'We came, we saw and we conquered' that is the statement that 6 of our Aviva Premiership sides can say about their Round 3 European away trips. It was a record breaking weekend, from the torrential rain in Montpellier to the warm sunshine of
Treviso our Aviva Premiership teams played some stellar rugby and delivered critical wins on the first round of the back to back fixtures.
In Pool 1 the away teams reigned strong with two close fought wins
from Clermont Auvergne and of course our own side Saracens. In
Round 3 defence was king as both Saracens and Clermont had much less possession
than their opponents but ignored that factor to finish their matches victorious It was great to see Owen Farrell back on form, after a difficult month or so and I'm sure that he’ll be
instrumental once again this weekend for Saracens at Allianz Park. The Sale Sharks now find themselves at the bottom of the group heading into this weekend, however I expect that they will still put out a strong side to continue performance momentum back into the Aviva Premiership. In Ireland Clermont delivered a colossal performance and this has put them very much in the driving seat going into Round 4. Munster will need to have need nerves of steel and bundles of belief this weekend, but with Paul O'Connell in the side personally I think anything could happen!
In Pool 2 our Aviva Premiership teams bulldozed over tough
opposition; Harlequins looked like a completely different side as they welcomed
back their England Internationals and dominated up front against Leinster. A
few thousand miles away Wasps finally recovered from their travel sickness and put
in a composed performance on the road in Castres. In London, it was Nick Easter
& Chris Robshaw that stole the headlines whilst in France Wasps’ Captain James
Haskell and the phenomenon that is Ashley Johnson came in for much praise.
Tomorrow Castres will return to Adams Park with little to play for and later on
today Harlequins must step up again in Dublin in what will be an intriguing
battle of wills. 
Pool 3 witnessed a strong Ulster victory over the Scarlets and a
close fought and extremely feisty encounter at Welford Road between Leicester
and Toulon. Ulster kept themselves in touching distance thanks to the feet of
Tommy Bowe and an impressive man of the match performance from Darren Cave. In
the Midlands it all kicked off as Richard Cockerill's Leicester showed us that they should never be ignored and upped their game by about a million percent! Owen Williams
kicked 20 points under intense pressure and they ground out a win that is likely to change their entire season in all competitions due to its timing and significance. The drama continued after the final whistle
and sparks will fly, on and off the field, at the Stade Félix Mayol this weekend.
Pool 4 delivered the only French win of the round as Toulouse were
victorious over the Glasgow Warriors at the Stade Ernest Wallon. Glasgow’s
progression this season has been outstanding and it is a credit to their
confidence and belief as to how disappointed they were to lose in France. In
dismal conditions one of our league leaders Bath won comfortably over Montpellier however their failure
to secure a winning bonus point has left them in a spot of limbo now going into Round 4. George Ford excelled as always, as did the entire pack on a night where
even the most advanced of boots didn’t stand a chance of gaining too much traction! The focus on Friday will be on gaining that bonus point and of course delighting in Slammin Sam's first start in Rugby Union.
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| (C) Claire Jones |
In the final pool; Pool 5, one match went according to the
form book and the other went a little off piste! Northampton enjoyed their
weekend in Italy as they pushed, a comfortable, six tries past Treviso. Luther
Burrell excelled on his birthday and it was the sixth win in seven games in all
competitions for Jim Mallinder's men. At the Liberty Stadium we were treated to a
classic game of two halves as Alyn Wyn Jones’ Ospreys came back to draw against
an an organised Racing Metro side. Northampton shouldn't have too many issues in securing another bonus point this weekend, however I'm not expecting Mallinder to take his foot off the gas selection wise for points mean prizes in Europe.
All in all it was intense
weekend of action and one that has made Round 4 of this Champions Cups delightfully intriguing. Our Aviva Premiership clubs did us proud with 6 wins... the question is can they do it again!?!?
Northampton Saints Photos © Claire Jones RedHatPhoto.com all proceeds supporting Restart, the rugby players' charity.
