1
Toulouse and Saracens stay perfect in Champions Cup
By Peter Thompson
Toulouse stretched their winning run to nine matches with a 42-27 victory over Wasps and Saracens also maintained their 100 per cent European Rugby Champions Cup record on Saturday.
Top 14 high-fliers Toulouse were made to work for a bonus-point triumph in the rain at Stade Ernest Wallon, but Antoine Dupont scored two of their five tries in an entertaining encounter.
Toulouse hold a two-point advantage over defending champions Leinster at the top of Pool 1 ahead of what could be a decisive encounter between the two in Dublin next month.
Wasps are without a win and heading out of the competition, but they only trailed 22-20 at half-time, Josh Bassett and Willie le Roux going over, with Yoann Huget, Joe Tekori and Romain Ntamack crossing at the other end.
France scrum-half Dupont claimed a second-half double either side of a Ross Neal score, while Thomas Ramos finished with 17 points in another impressive display from Toulouse.
Imperious Leinster kept the pressure on Toulouse with a 42-15 thrashing of Bath at the Aviva Stadium.
Tries from Jack Conan, Rory O'Loughlin, James Lowes and Adam Byrne ensured the bonus point was in the bag at the break, then Dan Leavy and Jamison Gibson-Park added further five-pointers with Johnny Sexton pulling the strings in Dublin.
Sarries continued their march towards the quarter-finals and have won every Champions Cup and Premiership game this season after they saw off Cardiff Blues 26-14.
Sean Maitland and Jamie George went over for the Premiership champions and Owen Farrell scored 16 points from the tee in a hard-fought away victory.
Glasgow Warriors are four points adrift of Mark McCall's men in Pool 3 with two games to play following a 21-10 win over bottom side Lyon, Nikola Matawalu scoring both tries for the Pro14 side.
Pool 2 is wide open after Castres edged out Munster 13-12 to go second, just three points behind the province and one ahead of both Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester.
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Latest Comments
33, unlikely?
It’s actually an interesting question, how does his RL career impact you perception of his ‘rugby age’?
I’d imagine he’s fresher than a 26 yo rugby player, he’s fitting and done more k’s, but had less impacts (unsure of his injuries).
Anyway, your conclusion doesn’t really hit the mark. What you’ve not asked yourself is would he be better at 33, with 6 years under his belt, than 28/9, and only 2 years experience. If he really is considering it a major goal of course, he may just want an Olympic medal and leave etc.
Still, in relation to your topic, what I suspected would be his thinking is the ever increasing value in playing in Japan. Perhaps he’d try and give this first WC a go, trying to make it in the All Blacks, obviously playing Super Rugby, then he’d take a much bigger contract in Japan? Learn how to run around people with better accuracy and consistency (rofl), and then return to NZ as an improved player to Australia 2027, with the hope to fine tune further and make the most of his marketability in the bonanza that America 2031 is going to leave behind. 33 is still prime earning age and who knows what the MLR market is going to be like them, if teams have started to have major backers etc.
It’s all about the money afterall (yes, I wasn’t referring to his ability re USA31’)!
Go to commentsNo, just an overly zealous fan who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
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