Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Farcical': Eliminated Harlequins hit out at Champions Cup format

(Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

Harlequins senior coach Tabai Matson has branded the new home-and-away round-of-16 format in the Heineken Champions Cup as farcical three days after the reigning Gallagher Premiership champions were dramatically knocked out of Europe on an aggregate difference of one point. Matson’s side were one of three higher-ranked teams eliminated by sides with lower seeds, Bristol and Ulster also losing out to Sale and Toulouse respectively.  

ADVERTISEMENT

The former All Blacks and Fijian international had no issue that Montpellier squeezed out Harlequins 60-59 over the two legs, admitting the French were the better team overall. His issue was that the tournament structure adopted by EPCR effectively gave a struggling team like Montpellier a second chance to succeed in Europe, something now denied to the English champions in their time of need. 

Harlequins won all four of their pool matches over the winter, defeating Castres and Cardiff twice to finish with 19 points in second place in Pool B compared to Montpellier, who finished in seventh place in Pool A where they were hammered 42-6 at Exeter and 89-7 at Leinster but still progressed as they were awarded a 28-0 committee room win over the Irish province for a controversially-enforced cancellation while they also beat the Chiefs at home to progress.

Video Spacer

What the All Blacks squad could look like halfway through Super Rugby Pacific | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      What the All Blacks squad could look like halfway through Super Rugby Pacific | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

      That contrasting pool stage track record annoyed Matson as he felt Harlequins weren’t adequately rewarded for their form in the group section as Montpellier were also given a home game in the round-of-16 section. “It’s pretty tough,” he explained at his weekly media session on Tuesday when asked to revisit last Saturday’s anguished European exit at the hands of the French at The Stoop. 

      “On reflection, we finished second in our pool and they finished seventh in their pool and they basically get a free crack. I am not sure in the final 16 there was any advantage for us to finish (as high as we did). Ultimately we won five games, they won two but it’s not sour grapes. They were better than us over the last two games, so they deserved to go through. I have got no qualms about that but it does make the first part of pool play farcical if they can get two cracks at it and you don’t really get an advantage from finishing on top of the table.”

      Related

      Asked if he thought EPCR, the tournament organisers, were aware of this frustration regarding the format, the Harlequins leader added: “They know that. When you feed back that information now it’s quite a gripe. ‘Ah, the guys that got knocked out are griping about the format of the competition’. I think the format was a response to what has been happening around covid. I completely understand that. When you stand back and reflect, you know a team that comes first in the league plays the team that comes eighth and there is really no advantage other than that you get to play at home in the second leg. That’s not really an advantage.”

      If so, does Matson expect the round-of-16 format to the altered for next season? “The response we have got from the weekend is that it’s really exciting when you are watching one game but also the aggregate score, but maybe if you do it in a semi-final or final that would be really interesting. At this point here maybe you would consider the teams that have finished pool play well could actually get an advantage. I’m sure I’m not the only person that would have fed that information back.”

      ADVERTISEMENT

      The winter form of Harlequins in Europe suggested they would go deep in the tournament and that anticipation has added to their sense of frustration that this season was a clear missed opportunity. “That’s why there was a real hollow feeling for the players and the whole group. We definitely missed an opportunity. 

      “It’s on us. It’s not the format of the competition. When you play 160 minutes of rugby and you lose by one point you have definitely missed an opportunity. We were 34-0 down in the first leg. Against the best teams in Europe, you are asking to lose on aggregate. We fought ferociously at home but you can’t give any team at that level a 34-point advantage and then hope to beat them in the next 120 minutes.”

      ADVERTISEMENT

      HSBC SVNS Singapore 2025 | Day Two Men's Highlights

      HSBC SVNS Singapore 2025 | Day Two Women's Highlights

      Jet Lag: The biggest challenge facing international sports? | The Report

      Boks Office | Episode 39 | The Investec Champions Cup is back

      Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry? | New Zealand & Australia | Sevens Wonders | Episode 5

      Kobelco Kobe Steelers vs Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

      The Rise of Kenya | The Report

      The Fixture: How This Rugby Rivalry Has Lasted 59 Years

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      1 Comment
      P
      Poorfour 1086 days ago

      Except obviously you can (if you're Quins) give a team a 34-point lead and hope to beat them, because Quins were one hooked kick away from doing so.

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      f
      fl 42 minutes ago
      Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

      “Why do you downplay his later career, post 50? He won a treble less than two years ago, with a club who played more games and won more games than any other team that managed the same feat. His crowning achievement - by his own admission.”

      He’s won many trebles in his career - why do you only care about one of them?

      I think its unsurprising that he’d feel more emotional about his recent achievements, but its less clear why you do.


      “Is it FA cups or League cups you’re forgetting in his English trophy haul? You haven’t made that clear…”

      It actually was clear, if you knew the number he had won of each, but I was ignoring the league cup, because Germany and Spain only have one cup competition so it isn’t possible to compare league cup performance with City to his performance with Bayern and Barcelona.


      “With Barcelona he won 14 trophies. With Bayern Munich he won 5 trophies. With City he has currently won 18 trophies…”

      I can count, but clearly you can’t divide! He was at Barca for 4 years, so that’s 3.5 trophies per year. He was at Bayern for 3 years, and actually won 7 trophies so that’s 2.3 trophies per year. He has been at City for 8 completed seasons so that’s 2.25 trophies per year. If in his 9th season (this one) he wins both the FA cup and the FIFA club world cup that will take his total to 20 for an average of 2.22 trophies per year.


      To be clear - you said that Pep had gotten better with age by every metric. In fact by most metrics he has gotten worse!

      182 Go to comments
      f
      fl 2 hours ago
      Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

      “He made history beyond the age of 50. History.”

      He made history before the age of 50, why are you so keen to downplay Pep’s early career achievements? In 2009 he won the sextuple. No other manager in history had achieved that, and Pep hasn’t achieved it since, but here you are jizzing your pants over a couple of CL finals.


      “If continuing to break records and achieve trophies isn't a metric for success”

      Achieving trophies is a metric for success, and Pep wins fewer trophies as he gets older.


      “He's still competing for a major trophy this year. Should he get it, it would be 8 consecutive seasons with a major trophy. Then the world club cup in the summer.”

      You’re cherry picking some quite odd stats now. In Pep’s first 8 seasons as a manager he won 6 league titles, 2 CL titles, & 4 cup titles. In Pep’s last 8 seasons as a manager (including this one) he’s won 6 league titles, 1 CL title, & 2 (or possibly 3) cup titles. In his first 8 seasons he won the FIFA world club cup 3 times; in his last 8 seasons he’s won it 1 (or possibly soon to be 2) time(s). In his first 8 seasons he won the UEFA super cup 3 times; in his last 8 he won the UEFA super cup once. His record over the past 8 seasons has been amazing - but it is a step down from his record in his first 8 seasons, and winning the FA cup and FIFA club world cup this summer won’t change that.


      Pep is still a brilliant manager. He will probably remain a brilliant manager for many years to come, but you seem to want to forget how incredible he was when he first broke through. To be clear - you said that Pep had gotten better with age by every metric. That was false!

      182 Go to comments
      TRENDING
      TRENDING Surprise name linked with top Leicester job Surprise name linked with top Leicester job
      Search