Kiwis in Europe: Hughes leads Wasps closer to semis
Total Kiwis: 90
Former Auckland No 8 Nathan Hughes will be the toast of Coventry after inspiring Wasps to a vital 26-19 Gallagher Premiership victory over Exeter Chiefs.
The 27-year-old made 19 carries for 93 metres and 19 tackles, along with a try assist for Juan de Jongh as Wasps won their first ever victory at Sandy Park and moved up to fifth position, just three points shy of Harlequins with three rounds to play.
Brad Shields and Lima Sopoaga, who slotted two goals, also featured for the victors.
A yellow card to Bryce Heem did not stop Worcester inflicting a 39-17 defeat on Denny Solomona’s Sale Sharks. Ben Te’o was in the No 12 jersey for the Warriors.
A try to Ahsee Tuala was critical to Northampton Saints’ 20-19 win at Harlequins which keeps Saints’ semifinal hopes alive. Alongside Tuala were Ben Franks, Teimana Harrison and Piers Francis. Quins fielded Alofa Alofa and Francis Saili.
Josh Hohneck scored a try to help Gloucester to a 27-23 win over Bath. Willi Heinz was at halfback for the cherry and whites. Kahn Fotuali’i and Anthony Perenise turned out for Bath.
Desperate Bristol, still with designs on a top six finish, won 23-21 over Sean Maitland’s second-placed Saracens. Steven Luatua scored a try for the Bears, while Alapati Leiua, John Afoa, Chris Vui, James Lay and Jake Heenan all featured for Pat Lam’s squad.
Mike FitzGerald and Brendon O’Connor both tasted a relieving 27-22 Leicester win at Newcastle. Tane Takalua did his best to keep the Falcons in touch with a try and four goals. His teammates included Sinoti Sinoti, Logovi’i Mulipola, Rodney Ah You, John Hardie and Evan Olmstead, the latter whom should be playing Super Rugby back in New Zealand.
In the Guinness PRO14, Sean Reidy’s Ulster won 29-7 at Edinburgh, for whom Simon Hickey kicked a conversion. Simon Berghan was a front-row replacement.
Rhys Marshall scored a try as Munster beat Treviso 37-28 away from home. Alby Mathewson was at halfback for Munster. For the Italians, Monty Ioane scored a try, while Jayden Hayward, Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara, Toa Halafihi and Hame Faiva all played.
Ma’afu Fia’s Ospreys defeated the Southern Kings 43-7.
Johnny McNicholl and Hadleigh Parkes were among the tryscorers for Scarlets in their 42-0 blanking of Josh Renton’s Zebre. Kieron Fonotia was used off the bench for Wayne Pivac’s side.
Bundee Aki and Dominic Robertson-McCoy played for Connacht in the 29-22 win over a Cardiff Blues outfit that included Rey Lee-Lo, Willis Halaholo and Gareth Anscombe.
Glasgow beat Leinster 39-24, the latter fielding Jamison Gibson-Park and Michael Bent.
In the French Top 14, a try to Lolagi Visinia helped Grenoble defeat Toulon 19-18. His teammates included Alaska Taufa, Steven Setephano, Leva Fifita, Taleta Tupuola and Halani Aulika. Toulon, bizarrely, fielded Julian Savea in the No 13 jersey (he scored a try) and Malakai Fekitoa in the No 11 shirt. Brian Alainu’uese was in his rightful position of lock.
Fullback Toby Arnold scored a try as Lyon smashed Perpignan 47-9. Rudi Wulf and Charlie Ngatai again partnered in the Lyonnais midfield. Les Catalans fielded Tima Faingaanuku on the wing and Manu Leiataua and Michael Faleafa in the pack.
Stade Francais edged an Agen unit, 25-22, that saw Sam Vaka cross for a try. Paula Ngauamo and Tom Murday also turned out for the south-west French club.
Ihaia West helped himself to a try and six goals as La Rochelle belted hapless Pau 71-21. Victor Vito and Uini Atonio were in the winning pack. Colin Slade was at fullback for the vanquished, slotting three goals and receiving a yellow card. Tom Taylor and Daniel Ramsay also appeared for Pau.
Seta Tamanivalu’s Bordeaux-Begles, scrapping hard for a playoffs berth, fell 16-12 to a Castres squad that fielded Maama Vaipulu, David Smith and Alex Tulou.
Charlie Faumuina, Jerome Kaino and Joe Tekori, despite a yellow card, enjoyed a 47-44 win over Clermont which keeps the red and blacks at the top of the log. Tim Nanai-Williams, at No 10, and Fritz Lee, who also copped a yellow, were in the Clermont side.
Racing-Metro, with Ben Volavola, Ben Tameifuna and Dominic Bird in the ranks, edged Montpellier 26-25. Aaron Cruden kicked two goals off the bench in his return from injury for the latter.
This weekend sees the semifinals in the European competitions.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments