In front of Dusautoir’s record
Last Friday, the first day of the United Rugby Championship was launched, and gave way to some great matches. However, the match that interests us was played on Saturday, September 21 at 8:45 p.m., in the Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast between Ulster and the Glasgow Warriors.
Before the match, it was difficult to predict a winner as the two teams were so close on paper. However, Glasgow had a certain advantage given that the Scottish team won the championship last year, notably beating Leinster in the semi-final and the Bulls in the final.
However, in the Northern Irish capital of Belfast, it was the home side who narrowly won, 20-19 thanks to a try from Shanahan. The latter scored five minutes after regulation time. However, that is not what interests us today.
During the game, the game was rather closed and offensive flights were rare. The defenses were dense and one player stood out in this sector in the person of Rory Darge. The third row of the XV du Chardon achieved the feat of beating Thierry Dusautoir’s tackle record.
The 24-year-old made 39 tackles on his own in over 80 minutes, a top-level performance that outshines the Dark Destroyer’s 38 tackles. As a reminder, the former Toulouse player disgusted the All Blacks in the quarter-final of the 2007 World Cup.
For Darge, it is a personal record, but also a performance that had not been seen since April 2019. On the 20th day of the Pro 14, another Scot, Johnny Gray, brought 43 opponents to the ground, the absolute record in this area.. The latter also played for Glasgow.
Last year, Jack Willis made 30 tackles against Leinster in the Champions Cup final. In 2022, Lucas Dessaigne (Clermont) made 29 tackles, the Top 14 record, and last season, Barnabé Massa (Grenoble) made 31 tackles. In the Premiership, three players made 34 tackles: Jacques Burger v Exeter in 2013, Tom Dunn v Sale in 2021 and Blair Cowan v Worcester in 2021.
A remarkable defensive performance
As you will have understood, the Warriors’ trademark is their defensive generosity, coupled with a rare combativeness. This season, they are in the race for a new title.
However, Rory Darge wasn’t the only one to do a terrific job against Ulster. In total, his teammates made 298 tackles out of 316 attempts, or 94% success. A true masterpiece.
Among the starting XV, six players made more than 20 tackles and on the full match sheet, sixteen players made more than 10 tackles. A behind-the-scenes job that unfortunately wasn’t enough to win the game.
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