Amlin Challenge Cup - Semi Finals Wrap

Toulon 32-29 Stade Français

Toulon struggled to a tight win against Stade Français to reach the final, thanks to the boot of Jonny Wilkinson securing a late drop goal for the win.

At home, against a very much weakened Stade Français team, Toulon were expected to win much more comfortably, but with a massive wind helping Stade Français in the first half they helped themselves to an early lead as young fly half Jules Plisson looked comfortable and assured with the boot.

When Toulon had the wind on their backs, several penalties from Jonny Wilkinson soon put them back into the lead, but Stade didn't give up and were in the match right up until the end when Wilkinson struck the winning drop goal.

There was no representation from the Americas in this match, with Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe on the sidelines.

American Takudzwa Ngwenya
evades the tackle of Argentine
Agustín Figuerola

Biarritz 19-0 Brive

Biarritz made it two home wins out of two in the semi finals as pretty much everybody expected as soon as the semi final draw was made.

Like Stade Français, Brive played a weakened side, but only slightly weakened compared to Stade's ransacked side.

The game was a very dull one, played in soaking conditions with two teams not playing much rugby, the excitement of the match lessened further when it became clear early on that Biarritz were not going to lose as well.

For Biarritz American Takudzwa "Zee" Ngwenya played the entire match on the wing, as did Argentine centre Marcelo Bosch who started at fly half, lock Manuel Carizza who is leaving the Basque side at the end of the season also started, whilst tighthead prop Franciso Gómez Kodela came off the bench.

For Brive Argentine scrum half Agustín Figuerola played the entire match whilst loosehead prop Pablo Henn came off the bench.

The Amlin Challenge Cup final will be played at the Twickenham Stoop on Wednesday the 18th of May between Toulon and Biarritz.


If Toulon win, the team that finishes seventh in the Top 14 will qualify for the 2012/13 Heineken Cup, if Biarritz win then they will qualify instead.

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Horacio Agulla

Following the injury to José Mario Nuñez Piossek in Argentina´s final Warm-up match, against Belgium of all teams, before Rugby World Cup 2007, Pumas Headcoach, Marcelo Loffreda was left without a starting winger for France 2007. Lucas Borges was certain to start with Ignacio Corleto being the teams fullback following the positional change of Juan Martín Hernández to flyhalf. This meant that the option of Corleto playing wing was not going to transpire and Argentina would be forced to field a player lacking test match experience just two weeks latter to open the World Cup vs France in Paris. The player who was selected was the then unknown Horacio Agulla. With only five tests caps to his name and still playing as an amateur for Hindu in Buenos Aires, Horacio Agulla was suddenly playing for his country in the biggest match of his life as a 22 year old.

Longo holds Agulla after winning
the Quarter Final vs Scotland

Selected ahead of Hernán Senillosa and Federico Martín Aramburu, the occassion did not get the better of him as his defence proved to be highly effective and it was his intercept pass that won Argentina the match as he latched onto a wobbly pass from Remy Martin before off-loading to Manuel Contepomi who set Ignacio Corleto free for the try which changed the script of Rugby World Cup 2007. With Argentina going through the pool phase undefeated, for the first time in Rugby World Cup history, Agulla was a regular and  after being rested for the clash with Georgia he returned to face Namibia and every match thereafter in the Tournament. He got his name on the try scores sheet as he went over after collecting a pass from backrower Gonzalo Longo which proved decisive in swining a back and forward first half in favor of Los Pumas. 

Agulla´s rise was, indeed from humble beginnings. His rise to Los Pumas came before the PladAR system had been created and of all the players featuring in the 2007 World Cup Semi Finals he was the only amateur player. As Argentina was getting past the difficulties occuring in the country´s rugby set up in the middle stages of the decade, Agulla was one of the role models for Argentina as he had made it into the senior team and stayed there on his own as he didn´t have a professional club or union to sustain him. The 2006 European Tour had been were Agulla had established himself in the Pumas squad. He played in two of Argentina´s three tests. He started vs Italy in Rome on the left wing with Ignacio Corleto playing right wing. One week earlier, he had come on as a replacement vs England in Argentina´s first ever win over England at Twickenham. During the prematch stages of that game Agulla was seen walking with a limp a and it has since become known that he has a physical disorder known as Legg–Calvé–Perthes syndrome in which his right leg is 3cm longer than his left. As such he walks with a limp and this can be noticed when he is entering the field from the changing sheds. 

