European Rugby semi-finals: Five Talking Points from the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup
Sam Simmonds celebrates the final whistle in Exeter Chiefs’ semi-final victory over Toulouse
Credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images
Hot on the heels of a dramatic set of quarter-finals the previous weekend, the European semi-finals lived up to their billing and then some.
With English sides lining up in all four games across the Heineken Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup, hopes were high that Premiership sides would be able to continue their good record in European competition over recent years.
Saracens travelled to Paris to take on Racing 92 in what was certainly the more highly-billed of the two Champions Cup contests, with a defeat for Saracens effectively ending their season and leaving them nothing to look forward to but life in the Championship.
Exeter welcomed perennial European champions Toulouse to Sandy Park in the other, with Chiefs looking for their first ever European final.
In the Challenge Cup, Bristol hosted Top 14 table-toppers Bordeaux-Bègles in one semi-final and Leicester Tigers travelled to the Stade Félix Mayol to face the once-mighty Toulon.
Here are the key takeaways from a dramatic round of semi-finals.
Russell magic helps Racing past Saracens
Finn Russell’s delicate chip to Virimi Vakatawa ultimately proved the difference between Racing 92 and Saracens Champions Cup Semi-Final
CREDIT: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images
After last week’s cavalier quarter-final victory over Clermont, Racing 92 had to win in a very different way against Saracens on Saturday lunchtime. While the game was full of the usual grit and stout defences we associate with knockout rugby it was a bit of Scottish wizardry which ultimately sealed the game.
Before that, however, the Parisians needed to get themselves out of a big hole. Despite entering half time 9-6 down to the boot of Teddy Iribaren , Saracens turned the game around in the second half, with Alex Goode nailing three successive penalties to put Saracens 15-9 up with just 15 minutes remaining.
It had been a game with few chances up until this point. Saracens were in full knockout-mode and were taking the points when they could. Their defence was strong and the most destructive backline in Europe made barely any inroads throughout the game; indeed things looked grim for the french despite Maxime Machenaud pulling his side within three points.
Rugby is seldom a game where individuals can win matches, but in the nightclub of Paris La Defence it was the swaggering Finn Russell who made a decision which flipped the game completely on its head.
Deep in their own half Racing steadily built to the halfway where, aided by Brad Barritt’s injury, Finn Russell did what Finn Russell does. A Sarries’ defence line coming up fast were vulnerable behind the, and the Scotsman landed a delicious chip straight into the arms of Virimi Vakatawa who did not need to even break stride as he charged into the 22.
After the outside centre passed back to Russell, nominated as European player of the year, the fly-half simply had to set Argentinian flyer Juan Imhoff away to snatch a victory maybe no other team in World Rugby could have achieved.
It was glorious stuff, not just because of the skill level involved but because of the high stakes. Russell needed to get his chip spot on or Saracens would not have relinquished control of that ball up until the final whistle.
Two and half years ago in the 2018 final Racing were grounded out by Leinster in Bilbao to come up second best in a tight affair. Even if they are up against next month, Racing now know they have magician able to conjure something out of nothing.
Chiefs rise to club’s biggest occasion to book first-ever final
While in France two giants of the European game and seasoned knockout campaigners did battle, on the other side of the Channel it was a different story as the past and present collided.
Four-time European Champions Toulouse, who won their first Heineken Cup in 1996, travelled down to Devon to face the Exeter Chiefs, who at that time were sitting pretty in the fourth tier of English rugby.
As Toulouse came out with a fifth title firmly in their sights, Exeter Chiefs emerged for their first-ever European semi-final looking to take the next step on a journey that has taken them from the depths of English rugby to Rob Baxter’s ultimate target - kings of Europe.
What would transpire over the next 80 minutes would shine an even greater light on the scarcely-believable journey that has gone on in the South West since that day 24 years ago.
Though Toulouse started the faster and got themselves into an early 6-0 lead with some scintillating attack, led by the ever-present Antoine DuPont, it was met with equally well-drilled and purposeful defence from the Devonians.
The fact that Toulouse were twice made to settle for penalties in good attacking positions spoke volumes about the Chiefs’ efforts off the ball.
As Rob Baxter was interviewed by BT Sport around the halfway point of the first half, the French side’s dominance to that point might have been a simple dream as he projected calm, reiterating his belief that his side would have their time in the sun as the game wore on.
As so often happens with Baxter, he turned out to be bang on the money as Exeter took a hold on the game by half-time they would never relinquish.
Tries from Harry Williams and Sam Simmonds, broken up by a brilliantly-crafted score to Alban Placines to the visitors, saw the Chiefs take a 14-11 lead into the sheds.
After the break, Chiefs took the game by the scruff of the neck, with a second Williams score extending the lead before a delightful solo try from Joe Simmonds sparked the kind of jubilant reaction among the players that made all watching very sad there were no fans in the stadium, as one can imagine the noise would have been some kind of special.
Joe Simmonds goes over for Exeter’s fourth try against Toulouse as Stuart Hogg celebrates
Credit: David Rogers/Getty
The flyhalf took front foot ball on the Toulouse 22, with a hard press from the French side’s backline looking to have limited his options.
However, taking the ball to the line, he identified the big man in front of him, threw a simple dummy and stepped on the gas, throwing in a second (slightly unnecessary) dummy to ward off the covering defender on his way over under the sticks.
Even a late score to Matthis Lebel for a 28-18 could not dampen the spirits of Rob Baxter and his men nor detract from the quality of the performance they had just produced.
Knocking over a side with the quality of Toulouse is no mean feat and the Chiefs will rightly go forward into a final against Racing with a quiet belief that the great rugby journey of modern English history might just be complete.
