Best of the weekend: Clermont and Toulon creep through

Nails bitten down to Knuckles as Clermont and Toulon creep through

The cynical amongst us may label the pair of Champions Cup semi-finals as ‘boring’, ‘rigid’ or just plain ‘a bit crap’, but there can be no denying the sheer sweat-inducing tension that both games brought on (especially if you happened to be a supporter of one of the four protagonists) nor the fact that both games had a sprinkling of magic (or madness) which would prove to be the difference.

Clermont Auvergne were first up in Saint Etienne against Saracens and started brightly, with Napolini Nalaga almost going over in the corner after Wesley Fofana had wriggled his way through a couple of tackles, but Chris Ashton raced across superbly to smash his man into touch before he could get the ball down. Completely illegally, as it happened, since he didn’t use any arms in the ‘tackle’ and just shoulder-charged the man into touch, and Ashton can probably count himself lucky – Liam Williams did a similar thing against South Africa last summer, and he found himself costing his side a penalty try and the game in addition to being shown a yellow card. However, Saracens took full advantage of the lifeline they had been afforded and set about doing what they do so well – bullying the opposition and playing the game on their terms. With the Vunipola brothers carrying to good effect and young Maro Itoje catching the eye, they outscored Clermont by two penalties to one in the first half.

It had been a tight, cagey affair in the first 40 minutes and it took something very special for the French giants to break down the stingy Sarries defence – and Brock James produced it soon after the restart, spotting space in behind and landing a perfectly weighted chip in for Fofana to grab and put down via a fancy dive. Sarries worked hard to claw their way back into the game but found themselves held back by some aggressive Clermont defence and, it’s fair to say, a lack of creativity in the middle of the park to exploit some of the space that the pack were creating. Both sides traded a penalty each to leave the final score 13 – 6 to the hosts.

A few miles south in Marseille and it was Toulon’s turn to play host, as they waged war with Leinster in a game which truly became a ‘battle of the breakdown’, where neither side seemed able to go three phases without the other side pilfering the ball in the ruck…or the referee Wayne Barnes blowing his whistle. It was a stop start affair where the backrowers caught the eye with their defensive workrate and effectiveness over the ball – Sean O’Brien and Jordi Murphy for Leinster, Chris Masoe and, inevitably, Steffon Armitage for the hosts. The match finished regular time with the scores at 12 points apiece, but the advantage seemed to go to the visitors when Ali Williams was (in my view, harshly) sent to the sin bin for taking the man out in the air, but instead it was Toulon who swept into the lead – firstly through Leigh Halfpenny’s boot and then Bryan Habana picked off a mad cut out pass by Ian Madigan on halfway to coast over from 50 metres. It was a 10 point lead, and game over – although nobody told Leinster. Sean O’Brien bundled over courtesy of a powerful driving maul to set up a pant-wettingly tense final 5 minutes, but Toulon held on to win 25 – 20.

It sets up a repeat of the 2013 final and Clermont once again have the chance to go beyond being the ‘unofficial’ best side in Europe and get some silverware to back it up – but they’ll have to stop Toulon from attaining a third consecutive trophy in the process.

Champions Cup Star Man: Brock James

Dragons downed by Edinburgh as Gloucester win West Country War

In the Challenge Cup there was disappointment for the Dragons, who have surprised so many people this season with their attractive brand of rugby and – to be honest – the fact they are winning big games, as the semi-final against Edinburgh proved to be a bridge too far. Despite being well in the game at 21 – 16 after 50 minutes, the Scottish outfit cut loose in the second half, helped in part by the sin-binning of scrum half Jonathan Evans. In total Edinburgh helped themselves to five tries, thanks in no small part to a superb display from Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, who deservedly dotted down for one try himself and had a hand in several others, including a fine score for Quins-bound Tim Visser, to bring the final score to 45 – 16.

Further South, there was a much tighter affair in the West Country derby which made up the other semi-final at Kingsholm, but it was the Cherry and Whites who produced one of their best displays of the season to down Exeter. The Chiefs pack has been in fearsome form of late, but the Gloucester eight – roared on by a typically enthusiastic Shed – went toe to toe with their rivals and set the platform for a fine win. The hosts were in charge through most of the game, thanks to tries from Tom Savage and Bill Meakes, before an Elvis Taione try late on got the home fans nervously shifting in their seats, but Johnny May scorched over to seal the deal and send Gloucester to the final at the Stoop.

Challenge Cup Star Man: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne.

Hurricanes blown away by Waratahs

OK, so the Hurricanes weren’t really ‘blown away’ (I just wanted to use that headline) but they did finally lose – and at the Cake Tin in Wellington no less. It was against the reigning champions, the Waratahs, to be fair, and the men from Sydney are starting to find a bit of consistency once again this season and are looking in ominous attacking form. In what was the best game of the weekend, both sides went full-on at each other with a real positive intent that either came off impressively or backfired spectacularly – see Beauden Barrett’s chip and chase for a length of field try, swiftly followed by a gift of an intercept to Peter Betham for the second of the flyer’s two tries. Both sides scored four tries but, despite some late pressure and a superb performance from battle-scarred TJ Perenara, the visitors ran out 24 – 29 winners.

Elsewhere there was a surprisingly comfortable win for the Chiefs against the Crusaders in Canterbury, the 2013 Champions running out 26 – 9 winners, although the sight of Aaron Cruden going off with an apparent knee injury will have worried a lot of Waikato and All Black fans. There were also wins for the Reds, Stormers, Rebels, Bulls and Highlanders.

Super XV Star Man: TJ Perenara.

Hero of the Weekend: There were some monumental displays this week in some high pressure situations, but I’m giving the nod to the pitch-invading cat in the Toulon v Leinster semi-final. When Leinster were chasing a final try in those last few minutes, you felt nothing could break the tension – well, it turns out the sight of a cat charging around on a rugby field can.

Villain of the Weekend: I thought I was going to have to give it to Ali Williams/Wayne Barnes (delete as per your view point) but, as it turns out, it has to go to Ian Madigan. I cannot comprehend why you would risk throwing that pass with the game that tight, especially when you haven’t played with that kind of width all game.

Try of the Weekend: Yes, there were probably better tries in terms of quality (check out another beauty from Beauden Barrett against the Waratahs) but for execution under pressure and the ability to spot an opportunity in the heat of the battle it has to be Wesley Fofana’s try courtesy of Brock James’ perfectly weighted kick.

By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images