Agulla playing French Rugby for Brive

In the aftermath of Rugby World Cup 2007 Agulla was offered a professional contract to play in the Top 14 for the newly promoted Dax. The club struggled to adapt to the demands of the Top 14 and alognside Auch was relegated back to the Pro d2. Agulla had been a regular starter in the team and as such had attracted offers to join rival clubs and he Signed a two year deal to play for Brive from 2008-2010. While at Brive he matured greatly as a player and was a regular in the team playing usually on the wing but occassionaly he was used at fullback. With Corleto being unavaliable to Santiago Phelan and Glasgow Warriors fullback, Bernardo Stortoni´s defensive style not serving Argentina as desired, Agulla was moved to fullback in 2009 for Los Pumas. His first game in the position was vs Ireland at Croke Park in November 2008 and he played there for the next seven tests before returning to the left wing to face Scotland in June 2010.

Try time for Leicester

Phelan had a new fullback, Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga who had come through the PladAR system and was heading to Stade Français the following season. Agulla, too, was changing clubs as after two seasons with Brive he took up an offer to play in England for the Leicester Tigers. He linked up with fellow Pumas winger Lucas González Amorosino and loosehead prop Marcos Ayerza. The chance of Agulla and Amorosino forming a combination for Leicester never transpired as te English club used Amorosino so rarely. Agulla, however, was used regularly by Leicester in his first season and started for the club in its Heineken Cup and Aviva Premiership play-offs matches. This put Agulla in good form ahead of the World Cup and he played in all of Los Pumas´ matches, starting them all on the wing.

Following Argentina´s Quarter Finals elimination Agulla returned to Leicester for his second season at the club. The ongoing season has proven to be the best of his career with Agulla winning the award of Player of Month in December and having been the teams starting right winger for all of the Aviva Premiership, Heineken Cup and LV= Cup. He has proven to be indispensible for Leicester yet the club has been not happy with his probable involvement in the 2012 Rugby Championship and as such has said it will be releasing him at the end of the current season. The UAR has been assisting Agulla in negotations for his to remain at the club and Agulla has himself said that his desire is to stay on with Leicester. Should he leave, however, he does have offers from other European clubs and Agulla has also said he is open to the possibility of playing Super Rugby. But his commitment to the Pumas jersey is what drives him. Given the choice of a professional salary at Leicester or playing in The Rugby Championship, Agulla has said he would choose Los Pumas. His attitude is comendable and an indication of the quality of a man that is Horacio Agulla. He is also a quality player with plenty left to give as he is still only 27 years old and remains a strong candidate to compete at a third Rugby World Cup. 

Week One: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week Two: Lucas González Amorosino

Week Three: Marcelo Bosch

Week Four: Agustín Creevy

Week Five: Juan Martín Hernández 
Week Six: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week Seven: Leonardo Senatore

Week Eight: Rodrigo Roncero
Week Nine: Gonzalo Camacho
Week Ten: Patricio Albacete
Week Eleven: Horacio Agulla
Week Twelve: Juan Figallo

Leguizamón Try Saving Tackle

Los Pumas backrower, Juan Manuel Leguizamón is having a solid season for a poor team. Having left Stade Français for Lyon OU this season, Leguizamón has been recieiving plenty of game time and has been a one of few good performers in the bottom of the table team. he has been the teams first choice number 7 and has made himself felt on the field, particularly in defence. In a recent match vs Brive, Leguizamón ended what would have been a certain try as he oput in a tackle on the tryline against Brive winger. As the ball was about to be grounded the Puma pulled on his shoulder and the result was a knock-on. Brive were awarded a penlaty as Leguizamón was deemed to have tackled the player above the shoulders. Leguizamón spent ten minutes in the sin bin.

The tackle was against the law based on a technicality but it, nevertheless, showed the players commitment to the team. The club is facing relegation back to the Pro d2 and needs to win at least three of its remaining matches to have any chance of staying in the French top flight. Lyon take on Montpellier latter on today in an away match. 

