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Ospreys run out of steam as Racing 92 book quarter-final place

By PA
Teddy Thomas /Getty

Racing 92 qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup with a hard-fought 25-10 victory over Ospreys in a game played behind closed doors in Swansea.

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It took some time for the French side to quell their spirited opponents but Ospreys’ defeat leaves them pointless after three games, with their remaining fixture a difficult one at Sale.

Their only try came from Keiran Williams, with Gareth Anscombe kicking a penalty and a conversion to give the Welsh side a 10-8 half-time lead.

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But Racing 92 took charge in the second period, with Teddy Thomas and Virimi Vakatawa touching down, Antoine Gibert converting both and Finn Russell adding a penalty. Julian Imhoff’s try and a Maxime Machenaud penalty had come in the first half.

Racing began brightly with both Imhoff and Teddy Baubigny making penetrative runs to threaten the home defence.

Baubigny was only stopped by a high tackle from Alex Cuthbert, which earned the Ospreys wing a yellow card with Machenaud kicking the resulting penalty.

Down to 14, Ospreys were placed under considerable pressure and conceded five penalties in the opening 12 minutes.

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But Cuthbert was able to return with no further damage done to the scoreboard with Machenaud’s penalty the only score of the opening quarter.

With their first attack of the game, Ospreys scored the opening try when Williams forced his way over with Anscombe on-target with the conversion and a subsequent penalty to make it 10-3.

The French response was quick. They flung the ball wide to provide space for Thomas, who twice kicked ahead for Imhoff to win the race to touchdown. Machenaud missed the conversion to leave his side trailing at the interval.

Ten minutes into the second half, Ospreys flanker Will Griffiths became the second home player to be sin-binned, this time for a deliberate knock-on.

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The shorthanded hosts had the next chance for points but Anscombe was short with a penalty from the half-way line.

One of the biggest problems for the Welsh region was the malfunction of their line-out and it was instrumental in them losing the lead.

A line-out throw on halfway went astray for Russell and Gael Fickou combined to send Vakatawa in under the posts.

Griffiths returned with his side still in contention but 13 minutes from time Russell fired over a long-distance penalty to give Racing some breathing space.

The French became dominant as Ospreys tired and Thomas secured victory by rounding Luke Morgan to score.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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