1
Four of the Weekend's Must-See European Champions Cup Clashes
The pick of the weekend’s matches as the penultimate round of European Champions Cup pool phase takes centre stage
ADVERTISEMENT
Leinster v Montpellier (Saturday, January 14, 3.45am HKT)
It’s a tale of two rugby styles, as speedy, canny Leinster face relentless, direct Montpellier. Sure, the three-time European champions from Dublin can bring the muscle, but the Top 14 outfit under Jake White have taken this part of the game to a whole new level. It’s win or bust for the French, who are five points behind their opponents going into this penultimate round of pool matches, so it’s a safe bet they will up the power ante at the RDS. The loss of hooker Sean Cronin to a hamstring injury is a blow for Leinster in the lead-up to this weekend’s match – but head coach Leo Cullen will be urging his side to keep their discipline and up the tempo as they look to counter the visitors’ brute force.
Wasps v Toulouse (Saturday, January 14, 11.15pm HKT)
A thunderous, rumble-in-the-jungle encounter at the Stade Ernest Wallon in the second round of pool matches ended 20-20, with Wasps surviving an hour of near-overwhelming forward power before making the most of the growing gaps as Toulouse’s monster pack finally ran out of steam. It wasn’t quite Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope stuff, but it wasn’t far off. Expect another titanic smash-up at the Ricoh Arena, as Dai Young’s men look to steal a march on the four-time European champions in the closest of the five pools. Three of the four sides are tied on 13 points, and with Connacht at home to nil-point outfit Zebre, whoever wins here will be in pole position for the knockout phase. All points could be vital as, next week, Wasps are in Italy, while Toulouse entertain the Irish province.
Glasgow Warriors v Munster (Sunday, January 15, 1.30am HKT)
When the Champions Cup fixture list was revealed, this bleak midwinter clash did not pique much in the way of interest among neutrals. And, yet, several months later, here we are waiting with collective breaths appropriately bated for what is arguably the must-see tie of the weekend between two sides that have played some truly entertaining, attacking rugby. If Munster win, they will secure a quarter-final place and have home advantage firmly in their sights. If Glasgow take the spoils, that decision will be delayed until next weekend’s final pool matches – with both sides deservedly highly likely to qualify for the knockout phase. Few were predicting that in October.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bordeaux v Clermont (Sunday, January 15, 9pm HKT)
Chances are, Clermont scrum-half Morgan Parra still has occasional nightmares about last season’s decisive European Champions Cup encounter between the two Top 14 sides. A moment of madness – he took a quick tap penalty in front of the Bordeaux posts late in the game, when a kick would have taken them into losing bonus territory – cost them the single point they needed to qualify for the last eight. It was an extraordinary moment at the end of what had been an extraordinary game. Expect him to be out for some form of redemption as the Top 14 leaders look to overcome the recurring bouts of travel sickness that have plagued their season so far to secure what would be a deserved last-eight berth with a game in hand.
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