Once again the
Heineken lives up to expectations.
What a feast
of rugby served up at the weekend, all the matches offered something to the
connoisseur, the neutral or the committed fan. Several would be contenders had
their hopes dashed and others were able to make significant statements of
intent. Three performances stand out: Leinster’s demolition of a much vaunted
Northampton side, Cardiff Blues’ exhilarating defeat of a competent and
confident Glasgow team and the astonishing victory of Connacht over the
European giants Toulouse. It really does whet the appetite for next week’s
return fixtures.
Cardiff
played with a confident, exciting and accurate style that left Glasgow all too
often shaking their heads at how they had been beaten. On several occasions the
Blues opened up under the shadow of their own posts and backed their ability
and pace and deservedly reaped the rewards for such adventure. Patchell,
Halfpenny and Cuthbert were outstanding and led the way. Williams was
outstanding at scrum half and the young Cardiff pack never took a step back.
The new pitch played its part providing a reliable surface for playing rugby
“on the top of the ground”. The contrast with the aged Castres stadium and its
poor surface contributing to a largely uninspiring game as the Ospreys’
downturn continued, was very marked. Toulon and Exeter provided an exciting
match but not a gripping one despite both sides’ wholehearted application.
Harlequins did a complete number on Racing Metro with Nick Evans and Nick
Easter outstanding. Their clash with Clermont will probably decide the fate of
this group following Clermont’s comfortable victory over the Scarlets. Perhaps,
the biggest winners of the week were the Saracens. They accomplished the bonus
point victory over Zebre they would have set as a minimum target but Connacht’s
astonishing win at Toulouse leaves the group wide open. Munster and Ulster can
feel very satisfied with their respective positions. Leicester’s unconvincing
win over Montpelier means that Leicester will need big wins in the next three
games to have any chance of progressing.
Leinster
swept into Franklins Gardens and totally demolished an optimistic but
ultimately abject Northampton. They turned the much hyped Saints into, “An
embarrassment” as Tom Wood described his team’s performance. In truth
Northampton were fortunate to keep the score to 40-7 as Leinster did miss
several chances. It was such a complete performance that Leinster could be
nominated “en bloc” as the team of the week. But two unheralded players were
magnificent and shone on the night as brightly as any of Leinster’s great
stars, Rhys Ruddock and Sean Cronin Northampton simply had no answer to the
impact these two had. Leinster must surely now be installed as favourites for
the competition. Gloucester’s win in Edinburgh on any other weekend would be
regarded as a great victory but Connacht’s amazing win outshines them.
Toulouse are
no longer the giants of French or European rugby they once were. But, not one
pundit thought they would lose on Sunday. It is the sort of result that makes
the Heineken Cup the great competition it is. Toulouse will be hurting, Guy
Noves will beast them all week and they will turn up at the Galway Sportsground
thirsting for revenge, but no-one can take away Connacht’s deserved moment in
the sun.
Team
performances of the week
Leinster,
Cardiff blues and Connacht
Players of
the week
Sean Cronin,
Rhys Patchell, and Brian O’Driscoll
Points to
Ponder
Cardiff’s pitch,
over use of the TMO and where now for Northampton?
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