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Laidlaw helps Clermont continue fine Top 14 start

By Omnisport
Clermont Auvergne’s Greig Laidlaw

Clermont Auvergne secured their fourth successive Top 14 victory as the boot of former Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw helped them overcome Pau 27-23.

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The division’s early pace-setters had scored 149 points across their opening three fixtures, but this was a more hard-fought success as Laidlaw sent over a conversion and a penalty in the final four minutes to seal a narrow win.

Clermont had scored 18 tries in their previous three wins but managed to add just two more through Remy Grosso and Yohan Beheregaray against a Pau side for whom Colin Slade scored 12 points.

Reigning champions Castres are up to second in the standings thanks to a 29-13 win over Grenoble, who have lost each of their opening four fixtures since being promoted.

Hooker Marc-Antoine Rallier twice crossed the whitewash, as did Alex Tulou, while Benjamin Urdapilleta kicked nine points.

Lyon produced the most comprehensive victory of the day as they ran in eight tries in a 55-13 thrashing of Montpellier.

Jake McIntyre kicked five penalties in Agen’s 22-17 success over Bordeaux-Begles, while Toulouse sealed a 30-17 win over Racing 92.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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