Who’s hot and who’s not: Bordeaux ‘gladden the heart’, ‘kudos’ for criticised Leinster, French TV ‘antics’ and ‘weak-tackling mavericks’
Maxime Lucu was excellent excellent for Bordeaux but Finn Russell's defence for Bath was suspect (INPHO/Gary Carr)
It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend.
THEY’RE ON FIRE!
Bordeaux: You can’t but admire the pace, power and skill that the French club has produced in their Investec Champions Cup title defence. As a club new to winning, it would have been understandable if those involved fell in love with themselves and didn’t have the same determination to achieve in this year’s tournament. If anything, they are even better than they were last year, and the atmospheric level of support generated at their home matches gladdens the heart at a time of financial strife across the professional game.
Although there was an edge-of-seat period in the second half of their semi-final where just five points separated them from Bath, they always seemed to have an extra gear in them and so it proved, going on to a 38-26 win that would have been more but for the concession of a clock-in-the-red consolation try. Their list of stars is glittering, but Maxime Lucu deserves an individual shoutout. His form is of a consistency that has even the likes of Antoine Dupont playing catch-up; he is that good. That’s brilliant to see.
Leinster: Some would have you believe that the Irish province belong in the Broken Thermostat! category despite their latest qualification for the Champions Cup final. Yes, there was an unexpected late scare in their win over Toulon, but when you take a step back from that heart-stopping moment when Gael Drean found an edge and could have had Setariki Tuicuvu racing into the 22 if there wasn’t a knock-on, Leinster were by far the better side in the 29-25 semi-final that they led 29-11 with 12 minutes remaining.
Yes, there are still issues regarding the flow of Leinster’s game; this concern has existed all season. But for a team so used to comfortably winning its matches, especially at home, it is to their immense credit that they are still finding ways to win. That is a sign of champion quality which they don’t seem to get kudos for. Leo Cullen hit out at the media in Saturday’s aftermath, telling them how they love to throw the boot in and harp on about their flaws. Whatever these weaknesses, they are doing something very right to have made a fourth Champions Cup final in five years. That’s admirable consistency.
Leicester Fainga’anuku: It’s a curiosity to this writer why rugby is a sport that traditionally pigeonholes its players as specialists in a particular position rather than exploring their versatility. Levani Botia has been the pioneer of the hybrid, someone who can capably play in both the forwards and the backs, and it’s encouraging to see that his success is now being replicated elsewhere.
Rassie Erasmus was onto something good last year with his decision to try midfielder Andre Esterhuizen out in the Springboks back-row, and we’re now seeing it in Super Rugby with the Crusaders’ trying out winger Fainga’anuku in their back-row. Two appearances, two tries is his record so far as a seven, and the key to this encouraging transition has been keeping it simple at set-piece time. Forward coach Dan Perrin suggested, “He has picked it up awesomely.” If so, more coaches around the world really should consider following suit and experimenting.
Ulster: Richie Murphy got it in the neck for pulling his punches with his underwhelming team selection for the previous weekend’s United Rugby Championship trip to Munster. The inevitable defeat dropped them to eighth in the league, leaving them looking over their shoulders to Connacht in the battle for a quarter-final spot with two rounds of matches left. The coach gambled that cotton wooling his front-liners for their European semi-final was the correct thing to do, and the 29-12 win over Exeter ultimately proved him right.
When it comes to a feel-good factor, reaching the final and having an opportunity to win a first trophy in 20 years (their last silverware was the 2006 Celtic League) is the sort of thing that can electrify Murphy’s tenure. His 2024 appointment in Belfast was a left-field choice and while it has taken time to click as a squad turnover was needed, he has now stamped his authority. This season’s signing of Juarno Augustus was a canny purchase. The South African has been pivotal in ensuring that Ulster now have the cattle up front to be competitive, and their night in the Spanish lights in Bilbao should be something to relish.
Ulster v Exeter: Five takeaways as ‘canny coach’ gamble pays off against ‘out of steam’ Chiefs
Drua and Force: Things are getting very interesting in the lower half of the Super Rugby Pacific table as the teams placed seventh to 10th are still mathematically in the play-off conversation. The Brumbies currently occupy the sixth and last qualification spot with 25 points, but seventh-place Fijian Drua (20 points) and 10th-place Force (18 points) will be feeling very good about themselves after the round 12 weekend.
