14-man Northampton shock Munster to maintain 100 per cent Champions Cup record
Northampton overcame a first-half red card for hooker Curtis Langdon to maintain their 100 per cent Investec Champions Cup record by beating Munster 26-23 in Limerick.
Langdon was dismissed just before half-time following reckless contact with his knee to Munster lock Tom Ahern’s head at a ruck.
Saints skipper George Furbank had already been sin-binned for a dangerous tackle, and Munster flanker Peter O’Mahony pounced for a try when Saints were briefly reduced to 13 players.
But uncapped England Six Nations squad fly-half Fin Smith ran the show, kicking a drop-goal, three penalties and two conversions for a 16-point haul.
Smith displayed outstanding tactical control in driving rain as Northampton posted a statement victory to stay top of Pool Three prior to closest rivals Exeter’s clash against Bayonne on Sunday, with Munster also progressing among four qualifiers.
Saints had already qualified for the round of 16 following victories over Glasgow, Toulon and Bayonne, and they fought back from a 10-point deficit early in the second period to prevail.
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell and back-row forward Sam Graham scored Saints’ tries, while O’Mahony, Antoine Frisch, and Gavin Coombes claimed Munster touchdowns, with fly-half Jack Crowley kicking a conversion and two penalties.
Racing 92 qualified for the knockout phase after a 48-26 victory over Cardiff in Paris as Stuart Lancaster’s team leap-frogged Ulster into fourth spot and clinched the final round of 16 place from Pool Two.
The result also ended Ulster’s Champions Cup hopes for this season, with them dropping into the European Challenge Cup as a fifth-placed finisher.
South Africa’s double World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi and former England wing Christian Wade were among Racing’s try-scorers as they posted seven touchdowns.
Eliminated Cardiff at least ended their campaign by collecting a losing bonus-point courtesy of Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams’ double, plus touchdowns from prop Rhys Carre and fly-half Tinus de Beer.
The Bulls ended Bordeaux-Begles’ 100 per cent record in Pool One by posting a thrilling 46-40 success in Pretoria.
Both teams had already qualified, and South African challengers the Bulls raced into a 40-21 lead – helped by two tries from Marcell Coetzee – before Bordeaux hit back despite being without France internationals Damian Penaud, Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu.
And Bulls’ fellow South African challengers the Stormers progressed from Pool Four, completing their pool campaign with a 24-20 away win against Stade Francais that was clinched by Manie Libbok’s late try.
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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