Away, Stade Toulousain and Union Bordeaux-Bègles once again, crushed their opponentsrespectively Exeter and Ulster. Stade Français, hit by indiscipline which is becoming problematic, almost said goodbye to his hopes of qualifyingfalling to Jean Bouin against Saracens (17-28). From this indiscipline, we will remember the red card addressed to Sékou Macalou, who is going through complicated weeks at the club. We tried to understand this bad period. Rabah Slimani faced his former club Clermont with Leinster. A part which allowed us to see Jordie Barrett scores his first try for his first start in his new club. But the Dubliners did not reassure their supporters. Finally, Racing 92 once again fell heavily, this time in Sale (29-7). Here is the information from the weekend that you shouldn't miss.
Toulouse and UBB stay the course
Stade Toulousain and Union Bordeaux Bègles have confirmed, a little more, their status as huge favorites for the Champions Cup title. Already largely victorious eight days ago, the two French formations this time played outoutside.
The Toulousains did not do well, winning very widely on the lawn of the Exeter Chiefs (21-64), scoring a whopping ten tries. From the start of the meeting, we understood that the trip of the Rouge et Noir would be like a health walk. Facing Henry Slade's partners, last in the Premiership and who have not experienced victory since the start of the seasonwe had to avoid the trap and make the task easy. This was done, since very quickly and on a try from Antoine Dupont, Ugo Mola's men got their hands on the match. “ There are movements on launches that are interesting, it’s another string to our bow. On counter-attacks, turnovers, we know that we are rather effective, it's a bit of the general state of mind of the club. But on the launches, the quality and the seriousness of our forwards, especially on the conquest part against a very good scrum, we managed to launch our game and score quite correctly », welcomed the Toulouse coach at a press conference. First of the hen, Toulouse must now confirm these first two successes to keep their place. And the matches promise to be much more difficult, between the reception of Leicester and above all, a perilous trip to the Sharks.
Because a little earlier in the weekend, the UBB, in competition with Toulouse to snatch this first placerolled out and put pressure on the Haut-Garonnais. The Girondins won on the lands of Ulster (19-40). Taken to the break in Belfast and behind in the score until the 60thwe thought that the Bordeaux-Bègles Union would not be able to get rid of the Irish trap. Finally, Yannick Bru’s men have accelerated in the last twenty minutescrossing the line via Penaud, Petti, Bielle-Biarrey and Boniface, snatching an improved success.
A little warning surely beneficial for the rest of the European campaign. Still, the Bordeaux training is almost already qualified.
Sekou Macalou, a period of doubt at Stade Français
His talent is undeniable. And that's why, when we know his ability to be one of the best players on the field when he's at his peak, that we are currently entitled to expect much more. You will have understood, we are talking about Sekou Macalou. The flanker from Stade Français Paris (29 years old, 1m95, 108kg), literally lost his temper this Sunday, precipitating the fall of his team against Saracens (defeat 28-17). Before that, the men in pink controlled their start to the match on their Jean Bouin pitch, leading 10-0 against an English team then on the ropes despite a try being denied to Liam Williams.
Then on a scrum, around the 20e minute of play, everything changed. Sekou Macalou first tripped Ivan Van Zyl, before inexplicably throwing himself to the ground, on the South African scrum-half and give him a terrible headline. Logically, the Parisian third line was sent off and forced his team to play for an hour with a numerical inferiority. Too hard against Sarries who didn't ask for that much.
So, there is no question of throwing Sekou Macalou out to pasture. But rather to try to understand. Because for several months, the native of Sarcelles is only a shadow of himselfand this unfortunate Sunday episode is added to a long list of dull performances from the player. Often the X factor of Stade Français, Macalou kept his team afloat for a long timethanks to his extraordinary qualities, capable of breaking any defense. But this kind of exploit, of which he was customary in fact, has been around for a long time, except on the first day and his double in Bordeaux, which we no longer see.
Often injured, now regularly confined to the substitutes' benchMacalou is no longer an indisputable holder and his investment sometimes raises questions, particularly among aficionados of the Parisian club. So what to do? Surely a good challenge and above all, to get out of this bad situation. Because let us not be afraid of words, when he is in full measure of his abilities, he is undoubtedly one of the best players in our championship. And Stade Français will need a Macalou in great form from now on, to maintain its presence in the Top 14.
Slimani beats his former club Jordie Barrett to score, but Leinster worries
Former member of the ASM, Rabah Slimani, joined Leinster to everyone's surprise this summer. The pillar trained at Stade Français had the luxury of facing his former club this Saturday. “ I had to stay in Clermont, we had even planned for several years for me to become a coach. When talking with the staff last year, we finally said that I could continue for another year but there wasn't really an offer except at the very end of the season and that was too late. . Leinster positioned themselves at the last moment and it happened. I would never have believed it but it happened and I said to myself that at 35, if I didn't do it now, I would have regretted never having discovered a championship other than the Top 14.” recently declared the former Parisian for Midi Olympique.
Lost for rugby according to some, no longer called up by the French XV for a long time, Slimani wants to win one of the only titles missing from his record, a Champions Cup. Opposed to ASM, the solid right-hander participated in the short success of his team (15-7), facing an Auvergne team which traveled with intentions to Dublin. This meeting was also an opportunity to see Jordie Barrett's first tenure with Leinster. The youngest of the Barrett siblings, has also distinguished himself, registering a test. Established at full-back, the New Zealand international (68 caps) proved valuable in the air, and survived in an unconvincing team.
Indeed, in search of a fifth star, beaten three years consecutively in the final, Leinster did not reassure. Certainly, the Clermontois put out a solid performance, but the Irish have accustomed us to better. An aging team, at the end of its cycle? Hard to say. But they will have to do much better if they want to rise to the level of the best teams in this Champions Cup.
Racing 92 falls again
Clearly, this Racing cannot do it. After a convincing victory against Harlequins (21-13), the Ile-de-France residents relapsed, this time heavily on the Sale lawn (29-7), without there being anything to complain about. Yet only five points after the locker room, the Ciel et Blanc suffered, in the second half, repeated attacks from the men from the suburbs of Manchester.
This second act was a long way of the cross, and Stuart Lancaster's men never seemed able to turn the game around. This is starting to become worrying. Very average in the championship, same observation in the Champions Cup, the Racingmen, irregular, also struggle in the game.
It will be a question of quickly finding solutions, otherwise there will be great disillusionment for this club which nevertheless has great ambitions.
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