In our preview of Round 4 of the pool stage last week, we described the EPCR competitions as ‘schizophrenic’ and this was displayed no more clearly than in the performance of the Top 14 sides in the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. We pull out the report cards for each of the French sides, so who is top of the class, who should do better, and who can consider themselves in detention…
In our preview of Round 4 of the pool stage last week, we described the EPCR competitions as ‘schizophrenic’ and this was displayed no more clearly than in the performance of the Top 14 sides in the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. We pull out the report cards for each of the French sides, so who is top of the class, who should do better, and who can consider themselves in detention…
Champions Cup
Union Bordeaux Bègles - Grade: A+
The reigning champions are the undoubted success story from a French perspective in this year’s Champions Cup, finishing top of the seedings after securing a bonus point win in every game and racking up a big points difference. After a sticky start to the season, they got players back from injury and hit form at just the right time for the defence of their title - and then some! The form of Matthieu Jalibert has been stratospheric, and the pack is settled and looking better than it has done in past seasons. The talented Temo Matiu seems to have made the no.8 jersey his own.
They got the benefit last year of gaining top seeding in the pool, and will be looking to secure that again with eyes once more on a semi-final across town at Matmut Atlantique.
Toulon - Grade: B
Just about met expectations. They would have wanted to win the pool with a view to secure a home quarter-final like last year, and team selections reflected that. However, the performances looked disjointed and the defeat away to Edinburgh - where they were outplayed and outsmarted in the driving rain - ultimately cost them.
They ran out comfortable winners at home to Bath and also edged out Munster at the Mayol, showing that they remain tough to beat there - Stormers will have it tough, even if they send their strongest side. Their win away at Gloucester was impressive, and an encouraging sign for their previously dreadful away form.
Toulouse - Grade: C+
They ultimately end up with a very similar situation to last season, where they qualified as runners up in their pool, giving them a home tie against PREM opposition, with a likely quarter-final away at a Top 14 rival. However, last season they qualified with four resounding wins, only missing out on topping their pool because of not securing a bonus point win away at the Sharks. This campaign has clearly not been as impressive, with defeats to Glasgow Warriors and Saracens proving that Europe’s great aristocrats can’t do it away on a rainy night on a plastic pitch.
After last year, their expectation would have been to win the pool, and they pay the price for those two losses with what looks like a trickier route to the final: their visitors in the Round of 16, Bristol Bears, actually earned more points in the Pool stage, and their prospective quarter-final trip is to champions UBB.
Toulouse just about hit their absolute minimum requirement, but they should have done better.
Castres - Grade: B
What a rollercoaster of a campaign for Castres! It started with a frustrating defeat away at Gloucester in which they consistently shot themselves in the foot, but they followed that up by nilling Edinburgh at Stade Pierre Fabre - a result which looked to have given Castres fans optimism for the second half of the season.
However, they were then toppled at home to Bath with a performance that was eerily similar to their defeat at Gloucester, where they got on the wrong side of the ref and failed to adapt - a trait that has dogged them over the past couple of seasons.
Castres then, of course, finally cast aside their reputation for not caring about this competition, with a phenomenal smash-and-grab performance in Limerick - their away victory against Munster is right up there with their best in continental competitions. They will hope to perform better away at Franklin’s Gardens than they did in last year’s quarter-finals.
La Rochelle - Grade: E
Anyone have La Rochelle’s Round of 16 fixture being away to Newcastle Red Bulls on their bingo card for this year’s competitions? Nope, us neither.
If anyone was still in doubt as to whether the era of the great double-winning side was over, they can be no longer. There were signs in their thumping win over Leicester’s B team and in a valiant defeat away to Leinster that there was still life in the old dog(s). That illusion was shattered by Harlequins at the Stade Marcel Deflandre, where they were outplayed by a team who appeared to be more up for it on the day.
Questions will now be asked over Ronan O’Gara’s position as Head Coach. These would not be without merit, but he can at least point to an injury list that is not only long, but also includes plenty of players critical to their game plan. Regardless, this was a poor campaign from Les Maritimes.
Pau - Grade: D
Despite it being Section Paloise’s first campaign in the top tier competition since 2001, it should still go down as a disappointment, as they failed to qualify for the Champions Cup knockouts.
Coming into the tournament as one of the form sides in the Top 14, they chose to rotate their squad and their teams were made to look even weaker with a swathe of injuries both in the 24 hours before games, and within the early parts of each game.
They played some great rugby and they showed just how deep their pool of young talent is. On this week’s Rosbifs Rugby Podcast, scrum-half Dan Robson highlighted just how important it was to give players exposure at this top level. Ultimately though, a couple of late slip ups at home to Northampton and to the Bulls, where they surrendered a losing bonus point and a victory in the last 10 minutes, cost them and they failed to achieve their goal of making the Champions Cup knockouts.
