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Weekend Round-Up: High Tension as Quarter-Final Line-Up Decided
By RugbyPass
Catch up on the biggest games from the final round of Champions Cup pool play.
Castres Olympique v Leinster
Three-time European champions Leinster qualified for the last eight of the Champions Cup last week with a disciplined and clinical deconstruction of Montpellier. Castres' faint hopes of the last eight rested on an as-yet undiscovered branch of mathematics on the far side of chaos theory. The only question was whether the Pro 12 side could make certain of home advantage in the quarter-finals. Ten minutes in, the answer seemed evident. But 70 exciting, error-strewn, entertaining, exhausting minutes later, when the players dragged their shattered bodies off the field, no one could be entirely certain what was going to happen next.
Clermont v Exeter
Sadly for France and the Six Nations, Wesley Fofana's rapier edge will not grace the fast-approaching tournament, after he ruptured his achilles during Clermont's final Pool 5 match at home to Exeter. But that was not the game's only incident of note. Five tries in the first half and four in the second ensured a high-scoring finale at Stade Marcel Michelin, as the hosts looked to secure top-seeding - and a home tie against the side that scraped into the last of the eight quarter-final places... which, as it turns out, was Top 14 arch rivals Toulon.
Ulster v Bordeaux
The Champions Cup quarter-finals were out of reach before these two sides met at the Kingspan - but don't let the fact that this was a dead rubber put you off. The two teams and the near-15,000 crowd in Belfast certainly didn't. Hammers, tongs and kitchen sinks were involved from first whistle to last, as both sides signed off their European campaigns for the season in entertaining style. The result was still in the balance with less than 10 minutes to go, after the visitors had raced into an early lead - only to be pegged back by Les Kiss's hosts.
Toulouse v Connacht
Pool 2's final round served up this match of boiling-a-frog rugby at its slow-burn best. The equation was complicated and the permutations appeared endless, as both sides had every chance of a quarter-final place. But it broke down to this: Connacht, aiming to become the fourth Pro 12 side - and the third from Ireland - to reach the last eight, could not afford to let the four-time champions get away from them. A losing bonus point would be enough. Early in the second half, it looked as if Pat Lam's visitors had blown it, after the four-time champions had run in three unopposed tries. Then, the fightback began - and over the closing 25 minutes, the intensity was slowly ramped up all the way to 11 and beyond.
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A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!
The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.
Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)
I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.
This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).
This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.
Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!
Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍
Go to commentsWouldn’t mind seeing that grounding in slow mo there. Too much to ask?
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