Bristol v Bordeaux
Max Malins caps an impressive individual game which included two tries and an assist
CREDIT: Rogan Thomson/JMP
There was a lot of entertainment to be found on Ashton Gate on Friday night as Bristol Bears and Bordeaux Begles finished 37-20 to the home side, although the scoreline probably doesn't reflect how close this fixture really was.
Much like last week’s quarter-final against Edinburgh last week, the French outfit perhaps shocked their opponents by taking an early 13-0 lead thanks to the boot and twinkle toes of Matthieu Jalibert
The 21-year-old shows why Romain Ntamck should not be resting on his laurels in that France 10 jersey. His break and step to finish in the corner, before nailing his touchline conversion of course, was stunning. His forced exit at half time due to the injury was a big turning point and showed just how influential he had been to that point
To the Bears’ credit they bounced straight back. Two well worked tries either side of half time for Steven Luatua and Max Malins, including a lovely grubber kick from Harry Randall for the latter, seemed to have put Bristol in control before replacement Bordeaux hooker Joseph Dweba’s late score took the game to extra time.
The 17 unanswered points scored by the Bears during extra time comes with the caveat that Bordeaux had just 14 men on the pitch due to Marco Tauleigne’s injury, but they should be commended on how they killed the game off so quickly.
Piers O’Connor’s try was set up by a hefty Semi Radrada charge into Bordeaux territory, with the offload from Max Malins putting away the ex-Wasp to give the west-country side the lead.
Malins then put the game to rest and capped off an impressive individual performance when he strolled past a stretched defence just after five minutes of extra time and despite there being 25 minutes left there was no way the French could come back from 14 points down.
Ultimately the loss was harsh on Bordeaux but a date with Toulon now awaits for the Bears and silverware would be a fantastic achievement for Pat Lam three years since he took over the side while in the Championship. Bordeaux, meanwhile, should be considered Top 14 dark horses.
Tigers tamed with ease by resurgent Toulon
On the other side of the Challenge Cup fence at the fortress that is the Stade Félix Mayol, it was a very different kind of night for the other remaining English hope in the competition.
Into the semi-finals without having kicked a ball courtesy of last week’s quarter-final against Castres being forfeited to them courtesy of a coronavirus outbreak in the French side’s ranks, it became clear from early on in this contest it would be some ask for them to knock over the three-time European champions.
Toulon hit the front early as former Worcester Warriors favourite Bryce Heem, and the lead was extended by a Louis Carbonel penalty and a try to Gabin Villiere that summed up much of what ails Leicester Tigers at this moment in time.
Kini Murimurivalu had already been guilty of weak one-on-one defence against Bryce Heem for the opener, and it was some of his teammates’ turn to slide off tackles as the ball was flung wide to Villiere.
Stepping in off the left wing, he shrugged off Harry Potter and isolated Dan Cole in the backfield, palming off the prop with ease on his way to the line.
Those players will be disappointed but something that will have had Steve Borthwick shaking his head was, once it was clear Dan Cole was the target for Villiere, George Ford on the front-rower’s inside did little to intervene or assist his teammate as the French side’s centre strolled over for the score.
Indeed, it almost looked as though Ford was in a position to intervene as Villiere arrived at Cole, but slowed up and didn’t get involved.
Tigers did manage late tries in either half through Nemani Nadolo and Harry Potter to add some respectability to the scoreline, but pretty much all of the rest of the 80 minutes belonged to the French side.
Despite Toulon having less possession and territory and conceding more penalties, they just looked infinitely more threatening with ball in hand as they took Leicester’s struggling defence to the cleaners.
The fact that Toulon recorded 10 clean breaks to Leicester’s two, despite the Tigers having 56% of possession, says plenty about the work Leicester need to do defensively.
This is not a vintage Toulon outfit by any stretch of the imagination, but they were far too good on the night for Leicester and Bristol will not be taking them lightly on October 16.
Having been there and done it in finals is an invaluable asset when the crunch comes on, and this European juggernaut will require the Bears to be at their best if they are to be stopped.
European rugby finally set for showstopper finals
The Champions and Challenge Cup trophy will be handed out on October 16-17
Credit: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
With the lineups now set for the finals on October 16 and 17, there are myriad storylines that will dominate the headlines between now and then.
With the Challenge Cup final to be played in Aix-en-Provence on October 16, it will be something of the young upstarts against the old heads as Bristol take on Toulon.
Will Pat Lam’s Bristol Bears be able to put the finishing touches on their rapid rise up the rugby pyramid by capping their season with a European trophy?
Or, will Toulon rediscover some of their glory days of nearly a decade ago and taste continental glory once again?
However, the big story comes across the Channel at Ashton Gate the following night, with a new name guaranteed to be etched into Champions Cup history by game’s end.
Racing have been there before - but they haven’t done it. Their losing record in finals thus far is well-documented and having disposed of possibly the biggest remaining threat in Saracens, they will see they now have their best opportunity to finish the job and claim the title they crave.
However, if Exeter Chiefs’ performance against Toulouse proved anything, it is that the Devonians will not be over-awed by anyone. Even a side with the pedigree of Racing will not have Rob Baxter thinking twice, and his team have shown that they can match it with anyone.
If Racing are to take out the final, it will cap a number of years’ worth of near misses and make all the pain worthwhile in finally crowning what has already established itself as one of the dominant forces in Northern Hemisphere rugby.
If Exeter can get themselves over the line, it will put the final flourish on possibly the greatest rags-to-riches story we have yet seen in rugby, as a side that was in the fourth tier when this competition debuted in 1995 complete their remarkable journey as European champions.
We await with bated breath.
