European Challenge Cup review: Bourgoin and Montpellier fly
the flag on a wretched weekend for Top 14 clubs
12
October 2008
|
Pool 1 |
|
Dax 12 |
Connacht 30 |
|
London Irish 78 |
Rugby Rovigo 3 |
|
Pool 2 |
|
Toulon 3 |
Northampton Saints 56 |
|
Montpellier 33 |
Bristol 15 |
|
Pool 3 |
|
Petrarca Padova 6 |
Worcester Warriors 55 |
|
Bucuresti Oaks 10 |
Bourgoin 21 |
|
Pool 4 |
|
Newcastle Falcons 63 |
El Salvador 0 |
|
Overmach Rugby Parma 34 |
Brive 29 |
|
Pool 5 |
|
Bayonne 10 |
Viadana 21 |
|
Saracens 53 |
Mont-de-Marsan 3 |
Bourgoin and Montpellier were France’s only winners on a
miserable weekend for Top 14 clubs in the opening round of
the European Challenge Cup.
Montpellier managed to beat Bristol 33-15 on Friday night
and Bourgoin triumphed 21-10 away to Bucuresti Oaks on
Sunday, but there were defeats for Toulon, Dax, Brive,
Bayonne and Mont-de-Marsan as the French were humbled
throughout Europe.
Toulon, Dax and Bayonne all lost at home, to English, Irish
and Italian opposition respectively, with Brive and
Mont-de-Marsan losing on their travels, to Italian, and
English teams this time. It all adds up to a woeful weekend,
with Toulon’s 56-3 home drubbing by Northampton on Friday
night summing up a wretched set of European results.
Two tries in the opening 15 minutes set the tempo for a
high-scoring affair between Parma and Brive on Sunday, with
the Italians surging into an early 17-6 lead thanks to
scores from Roberto Mariani and German Fontana. Alessandro
Chillon added a third shortly before the interval as Parma
opened up a 25-9 advantage at the interval.
Brive, who rested a number of players, battled back in the
second half thanks to tries from Johan van Zyl and Norman
Ligairi, but Barry Irving’s three penalties ensured the
hosts hung on for victory.
Mont-de-Marsan were also in action on Sunday, but had an
away day to forget as they crashed 53-3 to Saracens.
The Top 14’s bottom club were always likely to struggle
against last year’s Heineken Cup semi-finalists, and so it
proved as they shipped seven tries, including two penalty
tries, on a torrid afternoon at Vicarage Road.
The final French club to play on Sunday were Bourgoin,
runners-up in 1989/9, who travelled to Romania for their
clash with Bucuresti Oaks.
Prop Vincent Pelo got them off to the perfect start when he
bundled over for a seventh-minute try, converted by Benjamin
Boyet, and the latter extended the lead with a drop-goal
shortly before the half hour.
Florin Vlaicu got the Romanians on the board with a penalty
on the stroke of half-time, and the home side were back on
level terms within 10 minutes of the restart thanks to
Catalin Fercu’s converted try.
Boyet added a second drop-goal after 55 minutes, to regain
the lead, and centre Mattias Viazzo put Bourgoin further
ahead when he went over for their second try ten minutes
from the end.
Morgan Parra sealed the win with a late penalty, leaving
Bourgoin as one of only two weekend winners.
Bayonne, Dax and Toulon all lost on Friday evening, with
Bayonne’s home defeat to Viadana perhaps the biggest
surprise of those three, especially Pepito Elhorga touched
down in the 19th minute to give the French side an early 7-0
lead.
But Steven Bortolussi and Isay Coalala both grabbed tries
for the visitors before the interval, with Kaine Robertson
scoring late on to seal a famous win for the Italians.
Toulon were an embarrassment in they conceded seven tries to
rampant Northampton in front a disbelieving 9,000 crowd at
the Stade Felix Mayol.
Most had deserted by the time Lee Dickson administered the
last rites with the Saints’ final try in the closing
minutes.
Dax looked to be heading in the right direction when they
led Connacht 12-7 at half-time, but the home side wilted
after the interval and failed to score at all as the Irish
added 23 unanswered points.
Connacht captain John Muldoon opened the scoring with a
13th-minute try, which Ian Keatley converted, but Dax
responded with a double hit as Laurent Diaz and Bruno
Hiriart both went over to give the home side a five-point
advantage.
But the game turned during a 10-minute spell in the
second-half when Connacht scored a try (Jonny O’Connor),
three penalties and a conversion.
Muldoon was sin-binned in the 73rd minute but visitors still
had time to extend their lead when replacement Danny Riordan
went over, allowing Keatley to cap his night with a third
conversion, and a match haul of 15 points.
That left Montpellier as the only other French winners of
the weekend, a sorry return for the Top 14’s lesser lights.
The eventually overpowered Bristol 33-15 after entertaining
first-half which saw both sides score two tries apiece.
Lee Robinson and number eight Ian Grieve both scored for
Bristol in the opening eight minutes, but Montpellier
replied through Francois Trinh-Duc and flying winger Thierry
Brana.
Argentine international Frederico Todeschini (18 points in
total) was immaculate with his place kicks all night while
scrum-half Justin Marshall was the lynchpin of much of
Montpellier’s flowing rugby.
The home side’s superiority began to tell after the break
and their incessant pressure inevitably brought further
reward with Todeschini adding 10 more points to Pieter van
Niekerk’s 70th-minute try, much to the delight of the 9,000
crowd.
|
