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'I don't know if you can find a more heroic captain, leader and figure in the European game'
Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll has paid a glowing tribute to Brad Barritt, the former England midfielder who bowed out of European rugby with Saracens’ 19-15 Champions Cup semi-final loss to Racing on Saturday.
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The 34-year-old Durban-born centre is due to retire at the end of the 2019/20 season and he would have hoped the October 17 European final would provide him with a fitting farewell rather than Saracens’ final match in the Premiership next weekend before their relegation to the Championship.
However, the attempt by the London club to win a fourth Champions Cup in five seasons came a cropper in Paris, Racing pouncing for the decisive late try to win with Barritt having left the action on 65 minutes after getting injured when tackling Finn Russell with his team 15-9 ahead.
The defeat brought to an end to Barritt’s 67-game career in Europe which stretched back over a dozen seasons and O’Driscoll, speaking post-game on BT Sport, was quick to recognise the contribution of the retiring Barritt and also the efforts of Richard Wigglesworth, the veteran scrum-half, who is also departing.
“Like them or loathe them, those two players, in particular, have been stalwarts of Saracens, European rugby and Premiership rugby. They have put their bodies on the line like very few others,” said O’Driscoll.
"Stalwarts of @Saracens Rugby, European and Premiership Rugby."
"I don't know if you find a more heroic captain, leader and figure in the European game."@BrianODriscoll pays tribute to @bradbarritt and @rwiggy9 after what might have been their last match for Saracens ??? pic.twitter.com/JumyOlHPO9
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) September 26, 2020
“You have got the cunning and the nous of Wigglesworth but Brad Barritt, I don’t know if you can find a more heroic captain, leader and figure in the European game. You think about where he puts his head where others wouldn’t their feet and he has done it for ten plus years.
“It’s a sad sight to see him go off the game not on his terms but he can hold his head high and he has put in another incredible shift today and what a career he has had for Saracens.”
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Fellow BT pundit Lawrence Dallaglio suggested Barritt’s exit from the semi-final was a huge momentum swing in tipping the outcome the way of Racing. “I thought the turning point was maybe when Brad Barritt went off for Saracens, their captain and their leader, and (Maxime) Machenaud came on for Racing. There just seemed to be a momentum shift. There was a six-point gap between the sides and there was that momentum shift.
“Then how about this? If you’re going to win a semi-final with a piece of skill, (you do it with) the combination of Finn Russell and (Virimi) Vakatawa, which Saracens had kept quiet until the 76th minute. It’s not just the quality of the kick, but he (Russell) keeps it far enough away from Wigglesworth for Vakatawa to catch, gather and then the one-handed offload.
“It’s cruel for Saracens because they had one foot on the final but you just felt earlier on in the game there were chances for Saracens to finish Racing off and they didn’t manage to do that. They kept within one score and when you do that there is always a danger with the quality that they have got that they can come up with something.”
A stunning score at the death! ?
Finn Russell and Virimi Vakatawa combine to put Juan Imhoff through! ?
What a moment for @racing92!#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/mwn3v4zCfy
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) September 26, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Good 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.
19 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.
7 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.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments