The first games in the new format adopted due to Covid, delivered in both the champions and challenge cup this weekend. We saw all the quarter finals be decided in one fell swoop and there was some glorious viewing for the rugby minded population. We learnt a huge amount from this weekend’s games, the champions Exeter are here to stay, Racing really are the freight train we all feared they were and out of the blue Sanderson’s Sale pose a real threat. The challenge cup contests meanwhile showed us that if anything the competition is Ulster’s to lose. Whilst Leicester and even saints have been quietly gaining momentum, Ulster, outside of the international window, have so much quality available it is difficult to picture another team hoisting the trophy. With the quarter finals firmly in sight lets go over the best of the qualifying round and where the storylines lie coming into one of the most competitive weekends of European rugby in years. 

Racing Ahead

Racing 92’s team sheet is so talent stacked that it can win games before they even start. I saw it first hand when the French side came to The Twickenham Stoop to face a harlequins team that looked defeated before they finished the warm up. Racing have the feel and momentum of the 2011-15 All Blacks, and inspire an “oh well, there’s always next year,” attitude in all but the best of the best in Europe. With the presumed return of Finn Russel to occupy the 10 shirt held dutifully but not spectacularly by Gibert over the international period, Racing will have the best backline in European club rugby. Whilst Edinburgh have been a team on the downward trend recently and thus a win over them was somewhat expected, a 53 point deficit tells of a racing with clinical attacking ability. They have a series of excellent individuals who have enough flare to consistently capitalise on breaks. Their forwards are the right mix of power, abrasiveness and awareness epitomised in Camille Chat and future international backrower Jordan Joseph.

Whilst Bordeaux-Begles do present a genuine challenge for this marauding Racing 92 side, the Parisian side should be heavy favourites going into the quarter final. This is despite Mathieu Jalibert’s incredible form bolstered by international game time, which has seen him rise to being a legitimate starter on the world stage. However Racing have so many weapons available along with a deepening bench that allows them to continue the pressure into the last quarter of the game unlike many French teams. Racing 92 should be favourites not only for the quarters but for the whole tournament.

Sailing past Scarlets

Sale announced their presence on the European stage with a comprehensive 57 – 14 win over a scarlets team brimming with enthusiasm and Six Nations winning players. The suspicious similarities in this game to the, similarly impressive if less high scoring, World cup final dismantling of England by South Africa are a sign of things to come in Sale. Sharks defence was where this game was first won, and then dominated. Scarlets woes were centred in the forwards where the pick of the carriers was Number 8 Kalamafoni. The leading carrier in the Pro14 this season managed just 18 metres on 11 carries. This anaemic output came as a result of Sale’s line speed. I would like to say that I had seen them doing something particularly intelligent, ran some special scheme or attacked a certain weak point. This was not the case. Sale simply spent the entire game in the Scarlets’ faces frustrating the back line which was unable to receive front foot ball and could not launch into the free flowing attacking Scarlets of recent memory. Line speed was very much the story and Sale came to bully the welsh side, preventing the ball getting to the outside, neutralising Liam Williams and McNichol completely.

Sanderson was muted in the post-match interview, claiming they just “caught them [Scarlets] a bit cold,” but it was clear from the emphasis Sale were placing on their line speed, that this was Sanderson’s vision. This Sale side is aiming to become a new version of the Saracens 2014-19 ‘wolf pack’ marshalled by Alex Sanderson then forwards coach at the London club, and they showed that they could on the weekend. The defensive capability of Sale clearly translates from the domestic to the European stage making them a legitimate threat to the competition. 

This weekend the Sharks face La Rochelle a team full of confidence and scoring ability, as well as a good dose of muscle. If Sale can turn it into a tight arm wrestle they will more likely than not  come away with a quarter final win. 

The Eagle Soars 

If Andy Farrell could cry, he would have done so watching Sale this weekend. Despite all the think pieces about Sexton being able to carry on till he’s 70 in the international Fly-Half slot, Ireland are in deep trouble in the position. Burns and Byrne are not competitive at the international level, and unless Carberry can put together more than 10 games without injury, there is no one behind Sexton.