Le Fulguro-poing de Leguizamon por Le-Rugbynistere

Amlin Challenge Cup Quarter Finals Wrap

Stade Français 22-17 Exeter
Exeter, who look likely to be playing in the Heineken Cup next season, really gave a sleepy Stade Français a large fright at the Stade Charlety. They dominated most of the match, but failed to ever take a big lead on the scoreboard, and late on failed to take their chances with kicks, got some bad luck with some Stade ruck infringements going unseen and the lack of a camera at the right angle for a probable try whcih saw it disallowed meant Stade could score late on with a try from Paul Williams set up by some Julien Dupuy brilliance to take the match.

Ignacio Mieres making a break against Stade Français

This game also saw an interesting match up between two Pumas contenders for the number 10 shirt Felipe Contepomi and Ignacio Mieres. But both had mixed matches. Contepomi was less prominent in the match but stupidly sin binned after reacting to a borderline foul tackle and what looked like taunting by the Exeter hooker Chris Whitehead, but ultimately it was his chip kick to set up Djibril Camara's well finished try  that was crucial to the result.

Mieres on the otherhand, was better than Contepomi throughout the match, but failed to make a difference where it counts on the scoreboard. It was his sensational 40 metre break which set up Exeter disallowed try which was probably a try in the first half, and in the second half he quite simply bottled two opportunities to secure the match with a medium difficulty conversion and very easy drop goal miss, although it could be argued Stade were offside for the charge down. He will be gutted to have missed the chance to knock out the team which massively underused him and preferred to pick Lionel Beauxis on his one man mission to whack the leather of all rugby balls.

It will be interesting to see who is chosen for the Pumas 10 shirt as there are good arguments for all of Hernández, Contepomi and Mieres to start there for the Pumas later this year.

As a sidenote Stade Français continue to get some very poor crowds at the Stade Charlety, whilst they seem to always sell out the Stade de France for matches and played in front of a packed crowd in Mans two weeks ago their attendances at just average home matches has been dismal, only 4,693 turned up to this match.

Toulon 37-8 Harlequins
Whilst the first match had a scoreline which didn't reflect the match, the second certainly did as Toulon thumped the English leaders Harlequins which extends their unbeaten run at the Stade Mayol to 13 matches. Toulon were dominant in all areas of the pitch and just scored from any penalty conceded by Quins and added tries towards the end to sweeten the scoreline for them. Notably Steffon Armitage was outstanding in this match and must be working towards an England recall as a specialist number 7, a place he has never really been given a fair run before.

Harlequins had two Argentines playing, starting was Tomás Vallejos and Benjamín Urdapilleta off the bench, neither were particularly prominent in this match.

Wasps 23-26 Biarritz
This was a match that was Biarritz's to lose and they almost did, they had a dominating pack and created two excellent try opportunities in the first half only for Iain Balshaw to wreck them, nevertheless they were led 23-9 in the second half with a try from Blashaw and South African prop Eugene van Staden. But Wasps scored tow tries in three minutes to level the scores. After another ruined easy try opportunity by Florian Faure this time, the Basque side eventually went through thanks to the trusty calmness of Dimitri Yachvili's boot.

Two Argentines were in the Biarritz team, Eusébio Guiñazu started at hooker and had a mixed day with one or two poor lineout throws, whilst Francisco Gómez Kodela came off the bench in the second half.

Brive 15-11 Scarlets
This was Brive's second string side, but it managed to defeat the Scarlets first choice side at home thanks mainly to a couple of factors. Brive dominated the Scarlets scrum and it is thanks to that Brive got most of the territory and their points from.

Whilst the Scarlets malfunctioned badly at the scrum, they also malfunctioned at the lineout with Matthew Rees who has been having a very poor season losing the first four or five lineouts. The Scarlets much talked about backs didn't get into the match. If the Scarlets want to compete at Heineken Cup level they will simply have to buy a better front five as their numbers one to five simply aren't good enough for Heineken Cup level rugby. And Brive proved that a worse team on paper, can beat a better team when the set pieces are so dominant.

Out of interest, France may want to keep an eye on the 19 year old loosehead prop Jefferson Poirot who on his first start for Brive destroyed the Scarlets tighthead, who was destroyed even more when Davit Khinchagishvili came on.

One Argentine, scrum half Agustín Figuerola played in this match coming off the bench late on for Brive.

Semi Final draw:
Toulon v Stade Français
Biarritz v Brive

The semi finals are an all French affair, and look very easy to predict, with the home teams having a massive advantage in each match, it would be a huge surprise not to see a Toulon against Biarritz final at the Stoop.

Final to be played at the Twickenham Stoop

Agustín Figuerola signs new contract with Brive

It was initially called to be an emergency and the case of the Leicester Tigers vs Horacio Agulla had alarm bells ringing as it sounded a warning to Argentine international players that maybe they would have to be forced between playing club rugby as a professional or playing for Los Pumas in The Rugby Championship. Since then ice has thawed and a number of players have resigned, are negotiating with their clubs or have offers to change to rival teams. The lattest such player is former CASI scrumhalf, Agustín Figuerola who has been playing in France for Brive since 2010 and has just signed a new deal with the central French club.

His form for the club this season has been solid as he has  case for a return to Los Pumas after having been left out of the squad for Rugby World Cup 2011. This season he has played twelve Top 14 Orange matches for Brive, seven in the starting lineup and has also played five times in the Amlin Challenge Cup.  He is pusing hard to take the number 9 shirt from Nicolás Vergallo.

French Top 14 - Round 22 Wrap

Imhoff certain to be the Pumas 11

Racing Métro 27-16 Castres

Racing Métro put in a strong performance in Paris in Friday´s only match to move back into the play-off´s zone and see Castres fall from 4th to 5th in the standings. With no Heineken Cup matches remaining this season, Racing Métro´s chances of a place in the play-off´s are all that much better as the club will be able to have fresh legs for its remaining Top 14 season matches. Moreover, all four remaining matches are against teams lower in the standings. The win over Castres featured four Pumas players as Juan Martin Hernández pulled the strings from flyhalf in playing an open brand of rugby. He succeeded in putting players into space, something that will be key for Argentine rugby this year in The Rugby Championship. The impressive Juan Imhoff again had a solid match on the left wing, scoring a secondhalf try and regularly getting past his man. Both players played the full 80 minutes while Juan Orlandi started at at tighthead prop, playing the first hour. As he left Alvaro Galindo entered as he played in the backrow for the final quarter of the match. His return to Los Pumas will be key this season with Argentina have a packed schedule which includes a record twelve test matches. 

Figuerola looking like a Puma again

Brive 14-9 Toulon
A major upset sees Brive´s chances of relegation have all but vanish entirely while Toulon´s impressive secondhalf performance from last weekend vs Racing Métro was nowhere to be seen. Brive are now eight points clear of 13th place and should the club win its home match vs Bordeaux-Begles on May 04th the club will all but certainly remain in France´s Top Flight. Scrumhalf, Agustín Figuerola started and played 75 minutes as he continues his push for Argentina´s 9 shirt despite not being selected for Rugby World Cup 2011. Former Pumas prop, Pablo Henn came on for Brive as a replacement in the 58th minute. Leonardo Senatore played the fullmatch in the backrow for the visitors. 

Perpignan 47-9 Bayonne

Two teams fighting it out for survival saw Welsh international, James Hook find good form as he scored 25 points to destory Bayonne who are now walking a tight rope with relegation increasingly looking certain. The visitors were totally outclassed and lacked ideas as the teams high profile players including All Blacks Joe Rokocoko, Neemia Tialata and Troy Flavell, Wales´ Mike Phillips and France´ Cedric Heymans are yet to gel and the chance of it happening is highly remote. 

