Champions Cup XV of Round 6
The pool stage of the Champions Cup came to a thrilling conclusion this past weekend, as 14 teams bade to join Leinster in the knockout rounds.
For some it was a simple case of win and you’re in, for others it was a complex calculation of bonus points, points difference and other results going in their favour. Whatever the requirements were, it made for an exhilarating array of matches.
We have compiled our XV of the week from the 10 games played where, remarkably, there were knockout places and consequences on offer in every single match-up.
- Stuart Hogg, Glasgow Warriors
In his first game back from injury, it looked as if Hogg had never been away, as he scythed through the Exeter defence on Saturday at Scotstoun. He crossed the whitewash for a try and played a pivotal role in the scores for Matt Fagerson and Tommy Seymour, too. Exeter had no answer for his industrious support runs and quick hands unleashing his fellow Glasgow attackers.
We've seen some glorious tries in this weekend's Champions Cup ?
Check out @BrianODriscoll, @dallaglio8 and Craig Doyle's picks and let us know your favourite! ? pic.twitter.com/UmxgWvkLHq
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 21, 2018
- Keith Earls, Munster
A relatively quiet week for right wings sees Earls move over from the left, where he was every bit as impressive as the handful of standouts. A bloody nose and black eye sustained early on barely seemed to hinder the Munster wing, as he gashed the Castres defence and constantly looked for work off of his wing. He was full value for his try and did excellently to set up teammate Simon Zebo for his score.
- Hadleigh Parkes, Scarlets
A complete performance from the outside centre, who not only played a significant role in facilitating the Scarlets’ attack, but also defended solidly, particularly against the unpredictable Semi Radradra. Parkes has really come to the fore over the last two weeks and played sublimely against both Bath and Toulon, proving key in the Scarlets’ first trip to the knockout rounds in 11 years.
Honourable mentions here for Robbie Henshaw and Huw Jones, too. The Celtic nations’ centre options certainly look in good form going into the Six Nations.
- Owen Watkin, Ospreys
The powerful inside centre was a nightmare for Clermont to bring down and though the Ospreys left France with their European hopes dashed, Watkin left with his stock continuing to rise. Kyle Eastmond was also impressive, but didn’t quite have the same individual impact this weekend that Watkin did.
- Nathan Earle, Saracens
Nemani Nadolo, James Lowe and Rémy Grosso weren’t far off, but Earle’s first half arrival at Allianz Park injected impetus into Saracens and helped them reverse an early powerplay from Northampton. He ran with energy and ambition at space and helped create two tries with his breaks down the left wing.
- Owen Farrell, Saracens
With the fairly indifferent form of the English club sides of late, Eddie Jones will have found it hard to supress a smile at Farrell’s uber-clinical dissection of Northampton Saints. The fly-half contributed 27 points with the boot, but also made the key passes in four of the seven Saracens tries.
Enough to reopen the debate of England playing him at 10?
A mention for two young fly-halves in Ross Byrne and Dan Jones, both of whom guided their sides to victory in calm and composed fashion.
HIGHLIGHTS: @Saracens put seven tries on the board in a dominant display at @AllianzPark. #ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/ILd3yuFOB1
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) January 21, 2018
- Maxime Machenaud, Racing 92
The recall to the French side certainly hasn’t hurt Machenaud’s confidence and he turned in a second excellent performance in as many weeks on Sunday. He controlled the tempo of the game, kicked accurately at goal and kept Racing moving forward, whether that was with carriers running off of nine, or distributing accurately to the back line.
Glasgow’s George Horne and Munster’s Conor Murray were also impressive.
- Mako Vunipola, Saracens
The big loosehead showed no signs of fatigue as he powered his way through the Northampton defence time after time. His carries inevitably broke the gain-line and brought multiple defenders into the contact area to stop him, whilst he also played an important role in a Saracens scrum that had the edge on their counterparts.
- Sean Cronin, Leinster
A 100% record throwing in at the lineout, a threat with ball-in-hand and an energetic defensive performance made a compelling case for Cronin. Going up against Bismarck du Plessis is an unenviable task at the best of times, but on the road? When you’re a smaller hooker? Who has had throwing issues in the past?
Cronin certainly delivered against the South African, just seeing him edge out Wasps’ Tom Cruse and La Rochelle’s Pierre Bourgarit.
HIGHLIGHTS: This victory at the Altrad Stadium means that @LeinsterRugby are ranked No 1 in the quarter-finals. #ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/ZvSvCHQJQx
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) January 21, 2018
- Ben Tameifuna, Racing 92
Tameifuna may be the lone player to actually get fitter going from Super Rugby to the Top 14. He turned in an excellent 75-minute shift against Leicester Tigers, not only helping Racing to a clear superiority in the scrum, but also making telling contributions in the loose as a ball-carrier.
- Jean Kleyn, Munster
The ever-impressive Tadhg Beirne was close, but the physicality Kleyn brought was something which separated him from the pack this week. He owned the gain-line as a tackler, refusing to allow the Castres ball-carriers any success in the tight. He was industrious at the breakdown, too, clearing out with force and allowing Conor Murray as easy a job as possible to send the ball on.
- Jonny Gray, Glasgow Warriors
With nothing left on the line for Glasgow in the competition apart from pride, it says a lot about Gray that he produced such a dogged, resilient and hard-working performance. He helped hassle the Exeter lineout along with second row partner Rob Harley and defended manfully for the entire 80 minutes.
A nod to James Ryan, who had a very strong second half in Montpellier and helped see out an impressive victory for a young Leinster side.
- Peceli Yato, Clermont
Matt Fagerson and Facundo Isa were real contenders here, having turned in storming performances, but Yato just edged them out. The Fijian was in destructive form with ball-in-hand for Clermont and was vital to the French side in a game that, although the scoreline of 24-7 over the Ospreys shows a clear difference between the sides, was a lot tighter for much of the contest. Yato was key to the front-foot ball that Clermont were able to enjoy.
HIGHLIGHTS: Morgan Parra was inspired as @ASMOfficiel secured top spot in Pool 2 and a home quarter-final. #ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/DubkHEJgI4
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) January 21, 2018
- Levani Botia, La Rochelle
Botia completes an all-Fijian flanker pairing and turned in a performance just as destructive as his national compatriot. The former centre thrived in space and tortured the Harlequins defence with his strong carrying. His quickness from breakdown to breakdown also shone through at Stade Marcel Deflandre.
The Scarlets’ James Davies was also on top form and integral to the region downing European heavyweights Toulon.
- Sam Simmonds, Exeter Chiefs
In a week when pundits have been talking up Zach Mercer, with Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes sidelined, this was exactly the performance Simmonds needed to produce to push himself back to the forefront of Jones’ consciousness. Exeter were uncharacteristically profligate in Glasgow on Saturday, but Simmonds continued to produce regardless, not just breaking the gain line, but gouging Glasgow for big territorial gains when he did, thanks to his breakaway speed.
Comments on RugbyPass
No Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
3 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
18 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
54 Go to comments