Heineken Cup French aristocrats get their heads chopped off by Leinster, Perpignan get royaly rogered, and Munster slip up.

I hope they saved me some wedding cake! (picture from http://bit.ly/jQqoaS )

Aviva Stadium was a noisy seething sea of blue, broken only very occasionally by a dab of red and black. The pitch was in great shape, it was warm, not windy and dry.The scoring started with an almighty balls up by Leinster, with the ball bouncing off the post from a penalty followed by the simplest of touch downs by Toulouse. It took a good 20 minutes for Leinster to find their rhythm after that early set back, but they clawed their way back into the lead eventually when Jamie Heaslip burrowed his way over to score. After that it was a ding dong battle with the lead changing hands several times until Brian O’Driscoll’s try sealed the win for the home side.

 On the pace for Leinster were Heaslip, O’Driscoll and D’Arcy. Off the pace was Fitzgerald, who looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights every time he got the ball. Also not at the races was Eoin Reddan whose box kicking was ordinary, who unenerringly passed to an isolated player, and if it was on on the left, he went right, and vice versa. There were also a fair amount of dropped balls and Leinster’s front row creaked, but there was awesome defense, heart in spades and bucket loads, and a steely intention to prevail. Toulouse’s scary backs never seemed to really get going, from a neutral perspective that was a pity, but it was a huge relief for me. And we’re in the final now! Sweet!

And we’re going to be facing Northampton, who must have left Perpignan feeling like they’d been sucked through a giant cement mixer. They absolutely pulverised the French, there was some deft running by the outstanding Foden, and Ashton showed a few good flashes, but this match was all about the Saints’ scrum, who basically beat 7 colours of poo out’ve Perpignan. The Saints are a team who really know how to get under your skin, they got Perpignan’s number and dialled it mercilessly until you could feel the French frustration seething out of the screen. I’m really surprised there was only one yellow card and no massive dust up. Tonga'uiha, Hartley and Mujati could be the form front row in the world right now.

Amlin Challenge Cup

Clermont went into this match as favourites (well I said they were going to win anyway). But as they discovered, even they aren’t good enough to give Stade two tries and still expect to win. The tries were both gift wrapped, presented on a silver platter and sealed with a kiss by Brent Russell. If any further proof were needed, Russell is not a fly half, has never been a fly half, and will never be a fly half. His safest bet would have been to catch a taxi from the stadium to the airport and fly straight home to SA. There was a shockingly small crowd in to watch a pretty unlikely victory for the home team, the French don’t get the Amlin Cup I don’t think. There was some good rugby played in the middle of all the gifts, but really, Clermont should have won this at a canter.

Munster’s difficult season dropped down another gear as they were beaten by Quins in front of a 25000 crowd at home. Nobody expected Quins to win, I didn’t catch the match and as a supporter of Irish rugby, the result isn’t something I wanted to see. But as bitter a pill it must be for Munster to swallow, you have to hand it to Quins, going to Thomond Park and winning is arguably one of the biggest challenges in European rugby. I fancy them in the final too now.

Cardiff put in a risible performance against the Dragons to keep the Ospreys play off hopes alive. And Bath’s win over Newcastle leaves them with a mathematical, if not realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Heineken Cup

Sunday , May 1

Northampton 23 - 7 Perpignan

Saturday , April 30

Leinster 32 - 23 Toulouse

Amlin Challenge Cup


Saturday , April 30

Munster 12 - 20 Harlequins

Friday , April 29

Stade Francais 29 - 25 Clermont Auvergne

Friday , April 29

Newport-Gwent D'gons 28 - 15 Cardiff Blues

Aviva Premiership

Newcastle 11 - 14 Bath