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Weekend Round-Up: Heartbreak, Joy and Late, Late Drama
By RugbyPass
The penultimate round of the European Champions Cup enjoyed its fair share of drama. Here are the matches you’ll be glad you have a second chance to see.
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Wasps v Toulouse
Full Game | Condensed
Both sides started this game level on 13 points, and with Pool 2 rivals Connacht dutifully hammering Zebre in Galway, a win at the Ricoh was all-important. The 3-0 halftime scoreline suggests a painful, ground-out forward battle in quagmire conditions rather than an end-to-end encounter. But, from first whistle to last, this was a tense and dramatic affair – helped in no small part by some debatable decisions from players and referee alike. It was that sort of game. Led by the indomitable Thierry Dusautoir, Toulouse were quick-witted, powerful and uncompromising in equal measure, but they were never in total control. Opportunist Wasps wasted two gilt-edged chances in the opening five minutes but never gave up the fight. And the end was about as stunning as it gets.
Glasgow Warriors v Munster
Full Game | Condensed
The term ‘slow-burn’, usually used to describe a gritty psychological multi-episode event-TV thriller, could be perfectly employed to describe this epic encounter at intimate, intimidating Scotstoun. The ferocious Warriors have been in rare form in all competitions, but Munster – tapping deep into their reserves of sheer bloody-mindedness – withstood everything their hosts could throw at them. The score was just 6-6 at halftime as the two packs went all-in from the outset, and the final score was barely double that, but it was intoxicating stuff that will leave you breathless.
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Scarlets v Saracens
Full Game | Condensed
Defending champions Saracens headed to Parc-y-Scarlets with one foot in the quarter-finals and on a 13-match European winning streak dating back to that semi-final defeat at the hands of Clermont in 2015. But, for the longest time this weekend, it looked as if the Londoners’ record was about to fall victim to a well-prepared Welsh ambush, with mid-table Pro 12 side Scarlets appearing to have their measure. With seven minutes left on the clock, the hosts were comfortably ahead, but reckoned without their opponents’ never-say-die approach. Cue an after-the-hooter box-office finish to what was a box-office match.
Northampton Saints v Castres Olympique
Full Game | Condensed
This game was about as close to a dead-rubber match as it is possible to get without actually being one. The hosts’ quarter-final hopes had long been dead in the water and the visitors’ slender ambitions rested on a series of improbable events. But clearly no one told the 46 players in the two squads that, following Leinster’s demolition of Montpellier in Dublin the previous evening, they could take things relatively easily. Pride still counts for a lot in rugby: Northampton, a different and rejuvenated side from the one that was embarrassed 41-7 in the reverse fixture in southwest France in October, were out to prove a point, and though their destiny was ultimately out of their hands, Castres still held on to that slim hope.
