Contrasting fortunes as quarter-finalists begin to take shape

French teams might sit top of three of the five pools with only two rounds of the group stage left to play, but the weekend started on a miserable note for them as Montpellier were downed on Friday night 32-12 by a Bath side who left it until almost the final play to snare a crucial bonus point. Sam Burgess was solid if unspectacular in his first full start in union, and there was at least a bit of fight from a Montpellier side who have been in dire straights in recent times.

Saturday began with a turgid, but hard-fought, 12-9 win for Toulouse at Scotstoun, dealing a severe blow to to Glasgow’s hopes of qualifying and in the process making them the only unbeaten side left in the tournament, despite looking a pale imitation of the side they were a few years ago.

If they have a stranglehold on Pool 4, the same can be said for fellow Southern France dwellers Toulon, whose comfortable 23-8 win over Leicester Tigers resulted in arguably a smaller margin of victory than it should have been. The Tigers seemed bereft of ideas outside of their front five, who did not enjoy the domination they had the week previously. Elsewhere in that pool, the Scarlets impressed in a 22-13 win over Ulster, which actually moves the region into second place. They’re equal on eight points with the Tigers, while Ulster have six and Toulon out in front on 13. It’s tough to see more than one team progressing.

Also on Saturday there were wins for Leinster (14-13 over Harlequins) and Saracens (28-15 over Sale), although neither side, who came into the tournament amongst the favourites, have looked anywhere near their best thus far. It was particularly poor stuff from Leinster, who have Tim Swiel’s misfiring boot to thank in large part for their narrow win.

Meanwhile over in pool five Racing Métro’s close 18-14 win over the Ospreys make it a two horse race between the Parisian aristocrats and Northampton Saints, who ran in 11 tries in an embarrassing 67-0 win over Treviso, including hat-tricks for Ken Pisi and Samu Manoa, the latter of whom did so in an astonishing 20 minute cameo.

Sunday saw another bonus point win for Wasps over Castres, a 44-17 spanking in the final game at Adams Park. It keeps them right in the hunt, just one point behind Leinster and Harlequins, with the Irish Province to play at home in the new year. Finally, Clermont did what they had to do to beat Munster 26-19 but will be disappointed to have conceded 10 points in the final five minutes that handed Munster a bonus points, and a lifeline in the pool.

European Rugby Champions Cup star man: Ali Williams

Welsh still pointless, Connacht claim famous French win

London Welsh missed one of their best chances to get a first win of the season as they went down 6-24 to Edinburgh in what ended up being a regulation win for the Scottish visitors. The Exiles now sit bottom of their pool with a miserable zero points to their name – even the two qualifiers from Europe – Rovigo and Bucharest Wolves – have managed to get on the scoreboard, with a point apiece.

Rovigo’s came this weekend as they came mightily close to upsetting Grenoble in Italy, but even the French side’s blatant disdain for the tournament wasn’t enough to gift the Italian side a win, going down as they did 17-20. In the highest profile Challenge Cup game of the weekend, London Irish overcame Cardiff Blues 34-23 to wipe out last weekend’s loss at the Arms Park and make it a two-way tussle for qualification from Pool 1. Gareth Anscombe chipped in with an 18 point haul for the visitors, including a try, but it wasn’t enough to beat Irish who were helped by a brace from Andy Fenby.

Elswhere, Stade Français defeated Newcastle 31-24, The Dragons spanked Bucharest Wolves 69-17, Connacht overcame Bayonne 27-29 in France, while there were wins for Oyonnax and Lyon in all-French affairs.

European Rugby Challenge Cup star man: Caolin Blade

Try of the week: It was far from the most aesthetically pleasing effort of the weekend, but Horacio Agulla‘s late, late show for Bath could yet prove to be the most crucial of the tournament. After missing out on a bonus point despite taking a healthy early lead in Montpellier, Bath were about to do exactly the same, until Agulla cut a gorgeous line through the French defence to take George Ford’s pinpoint pass and cross untouched.

Hero of the week: Treviso might be an embarrassment of a side at the moment, but to come on after 60 minutes and still score a hat-trick takes a special kind of rugby player. Step forward Samu Manoa, whose 62nd, 65th and 72nd minute efforts must make him one of the quickest hat-trick scorers ever. It was an astonishing effort from the giant American.

Villain of the week: There was more TMO turgidity at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as Romain Poite and his fourth official took an age to decide if Charlie Matthews deserved to punished for a dust up with Dominic Ryan. In the end he was showed a yellow card, but the whole process took so long that fans were losing the will to live by the end. Making the correct decision is obviously of paramount importance, but there must be a way of speeding up the process.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images