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Ospreys suffer second defeat to Racing 92 in six days

Simon Zebo pounced for Racing's try bonus point in their latest win over Ospreys (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Ospreys suffered a second defeat in the space of six days at the hands of Racing 92 as the French side emerged 40-27 winners in their Heineken Champions Cup clash in Paris.

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A brace of tries from Juan Imhoff plus Louis Dupichot and Simon Zebo efforts saw Racing secure a bonus point before the break to stay top of Pool 4.

In the second period Georges-Henri Colombe and Yoan Tanga added further scores and scrum-half Maxime Machenaud kicked five conversions.

Luke Morgan’s try had put Ospreys ahead and a brace from Lesley Klim as well as Luke Price and Shaun Venter efforts ensured the Welsh side took home a bonus point for scoring five tries.

Ospreys still have just one win to their name this season, but they showed plenty of character in the final half an hour to finish strongly.

(Continue reading below…)

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A young Ospreys side made a positive start and in the eighth minute the visitors took a shock lead. Superb hands down the back-line saw Cai Evans send wing Morgan flying into the corner for a tremendous score.

Marty McKenzie could not convert and Racing hit straight back through Dupichot who had oceans of space to pick up and finish out wide after Cedate Gomes Sa had chased onto a loose ball.

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McKenzie’s kick had been charged down in the build-up to that try and the Ospreys fly-half then had a floating pass intercepted by Imhoff who raced to the line, with Machenaud converting.

Imhoff then had his second as Ben Volavola and Dupichot combined brilliantly in midfield, with the Argentina speedster scoring between the posts, and Machenaud couldn’t miss.

Ospreys missed a fine chance for a second as Lloyd Ashley’s awful pass gave Sam Cross no chance of collecting with the line at his mercy. There was still time for Racing to cross for a fourth before the break. Imhoff was again involved and Machenaud’s pass found Zebo who sprinted in.

Racing were never going to throw away a 26-5 half-time lead and giant replacement prop Colombe crashed over for a fifth try in the 49th minute. Machenaud converted and then took a quick tap penalty which laid the platform for Tanga to crash over. Machenaud kicked the goal again.

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Klim then brushed off a poor Zebo tackle attempt to race to the corner, with Price converting.

Both teams unloaded their benches and the final quarter was end-to-end. Ospreys replacement Tom Williams did brilliantly to send Price to the line and his conversion struck the post.

Still, it gave the visitors confidence and Venter raced onto a clearance kick and Klim’s second rounded off the scoring in an entertaining game which featured eleven tries. It ensured Ospreys took their first point of the pool back to Swansea.

– Press Association 

WATCH: Follow all the action from the Heineken Champions Cup in the RugbyPass Live Match Centre with commentary, stats, news and more, plus live streaming in some places – click Sign Up Now to see what is available in your region 

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N
NB 44 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Nice bit if revisioniusm but that's all it is JW.


For your further education, I found the following breakdown of one prominent club's finances in the Top 14 [Clermont].


For Clermont (budget of €29.5 million for 2021-2022) :

- 20% from ticket sales

- 17% from the LNR (includes TV Rights, compensation from producing french internationals and other minor stuff)

- 5% from public collectivities (so you're looking at funds from the city of Clermont, the department of Puy-De-Dôme and the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

- 4% from merchandising and events

- 3% from miscellaneous

- 51 % from sponsorships and partnerships. They've got 550 different partners. The main ones are CGI, Groupama, Limagrain/Jacquet, Omerin, Paprec, Renault and of course Michelin (not surprising since they're actually the founders of the club).


As you can see nothing comes from the FFR at all. The LNR is a separate entitiy to FFR and their aims frequently do not accord.


It is also why the European breakaway plotted by LNR and PR back in 2013 had nothing to do with the governing bodies of either England or France - and it most certainly did not have their blessing https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/15331030/jean-pierre-lux-anglo-french-cup-detrimental-european-rugby


And from the horse's mouth [ex AB skipper Sean Fitapatrick] about the comp between Top 14 and Super Rugby:


"The Top 14 in France is probably the best rugby competition in the world at the moment, purely for the week-in, week-out.”


“I think the quality of players. They are bigger, they are faster, they are stronger. Which then carries on into the international game.”

Take it from someone who knows JW😅

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