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All eyes were on Europe this weekend as the Champions and Challenge Cup semifinals produced some nail-biting finishes…
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Champions Cup: Munster vs Saracens
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This was always going to be a tight affair, as the two best defences in this season’s European Champions Cup crashed into one another at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Coming into the game, Munster, playing a record 178th European match, had conceded just five tries in this season’s competition; Saracens eight. Neither had given up a score in the opening period of their previous seven games. Though this was destined to be a relatively low-scoring affair, make no mistake, it was brutal, tense, hard-hitting stuff as Munster threw everything they had at Saracens – and the London side soaked it up. And soaked it up. And…
Challenge Cup: La Rochelle vs Gloucester
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Things that are impossible: faster-than-light travel, getting a straight answer out of a politician, reading all of Finnegans Wake (anyone who says they have is lying)… and away teams winning at La Rochelle’s Stade Marcel Deflandre. That was the personal Everest facing Premiership side Gloucester in their bid to reach the European Challenge Cup final for the second time in three seasons. It wasn’t always pretty. It was riddled with errors. But it was always enthralling.
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Challenge Cup: Stade Francais vs Bath
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Northern Hemisphere rugby has developed a knack for games that go down to the wire. This Challenge Cup semi-final in Paris was the first of the weekend’s two edge-of-the-seat nailbiters. Stade, playing their third game in eight days courtesy of a French court ruling, roared into an early lead. Bath fought back, Stade edged ahead again. Bath clung on – and gave themselves a chance with the final play of a breathless, heartstopping game.
Challenge Cup: Clermont vs Leinster
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Speaking of heartstopping games, the three-time champions from Dublin, and perennial bridesmaids Clermont delivered a semifinal for the ages in a sun-drenched Lyon. For 35 of the opening 40 minutes, the French were in David Strettle-inspired cruise control before Jonny Sexton dragged the Irish side back into the game. Would the chokers choke again? It seemed not when Camille Lopez slotted two nerveless penalties that lesser players may have balked. But then, Garry Ringrose reminded everyone just what the Lions – for now, at least – will be missing in New Zealand to set up a grandstand finish.
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