Drua picked off the ninth-place Highlanders (20 points) at home and the Force went to Sydney to get one over Australian rivals Waratahs (20 points). Things can now get even more intriguing this coming weekend if the Force go on and take out the Brumbies. While the current top six should still wind up being the top six featuring in the play-offs, the situation where only nine points separate the fourth place Reds (27) from the Force in 10th should be seen a good sign of the competition’s competitiveness.
Montpellier v Dragons: Five takeaways as ‘talons’ slip in final moments of ‘ferocious’ contest
Dragons: The Welsh region didn’t secure a victory in the south of France, but they are moral winners in our eyes for the way they resiliently stuck at it in Montpellier and were still in the hunt for an upset result until the final whistle confirmed an 18-12 Challenge Cup semi-final defeat. In terms of budgets, Dragons operate in a different universe to their lavish spending French opponents, yet what the Stade Septeo contest demonstrated is that heart and good attitude go a long way towards levelling things up on a rugby pitch.
At 10-0 and 18-5 down, Filo Tiatia’s side could easily have given up the ghost. But they have shown throughout a savage season of strife for the sport in Wales a resoluteness and this heartening characteristic was epitomised by the two tries plundered by Aneurin Owen. Those scores were emblematic of the steely mindset that now exists at the Rodney Parade set-up, and they can hold their heads high that they came so close to reaching a first European final.
Dragons player ratings v Montpellier: Back-rower’s tenacity leads ‘resistance’ in proud team display
Cam Roigard: The Hurricanes scrum-half found himself in the eye of a storm a few weeks ago when he was taken off in the first minute of the golden point finish to the Super Rugby match at the Chiefs. There was uproar that someone considered to have been the best player in that match was whipped away from the action at such a critical juncture, and the Hurricanes paid the price as they were soon left beaten.
That’s the sort of acrimonious decision that can spark a bust-up with a coach, but Roigard has instead done his talking back out on the pitch and he was pivotal in his side’s 38-31 win over the Crusaders in Wellington. His level of control and his injection of tempo when needed significantly influence the result of a match in which his vision was also demonstrated in the try he scored late in the first half. At this rate, he is the type of player that Dave Rennie can build his All Blacks around.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
COLD AS ICE!
French TV: It’s a disappointment that instead of just talking about two well-contested Champions Cup semi-finals, the weekend didn’t pass off without controversy. As stated above, Bordeaux always seemed to have that bit extra in them to see off Bath, but the boss Johann van Graan was bulling in the aftermath that TV replays of potential foul play didn’t seem to be made available for a proper review.
The South African is not the type of character to regularly fire up a dispute, so when he does have a beef, it’s the sort of thing that deserves an audience and his frustrations on Sunday surrounded three alleged headshots on Alfie Barbeary. “I want to make clear that the better team won on the day, but I want to ask why certain things are not picked up when you play away from home in France,” he asked. It’s a question that EPCR should ask of French TV, which has a reputation for the antics of being selective with the availability of its replay footage. The semi-final in Bordeaux was the latest evidence of this chicanery.
Law discussion: How much influence do TV directors have on the modern TMO
Toulon’s scrum: Top 14 sides are supposed to be menacing brutes at the set-piece, but so flaky were the three-time European champions at Aviva Stadium that the number of penalties they conceded severely impacted their chances and Leinster loosehead Andrew Porter walked away beaming with a player of the match medal. The French dispiritingly gave up infringements on three, 27, 40, 48 and 53 minutes and it was only after ex-England tighthead Kyle Sinckler was substituted that they managed to win a penalty back.
However, they didn’t press on from there to regain lost ground, and it was telling how comfortable Leinster were in the game’s final scrum where their sub front row comfortably provided the possession that was trucked up the middle to win a penalty. It was a disappointing outcome for Toulon as it was felt that the absence of Tadhg Furlong offered them a way into the contest. It didn’t.
