Peter Jackson: All-Ireland duel looms on Champions Cup horizon

Accounting for as much as one-quarter of the qualifiers made it highly unlikely that all four could be kept apart. Success brings its own kind of penalty and from now on, Irish teams will be obliged to bump each other off

Mon, 24 Jan, 2022 - 06:05

Peter Jackson

Irish rugby has had its problems in Europe over the decades but never one like this - too many contenders and too little room to keep them apart.

While standing alone as the one country to see every contender safely through to the last 16 of the Champions’ Cup has never been done before, flooding the final stages increases the danger of the four ancient provinces knocking each other out.

It goes beyond Connacht running headlong into Leinster, the pre-drawn Round of 16 leaving the western warriors clutching at the shortest of short straws over two legs, one they would have avoided had the former champions not been punished over their cancelled trip to Montpellier.

At least Connacht have ample time to work out a way of how to stop the tidal wave which has brought Leinster a tsunami of tries, 29 in three matches. Majestic even by their towering standards, the four-time winners will be expected to clinch a quarter-final against Leicester in the Tigers’ den.

Another all-Ireland duel looms on a slightly more distant horizon. If the seedings prove a true reflection of form, Ulster and Munster, the only pair to win all four European ties so far, will go careering into each other in the quarter-finals over the first weekend of May.

Neither will dare look beyond their next hurdles. Ulster’s superior record hitherto means the second leg of their collision with Toulouse will be in Belfast where the holders first came to grief more than 20 years ago.

Exeter have been to Ireland four times on Champions’ Cup business and lost the lot, most recently 9-7 at Thomond Park three seasons ago. Munster will relish the prospect of going into the second leg there in April knowing exactly what has to be done.

Not for the first time the make-up of the last 16, seven French and five English alongside the Irish foursome, reaffirms Europe as a very small place in rugby terms, a continent shrunk to three countries.

The last Welsh hope, Cardiff, vanished with Stade Francais’ freakish finale to the wonderfully madcap version of a last tango in Paris with Connacht. Glasgow, left on the ropes by Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle, were doomed by Montpellier’s belated decision to take the tournament seriously after all.

At one stage last night they were on course to give the Champions’ Cup the ultimate insult by qualifying without actually winning a match on the field. As someone once said, it’s a funny old game…

Toulouse exit farce avoided but time for rules rethink

Rene Bouscatel had sounded off before the weekend’s action began, condemning the decision to award Cardiff five points from their cancelled match at Toulouse as ‘scandalous.’

The fact that his life’s devotion to the club including 15 years as its president might have had something to do with his displeasure.

Just in case the tournament organisers hadn’t got the message, the 75-year-old lawyer accused them of ‘violating’ their own rules in a way which ‘seriously prejudiced the fairness of the competition’ and, of course, Toulouse’s presence in it.

In his capacity as president of Le Ligue Nationale de Rugby, Bouscatel has called an emergency meeting and warned of legal action. The mind boggles as to his state of apoplexy had Castres not been denied a worthy win at Harlequins.

TMO Brian McNiece’s hairline verdict that Alex Dombrandt had scored, over-ruling referee Mike Adamson’s on-field decision, would have shoved Toulouse to the precipice of elimination. They were still dangling on the edge 48 hours later until Stade Francais came to the rescue with their fortuitous win over Connacht in Paris.

Imagine how silly European club rugby would have looked had the holders been thrown out with the bath water. At the very least, it ought to force a re-think on the rule awarding the maximum five points to the opponent of every team unable to fulfill a fixture.

Bouscatel claimed that, despite their Covid casualties, Toulouse had cobbled together a team ‘fit to play the match.’ A study of Cardiff’s track record in France would not have improved his sense of injustice.

From a grand total of 23 visits over 27 years, the Welsh capital club had only once secured a try bonus, at Toulon 10 years ago when the locals scored seven of their own en route to a first Champions Cup success.

That their only five-pointer should arise from a match that was never played defies explanation.

Concussion concerns return to the spotlight

The fearful spectre of concussion reared its ugly head over the weekend, leaving a trio of international back row forwards, their families, and friends in a highly distressed state.

The severity of the blows suffered by England openside Sam Underhill, his Wales counterpart Thomas Young, and Scotland’s Josh Bayliss will prompt renewed calls for World Rugby to take urgent steps towards further protecting players from themselves.

Many experts, most notably former Ireland full-back Dr Barry O’Driscoll, have criticised the sport’s governing body for being too soft.

Their calls for Union to follow Rugby League’s decision extending the stand-down of players who fail head injury assessment tests from seven days to 11 have fallen on deaf ears.

How many have to be knocked out going about their hazardous business before the game comes to its senses and accepts that the minimum six-day rest simply is not long enough? The observation coincides with yet another young player refusing to risk the brain damage suffered by, among others, Steve Thompson, Carl Hayman, Michael Lipman, and Alix Popham, all stricken by the early onset of dementia.

While they pursue their legal action against World Rugby, Edinburgh centre George Taylor has quit at 25 after suffering at least four concussions in three years.

“When it’s your head, your brain, you can’t really play around with it,” he told The Times. “I’d rather not find out what the next head injury will bring.”

Late show not enough for Gibbes

Jono Gibbes’ 45th birthday back on familiar territory in Belfast would have been an uncomfortable experience.

Clermont’s creation of precious little for more than an hour would have had the Kiwi squirming in his seat until a late double substitution almost inspired a come-back for the ages.

It begged a question which nobody appeared to ask him: Why did you wait until the match was lost (34-12 to Ulster) before trying to win it?

Overtaking one revered Irish figure is quite an event; overtaking two on the same afternoon next to impossible.

Simon Zebo went one better than the late Anthony Foley with his first try against Wasps, his 25th for Munster in Europe.

His second took his overall Heineken Cup count to an impressive 34, one more than Brian O’Driscoll compiled for Leinster.

Zebo stands third on the all-time European list.

Only Vincent Clerc (36) and Chris Ashton (40) stand above him, neither of whom will be adding to their tally.

Praise Murphy for his stance over language

Frank Murphy struck a blow for one of rugby’s oldest values in a welcome stand against foul language. The Irish referee from Crosshaven pinged one of the Montpellier pack for a foul-mouthed volley during last night’s tie against Exeter.

Murphy, still in the thick of it 15 years after appearing as Leicester’s scrum half during their losing Heineken Cup final against Wasps at Twickenham, told the offender: “I won’t condone that language on the pitch.’’

Team of the weekend

15 Hugo Keenan (Leinster)

14 Gabriel N’Gandebe (Montpellier)

13 James Hume (Ulster)

12 Robbie Henshaw (Leinster)

11 Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster)

10 Johnny Sexton (Leinster)

9 Rory Kockott (Castres)

1 Andrew Porter (Leinster)

2 Pierre Bourgarit (La Rochelle)

3 Uini Atonio (La Rochelle)

4 Tadhg Beirne (Munster)