Saturday Round Up

Saturday Round Up

As the dust settles on another day of European rugby, we pore over some of the best action. With matches from both the Aviva premiership and European Champions cup, this was a thrilling day of Northern Hemisphere rugby.

Aviva Premiership

Pitches were heavy across England after rain during the week, but there was still some quality rugby on show. Exeter Chiefs continued their good form with a routine 19-10 victory over Gloucester. Two Waldrom tries and an Olly Woodburn score saw the Chiefs race into a 19-0 lead that they would never relinquish. Harlequins produced the performance of the day to finally hand Saracens their first defeat of the season, in a pulsating 29-23 victory. The game was finely poised until the 65^th minute, when Rhys Gill was red carded for a dangerous tackle. A man up, Quins tacked on two penalties before a late James Horwill try secured an epic win.

The thrills kept coming in the premiership, as Leicester and Northampton played out a classic midlands derby. The Tigers raced into a 21-0 lead in front of a raucous Welford road crowd, the pick of the tries coming from McCaffrey off a Youngs break. Northampton were dogged in their efforts and dragged themselves back into the match, a North interception making it 21-17 with 20 minutes left. Kicks from Myler and Burns made it 27-27 with time running out before Burns marched his side down the pitch to slot the winning penalty as time went dead. 30-27 the final score, as Leicester stole a win in a classic Premiership match.

European Champions Cup

Two rescheduled matches were played in the Champions Cup today, with Racing taking on Glasgow, and Munster travelling to face Stade Francais. Dan Carter put in a typically classy display, as he led Racing Metro to a 34-10 win over Glasgow. The ex-All Black was perfect off the tee, and pulled the strings to great effect as the home side crossed the line four times to secure the bonus point victory. 

In the final game of the day, Munster took on Stade Francais, desperately seeking a win to keep their European campaign alive. Stade however had other ideas, coming out of the blocks quickly to run up a 10-0 lead in the first half. On the stroke of half time Munster were handed a lifeline, Josaia Raisuqe being sent off for an eye gouge on CJ Stander. Munster couldn’t get anything going in the second half, as Stade continued to find space despite being down to 14. An incredible solo effort from Sekou Macalou was the final nail in the coffin as Stade ran out 27-7 winners to bring an end to Munster’s European campaign.