Wasps and Leicester break semi-final duck

Wasps’ last-minute 25-24 victory over Premiership rivals Exeter Chiefs left fans speechless once again. The Chiefs were the first to rumble to life, shoving over the line from a lineout for their first score through Thomas Waldrom (who else?). If that was a typical try from the No8, his second was less so, intercepting a pass 30 metres out and sliding in to put Exeter 14-6 up at half-time. The utterly breath-taking Piutau brothers were heavily involved in Wasps’ first try, with Siale breaking through a gap and finding Dan Robson who chipped across for Charles to score, but Exeter matched Wasps’ flair with force, driving Harry Williams under the posts giving Chiefs a 24-11 lead after Gareth Steenson’s conversion and penalty. Staring down both barrels of a quarter-final defeat, Wasps produced fifteen minutes of gutsy play, Frank Halai crossing on the left-hand side before, and with barely a tick left on the clock, Charles Piutau went over for his second of the game. Jimmy Gopperth stepped up to slot the touchline conversion to give Wasps a one-point victory and their first European semi-final since 2007.

Meanwhile, in the all-French clash, Racing 92 denied Toulon a chance to win an historic four European cups in a row, by beating them 19-16. The match started at a frenetic pace with Racing’s Argentine winger Juan Imhoff intercepting a pass and sprinting in unimpeded for a try after just two minutes, duly converted by Dan Carter. However, this was swiftly cancelled out by a Charles Ollivon try resulting from Josua Tuisova’s snaking run. After this initial flurry, the game settled into a battle of discipline and kicking, and with Dan Carter struggling with an injury, Maxime Machenaud was tasked with duelling the metronomic Jonathan Pelissie. With the respective kickers notching two and three penalties, the scores sat level at 16-16 and Machenaud was granted the simplest of kicks to give Racing the lead and, of course, sent the attempt wide. It wasn’t until the final minute of the match that Toulon infringed again in front of their posts, and Machenaud made no mistake this time, dumping the reigning champions out of the competition.

Leicester’s match with Stade Francais was a tad less competitive and a lot less close, with the Tigers romping to a 41-13 victory. Telusa Veainu, Manu Tuilagi, Veroniki Goneva (2), Freddie Burns and Michael Fitzgerald all scored, with Peter Betham handing out try assists like they were going out fashion. Stade were unable to stem the tide, even with Julien Dupuy’s try after half-time. Leicester are now set for a clash with Racing 92 in the semi-finals.

Saracens surprised no one by progressing to the semi-finals with a 29-20 victory over Northampton, although the Saints certainly caused the Premiership’s table-toppers to break a sweat. Ken Pisi opened the scoring for the underdogs after Teimana Harrison found a gap to set up a two-on-one, but Owen Farrell’s kicking kept Saracens comfortably in touch. It wasn’t until late in the second half that Chris Ashton scored Sarries’ first, scything through a gap to score from close range, and Chris Wyles was not far behind with their second, a simple dot down after Duncan Taylor’s defensive pressure forced a mistake from JJ Hanrahan. A late Courtney Lawes consolation effort was nowhere near enough to unseat Saracens.

European Champions Cup Star Man: Charles Piutau

Dragons storm Kingsholm

Newport Gwent Dragons made sure the Pro12 flag was still flying in the Challenge Cup with a shock 23-21 defeat of Gloucester at Kingsholm. The Dragons relied solely on the boots of Dorian Jones and Carl Meyer to keep them in touch until the 77th minute when replacement Charlie Davies burrowed over from close range to hand the Welshmen a victory and their second semi-final in two years. Gloucester took a more varied approach in gathering their points, with Ben Morgan and Steve McColl both scoring tries and Greig Laidlaw kicking the points, including a late penalty that put Gloucester three points ahead. However, the Dragons showed a mettle and resolve that belies their current Pro12 standing and stole a hard-fought victory, meaning that neither of the European competitions still include the reigning champions.

Grenoble were able to snatch a victory from Connacht by 33-32, thanks in large part to a masterful display from Jonathan Wisniewski. The fly-half scored a try, three conversions, one drop goal and three penalties to make up a 23-point outing that dragged his side back from several large deficits. Connacht’s turbocharged back division was in scintillating form with Matt Healy and Niyi Adeolokun combining early and often to bag two tries for Adeolokun either side of a Robbie Henshaw score. It was Wisniewski’s try that brought Grenoble back into contention, the fly-half stepping past three defenders before converting his own effort and adding two penalties to send the sides into half-time with Connacht leading 19-16. Healy grabbed a try of his own after the break but Grenoble crossed twice through Lucas Dupont and Mahamadou Diaby which handed them their first lead of the game. Replacement John Cooney knocked over a penalty for Connacht, but Wisniewski was on hand once more to hoof over a 76th minute drop goal to give Grenoble an advantage they never relinquished.

