Champions Cup XV of the Week - Round 1
The Heineken Champions Cup returned this weekend to wake the northern hemisphere from its post-Rugby World Cup blues, and we have compiled our XV of the week from an entertaining opening round.
With Saracens focusing their attentions elsewhere, English clubs continued to struggle in Europe, with Exeter Chiefs the notable exception, as they notched up a highly impressive 31-12 win over La Rochelle on France’s Atlantic coast. The Irish provinces prospered, with Ulster and Munster chalking up away wins over Bath and the Ospreys respectively, whilst Leinster held serve at home against Benetton and Connacht saw off French powerhouse Montpellier.
A number of French teams did put down markers, though, with Toulouse and Clermont in particular looking in rich veins of form. Lyon weren’t able to upset Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens, however, with the East Midlands side adding a late silver lining for English fans.
- Thomas Ramos, Toulouse
The full-back not only provided Toulouse with an unerring source of points from the boot, he was safe at the back for the French side and was able to launch several probing counter-attacks. After a bright start by Gloucester, Ramos gradually and consistently brought Toulouse back into the game and put them in position to steal all four points.
Silver – Mike Haley, Munster
Bronze – Anthony Bouthier, Montpellier
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- Teddy Thomas, Racing 92
Thomas was equally clinical in attack as he was reliable in defence on Sunday afternoon. Playing outside of the impossible-to-contain Virimi Vakatawa, the wing was the adept finisher that Racing needed to see off the challenge of the reigning champions.
Silver – Semesa Rokoduguni, Bath
Bronze – Andrew Conway, Munster
- Garry Ringrose, Leinster
Ringrose grabbed a hat-trick against Benetton and was pivotal for the province in what was a spirited display from their Italian opponents. He was clinical and efficient in all aspects of his play on Saturday and had to be, to see off the challenges of the two men below, both of whom were similarly impressive.
They’ve got some serious #HeinekenChampionsCup pedigree and @leinsterrugby looked good today ?
A Garry Ringrose hat-trick fired them to a convincing win over @BenettonRugby ?
Could they go one better this year ?? ? pic.twitter.com/QdnW0WKon3
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) November 17, 2019
Silver – Sofiane Guitoune, Toulouse
Bronze – Henry Slade, Exeter Chiefs
- Romain Ntamack, Toulouse
It was another step forward in the burgeoning career of the young French playmaker. He mixed up his game nicely at inside centre, exploiting the space as a carrier when Gloucester’s defence allowed, as well as providing plenty of service to the incisive Guitoune outside of him. Ntamack’s growth mirrors the ever-more impressive Toulouse spine.
Silver – George Moala, Clermont
Bronze – Rory Scannell, Munster
- Alivereti Raka, Clermont
The Fijian-born wing ran rampant against Harlequins in Clermont’s return to the top table of European rugby. With the ball in his hands and popping up off of his wing, his speed, power and footwork were all too much for Quins to deal with defensively and he was fair value for his two tries.
Silver – Arthur Retiere, La Rochelle
Bronze – Keith Earls, Munster
- Johnny Sexton, Leinster
There was no RWC fatigue on show from the veteran Irishman, as he led Leinster to a solid, albeit unspectacular win over Benetton. He guided the team around the park with trademark efficiency in attack and though the province didn’t quite fire on all cylinders, his influence was significant.
HOW did @JohnnySexton get out of that tackle?
And then where did he even come from to finish the move!?The magical wonders of the @leinsterrugby ? never cease to amaze ?#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/flDs2cItPS
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) November 17, 2019
Silver – Joe Simmonds, Exeter Chiefs
Bronze – Finn Russell, Racing 92
- Joe Simpson, Gloucester
For a large portion of the game, it looked as though Gloucester would knock off the reigning French champions and the livewire sniping and high tempo play of Simpson was a big part of that. He helped put the Cherry and Whites in a position to win the game, albeit the English side lost control in the second half and began to gift Toulouse possession and penalties.
Silver – Cobus Reinach, Northampton Saints
Bronze – John Cooney, Ulster
- Raphael Chaume, Lyon
Both Chaume and his replacement Hamza Kaabeche gave young Ehren Painter a torrid time at the scrum at Franklin’s Gardens. Lyon didn’t really click on their trip to the East Midlands, although they were able to bloody Northampton’s nose at the scrum on multiple occasions, frequently led by their dominant looseheads.
Silver – Eddy Ben Arous, Racing 92
Bronze – Jeremy Loughman, Munster
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1196013022558457857?s=20
- Julien Marchand, Toulouse
Consistent at the lineout and a strong source of front-foot ball in attack, Marchand was a persistent thorn in Gloucester’s side. He gave his team a solid set-piece platform and a swiftness of ball in phase play that allowed his backs the time and space they needed to excel in.
Silver – Ronan Kelleher, Leinster
Bronze – Rob Herring, Ulster
- Rabah Slimani, Clermont
The French tighthead really turned the screw on Harlequins at scrum time in the first half, so much so that it prompted early replacements from Paul Gustard’s side. With Clermont in complete control, the prop didn’t have to do too much away from the set-piece, but what he did there in the tight was exceptional.
Silver – Marco Riccioni, Benetton
Bronze – Clement Ric, Lyon
- Iain Henderson, Ulster
A real vindication of Henderson’s captaincy at the province, as he led his team to a narrow and tight win over Bath at the Rec. Unsurprisingly, he prospered in the physical exchanges and was pivotal to helping Ulster control the gain-line in attack and defence.
Silver – Irne Herbst, Benetton
Bronze – Paul Jedrasiak, Clermont
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1196025297222680576?s=20
- Joe Tekori, Toulouse
Despite being set to turn 36 next month, Tekori seems to age like a fine wine at Toulouse. His impact has been crucial in the club’s resurgence and his carrying presence was similarly vital at Kingsholm on Friday evening. His experience and physicality continues to be a nice complement to the youthful and elusive threats that Toulouse are building around.
Silver – James Ryan, Leinster
Bronze – Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints
- Peceli Yato, Clermont
Arguably the performance of the weekend across all positions, Yato’s display against Quins was reminiscent of the destruction he wrought on Australia at the RWC, before injury saw him have to leave the field. He was unlucky not to grab a hat-trick on Saturday, although like his teammate Raka, he was superb offensively and tormented Quins throughout the game.
A tough day at the office for @Harlequins yesterday ??@ASMOfficiel looked dangerously good as they brushed aside the visitors ?
Could they go all the way this year ?? ?
? Match highlights here ? pic.twitter.com/h8ZED2s0wk
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) November 17, 2019
Silver – Dave Ewers, Exeter Chiefs
Bronze – Paul Boyle, Connacht
- Colby Fainga’a, Connacht
The flanker was effervescent for Connacht in their win over Montpellier, consistently popping up to stymie French attacks with dominant tackles or slowing their ball at the breakdown. He also contributed strongly as a ball-carrier in a very impressive all-round performance.
Silver – Josh van der Flier, Leinster
Bronze – Callum Gibbins, Glasgow Warriors
- CJ Stander, Munster
Munster weren’t at their best in Swansea on Saturday evening, but Stander’s tireless and physical performance was crucial to them eventually securing the bonus point win. On both sides of the ball, the No 8 was forcing himself upon the Ospreys and there was little the Welsh region could do to stop him winning the gain-line as a ball-carrier and a tackler.
Silver – Fritz Lee, Clermont
Bronze – Caleb Timu, Montpellier
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Comments on RugbyPass
Why 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 commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments