With the last weekend of domestic rugby before the Six Nations, here is the roundup of the weekend’s action, addressing all the key areas and questions we all have and want to know.
With the last weekend of domestic rugby before the Six Nations, here is the roundup of the weekend’s action, addressing all the key areas and questions we all have and want to know.
There were some standout performers this weekend, with Leinster’s Scott Penny grabbing a hat-trick vs Edinburgh, Andre Esterhuizen leading his Sharks side to a derby win, and Stafford McDowall winning MOTM in his side's game at home to Munster, being a constant threat in attack. But for me, in the question of who the best player was this weekend, it was Glasgow’s fly-half Dan Lancaster. In only his fourth start for the Scottish side, he was simply outstanding. His performance was exactly what you want from your fly-half, running the attack system with beautiful passing, putting players into gaps and firing miss passes to get out into the wide channels, nailing his kicks going five from five from the tee and then being an absolute rock in defence with the most tackles completed for his side with 14. Then also added a try with a perfect interception. Glasgow fans would have been panicked when it was announced Adam Hastings was leaving at the end of the season, but with Lancaster fans should worry a lot less if Friday night’s performance was a sign of things to come.
In what was the highlight of this weekend’s URC action, there is only one right answer, I mean, can you really beat a side-stepping prop? Ulster’s Angus Bells’ try was a thing of beauty as he sniped from the ruck to break the line and then sat down full back Cam with a beautiful left foot step before then stepping back off his right to beat the covering winger Loan Lloyd and then diving over under the sticks. The Wallaby proving what an exceptional talent he is and why he is one of the best, as there aren’t many props in world rugby who could have scored that try.
Was the best place to be a rugby fan this weekend, seeing your side win over your rivals at home in a tight contest will be the highlight of any fan’s weekend. So the best place to be as a URC fan would have been as a Sharks fan down in Durban. In what was a competitive close game that saw its first try after twenty seconds. So fans didn’t have to wait long to be entertained. The Sharks really upped the anti in the last half an hour and came away winners with an eight-point lead, with fans in party mood at full time.
Was the most excited I felt watching the URC this weekend? When Munster scored their fourth try to get back to within one score, you really felt that their comeback could be on after being down 28-5. Then scoring three tries in fifteen minutes, the games momentum had spun on its head. You could hear both sets of fans cheering their sides on at the next restart. Every fan loves a comeback, and for a few brief minutes, it felt Munster could pull off a huge away result.
What as fans had us asking why this weekend? Well, when I was watching Benetton vs Scarlets, there was a lot of feeling of why and how this game was going ahead. With some tv cameras, it was nearly impossible to make out the players, and from one touchline conversion, you couldn’t even make out the white of the posts through the thick fog. I can’t really answer why, as the game was competitive and a good game all in all, so I go with one I can. As a fan, you see Ben Vellacott get essentially headbutted and blood pouring from his nose in the Leinster vs Edinburgh match and no penalty is given, at the very least it seems strange. In rugby, recently that any head contact nearly always results in a card of some kind. But in this instance despite the outcome of Vellacott’s broken nose, this was qualified as a rugby incident. Due to Vellacott being bent over and in a low position at the ruck and the fact that John Mckee is just trying to clear out the ruck and has come from a low position and just after the clear out, followed through into Vellacott. A frustrating one for Edinburgh fans but the right decision in the end.
