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Weekend round-up: Showstopping semis in Europe

By RugbyPass
Clermont's David Strettle

All eyes were on Europe this weekend as the Champions and Challenge Cup semifinals produced some nail-biting finishes…

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Champions Cup: Munster vs Saracens
Full Game | Condensed
This was always going to be a tight affair, as the two best defences in this season’s European Champions Cup crashed into one another at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Coming into the game, Munster, playing a record 178th European match, had conceded just five tries in this season’s competition; Saracens eight. Neither had given up a score in the opening period of their previous seven games. Though this was destined to be a relatively low-scoring affair, make no mistake, it was brutal, tense, hard-hitting stuff as Munster threw everything they had at Saracens – and the London side soaked it up. And soaked it up. And…

Challenge Cup: La Rochelle vs Gloucester
Full Game | Condensed
Things that are impossible: faster-than-light travel, getting a straight answer out of a politician, reading all of Finnegans Wake (anyone who says they have is lying)… and away teams winning at La Rochelle’s Stade Marcel Deflandre. That was the personal Everest facing Premiership side Gloucester in their bid to reach the European Challenge Cup final for the second time in three seasons. It wasn’t always pretty. It was riddled with errors. But it was always enthralling.

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Challenge Cup: Stade Francais vs Bath
Full Game | Condensed
Northern Hemisphere rugby has developed a knack for games that go down to the wire. This Challenge Cup semi-final in Paris was the first of the weekend’s two edge-of-the-seat nailbiters. Stade, playing their third game in eight days courtesy of a French court ruling, roared into an early lead. Bath fought back, Stade edged ahead again. Bath clung on – and gave themselves a chance with the final play of a breathless, heartstopping game.

Challenge Cup: Clermont vs Leinster
Full Game | Condensed
Speaking of heartstopping games, the three-time champions from Dublin, and perennial bridesmaids Clermont delivered a semifinal for the ages in a sun-drenched Lyon. For 35 of the opening 40 minutes, the French were in David Strettle-inspired cruise control before Jonny Sexton dragged the Irish side back into the game. Would the chokers choke again? It seemed not when Camille Lopez slotted two nerveless penalties that lesser players may have balked. But then, Garry Ringrose reminded everyone just what the Lions – for now, at least – will be missing in New Zealand to set up a grandstand finish.

Watch every game of the Lions Tour NZ streaming live on rugbypass.com, home of the best online rugby coverage including news, highlights, previews & reviews, live scores, and more!

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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