This is because the next best option, the son of the headmaster of the most prestigious rugby school in Ireland, Blackrock college, is spoken for. AJ MacGinty has 28 caps for the USA Eagles  and is thus unavailable for selection for his home nation. This is frustrating for the Ireland coaching set up, not only because he has shown incredible form with the ball in hand and off the tee this season, but because his style of play is eerily similar to the incumbent Irish Fly-Half. He is a game manager, a label that normally relegates players to the bracket of good but never great. However in the case of MacGinty, as well as with Sexton, it is a high compliment. Sale’s Fly-Half has a sublime control of a team full of powerful but one dimensional players. The Sharks key to victory is no secret, it lies in physicality and game management. Thus AJ, along with his Scrum-Half partner De Klerk, are the most important players on the team. MacGinty’s  control of the game is the reason he finds himself second only to Marcus Smith in point scoring in the premiership and saw him grab 32 points against Scarlets. His selfless style maps wonderfully onto Johnny Sexton’s and would make him a perfect heir to the throne. It is the similarity between the two players that is the most frustrating, both have similar kicking statistics both in hand and off the tee, and have an innate ability to bring those around him into the game. Alas Andy Farrell will have to continue to sit in the purgatory of hoping that Joey Carberry is no longer made of porcelain, or work up the courage to pick Paddy Jackson. Neither seems likely. 

Paolo Odogwu: this Kid could Play for England…

Wasps forced Clermont to dig as deep as they could on Saturday to come away from the Ricoh with the win. The newly uncaged Paolo Odogwu was a major reason for this down to the wire finish. The wasps flyer was a well-publicised inclusion in Eddie Jones’ squad  for the Six Nations however the winger/centre didn’t make it into a single 23 over the course of the tournament. So after 7-8 weeks without any match speed game time could Odogwu have lost the form that saw him selected in the first place? In short, no. Odogwu looked to be at his bullish best with a try just 5 minutes in. He followed it up later in the game with a disallowed effort that was one of the closest calls I can remember seeing, beating three Clermont defenders on the way to the line, unfortunately leaving half a toenail in touch. He was a constant threat with the ball in his hand and showed a cool and collected vision of the game that could well have made a real difference on England’s campaign. Wasps, despite losing out in heart-breaking fashion, will take heart from how good Odogwu looked and indeed how good the whole team looked in what has been a disappointing season so far. Also judging by Eddie’s normal policy around these pseudo-apprentice players they can rest easy in the knowledge that Odogwu won’t ever get called up for England again…

In all seriousness, almost regardless of Lions selection Odogwu should be the first name on the team sheet for England’s tour to America in the summer. He offers a physical combative style of winger that’s almost unique in world rugby. There are not many players with his low centre of gravity combined with genuine pace and a real ability to shrug off tacklers. Especially with Antony Watson likely heading to South Africa Odogwu should be given the chance to make that 14 shirt his own. 

Who can Challenge Ulster?

Ulster’s victory over Harlequins is important for everything except the result. The performance of Ulster was far more valuable than the number of points they could put past a Harlequins C team. This game was about reintegrating the bevy of internationals that had returned to the club this week. To say this was done well would be an understatement, Burns, Stockdale and Herring slid back into the Ulster shirt with ease. Whilst the Fly-Half struggled in the international window he is excellent at club level, he has something of the George Furbank about him in that regard. Stockdale for all his up and down form will always be a lethal finisher, an athlete similar to Damian Penaud, in that they have long builds and don’t necessarily jump out at you, until they get near the line. Cooney controlled the game with the class of an international Scrum-Half, and at the age of 30 he will need to continue this form if he stands any chance of being picked consistently during the lead up to the World Cup. Furthermore with Craig Casey showing unbelievable amounts of promise, Cooney will need to stamp his authority on the 21 shirt, especially with the demonstrated lack of depth behind Murray. 

With the international class present in the team, as well as the fact that they are competing in the challenge and not champions cup, Ulster should be favourites as we progress though the knockout rounds.