Champions Cup: What happened to French domination?
Two French clubs top the statistics at the halfway point of the pool phase of the Investec Champions Cup, but the remaining two weekends leading into the round of 16 may answer the vexing question of what has become of that country’s anticipated domination of Europe.
Toulouse are the most prolific winners of the elite competition and in the eyes of many they are the favourites to dethrone their countrymen LaRochelle, who have usurped them in the past two seasons by becoming champions for the sixth time.
That is based on the ease with which they’ve won their games so far – they inflicted the biggest defeat on Cardiff that the Welsh team has suffered in nearly two decades and then went to the Stoop in London where they sounded an ominous warning with a 47-19 win over Harlequins.
The big win over Cardiff was maybe expected, the margin of victory away to Harlequins not so much.
In the process Toulouse have scored the most tries so far in the competition, 14, as well as the most points (99). Some of their other game statistics make as chilling reading to the other teams in the competition – they top the lineout success at 100 percent, metres made at 1235, clean breaks at 41. They are third in the ball carrying stakes with 259 carries.
But then, as we saw at the recent Rugby World Cup in France, not everything is always equal when a competition is divided into pools or groups that may not all be equal in strength and competitiveness. And that can certainly be suggested of the other French club that boasts a 100 percent record and tops their group – Bordeaux Begles are assumed to be on the rise after filling their boots against Connacht and Bristol Bears.
South Africans might get a better idea of what kind of achievement that is when the Vodacom Bulls, who thrashed Connacht at Loftus earlier in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship season, clash with Bristol on Saturday afternoon. And then the Bulls get their chance to test Bordeaux when they host the French team the following weekend at Loftus, a venue where the Bulls have not lost in the Champions Cup.
But perhaps the more telling point about Bordeaux and their unexpected statement is what they have been doing in their own league, the Top 14.
They are second in that league and are on a seven match winning streak in all competitions going into Sunday’s game against Saracens, a clash which evokes that old sports writing headline cliche of “moment of truth”.
If they can do to Saracens what they’ve done to the other teams in the Champions Cup, and if their smattering of top quality internationals such as Damian Penaud, Louis Beille-Barry and Matthieu Jalibert continue to run riot against Owen Farrell’s men, then they have arrived and can be considered serious contenders.
They have the second highest number of tries and points behind Toulouse.
But what of the other French teams? A look at the records turned in so far by the three leagues represented in the Champions Cup makes sobering reading for France – the French teams have played 16 games across the competition, and won just five.
The URC teams, after a tough start in week one, recovered slightly, as the Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith predicted they would, in the second round. The cross-hemisphere competition teams have six wins in 16 starts with one draw.
That draw was Munster’s home game against Bayonne, a result that has left the URC champions a bit behind the eight-ball and desperately needing to win Saturday’s away game against Toulon, one of many clashes this weekend that can compete for the title of plum fixture.
Munster followed up the draw by losing to Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park so they face an uphill battle to get into the round of 16.
The Chiefs are one of four English Premiership teams that is unbeaten in the competition after two rounds, which some see as an indication that the loss of some clubs because of financial difficulties as condensed the strength of English club rugby.
That will be put to the test this weekend, not least by the two South African teams, with the DHL Stormers hosting the Sale Sharks just after the Bulls have visited Bristol, but also by Bayonne’s visit to unbeaten Northampton Saints. URC challengers Glasgow Warriors will be out to make a point away against the Chiefs.
Bordeaux and Lyon occupy the top two spots in Pool 1 and Toulouse head Pool 2, with the highly regarded French teams that have become a talking point through non-performance being LaRochelle and Siya Kolisi’s new club Racing 92, plus to an extent Stade Francais, who occupy the foot of the log in the highly competitive Pool 4 that features Leinster, Leicester Tigers, the Sale Sharks, the Stormers and the reigning champions.
Stade Francais host the Stormers in their last game but by then they could be out of it as they face a tough task away in Dublin against Leinster on Saturday night. The French teams tend to change focus when they are no longer in contention for a trophy, mostly because the promotion/relegation situation in France is so brutal, which could be part of the answer as to why the French have not dominated.
Leinster, narrowly beaten in the past two finals, are the other unbeaten side in the competition and have made a strong start to their latest challenge for what will be their fifth European title that began with their away win over their nemesis of the last two seasons, LaRochelle.
So which is the plum game of the weekend? There are plenty of really big match-ups if you look at team pedigree, and in that regard Racing’s visit to Bath to play a team that is soaring under the coaching of former Springbok assistant Johann van Graan on Sunday looks like one that shouldn’t be missed.
But given where defeat will leave them, LaRochelle’s home game against the Tigers has even more significance for the competition, the Stormers can’t afford to lose in Cape Town, Munster go to France on a knock-out footing, and Ulster can show that their recent one point win over Leinster was no fluke by subjecting Toulouse to a proper test at the Kingspan Stadium.
The four top teams in each pool go through to the Champions Cup round of 16 while the fifth placed team drops to the round of 16 phase of the EPCR Challenge Cup, so there should be interest in developments at the top from the lower tier competition too.
Certainly if LaRochelle find themselves in the Challenge Cup they will fancy their chances of winning it, and Munster too if they don’t make it.
Not that anything is cut and dried as yet, and the competition is only halfway through the pool phase. By Sunday night it will all be a lot clearer though.
Weekend Investec Champions Cup fixtures
Friday
Northampton Saints v Bayonne (22.00)
Saturday
Exeter Chiefs v Glasgow Warriors (15.00)
Lyon v Connacht (15.00)
Bristol Bears v Bulls (17.15)
Toulon v Munster (17.15)
DHL Stormers v Sale Sharks (19.30)
Leinster v Stade Francais (19.30)
Ulster v Toulouse (22.00)
Cardiff Rugby v Harlequins (22.00)
Sunday
Bath v Racing 92 (15.00)
La Rochelle v Leicester Tigers (17.15)
Bordeaux Begles v Saracens (19.30)
EPCR Challenge Cup
Friday
Newcastle v Benetton (22.00)
Ospreys v Perpignan (22.00)
Saturday
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Oyonnax (15.00)
Clermont Auvergne v Scarlets (15.00)
Castres v Black Lion (17.15)
Zebre v Dragons (17.15)
Edinburgh v Gloucester (19.30)
Montpellier v Emirates Lions (22.00)
Sunday
Toyota Cheetahs v Pau (15.00)
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments