Weekend Round-Up: Five of the best from the Top 14 and Aviva Premiership
High-tension, high-scoring, all-action games from the Top 14 and Aviva Premiership to watch while you wait impatiently for the next round of the Six Nations and/or the start of the Super Rugby season.
Aviva Premiership: Worcester Warriors vs Exeter Chiefs
Full Game | Condensed
There’s something about Exeter. A week after they were involved in a 70-point 10-try thriller at Sandy Park, they headed to Sixways – this time for an 11-try, 80-point extravaganza. Three of the visitors seven tries came in 10 minutes early in the second half, while Warriors’ Alafoti Faosiliva was in the sin-bin for a clumsy off-the-ball tackle. Despite that setback, the hosts – 11th in the table and desperate to put clear water between themselves and basement club Bristol – kept up the fight until the final whistle, managing a vital try-scoring bonus of their own at the death.
Top 14: Clermont v Bayonne
Full Game | Condensed
Clermont are used to being in the mix for top spot in the Top 14, but the pressure this season is coming from an unlikely source. Having seen La Rochelle beat Stade Francais the previous evening, Franck Azema’s men knew only a bonus-point win over bottom-of-the-table Bayonne would be good enough to take them back to the head of the table. What followed at Stade Marcel Michelin involved nine tries, three of them coming in the last five minutes – and the matter of the hosts’ bonus point still very much in the balance after the hooter sounded.
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Top 14: Pau vs Grenoble
Full Game | Condensed
Pau were looking for their sixth Top 14 win in a row to consolidate their place in the all-important top six. Grenoble, for whom the Six Nations break could not have come at a worse time, were looking to build on a domestic improvement as their Irish head coach plots an unlikely great escape from the relegation zone. After Pau’s Colin Slade had opened the scoring with a 40-yard drop goal, the visitors drew first try-scoring blood. The two sides continued to duke it out all game, as lowly Grenoble refused to give up, and the result was far from a foregone conclusion until the closing minutes.
Top 14: Bordeaux vs Castres Olympique
Full Game | Condensed
What do you get when a side that has not won a match at home for three months entertains one that has only won once on the road this season? You get this tense, all-action affair which takes on extra importance as the business-end of the Top 14 season looms closer. Results elsewhere in France this weekend meant that this was a must-win game for both teams, who have ambitions of the play-offs and a place in next season’s Champions League. At the end of the 80 minutes, one of them has seen itself cast adrift of the all-important top six places, while the other leapt up the table to – for a while at least – third.
Aviva Premiership: Newcastle Falcons vs Northampton Saints
Full Game | Condensed
Kingston Park descended into an early silence as notorious slow starters Northampton fairly exploded out of the blocks and raced in two tries in the opening six minutes. While that would have been enough to see other sides roll over and die, Dean Richards’ Falcons have been hewn out of sterner stuff – and clawed their way back into a game that is worth the entry fee simply for the non-stop opening period. The second period was even better, as the two side matched the try-count of Worcester and Exeter.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood 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.
27 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.
9 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.
27 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?
11 Go to comments