Moana: It was like a wake in Auckland the other night, with Pasifika playing their third-last home match before they are set for the Super Rugby Pacific chop at the end of the month. Their demise is a painful development for the professional game in that part of the world. It was only 12 months ago that they defeated city rivals, the Blues, in a thrilling North Harbour upset in front of a record attendance of more than 12,000 that had everyone believing the youthful franchise had a real future, but they are now on life support following the recent announcement that the end is nigh.
Amid the doom and gloom of a final campaign where they are rock bottom on the table with just a single win in 11 outings, they at least showed in the first half of their Blues rematch that they are trying to fight to the finish and still have innovation in their game. How they took the lead in the 14th minute demonstrated this. Restarting play with a quick tap six metres from the try line, the ball was thrown up in the air to allow a Springbok-like in-field lineout to create the maul that ended with a well-taken score.
Alan Quinlan slams ‘tone deaf’ Munster who should have ‘not gone near’ Roger Randle
Roger Randle: It’s been quite the few weeks for the Kiwi, who has gone from agreeing a two-year deal to switch from the Chiefs to Munster to having that contract rescinded by mutual agreement following the outcry it generated in Ireland. There was nothing wrong with the idea that Clayton McMillan should have his own staff rather than work with coaches he inherited; it was just that an unproven allegation of impropriety related to the person the Kiwi wanted to bring in was always going to create a storm in Ireland, given its recent dealings with rugby personnel caught up in alleged sexual wrongdoing.
Randle has always protested his innocence regarding a 1997 rape allegation in South Africa and has since carved a successful coaching career, but that wasn’t enough to prevent a contract U-turn and put an end to his Irish adventure months before it was due to begin.
Exeter: It was feared that the Chiefs’ encouraging season of rejuvenation was running out of steam in recent weeks following setbacks in the PREM that has seen them loosen the grip they had on a play-off place (they are still in fourth, but only one point clear of Bristol), and this feeling won’t change now that they were eliminated from the Challenge Cup at the semi-final stage. Going away to Ulster was the sort of fixture that Exeter, at the height of their trophy-winning powers, would have revelled in and gutsed out the win.
Not now, though. Whereas before they would have been squeaky clean in how they went about their business of winning, they were way too sloppy in Belfast to make a proper fist of it. The loss of 19 turnovers (to Ulster’s seven) was way too much of a hardship to shoulder, and they didn’t show up in the second half when the contest was at its most intense. Of course, they have a gripe that the loss of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to concussion after he was clattered by the yellow-carded Jacob Stockdale, but the way they were playing before his 30th-minute exit wasn’t designed to get their dangerman on the ball as often as they could.
Weak-tackling mavericks: When it comes to attacking play, there is no denying that Leinster’s Sam Prendergast and Bath’s Finn Russell have a box of tricks worth its weight in gold. In a sport where the creation of space is critical, they have a front foot vision to be treasured, but the awkwardness undermining their talent is an inability to tackle. It’s inconceivable that Prendergast hasn’t been able to make a noticeable improvement in his game in this aspect, as he has Jacques Nienaber, one of the best defence coaches in the world, on the Leinster staff and yet his tackle technique continues to be weak.
Leinster should have cruised to victory over Toulon in Dublin, but their 29-11 lead was imperilled by some panicked defending in the closing minutes. Most jarring was Prendergast’s lame duck missed tackle on the try-scoring Drean, which meant the match was given a grandstand finish where just four points separated the sides. Meanwhile, over in France the following afternoon, Russell had eight missed tackles to his name as Bordeaux made sure to target his vulnerability.
Bristol: The Bears picked a novel time to try and bury their bad news week, posting a message to X at 4:30pm on Sunday at a time when anyone interested in English rugby was glued to how Bath were going in France. It was a gaffe all of their own making. Speaking at the SportPro London event early last week, CEO Tom Tainton came out with the line: “At Bristol Bears, we don’t call ourselves a rugby club. We are a marketing agency that plays rugby.”
It was the sort of description that was always going to raise eyebrows and after it was reported, the administrator got it in the neck from understandably peeved Bristol fans upset at Tainton’s foot-in-mouth commentary. The CEO claimed in his mea culpa that he had been taken out of context, and that the club’s No.1 priority was to win trophies and inspire the rugby community. This clarification came too late, though. Instead, it smacked of an administrator being out of touch with his club’s fanbase.