I heard Dom McKay, Chairman of EPCR, repeat a statement on TV which has often epitomised this great competition that is the Champions Cup, namely that it is an International class tournament played in Club jerseys. He was right to repeat it and this weekend I think it was even better than that.
World Rugby, Six Nations and the Rugby Unions may not like it, but the standards being set in club rugby are hitting new heights. You note the tribalism and incredible loyalty of the increasing crowds as well as the focus upon the product as entertainment which is currently lacking in the International game. To add to the mix, the top players are producing International form which is a real treat and is not always a given.
I feel like a kid in a candy shop choosing some of the best on offer this weekend. It is tempting to focus on the French twins Bordeaux and Toulouse who devastated the Sharks and the Tigers respectively leaving them not just toothless but ragged and torn apart. Is there really a flyhalf in France to touch Matthieu Jalibert and his umbilical-cord relationship with Penaud, who has scored nine tries in two top flight matches and with Kolbe has to be the best in the world in his position. Fabien Galthié take note and now the pressure is all his for the Six Nations where France has to be overwhelming favourite if he gets the selection and tactics right. Almost all the driving forces behind these two teams are French – Jack Willis excepted, luckily for England he has a brother – which you cannot say for some English clubs. I do not wish to downplay Toulon, Castres and La Rochelle who also have home fixtures and will be fearsome opponents. Who would dispute that 5 of the eight quarterfinalists may be French?
However, a word for Clermont who prevailed – just – against an impossibly brave Bristol side in the Stade Marcel Michelin, a foreboding citadel among European rugby stadia. It was my great privilege to become a friend of Clermont, European giants at the time. I was almost stuck there for Christmas one year when the planes went awry but was saved by the intervention of their late President Eric de la Cromiere and J-P Romeu the legendary flyhalf of the seventies, their two talismanic leaders. Other than their tremendous hospitality in general which all visiting clubs enjoy, I remember a particular night out with Wayne Barnes and his referees team after one classic encounter with Racing 92 and even though they lost the Clermont post match entertainment was ferocious.
The true heartbeat of European competition was on display as Bristol played unbelievably well (Fitz Harding is a genuine star player) to stay in the fight until the 8th minute of injury time. It was a stunning match and heartbreak for Bristol who suffered for earlier reverses and for those critics of the format here was evidence to the contrary as everything was on the line. Clermont will fear no side home or away, I sense a previously élite French club on the rise as if we need any more! Is this not a reflection of the strength of the French club system, as Lyon and Montpellier waltzed into the latter stages of the Challenge Cup along with a crestfallen Racing 92 who may well rally now that Farrell is fit again and with something to prove.
In choosing more highlights, I cannot look further than Dublin where the best and worst was on offer. Bath, the rightful league leaders, showed that crisp passing (Russell) and great running lines (De Glanville and Lawrence take a bow) can outstrip a smother/blitz defence although Ringrose on the wing may not have worked for Leinster however good is Jordie Barrett. I am with Johan Van Graan that I never criticise referees (unless they overstep their brief). But two completely separate offences combined to remove Bath as an effective force just as they were threatening, with no shortage of class, the doubly-resourced Irish province. How can that be the right way for a match to be decided? One shrewd commentator has opined that secretly Bath may not be too upset because the Premiership is their focus and they cannot compete with the resource heavy French and Irish, a problem for all English sides and the reason that some want the salary cap to be removed completely. Forget that for a second, Bath went to Dublin to win and had they struck first in the second half perhaps they would have done.
Back to the replacements argument – other than the direct threat to player welfare from bringing on a fresh man mountain for the last 30 minutes (eg RG Snyman), you then do it when a team is reduced to 14. Sorry, this is a joke and the regulations must be changed NOW. Reduce the number to five and make it more injury-based not tactical. It was one of Beaumont’s regrets that he did not fix the replacements issue in our game when Chair of World Rugby. I don’t know why he didn’t, he certainly had long enough and was told enough times by respected commentators and leaders of the game. Now Bill, there was something to influence for the good of the game.
Meantime, we all take a deep breath from these dramatics and it will take something special to replicate this in the Six Nations – how about Ireland v England in Dublin?!
Hallers