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Wins for Sale and Castres get Champions Cup round two under way
By PA
Sale reignited their Investec Champions Cup campaign as they cruised to a 29-7 win over Racing 92 at Salford Community Stadium. The hosts had started the night bottom of Pool Four after a loss at Glasgow Warriors in the opening round but an opening try from Jean-Luc du Preez set the tone for a dominant display.
Tom Roebuck crossed in the corner to put the hosts 12 points clear but Racing, who had beaten Harlequins in the opening round, responded when Guram Gogichashvili barged over to cut Sale’s lead to five at the break.
Racing’s bid to build on that breakthrough was ended shortly after the restart when Roebuck reacted to a poor kick to send Joe Carpenter scampering under the posts to restore the home side’s 12-point advantage.
Ben Curry crossed for Sale’s fourth try after Racing’s Maxime Baudonne was sent to the sin bin, and Sale’s win could have been more emphatic had Rob du Preez – who kicked three conversions and a penalty – not had a late effort ruled out for a knock-on.
Munster fell to a 16-14 defeat to Castres in France as a late penalty from Louis le Brun helped the hosts get the better of a physical and error-strewn Pool Three clash. Craig Casey and Peter O’Mahony both went off injured on a night to forget for the visitors, who fell behind to early tries from Abraham Papalii and Quentin Walcker.
A superb solo try from John Hodnett kept Munster in touch, taking them to the interval only three points in arrears at 10-7, and the 68th minute sin-binning of Castres prop Nicolas Corato gave the visitors renewed hope.
As the errors kept coming from both sides, a home infringement gave Hodnett the chance to power over for his second try and Jack Crowley’s second conversion gave the visitors an unlikely lead.
It wasn't enough for Ian Costello’s side, though, as le Brun’s kick gave Castres back the advantage and they saw the game out to take the win.
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Latest Comments
“I was wondering if the AIL had clubs that were on the tipping point of wanting to become pro, how close could they get to a current Ulster etc”.
The Irish structure has always been the International team at the top, then the four provinces, then the clubs below that. Before the pro era in each province there were senior clubs playing each other, and that was pretty much “ring fenced”…no relegation or promotion. Then below that a series of junior leagues. The top players in the international scene played in the Five Nations(before Italy came in), and against the touring All Blacks or Springboks initially, then later Australia and Argentina came in. Actually I would need to go back and check the history of the teams coming onto the scene ie other than the Ab’s and Boks.
Those International players would only play for their province three times each year in the Inter Pro games, with the Bok, AB etc games only in tour years. Rest of the time, every single Int. player played club rugby every weekend.
Pro era dawned, and the four provinces became the sole pro teams, feeding up to the Int. team. There is no prospect as far as I can see of any AIL team ever becoming professional. Deepete, or someone living in Ireland would know more than I do, but what happens is fringe and academy players can play in the AIL, giving them game time they would not get otherwise. Top International players would rarely play at AIL level.
I think in Australia the tyranny of distance inhibits an AIL type structure. Ireland is tiny, good rail and road sytems, and it is easy to play in Cork, Limerick, Dublin, any where, weekend after weekend. Imagine an All Australian league, and travelling from Townsville for a game in Margaret River, etc. etc.
“I actually had the tables up and had no idea who was who lol”. Neither do I in some cases. A lot of new clubs since I played/lived in Ireland…I have to check who some are !!
Good discussion here JW. Have enjoyed it.
Go to commentsI think your ‘something to prove’ point is spot on. Ian McGeechan always used to say that Lions’ tours ‘made players’. Consequently, you’re looking for guys whom you sense will rise to the occasion and, perhaps, surprise themselves as much as anyone else. Should’ve put all this into the piece, shouldn’t I? Graham
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