Clermont Auvergne - Grade: F
A forgettable campaign for Clermont, a side who’s unrequited romance with this competition will be remembered by so many. That romance has steadily been on the decline during the tenure of Christophe Urios - a man who has never seemed to care too much for this competition.
Clermont’s team selections weren’t obviously underwhelming - at least not until the final round when they had nothing to play for - but their performances were, and they finished the pool stage pointless. They were so bad that every team that played them also secured a try-scoring bonus point. Must try harder.
Bayonne - Grade: E-
No side stunk the place out with their team selections in the Champions Cup this season more than Bayonne. Usually indomitable at home, they surrendered their unbeaten home record this season on the first evening of this year’s competition and threw in the towel from there. Away hammerings in England ensued.
They did at least field something looking like a first-choice XV in their final pool game - and gave Leinster an almighty scare. Ultimately, though, the strength of their bench let them down. They won’t be too disheartened by being done with continental competition, and they can at least point to providing one of the memorable moments of the tournament when their fans started a conga line at the Stoop despite the concession of over 50 points.
Challenge Cup
Montpellier - Grade: A
As two-time winners of the Challenge Cup and possessing a squad with size and of considerable depth, Montpellier would have come into the Challenge Cup as one of the favourites. Finishing the pool stage as top seeds, with a perfect record of 20 points from 20, including grinding out an away win against Ospreys, they can consider their campaign a successful one.
They have also managed to do it while resting some of their key men and getting game time into their squad players and those returning from injury, so they come out of it with genuine competition for places.
Stade Français - Grade: B+
Stade Français haven’t really bothered much with the continental competitions since winning the Challenge Cup in 2017, but this was a pleasing offering from the Parisians. Themselves sitting in 3rd in the Top 14, they can count to a fairly tough pool, featuring the current 3rd placed side in the PREM and the current 3rd and 4th placed sides in the URC.
Losing the stiffest test of those pool games - the visit to Ulster - in the final game consigned them to 2nd place, but they do finish as the best 2nd place side and they would benefit from a home quarter-final should they win in the next round. Like Montpellier, they’ve also been able to progress while getting game time and form into both their key men and their fringe players.
USA Perpignan - Grade: C
Given USAP’s current predicament as the second-bottom side in the Top 14, you could argue whether progressing to the knockout stages of this competition actually counts as a success. A late penalty earned them a draw against the Emirates Lions, qualifying ahead of them by a points difference only seven points superior. They did, however, secure their first win of this season in Round 1 of the pools so can definitely point to that as a positive, given that gave them momentum to win two Top 14 games and lift themselves off bottom place.
And who knows, given their trajectory, they may get to the Round of 16 in April in a much more comfortable position and may want to target this competition. Their next Top 14 game, at home to Montauban, will go a long way to deciding that.
Racing 92 - Grade: E
As referenced above, Racing 92 found themselves in a surprisingly tough pool. This season they have shifted away from their era of signing big names, so expectations would have been tempered, despite reaching the semi-finals last year. Nevertheless, being knocked out in the pool stage is certainly sub-standard, something epitomised by needing a 78th minute try to secure a home win against the Cheetahs. It is 10 years since Racing 92 won a trophy and it will be six years since they last contested a final. Must try harder.
Lyon - Grade: F-
The team that beat Racing 92 in last year’s semi final was Lyon, who had an even poorer campaign. As last year’s runners up, they should have been aiming to go one better this year and repeat their success of 2022. They would have been among the favourites coming into the tournament.However, they failed to win a game, finishing bottom of their pool and handing first wins of the season to two sides (in Newcastle and Dragons).
In the Top 14, Lyon have an 18 point cushion above the relegation and are 11 points off the playoffs. In other words, it’s highly unlikely they will be relegated and it is highly unlikely they will be contesting for the Top 14 come the Barrages. Quite why then, when you have nothing else to play for, you decide to field weakened sides in the one competition that could bring you some rare silverware is truly baffling. Simply not good enough.
Montauban - Grade: E
It is quite hard to grade Montauban. Their sole focus this season was always going to only be about Top 14 survival, and given how inferior their operating budget is to the remainder of the league, the Challenge Cup clearly represented an opportunity to rest the key men in their shallow squad. It is hardly surprising that they finished the pool winless, their only 2 points coming in a home defeat to Black Lion.
They could have used the competition to try and build momentum ahead of a critical period of the season (trips to 13th placed USAP and 12th placed Lyon are two of their next three fixtures). In sending a rotated side to Galway and losing 75-14 to Connacht in the last round, we can conclusively say they opted against that option. Good luck for the rest of the season.