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The RugbyPass Champions Cup XV - Round 4

By Alex Shaw
Nonu during the European Rugby Champions Cup match between Bath Rugby and RC Toulon at the Recreation Ground on December 16, 2017 in Bath, England.

The European Champions Cup pools really began to take shape this week, as the “double header” rounds, perhaps the most tactically interesting two-week slot in the competition, were wrapped up.

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Wasps bounced back from a disheartening loss to keep their qualification hopes alive, Ulster and Ospreys continued their resurgences and pool leaders Leinster, Bath, Munster and Clermont will all go into January confident about their chances.

We picked our XV of the week below.

 

  1. Anthony Watson, Bath

Watson scythed through the Toulon defence for two tries in front of a watching – and seemingly pleased – Eddie Jones.

His vision to exploit holes or mismatches in the Toulon defensive line was excellent and it was the kind of showing that will add fresh impetus to the calls for Watson to don the 15 jersey for England, as well as for Bath. He kicked and dealt with aerial balls well, too, making it a complete performance from the full-back.

 

  1. Aled Brew, Bath

Brew might have been playing on the left wing for Bath, but the 14 on his back gives us an easy out here, on a weekend when left wings were dominant.

The Welshman has reinvigorated his career at the Rec and is in blistering form. He gave Josua Tuisova a constant headache on Saturday evening, both as an attacking threat raiding down the wing and stopping the Fijian powerhouse defensively before he built up the momentum to go on his trademark bullocking runs.

A nod, too, to Craig Gilroy and Charlie Walker, both of whom impressed in Belfast on Friday.

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  1. Paul Asquith, Scarlets

The Australian was one of the few Scarlets players to really impress in their narrow win over Benetton last week and backed it up with another strong showing this week.

The centre was a constant threat on phases after Scott Williams crashed the ball up, either as a runner himself or linking with wings Johnny McNicholl and Steff Evans. It was that variety to his game that saw him narrowly pip the equally impressive Frans Steyn.

 

  1. Ma’a Nonu, Toulon

There were flashes of vintage Nonu on Saturday, with the Kiwi running the out-to-in line and targeting the space between Rhys Priestland and Ben Tapuai on several occasions.

Stuart McCloskey also excelled, albeit in a more open game, but Nonu’s powerful carrying kept Toulon in contention at the Rec right up until the 80th minute.

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  1. Nemani Nadolo, Montpellier

If it was a relatively quiet week for right wings, it was a barnstorming one for left wings. Jacob Stockdale, Isa Nacewa, Elliot Daly and Virimi Vakatawa were all excellent in their respective games, but none that managed quite the same dominance as Nadolo.

The behemoth wing battered and bruised the Glasgow defence and whilst there were a couple of moments when he was compromised defensively, the positives he brought in attack overwhelmingly outweighed those moments. There may be no player in the world game who the opposition must tactically prepare for as much as Nadolo.

 

  1. Danny Cipriani, Wasps

Ulster’s Christian Lealiifano came very close with a classy display on Friday night, but Cipriani orchestrated a vital win for Wasps off the back of a pummelling in France a week previously.

The veteran Englishman played with freedom and fearlessness on the gain-line, allowing himself to take several big hits in the process of unleashing runners through holes. He lost his pressure valve, Jimmy Gopperth, to injury early in the game, too, but managed the disruption perfectly and took on full puppeteering duties for 80 minutes.

 

  1. John Cooney, Ulster

A second commanding performance in as many weeks for Cooney, as he contributed 27 points personally, as well as popping up to assist three tries, making him responsible for 42 of Ulster’s 52 points against Harlequins.

His distribution was excellent, he constantly picked the right runners or options and his own work as a support runner was invaluable to keeping Ulster attacks alive. In this form, Cooney should be catching the eye of Joe Schmidt.

Dan Robson and Gareth Davies both deserve honourable mentions, too.

 

  1. Beno Obano, Bath

A second appearance in as many weeks for Obano, whose ascent this season is beginning to border on meteoric.

He took his try well to give his side a fast start to the game and continued to make impact players at the Rec, whether it was powerful carries around the fringes to keep Bath on the front foot or manful tackles on the gain-line. The Scarlets’ Rob Evans deserves a nod, too, for his strong display against Benetton.

 

  1. Kevin O’Byrne, Munster

Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tom Dunn came close but O’Byrne excelled on his European debut.

At a rainy Welford Road where ball security was paramount, O’Byrne nailed all 15 of his lineout throws, as well as forcing a couple of knock-ons with powerful tackles in the greasy conditions. It was the perfect foundation for Munster in a dogged, close contest.

 

  1. Vincent Koch, Saracens

Montpellier’s Johannes Jonker was in the mix, as would’ve been Kyle Sinckler if only his first 40 minutes at Ravenhill had counted, but it was Koch who distinguished himself from the rest of the pack this weekend.

It wasn’t just his marauding runs, but the amount of clearing work he did at the breakdown and the eagerness with which he dived on and secured loose balls. Scrummaged well against a cohesive Clermont unit, too.

 

  1. Sébastien Vahaamahina, Clermont Auvergne

Vahaamahina’s powerful thrusts through the middle of the Saracens defence were one of the key differences between the sides in the second half and something which allowed Clermont to sneak a game that was balanced on a knife edge for most of the contest.

Clermont struggled for the go forward that they enjoyed so prolifically at Allianz Park in the previous round, but Vahaamahina helped make up for a Clermont pack unable to exert the same kind of physical dominance they had a week earlier.

 

  1. Jonny Gray, Glasgow Warriors

Fair play, Gray. Glasgow’s chances of European qualification were ended a week earlier, but the big lock didn’t let that stop him from putting in a powerful and impactful performance against Montpellier.

Sam Skinner came close with a very good outing, but a late penalty for obstructing at the maul cost Exeter a shot at securing a rare win in Dublin.

 

  1. Sean O’Brien, Leinster

It wasn’t quite the blood and thunder with ball in hand performance that O’Brien is capable of, but it was the physicality he brought in the tackle and the contact area that played a key role in subduing a much-improved Exeter side.

Where Exeter had success was when they shifted the ball wider and played with speed, because their often used one-out runner strategy was constantly being stymied by the physical presence of O’Brien and a handful of his teammates.

 

  1. Francois Louw, Bath

James Davies went well against Benetton and a big cameo from Dan Leavy helped Leinster see out their win over Exeter, but Louw just sneaks it.

The South African was a vice over the ball, both as an individual fetcher and supporting teammates who got to the contact area ahead of him. He carried and tackled strongly as well, helping counter the Toulon power game.

 

  1. Leone Nakarawa, Racing 92

It doesn’t seem to particularly matter where you play the big Fijian, as you know you’re going to get an outstanding performance irrespective of the number on his back.

Nakarawa brought all the power carries, offloads and defensive lineout ability to the eight jersey that he has shown countless times in the row. The duelling Jack Conan and Sam Simmonds came close, as did Nathan Hughes, but none could quite match the authority that Nakarawa stamped on the game in Paris.

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A
Adrian 56 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

7 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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