Wasps fall short in Dublin
Coventry’s Wasps failed in the worst possible fashion in their quarter-final with Leinster. In what has been a slightly underwhelming campaign (considering the group they were in), they were out of it before the half-time whistle, with Leinster dominant. Willie Le Roux had a howler as he dropped the ball showboating in the act of scoring, Joey Carbery delighted for Leinster and the Irish side came away 32-17 winners.
Saracens teach Warriors a lesson
Glasgow saved their least effective performance of the campaign for their last-eight fixture against reigning champions, Saracens. The Scots never really got going, particularly in the first half, and the Londoners’ bench made a crucial impact at the right time. They go to yet another semi-final with a 38-13 demolition, in which Chris Ashton equalled the record for most tries in Europe.
Munster power on, Clermont show credentials
Munster’s brilliant season kept on giving as they smashed four time champions, Toulouse, 41-16. They go on to face Saracens in Dublin, which promises to be a mouthwatering clash. Clermont secured their passage to a semi against Leinster with a comfortable 29-9 win over Toulon.
European Challenge Cup semi line-ups decided
Gloucester will meet La Rochelle for the third time this season after both sides progressed to the semis of the competition. Gloucester dominated the second half against Cardiff Blues, winning 46-26, whilst La Rochelle won 32-22 in Edinburgh. Bath will meet Stade Francais, having beaten Brive 34-20 and the Parisians edging Ospreys 25-21, despite having a man disadvantage.
Discussion points
- Why were the quarters so one sided this year?
- Who were the heroes and villains of the weekend?
- Try of the weekend?
- What do the semis have in store for us?
Apologies for the short blog this week. Back to the normal mindless warbling next week…
By Joe Large
To answer three of the questions, despite Glasgow’s obvious talent, maybe they’re not the complete package *yet*, and they should still be very proud of their achievements this season. And Toulouse are a shadow of their former selves, they’re really struggling in the Top 14 too. So that explains the gap in two of the QFs, for me at least.
There were a couple of contenders, but the biggest villian of the week was Rasique(?), the Stade winger. He should have gotten a red for his first yellow, but kindly took it upon himself to rectify that and get sent back off for a second one. He got banned for a long time for gouging against Munster at a similar stage last year (may be the year before), and is looking at another lengthy rest now.
The semifinals of the Champions Cup are fair, I don’t? think anyone could dispute them not being the four best teams right now. And two incredibly close games, anyone 100% confident on calling them is either biased or a lot braver than I am.