Harlequins and London Irish faced off at The Stoop, with Quins eventually winning 38-30 with captain Danny Care scoring a well-deserved hat-trick, while Friday night saw Sale crash out of the competition at the hands of Montpellier, 19-25.

European Challenge Cup Star Man: Jonathan Wisniewski

Glasgow thump Zebre

Glasgow Warriors took on Zebre in a rescheduled Round 12 match, and Glasgow ran out easy victors 43-14. The Warriors scored seven tries and made it seven consecutive Pro12 wins, moving up to third in the standings. They received a healthy contribution from their Scotland internationals with Peter Horne (2), Alex Dunbar and Fraser Brown all getting their names on the scoresheet, and Finn Russell and Duncan Weir adding points from the tee. Posing a challenge to both the Zebre defence and the commentators were Taqele Naiyaravoro and Jerry Yanuyanutawa who also scored in the rout.

Guinness Pro12 Star Man: Peter Horne

Reds upset Highlanders for first win

The Reds held off a late comeback from the Highlanders to record their first victory of the season 28-27. The Reds scored three first half tries amidst some fairly wretched Highlanders defence, Liam Gill, Nick Frisby and Samu Kerevi the scorers as they went into the break leading 22-6. After having two tries chalked off by Glen Jackson, Aaron Smith finally found a gap to score without any preceding neck rolls or offsides, and in doing so sparked the Highlanders’ comeback run. Malakai Fekitoa was next to strike, driving underneath the posts like a forward, before Lima Sopoaga seized a loose ball and streaked 80 metres to bring the Otago side back to within one point following his conversion. This is how it would finish however, with the Reds clinging on for the shock victory.

The derby clash between the Chiefs and Blues was always going to produce some exciting rugby and there was plenty of that on display, as the Chiefs survived to win 29-23, their 10th straight victory over the Aucklanders. Two early tries for the Chiefs seemed to signal that a thrashing was on the cards, with Mitchell Graham gathering a bobbling offload to dot down in the corner and Charlie Ngatai making a mockery of the Blues midfield defence before putting Shaun Stevenson in for the try. Despite this, the rest of the half saw the Chiefs lacking a clinical edge and Ihaia West kicked two penalties to make the scoreline at the break 10-6 to the Chiefs. Furthermore, it was Tana Umaga’s men who came out after the interval with wind in their sails, Melani Nanai showing every ounce of his pace and agility with a solo score and Rieko Ioane following suit soon after. With the tables turned and the Blues leading 20-10, the Chiefs found top gear and scored through Aaron Cruden and Seta Tamanivalu. It was the final stretch from Brodie Retallick that secured the win for the Chiefs, although West’s final penalty rescued a losing bonus point for the Blues.

The other close result of the weekend saw the Crusaders overcome the Western Force 20-19, while both the Sunwolves and Los Jaguares sustained heavy defeats, 46-19 against the Stormers and 40-22 against the Hurricanes respectively. The Lions notched their fourth win of the season against the Sharks by 24-9 and the Bulls got the better of the Southern Kings 38-6.

Super Rugby Star Man: Lima Sopoaga

Try of the Week: Honourable mention to Melani Nanai’s lightning bolt score for the Blues, but the award goes to Sale’s Sam James for his virtuoso effort against Montpellier. This is not the first time James has shown the ability to create tries from nothing. He is one to watch.

.@SaleSharksRugby's #ChallengeCup hopes were ended last night but @SamJames560 did score this superb individual try. https://t.co/yFvFxm3qAM

— BT Sport Rugby (@btsportrugby) April 9, 2016

Hero of the Week: Not to pile on the praise but Jonathan Wisniewski gets the award for putting his team on his back and carrying them to victory. He is consistently a productive Top 14 player, but this full house showed star quality.

Villain of the Week: Jamie Elliott and Courtney Lawes share the award this weekend, for dealing out some PUNISHMENT to their Saracens opponents. Seriously, Jamie Elliott’s bosh on Richard Wigglesworth put my jaw on the floor.

By Fraser Kay (@fraserkay)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images