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Freakish Eben Etzebeth stats and other European semi-final feats

Eben Etzebeth of Hollywoodbets Sharks poses for selfies with supporters after the EPCR Challenge Cup Semi Final match between Hollywoodbets Sharks and ASM Clermont Auvergne at Twickenham Stoop on May 04, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

The European semi-finals in both the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup provided a tonne of fascinating statistics for fans to pore over.

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Players from all four matches delivered outstanding performances – with several records tumbling over the weekend.

Leinster and Stade Toulousain, the two most successful clubs in Heineken Cup history, will face off in their eighth final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 25.

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      The two sides secured their spots after winning their respective home semi-final matches.

      In the Leinster vs Northampton Saints semi-final at Croke Park the attendance reached a record-breaking 82,300 – surpassing the previous record of 82,208 set at the same venue in 2009.

      The combined attendance across the Croke Park and Le Stadium semi-finals reached 114,794 – the second highest in tournament history – behind only the 126,420 total from 2009.

      Fixture
      Investec Champions Cup
      Leinster
      20 - 17
      Full-time
      Northampton
      All Stats and Data

      Leinster loosehead Cian Healy made history by setting a new record for the most appearances by any player in the tournament, notching his 111th cap and overtaking Munster’s Ronan O’Gara.

      James Lowe also made his mark. The New Zealand born winger became the first player to score three tries in a Champions Cup semi-final.

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      Northampton’s Juarno Augustus led his pack’s efforts with five dominant carries, beating five defenders, making two clean breaks and two dominant tackles and winning a turnover against Leinster.

      Harlequins’ Chandler Cunningham-South and Andre Esterhuizen registered the most post-contact meters in the semi-finals with 31 and 27, respectively. Esterhuizen also beat six defenders.

      French megastar Antoine Dupont was the only back who won two turnovers in the semi-finals. Teammate Thibaud Flament also won two of his own.

      Hot on Dupont’s heels was Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park. The halfback had five kicks retained – the most in this round – made two try assists and won a turnover.

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      Over in the Challenge Cup the Hollywoodbets Sharks made history as the first South African club to qualify for an EPCR final, while Gloucester secured their fifth final appearance.

      Glaws previously won the competition in 2006 and 2015. The winner of the Challenge Cup will automatically qualify for the 2024/25 Investec Champions Cup.

      Eben Etzebeth in particular stood out. The Springbok lock made as many dominant carries as any other player in the semi-finals (six). He also beat four defenders, made two clean breaks, two dominant tackles, and won a turnover.

      Challenge Cup Champions Cup

      Teammate Siya Masuku scored 22 points against ASM Clermont Auvergne to maintain a flawless kicking record.

      Joris Jurand of ASM Clermont Auvergne made four clean breaks and beat seven defenders.

      Gloucester’s Caolan Englefield made a round-high 17 kicks in play, gaining 565 kicking metres.

      Another superb individual performance was that of Gianmarco Lucchesi. The super-sub scored two tries off the bench for Benetton.

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      Soliloquin 1 hour ago
      Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

      I don’t know the financial story behind the changes that were implemented, but I guess clubs started to lose money, Mourad Boudjellal won it all with Toulon, got tired and wanted to invest in football , the French national team was at its lowest with the QF humiliation in 2015 and the FFR needed to transform the model where no French talent could thrive. Interestingly enough, the JIFF rule came in during the 2009/2010 season, so before the Toulon dynasty, but it was only 40% of the players that to be from trained in French academies. But the crops came a few years later, when they passed it at the current level of 70%.

      Again, I’m not a huge fan of under 18 players being scouted and signed. I’d rather have French clubs create sub-academies in French territories like Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia and other places that are culturally closer to RU and geographically closer to rugby lands. Mauvaka, Moefana, Taofifenua bros, Tolofua bros, Falatea - they all came to mainland after starting their rugby adventure back home.

      They’re French, they come from economically struggling areas, and rugby can help locally, instead of lumping foreign talents.

      And even though many national teams benefit from their players training and playing in France, there are cases where they could avoid trying to get them in the French national team (Tatafu).

      In other cases, I feel less shame when the country doesn’t believe in the player like in Meafou’s case.

      And there are players that never consider switching to the French national team like Niniashvili, Merckler or even Capuozzo, who is French and doesn’t really speak Italian.

      We’ll see with Jacques Willis 🥲


      But hey, it’s nothing new to Australia and NZ with PI!

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      LONG READ Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us