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Weekend Round-up: The try of the season?
By RugbyPass
The Chiefs and Stormers each put in a strong contender for Try of the Season in Cape Town while Bath and Leicester's showdown at Wembley more than lived up to its illustrious venue.
Super Rugby: Stormers vs Chiefs
When it comes time to compile the Super Rugby tries of the season you can bet this game will feature heavily. Two unbelievable touchdowns at either end of the game bookmarked what was a quality encounter in Cape Town, as the Chiefs were reminded things aren't so easy once you leave New Zealand. If you think the Chiefs' length-of-the-field try finished off by Toni Pulu was something, just wait for the offload Dillyn Leyds delivers to SP Marais for his try in the second half. Top notch.
Aviva Premiership: Exeter Chiefs vs Bristol
Two weeks ago, Sale Sharks gave Exeter a scare at Sandy Park. This week, it was the turn of basement-dwelling Bristol to give Rob Baxter's side the jitters. In the first of their end-of-season top-three challenge, the red-hot relegation favourites recovered from conceding a seven-pointer in the opening minute to race into a 24-10 lead as the match entered its second quarter. The lead would change hands two more times over the final 60 minutes, with the game's final twist coming in with the clock getting dangerously close to the red zone.
Aviva Premiership: Bath vs Leicester Tigers
Stages do not get much bigger than Wembley. Premiership matches do not come much bigger than Bath vs Leicester. And finishes do not get much better than the one more than 60,000 fans enjoyed at the weekend. It was new head coach Matt O'Connor's first match of his second spell at the Tigers, and with 15 minutes of an entertaining encounter remaining it looked for all the world like his return would be a winning one. But a yellow card, Anthony Watson and some sleight-of-hand magic from meister-of-bosh Matt Banahan combined to make sure the outlook was very different five minutes later.
Top 14: Clermont vs Brive
The first rule of the Top 14: away teams do not win at Clermont. The second rule of the Top 14: away teams do not win at Clermont. Brive have headed home with little to show for their efforts at Stade Marcel Michelin for more than a decade – their last victory at the Jaunards' fortress came back in 2006. But the visitors had the better of the opening period, scoring two of the three tries that came in the first 17 minutes, and their blitz at the start of the second half left the hosts with a mountain to climb.
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Latest Comments
This cracked media record of aligning success or failure on head coaches is remarkable. Using the crusaders past history as an example, a more sensible observation and analysis could be that the recent head coaches had inherited a extremely successful combination of players linked to their traditional historical support of the Canterbury people. That period ended this year when the new coach was introduced to virtually a new team. And in a year where other franchises have grown much stronger than their respective past, it was always an anticipated reality that the coach and his new crusader team were up against it. Therefore, I humbly believe that unlike some commentators present, I laud coach Penny and the team for their efforts to date and I am sure given another term and with Canterbury behind them they will be riding high once more. Strange all this coming from me who lives in Taupo and a one eyed chiefs supporter. Can't wait for all future chiefs and crusader games!
Go to commentsGrt bench player..keep him there..
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