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'Farcical': Eliminated Harlequins hit out at Champions Cup format
Harlequins senior coach Tabai Matson has branded the new home-and-away round-of-16 format in the Heineken Champions Cup as farcical three days after the reigning Gallagher Premiership champions were dramatically knocked out of Europe on an aggregate difference of one point. Matson’s side were one of three higher-ranked teams eliminated by sides with lower seeds, Bristol and Ulster also losing out to Sale and Toulouse respectively.
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The former All Blacks and Fijian international had no issue that Montpellier squeezed out Harlequins 60-59 over the two legs, admitting the French were the better team overall. His issue was that the tournament structure adopted by EPCR effectively gave a struggling team like Montpellier a second chance to succeed in Europe, something now denied to the English champions in their time of need.
Harlequins won all four of their pool matches over the winter, defeating Castres and Cardiff twice to finish with 19 points in second place in Pool B compared to Montpellier, who finished in seventh place in Pool A where they were hammered 42-6 at Exeter and 89-7 at Leinster but still progressed as they were awarded a 28-0 committee room win over the Irish province for a controversially-enforced cancellation while they also beat the Chiefs at home to progress.
That contrasting pool stage track record annoyed Matson as he felt Harlequins weren’t adequately rewarded for their form in the group section as Montpellier were also given a home game in the round-of-16 section. “It’s pretty tough,” he explained at his weekly media session on Tuesday when asked to revisit last Saturday’s anguished European exit at the hands of the French at The Stoop.
“On reflection, we finished second in our pool and they finished seventh in their pool and they basically get a free crack. I am not sure in the final 16 there was any advantage for us to finish (as high as we did). Ultimately we won five games, they won two but it’s not sour grapes. They were better than us over the last two games, so they deserved to go through. I have got no qualms about that but it does make the first part of pool play farcical if they can get two cracks at it and you don’t really get an advantage from finishing on top of the table.”
Asked if he thought EPCR, the tournament organisers, were aware of this frustration regarding the format, the Harlequins leader added: “They know that. When you feed back that information now it’s quite a gripe. ‘Ah, the guys that got knocked out are griping about the format of the competition’. I think the format was a response to what has been happening around covid. I completely understand that. When you stand back and reflect, you know a team that comes first in the league plays the team that comes eighth and there is really no advantage other than that you get to play at home in the second leg. That’s not really an advantage.”
If so, does Matson expect the round-of-16 format to the altered for next season? “The response we have got from the weekend is that it’s really exciting when you are watching one game but also the aggregate score, but maybe if you do it in a semi-final or final that would be really interesting. At this point here maybe you would consider the teams that have finished pool play well could actually get an advantage. I’m sure I’m not the only person that would have fed that information back.”
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The winter form of Harlequins in Europe suggested they would go deep in the tournament and that anticipation has added to their sense of frustration that this season was a clear missed opportunity. “That’s why there was a real hollow feeling for the players and the whole group. We definitely missed an opportunity.
“It’s on us. It’s not the format of the competition. When you play 160 minutes of rugby and you lose by one point you have definitely missed an opportunity. We were 34-0 down in the first leg. Against the best teams in Europe, you are asking to lose on aggregate. We fought ferociously at home but you can’t give any team at that level a 34-point advantage and then hope to beat them in the next 120 minutes.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments