Champions Cup XV of the Week - Round 5
The penultimate round of the group stage of the Heineken Champions Cup played out this weekend, with Leinster, Exeter Chiefs and the French trio of Racing 92, Toulouse and Clermont all booking their places in the quarter-finals with a week to spare.
Elsewhere, Ulster remain in a strong position despite their loss to Clermont, whilst wins for Saracens, Gloucester and Northampton Saints put the three English clubs in the mix for the final spots in the knockout rounds.
Check out our XV of the week below.
- Dan Evans, Ospreys
The Ospreys may have slipped to a disheartening defeat at home to 14-man Saracens, though that does not diminish the standout display of Evans. The full-back’s consistency has never been in question and even in an Ospreys team that is struggling across the board, he continues to turn in excellent performances.
Silver – Jeremy Sinzelle, La Rochelle
Bronze – Brice Dulin, Racing 92
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Watch: The Rugby Pod discuss Nigel Wray and the future of Saracens
- Louis Rees-Zammit, Gloucester
The upward trajectory continues for Rees-Zammit, as the Welsh youngster produced another skilful and clinical display at Kingsholm. Not only did he show his scintillating pace to score a try, he also set another up with excellent handling. The potential Six Nations call-up hype continues to grow around the wing.
Silver – Dave Kearney, Leinster
Bronze – Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Bath
- Garry Ringrose, Leinster
Ringrose was a constant threat with ball in hand against Lyon and he repeatedly made the most of the front-foot that his pack gave him. He didn’t get on the scoresheet himself, but his incisions into the Lyon defence laid the groundwork for the success that Dave Kearney and the rest of the Leinster squad had.
Silver – Virimi Vakatawa, Racing 92
Bronze – Fraser Dingwall, Northampton Saints
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1216407630068973569?s=20
- George Moala, Clermont
Moala was superb at the heart of Clermont’s midfield against Ulster and he repeatedly barrelled and cut his way through the Irish province’s usually stout back line. A lot of Clermont’s success in the game came directly off the back of the line-breaks and territory gains that Moala was able to provide.
Silver – Paul Lasike, Harlequins
Bronze – Rory Hutchinson, Northampton Saints
- Ollie Thorley, Gloucester
Almost forgotten in the media furore around Rees-Zammit, Thorley may have even had a better game than the Welsh youngster on Saturday. Montpellier looked turgid and ineffective at Kingsholm and they had no answer for the raids of Thorley and Rees-Zammit in the wide channels. It’s one of the youngest wing combinations in European rugby, but it is also one of the most ruthless.
Silver – Taqele Naiyaravoro, Northampton Saints
Bronze – Gabriel Ibitoye, Harlequins
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1216392331571748864?s=20
- Manu Vunipola, Saracens
With his side reduced to 14 men after just five minutes, Vunipola guided and managed Saracens to a very impressive win at the Liberty Stadium. His decision-making was excellent, as was his kicking at goal, both of which were vital in such a close game. He continues to shine in just his second professional season and the club will be a lot less worried about losing Owen Farrell during the Six Nations now.
Silver – Adam Hastings, Glasgow Warriors
Bronze – Finn Russell, Racing 92
- Tawera Kerr-Barlow, La Rochelle
Kerr-Barlow was a livewire against Sale Sharks, hurting the English side with not only his darting runs around the fringes, but also his crisp and accurate passing. With the La Rochelle back line given quick and precise ball like that, they were able to push the tempo against Sale and make the English side uncomfortable.
Silver – Nic White, Exeter Chiefs
Bronze – Luke McGrath, Leinster
- Dave Kilcoyne, Munster
It was a fruitless afternoon for Munster in Paris, although Kilcoyne distinguished himself with his work in the loose and at the scrum. The Irish loosehead was able to live with physicality of Racing and responded with plenty of his own.
Silver – Val Rapava Ruskin, Gloucester
Bronze – Cian Healy, Leinster
- Julien Marchand, Toulouse
A strong showing from Marchand at the set-piece and in the loose, with the Toulouse hooker laying the foundation for his side’s win away at Connacht on Saturday. He also grabbed a try to add further gloss to what was already an impressive outing from the 24-year-old.
Silver – Todd Gleave, Gloucester
Bronze – Luke Cowan-Dickie, Exeter Chiefs
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1216339875936509953?s=20
- Tadhg Furlong, Leinster
A potent reminder of what Furlong can bring to the mix and it will have put all of Ireland’s upcoming Six Nations opponents on notice. The big tighthead was as effective in the loose as he was at the set-piece in a truly dominant game for Leinster’s pack.
