Champions Cup XV of Round 5
The penultimate round of the European Rugby Champions Cup brought contrasting fortunes for some of the tournament’s front-runners.
Leinster kept up their recent dominance with an emphatic win over Glasgow Warriors, Exeter Chiefs routed Montpellier to resuscitate their hopes of qualifying and Clermont slipped to a surprising defeat to Northampton Saints, potentially making their route through the knockout rounds that bit more testing.
We rounded up the XV that impressed us the most over the past three days, but do you agree?
- Rhys Patchell, Scarlets
The late change to the Scarlets line-up that saw Patchell drop to 15 to cover the injured Leigh Halfpenny looks like a stroke of luck in retrospect, with the playmaker proving the perfect complement to young Dan Jones at fly-half. Whenever Scarlets were able to generate quick ball, they had either Patchell or Jones ready to pull the strings and the Bath defence just couldn’t cope with the tempo and ingenuity of the Patchell-led back line.
- James Lowe, Leinster
The Kiwi had a fine European debut, scything open his former coach’s side in Dublin, just seeing him pip Josua Tuisova, who also had a superb showing on Sunday afternoon. The interplay between Lowe, Jonathan Sexton, Isa Nacewa and Jordan Larmour was a joy to watch and the sky would look to be the limit for the Leinster back three as they continue to grow together.
- Hadleigh Parkes, Scarlets
Chris Farrell was close, Thomas Combezou was closer, but even with the Scarlets back line decimated by injuries, Parkes was still able to spearhead a unit that tormented Bath, shining both as a ball-carrier and a support-runner. He was able to constantly find gaps and doglegs in the Bath defensive line and put down a big marker ahead of the Six Nations.
- Isa Nacewa, Leinster
The PRO14 dominance of this back line continues, with the Fijian’s biggest challenge coming from the Scarlets’ Scott Williams. Age doesn’t seem to affect Nacewa, whose versatility has been such a valuable weapon for Leinster over the years and never more so than this season. As a distributor and a runner, he had his way with the Glasgow defence.
- Olly Woodburn, Exeter Chiefs
It was a showcase in clinical finishing from Woodburn, who scored two tries in Exeter’s 41-10 victory over Montpellier. In addition to his brace of tries, Woodburn was also his usual reliable self in defence and in the aerial game, as well as never giving the South African midfield of Frans Steyn and Jan Serfontein any sniff of unleashing rapid wing Gaby Ngandebe.
Munster’s Keith Earls was also in fine form.
"That is a world class finish!"
Olly Woodburn scores his second try of the game in absolutely incredible style!
Just look at that finish… and it was the bonus point! 👏 pic.twitter.com/YiW8AisfdJ
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 13, 2018
- Christian Lealiifano, Ulster
The Australian bid farewell to the Kingspan Stadium in the perfect fashion, guiding Ulster to an impressive victory over La Rochelle. Both Anthony Belleau and Sexton had fine showings from the fly-half position in their respective games, but were given slightly easier rides by their packs in one-sided affairs, whereas Lealiifano was pivotally involved in gifting Ulster the advantage over the French side.
- Danny Care, Harlequins
Maxime Machenaud went well in Paris, whilst Gareth Davies had his way at the Rec, but Care sparked an almighty Harlequins comeback at the Stoop. His passing, kicking, running and tempo was all high standard and whilst the balance of him spelling Ben Youngs for England is unlikely to be tinkered with, the Harlequin could not be doing any more this season to earn the starting spot.
- Dany Priso, La Rochelle
La Rochelle might have been on the losing end of the result in Belfast on Saturday afternoon, but Priso put in a dominant effort at the scrum. He kept himself busy in the loose, too, but it was the dissection of Rodney Ah You at the set-piece that really stood out.
- Ken Owens, Scarlets
A mention here for Dylan Hartley, who put recent criticism behind him to have a very solid outing in Northampton’s win over Clermont, but Owens was the unheralded spark behind Scarlets’ clinical drubbing of Bath. In addition to a fine showing at the set-piece, Owens also carried strongly in the tight, laying the platform for the region’s scything play in the wider channels.
- Uini Atonio, La Rochelle
Atonio was part of the destructive La Rochelle scrum that tore into Ulster at the Kingspan and it was comfortably the standout set-piece unit of the weekend, even in defeat. Stephen Archer went well for Munster, whilst Ben Tameifuna made his presence known at the contact area in that same game, but neither turned in as imposing of a performance as Atonio.
- Tadhg Beirne, Scarlets
The Irishman may be Munster-bound at the end of the season, but he turned in an immaculate performance at the Rec to keep alive the Scarlets’ European title hopes this season. An ankle-breaking step sent the lock in for a well-deserved try in the first half, but it was his constant success as a carrier, breakdown operator and linkman that really saw him stand out in round five.
Trademark @scarlets_rugby 🙌
"From one side of Bath to the other!"
That's one of the tries of the season 👏 pic.twitter.com/qh21sN88Vy
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 12, 2018
- Scott Fardy, Leinster
Exeter’s Mitch Lees deserves a shout, but the nod goes to Fardy, who capped his excellent performance against Glasgow with two tries. The tries were just reward for his industrious outing at the RDS and added welcome gloss to 80 minutes of keeping everything tidy and organised for Leinster.
- Dave Ewers, Exeter Chiefs
James Chisholm was a big part of Harlequins’ impressive comeback against Wasps, but Ewers put down quite the marker for Eddie Jones ahead of the Six Nations. His carrying stood out, overpowering Montpellier in the tight, an area where they usually exert their will on opponents. He helped generate quick ball for Exeter, too, with smart, accurate clearing at the breakdown.
- James Davies, Scarlets
Chris Cloete and Yannick Nyanga both flashed in Paris but neither quite matched the 73-minute effort that Davies put in at the Rec. It’s hard to imagine the clamours for Davies to get a Wales call-up could get any louder, but with performances like this one in Europe, they inevitably will. In terms of consistency at the breakdown, there is no more proficient operator in the northern hemisphere on current form.
- Zach Mercer, Bath
Sam Simmonds, Alex Tulou and Nizaam Carr all put their hands with noteworthy performances and it might seem odd to go with Mercer, who was part of a well-beaten Bath side. Mercer was a man apart in the Bath pack on Friday night, though, consistently breaking the gain-line and until James Phillips arrived, he was the only Bath forward to do so. A couple of handling errors early didn’t shake his confidence and he battled, with plenty of success, throughout the game, even when Scarlets had the result wrapped up.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments