
Pool 2
Benetton 32-25 La Rochelle
I have a soft spot for La Rochelle after their two epic final wins over Leinster in this competition in recent seasons but they let me down badly on Saturday as they allowed Benetton to claim a famous win.
La Rochelle are not the same side at the moment, missing Skelton and Danty and with a number of injuries to other important players, but still, they should NOT be losing to these Italian minnows.
I had recorded the game but when I saw the result I deleted it with haste.
Clermont 33-26 Bristol
I didn’t watch this one, life is short and it is not worth spent watching Ellis Genge if you can possibly help it.
Leinster 47-21 Bath
This promised to be a classic, with two well coached sides full of confidence after good wins last week. Leinster have been accused of being too defence-focused this season but they played with the shackles off to thump Bath in truth in an illustration of what a powerful side the IRFU have managed to put together in Dublin. Leinster have a very strong schools rugby system which feeds into the Leinster Academy, where players have to prove themselves for a number of years, not like in SA where a player can have one TikTok video and then get a deal at the Sharks.
Bath committed a similar ‘offence’ to the Sharks, taking an early two-try lead against their more fancied opponents, as they led 14-0 inside the first ten minutes thanks to tries by Alfie Barbeary and Tom de Glanville. Leinster fought back to take a 19-14 lead but Bath showed great character to score in injury time at the end of the first half for a 21-19 lead.
Van Graan had brought a poor man’s Nienaber rush defence to the Aviva but it wouldn’t last.
RG Snyman was sensational off the bench, his athleticism in the lineout eye-catching, but his carrying close to the line and dexterity as he holds the ball as if it’s a tennis ball saw him score a brace - he could be the missing piece on the Leinster jigsaw if he can stay fit.
The game was effectively over as a contest in the 60th minute when Bath loosehead Beno Obano was shown his second yellow card, the latter for repeated scrum infringements to rubbish his claims for an England shirt in the Six Nations.
Sam Prendergast, the slight Leinster flyhalf, was on the end of three contenders for my new weekly feature - BOUNCE OF THE WEEK. In the first play of the game, Ted Hill ran over him with disdain. In the 12th minute Barbeary had his turn, before the third of Bath’s principal carriers, Ollie Lawrence, isolated the weak 10 - all this inside the first quarter.
For a second year running, Leinster will play Toulouse in the final, in Cardiff in May, I’m sure of it.
Pool 3
Bulls 48-7 Stade Francais
The Bulls picked a powerful side to finish their campaign as they could claim a spot in the Challenge Cup by finishing fifth in Pool 3. In order to do this they needed a bonus point win by 22 points, while denying Stade Francais a bonus point.
Their task was massively helped by the weakened squad that Stade sent to SA, and these lambs were put to the slaughter! The French are ruthless - imagine selecting a 19 year old loosehead who weighs less than 100kg to face Wilco! Isaac Koffi could be scarred for life after being demolished scrum after scrum like that.
Fudge Mabeta on commentary tested me almost as much as the one-sided nature of the game, with the Bulls scoring after two minutes and didn’t really let up until half time for a 36-7 lead in the sweltering heat of Loftus. Owing to Fudge being on duty, I switched to Afrikaans commentary and was stunned when Victor Matfield said that it was “hartseer” to lose Johan Goosen to injury? Really?? That was one of their highlights in the first half!
Once again Cameron Hanekom was sensational for the Bulls as he continues his crusade for the Bok 8 shirt, while Elrigh Louw’s carrying was something to behold. His tap penalty try at the end of the first half in running over two helpless Frenchies for a deserving try was a delight.
The game meandered to a finish, with no points scored in the final half hour in a game where Stade merely made up the numbers, happy to finish bottom of the Pool and focus on Top 14 where they are languishing in 13th spot.
The Bulls could realistically have a full go at the Challenge Cup as their full strength team could offer some redemption for Jake White after their dismal defeat to Glasgow in the URC final last season.
Northampton 34-32 Munster
This game promised to be a classic and it lived up to its billing as the top two sides in Pool 3 battled it out to secure top spot and a favourable seeding. In a seesaw first half, the sides went at it hammer and tongs, with Munster taking a slender 15-12 lead into the half-time break. Right wing Calvin Nash was superb for Munster, showing his top end speed for the first try and then workrate to pop up on the opposite wing to take the scoring pass to give them daylight at 15-5. Northampton had the last say of the first period with a try from a lineout maul and it was set up for an exciting second half.