Silver – Zander Fagerson, Glasgow Warriors
Bronze – Charlie Faumuina, Toulouse
- Paul Jedrasiak, Clermont
The French lock was in bullocking form with the ball in hand against Ulster and, along with Moala, helped provide the front-foot ball that Clermont were able to prosper with. In addition to providing punch with the ball in hand, Jedrasiak was physical around the fringes and was key to preventing Ulster having similar gain-line success to Clermont.
Silver – Florian Verhaeghe, Toulouse
Bronze – Joel Kpoku, Saracens
- Scott Fardy, Leinster
There is very little on the field that Fardy doesn’t do to an incredibly high standard. The Australian put in a typically refined and composed performance against Lyon and was influential as a carrier and ball-handler, facilitating the success of the players around him.
Silver – Jonny Gray, Glasgow Warriors
Bronze – Gavin Thornbury, Connacht
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1216312996231860224?s=20
- Wenceslas Lauret, Racing 92
The Frenchman helped deliver a physical advantage for Racing in what was, for vast swathes, a very tight game with Munster. He had several crucial carries that broke Munster’s defensive line and kept the exciting Racing back line operating on the front-foot.
Silver – Rynhardt Elstadt, Toulouse
Bronze – Kevin Gourdon, La Rochelle
- Colby Fainga’a, Connacht
Connacht may have been outplayed by Toulouse in Galway, though that didn’t stop Fainga’a from continuing his sublime season on the flank for the Irish province. He was all over the pitch, influencing the game as a ball-carrier, defender and breakdown specialist. He was anything but outclassed by Toulouse.
Silver – Jacques Vermeulen, Exeter Chiefs
Bronze – Lewis Ludlam, Northampton Saints
- Alex Dombrandt, Harlequins
An encouraging performance from Dombrandt for Harlequins, who will need him to replicate the dynamism of his ball-carrying from Friday night if they are to move up the Premiership table. He had his way with the Bath defence at the Rec and it was a timely marker to put down, with Eddie Jones currently finalising his England squad for the Six Nations.
Silver – Gregory Alldritt, La Rochelle
Bronze – Marcell Coetzee, Ulster
Watch: Life After Rugby – Andy Powell
Comments on RugbyPass
Ireland Reign Supreme? Really? Of the 6 nations two (Wales and Italy) were not contenders for the title. No credit to Ireland for beating them. A further nation (France) was off the boil. So it was really more like a 3N tournament. Of the two remaining Irish opponents, one (England) is in rebuild but still managed to beat Ireland. The other (Scotland) was an Irish win, but hardly a beating. It was pretty close, despite being an Irish home game. Ireland were excellent early last year, but this year they struggled to win a 6N tournament that should have been unusually easy for them to win. They were not dominant against the better teams, and they certainly don’t Reign Supreme. Let’s hope they reinvigorate their attack before the SA trip.
3 Go to commentsThanks Nick, and totally correct. Definately too many teams which is unfortunately an effect of the 21st century hubris that began after our 2nd World Cup win. Honestly we weren't like that before then. If NZ beat us in a Rugby League or cricket series (which has occasionally happened) they don't all of a sudden think they are our equal or even better than us. Unfortunately for Australia, we got carried away with ourselves and wanted to jump from 4th biggest football code to biggest…in 5 minutes. More teams, more matches against the All Blacks (so we could beat them even more). Bring it on. It’s been all down hill since then. Assuming Melbourne are gone, there are very good reasons to keep the remaining 4 in SR, or so it would seem. The Force?…wronged previously, and have $s. Surely not. The Brumbies?….easily the best performed. Surely not. The Waratahs?….most players (50%) and most followers. Surely not. The Reds?….easily the best current team, and nearly as many players and followers as the Waratahs. Surely not. I’d argue that based on how strong the combined Reds n Rebs would be and how strong a combined team of all of the other Oz SR teams would be, we have players for 2 teams…..which would be good. Good enough for a propper SR competition…or maybe good enough for Japan….if they’ll have us. Existing SR teams?….keep them and have them play a second tier…or maybe NZ's NRC….if they'll have us. This is biting the bullet. We have the cattle
1 Go to commentsbest news and very helpful
4 Go to commentsA year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
44 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
3 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
3 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
44 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
44 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
44 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
4 Go to comments