Leguizamón maturing by the year

Lyon 24-13 Bordeaux
A vital in keeps Lyon´s dream of surviving in the Top 14 Orange alive. It is a tough challenge as, despite winning, Lyon are ten points behind Perpignan, eleven behind Biarritz and Bordeaux and twelve behind Agen and Brive. Lyon need to get ahead of one of these teams and hope Bayoone continue to lose matches.  It is, however, certainly a possibility as Lyon has games against Montpellier, Bayonne, Perpignan and Toulon remaining. It needs to target three wins and should be strong for both home matches - Bayonne and Toulon. The match vs Toulon could well see a weak Toulon side as it is in the final round of the Top 14 and, Toulon will have already secured its place in the play-offs. In Lyon OU´s win over Bordeaux-Begles, Santiago del Estero´s most famous product, Juan Manuel Leguizamón played the full 80 minutes in the backrow while Rafael Carballo continued his push for a recall to Los Pumas as he played the full match on the wing for Bordeaux-Begles. Flyhalf Nicolás Sánchez remains on the sidelines injured. 

Montpellier 44-18 Agen

L.G.A now Argentina´s leading fullback

The fantastic form of Lucas González Amorosino just continues as the man used so poorly by the Leicester Tigers scored another good try for Montpellier. Playing the full match at fullback, González Amorosino continued his outstanding combination with Martín Bustos Moyano in the back-three. Bustos Moyano had another good day himself to show his crentials as possibly Argentina´s best goalkicker. He converted all five of Montpellier´s tries and landed three penalties and scored a try of his own in scoring 24 points. The man charged wtih replacing Mario Ledesma, Agustín Creevy started and played 74 minutes at hooker. Maxiliano Bustos played the final seven minutes at prop while inside centre, Santiago Fernández came on in the 46th minute. Agen´s Belisario Agulla played on the right wing. 

Biarritz 15-14 Clermont

Guiñazú could yet be a Puma in 2012

No longer in danger of being relegated, Biarritz completed a major coup d´ tat in defeating the second placed Clermont Auvergne by a single point. The win puts Biarritz seven points clear of the relegation zone and with Biarritz playing Bayonne next round, on April 14th, a win would all but confirm Biarritz´s survival regardless of how it goes in the other remaining Top 14 Orange matches. Surprizingly, Eusebio Guiñazú was Biarritz´s starting hooker and got plenty of game time. He was joined in the frontrow by uncapped tighthead prop, Francisco Gomez Kodela who played 24 minutes. Centre Marcelo Bosch was also on the bench and came on in the 65th minute. Secondrower Manuel Carizza did not feature. Clermont´s Canadian enforcer, Jamie Cudmore featured for the visitors from the bench.

Stade Français 18-22 Toulouse

Vergallo´s 9 position is under threat

Toulouse go clear of Clermont to hold a four point lead in the competition with their away win at the Stade de France. The result also means Stade Français fall outside of the barrage zone, but just a sinlge point behind Paris rivals, Racing Métro and a further point behind Castres. On form both Paris teams should make the play-off´s with Castres missing out. Stade Français´ 10-12 Pumas combination of Felipe Contepomi and Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga remains intact with the players former the playing combination for the full 80 minutes and Contepomi landing 12 points. Veteran Pumas loosehead prop Rodrigo Roncero started in the number 1 shirt and played 75 minutes. A potential Pumas prop of the future, Francisco Nahuel Tetaz, entered the match with 12 minutes remaining while Sergio Parrise played the full match in the backrow and scored a disallowed try. The USA´s Scott LaValla was unsued from the bench. Pumas scrumhalf, Nicolás Vergallo played 15 minutes as a replacement for Toulouse and looked solid despite lacking game time. Secondrower, Patricio Albacete was rested by Toulouse while Gonzalo Tiesi is expected to return shortly for the Parisians.

Racing Métro vs Castres

RM 92 v CO - Le résumé en vidéo por racingmetro92

Brive vs Toulon


Perpignan vs Bayonne

Résumé du match USAP Bayonne Avril 2012 por USAP_Communication


Montpellier vs Agen

Interviews d'après match : MHR-Agen por MontpellierRugby

Biarritz vs Clermont

BO-ASM : Le Résumé por asm

Top 14 Orange Standings
1 Toulouse 78
2 Clermont 74
3 Toulon 63
4 Montpellier 57
5 Castres 55
6 Racing Métro 54
7 Stade Français 53
8 Agen 42
9 Brive 42
10 Biarritz 41
11 Bordeaux 41
12 Perpignan 40
13 Bayonne 34
14 Lyon 30

* Play-offs and Heineken Cup Qualification
* Facing relegation