1) Leicester excel by doing what they know
Richard Cockerill said after Leicester’s 38-0 defeat at Thomond Park that it would be “very, very difficult” for the Tigers to qualify for the Champions Cup quarter-finals and that the biggest prize they would be playing for in the return at Welford Road was pride. Victory in the return against Munster prompted a change of mind and a place in the quarter-finals had become a possibility on Saturday night. It will mean winning in Paris in the next round when Racing 92, last season’s finalists who are bottom of the pool without a win, may rest their leading players and prioritise qualifying for next season’s tournament. If Leicester do get through, and a side that has scored three tries in its four group matches looks like needing at least one winning bonus point in its last two to claim one of the three best runners-up spots, qualification will not mask the issues they have to confront. Cockerill was indignant about a report last week that the atmosphere among the coaching team at the club was toxic, pointing out that he and head coach Aaron Mauger had differences over the way the game should be played and he regarded that as healthy. The performance on Saturday was Cockerillesque, defiant, dogged, persistent and indefatigable, but there were also elements of Mauger with 12 of-loads delivered in the tightest of matches. The Tigers will not win anything if they remain at their most menacing when reacting to a bad defeat, as they did against Racing 92 in October having been grunged in Glasgow. They are caught between the world they know and Mauger’s vision of a more open and athletic approach: they have given up five try bonus points in 14 matches this season while securing two. Their next four matches are at Exeter, at home to Saracens, away to Wasps and in Paris. Welford Road is their refuge, a place where the past is the future, and it is on the road where the philosophical battle is being fought and Leicester look to play in a Mauger key. At some point, the two will need to become one. PR
- Match report: Leicester 18-16 Munster
- Cockerill takes aim at critics after Leicester save face against Munster
2) Mallinder may feel heat if Saints’ woeful run goes on
Jim Mallinder is not one to get ahead of himself but while he was no doubt correct to say that Northampton’s next three matches are “massive”, he may have been better advised sticking to the tried and tested “one game at a time” mantra. On Friday night, the beleaguered Saints, ninth in the Premiership and on a four-match losing run following their biggest ever European defeat by Leinster, host 10th-placed Sale in a match they simply cannot afford to lose. The Dublin thrashing felt inevitable – Mallinder had after all left a number of international players out – but throwing fringe players in at the deep end like that does not seem all that productive considering the patently obvious lack of confidence throughout the club. The Saints, for the last few years, have been sterile; uninventive behind a scrum that is no longer the potent weapon it once was. Everything that Mallinder is trying at the moment – getting rid of Alex King, leaving out Dylan Hartley, blooding youngsters at Leinster – is backfiring and while he may be the Premiership’s longest serving director of rugby, a defeat at home to the Sharks would make his position appear increasingly under threat. GM
3) Slade steadily returning to form
Henry Slade’s performance at fly-half against Bordeaux drew special praise from Rob Baxter, who seems to be talking a fair bit about the 23-year-old recently. Having insisted that he will not be strong-armed by Eddie Jones into playing Slade at No10, nor have his hand forced by rumours of an impending move to Bath to replace George Ford, the Exeter head coach did exactly that. And while Slade was far from flawless on Saturday, Baxter took encouragement that he is returning to the kind of form he produced before breaking his leg in December 2015. It has certainly taken him a while – and his off-colour performance in last season’s Premiership final raised concerns that Jones’s public remarks were not having the desired effect – but surely Slade is far too talented to remain on the periphery of the England squad permanently. Rather than too much preoccupation with what number he has on his back, one of England’s most gifted backs should simply just concentrate on doing what comes naturally. And hopefully the rest will follow. GM
4) Raynal’s punishment will be knowing he made a howler
Referees make mistakes all the time, of course, some more critical than others, but most involve being beaten by the speed of the action. Mathieu Raynal’s in Connacht’s win over Wasps was so egregious, because he was talked out of his correct initial decision by a player. It should also be acknowledged that nobody was going berserk at the time. We’ve all heard about the proposed law trial by which penalties may be kicked to touch after time, but the trial doesn’t begin until next year. There was sufficient vagueness over its status and timing that none of us complained at the time, including Wasps. But then we’re not all professional referees. Raynal is. To watch him being talked out of his initial decision not to allow Connacht to kick their last penalty to touch with the clock turned red now makes for acutely awkward viewing, especially the way he ended up agreeing with John Muldoon, Connacht’s captain having pointed out the new law, as if he’d known all along. And expensive viewing, if you’re Wasps.
They would probably be on 16 points now at the top of the pool, with a home quarter-final within their compass. Instead they are on 13 and hoping for results to go their way, with three pool leaders on more points and Munster with a game in hand. What can be done? Nothing. Had Raynal stood firm, Connacht could have tapped the penalty or taken a scrum and still scored the winning try, so European Professional Club Rugby cannot rescind the result. And of all the punishments that might be meted out to Raynal, none will hurt as much as the knowledge that he has made such a terrible howler. Another question is how sure Muldoon’s grasp of the situation was. Was he pulling a fast one when he pointed out the new law, or did he, like so many others, genuinely think it was up and running? Either way, an acutely embarrassing incident for everyone. MA
5) Travel sickness strikes again for Top 14 sides
In the last three editions of the European Cup, France have contributed three quarter-finalists and in two of those seasons the Top 14 has provided two of the last four. This season there is the genuine possibility that only Clermont, at the summit of the Top 14 and comfortably France’s strongest side this season, reach the knockout stages. When it comes to European competitions, French sides have a habit of travelling badly but for Toulon, three times champions, to lose at the Scarlets, Racing 92 – runners-up last season – to remain without a point from their three matches following their defeat in Glasgow and Montpellier to crash following their red card at Castres the bar has been set at a new low; not least considering the half-hearted performances in the Challenge Cup. Toulouse’s emphatic home win came against Zebre, the tournament’s worst side, and Wasps and Connacht appear to be in stronger positions to emerge from that pool leaving Clermont flying the flag with an impressive performance – for 45 minutes at least – against Ulster. Castres may squeeze through behind Leinster but considering Saracens are the only non-French side to reach the final since 2012, you get the feeling the balance of power is shifting this season. GM
6) Solomona upstaged by another league convert
Denny Solomona’s 42 tries for Castleford Tigers this year set a new Super League record and underlined his awesome finishing ability. Yet his debut for Sale was a disappointing one as he failed to make the most of the few half-chances that came his way. In the first-half, he spilled the ball when Brad Barritt’s over-ambitious pass fell into his arms and then he failed to ground a clever kick from AJ MacGinty in the second. The 23-year-old Solomona, born and raised in Auckland, was largely upstaged against Saracens by another rugby league convert, Josh Charnley. Signed from Wigan Warriors having scored the winning try against Warrington in the Grand Final at Old Trafford in October, Charnley has yet to score a try for Sale. But another hard-working, industrious display, often coming off his wing in search of work, marked him as one his new team’s better performers in only his sixth appearance in the 15-man code. RH
