Cardif Blues Triumph - Super 14, Heineken Cup, Amlin Challenge Cup

Heineken Cup Final Biarritz 19 - 21 Toulouse


Super 14 Semi Final Bulls 39 - 24 Crusaders

Super 14 Semi Final Stormers 25 - 6 Waratahs

Amlin Challenge Cup Final Cardiff Blues 28-21 Toulon

Heineken Cup

The Heineken cup reached it’s finale in Paris and the rugby gods even organized some sparkling sunshine to crown the occasion. Well, the sunshine was probably the most sparkling thing on Saturday afternoon as Toulouse kicked their way to their fourth title but is was a final so more conservative rugby is likely to be the order of the day. Biarritz gave Toulouse a big scare with a late try but it was a fair result as the better team triumphed, and brought the competition to a close for another year.

Super 14

I had to smile when I read some of the Australasian reports on the upcoming semis. There was one report talking up a final in Sydney, and other stuff like’8 reasons why the Crusaders will win’. It reminds me of being at school and not having studied for an exam but looking for every little reason as to why I was still going to scrape through. The facts of the matter are that to win the Super 14, you have to finish top of the league and get home semis. Thus, he spake, it ever was. Home advantage gives you overwhelming odds of winning. So it would have been refreshing to see a little bit of honesty, along the lines of ‘Basically we’re shagged unless they give it to us on a plate’. Both the Crusaders and the ‘Tahs are really good teams, but the momentum at the moment is with the SA teams – a few years ago it was the complete opposite, and in a few years it’ll probably swing around, with the Aussie teams poised en masse to make a big impact on the tournament. For the moment, the Bulls and Stormers can bask in the glow of successful seasons, and dream of lifting the trophy next Saturday.

In the first match, the Bulls flexed their not inconsiderable muscles as they gored the Crusaders – they’ve perfected doing all the simple things really well and the Crusaders had no answers. The Stormers also looked dominant apart from scrum time where they obviously have a weakness that the Bulls can exploit next weekend. The ‘Tahs weren’t helped by some unsympathetic refereeing but they never really got going and made loads of mistakes. The match was sealed with Juan de Jong’s moment of magic, a player who’s young but surely has Springbok stamped all over him.

So it’s over to Orlando stadium in Sowetu next weekend with prime servings of South African beef on the menu.

Amlin Challenge Cup

This turned into a sensational match in the end, particularly if you were a Blues supporter. Toulon were all over Cardiff like a rash in the first half, looking all the time like they were about to run riot. Then in the second half, Jonny Wilkinson was injured, and after that it was Cardiff running wild, taking all their opportunities and running away with the match, all under the baking French sun.