Northampton’s left wing Tom Seabrook scored his hattrick as the dangerous Saints backline carved open the Munster defence on a number of occasions, especially from first phase strike moves. For their part, the Irish province kept at it and got to within two points at 34-32 going into the final minute.
In high drama, Munster 10 Jack Crowley made a line break and they kept possession in the Saints half before replacement loose forward Henry Pollock came up with a match winning turnover at the breakdown to cue wild celebrations from a packed Franklin’s Gardens in a superb advertisement for the competition.
Northampton now host Clermont in the round of 16, while Munster face a trip to the Atlantic Coast in a reunion with their former great Ronan O’Gara at La Rochelle.
Saracens 24-32 Castres
I was having far too much fun watching Toulouse play to even flick over to see the score in this game. That doesn’t take away any of the joy I felt seeing the final result. I see Jamie George injured a hamstring - I thought you had to be quick to do that?! He is in doubt for England’s game against Ireland in two weeks.
From a South African perspective, Ivan van Zyl somehow still starts at this level (he has been the Saracens starting nine in all but one of their 14 games in the Prem and Champions Cup this season) - one of the craziest stats of the weekend!
Pool 4
Harlequins 24-7 Glasgow
Harlequins v Glasgow also promised much, but sadly delivered little entertainment value at the Stoop. Glasgow were soe pundits’ dark horses to go deep in the tournament but were outplayed comprehensively by Quins on the night, exposing a weak underbelly that hasn’t been seen this season - their lineout was woeful and they missed captain and inside centre Sione Tuipulotu terribly.
Quins were 17-0 up on the half hour, before Glasgow scored their only points through some trademark offloads done at speed and with several support options.
There was a lot of niggle in the clash in a typically fractious England v Scotland duel. The game was very loose with both sides looking to offload at every opportunity. Quins showed how dangerous they can be as they counter-attacked from a jackal turnover, getting the ball to the edge before Alex Dombrandt fed speedster Cadan Murley who ran 50m to seal the victory for the home side.
The result meant that Glasgow lost out on the opportunity of topping the pool but still have home ground advantage in another England v Scotland clash when they host Leicester Tigers. Quins ‘reward’ for victory is an unenviable trip to Dublin to face Leinster in the first weekend of April.
Racing 92 31-22 Stormers
In what was a potential ‘playoff’ to get through to the next round, Racing 92 selected a strong squad for the visit of the Stormers. Owen Farrell returned from injury after several weeks and all their stars were present - Taofifenua, Tuisova and Woki.
I will also be doing an in-depth look into this frustrating game from a Stormers point of view, as they put up a determined fight until the last five minutes.
As it turned out the result wasn’t good enough for Racing to make the round of 16, a blessing for them as fourth spot in Pool 4, Sale, have to travel to face Toulouse haha. Racing drop down to the Challenge Cup and meet fellow French side Perpignan.
Sale 33-7 Toulon
In the last game of the pool stages, Sale Sharks hosted Toulon, with the sides having vastly different motivation. After the two game sin the pool on Saturday night, Sale knew that they needed a bonus point win to sneak into the round of 16. Toulon had nothing to play off, before kick-off they were guaranteed to finish atop the pool.
This simplistic psychology played itself out on the pitch in a drab first half, with Sale scoring late to take a 7-0 lead.
Sale had their bonus point and a 26-0 lead by the time Toulon got on the board and the home side managed one more try to accomplish their mission. Sadly for them, as stated above, they now face Toulouse to end their run in this competition this season. Toulon, very impressive at the Stade Mayol this term, have a mouth-watering tie against Saracens in the playoffs in what should be a clash to savour.
BOUNCE OF THE WEEK
Growing up in the Eastern Cape, there was NOTHING a schoolboy crowd enjoyed more than a good bounce, and I am rather partial to it myself.
This weekend Sam Prendergast got bowled over three times in the first quarter as is standard for him by now.
Josh McKay gets an honourable mention for his savage dismissal of the annoying Danny Care, but the award for this week goes to Ethan Hooker. It baffles me that players haven’t learnt that you have to go low on the Sharks tyro. Under pressure on his line, Hooker dropped his shoulder ever so slightly and he rocked the massive Tatafu in an eye-watering collision that had the No. 8 taking a time out after seeing stars.