Top 14 - Final Round Wrap

Round 26, the final round, of the French Top 14 was played on Saturday, confirming Brive´s relegation to the Pro d2 along with Lyon and confirming Racing Métro as the sixth placed French side joining Clermont Auvergne, Toulouse, Toulon, Castres and Montpellier in the Top six and therefore qualifying for the 2012-2013 Heineken Cup. As such Racing Métro will take on the third placed Toulon in one of the two barrage play-off matches scheduled for May 26 while the fourth placed Castres will host Montpellier in the other, one day earlier in what is a rematch from last seasons barrage match when Argentina´s Martín Bustos Moyano eliminated Castres. By virtue of finishing first and second in the regular season, Clermont Auvergne and Toulouse are rewarded with automatic qualification for the Semi Finals and will face the winners of the barrage matches. The exit of Brive to the second division continues a tradition of Southwestern French sides exiting as the competition is increasingly being spread to more areas of the country and is also seeing the small town teams benig replaced by big city teams. 

The final round was another case in point of why Rugby World Cup 2023 ought to take place in Argentina as Pumas players both experienced and young were on show in large numbers, scoring tries and putting in solid performances. Moreover, Argentine players were joined by players from Canada, Uruguay and the USA as the Americas, the last frontier for Rugby World Cups, continues to contribute greatly to the global game.

Agen 25-22 Racing Métro

The new sensation, Juan Imhoff scored a try playing on the left wing and was joined in the backthree by  Juan Martín Hernández. Backrower Alvaro Galindo joined the pair in playing the full match. Juan Orlandi was a 54th minute replacement. None of Agen´s three Pumas featured. 

Bordeaux Begles 37-29 Perpignan
Former Pumas winger Rafael Carballo played outside centre for Bordeaux, scoring a first half try.

Clermont Auvergne 57-14 Brive

Canadian Jamie Cudmore played secondrow for the winners. Three former Puams played for Brive with Agustín Figuerola playing scrumhalf and scoring a try. Pablo Henn started atr loosehead prop and tighthead prop Pablo Cardinali played the full secondhalf.

Toulouse 20-13 Montpellier

Pumas secnodrower Patricio Albacete played 67 minutes for Toulouse but scurmhalf Nicolás Vergallo did not feature. Lucas González Amorosino played fullback for Montpellier and Martín Bustos Moyano was the left winger, kicking one penalty and a conversion. Juan Figallo started in his Pumas position of tighthead prop and Agustín Creevy at hooker. Pumas inside back Santiago Fernández came on in the 56th minute while Maximilano Bustos was unused from the bench.

Lyon 5-29 Toulon

The man expected to lead Los Pumas, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe played the full match for Toulon, scorign a try. His Pumas backrow colleague, Juan Manuel Leguizamón did not play however.

Castres 31-29 Bayonne

Uruyan international, Rodrigo Capó Ortega started for Castres.

Biarritz 15-6 Stade Français

USA winger Taku Ngwenya played in the 14 shirt for Biarritz and Pumas centre Marcelo Bosch played fullback. Francisco Gomez Kodela came into the frontrow in the 49th minute while secondrower Manuel Carizza entered in the 62nd. Pumas legend Rodrigo Roncero played his final game of French rugby and Felipe Contepomi played at inside centre and Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga was a 54th minute replacement. 

Top 14 Barrage
Friday May 25 Castres vs Montpellier, Stade Pierre-Antoine
Saturday May 26 Toulon vs Racing Métro, Stade Féliz-Mayol


Final Standings
1 Clermont 87
2 Clermont 87
3 Toulon 73
4 Castres 69
5 Montpellier 67
6 Racing Métro 64
7 Stade Français 58
8 Bordeaux 53
9 Biarritz 52
10 Agen 52
11 Perpignan 49
12 Bayonne 48
13 Brive 42
14 Lyon 31

* Semi Finalists
* Barrage
* Relegated to Pro d2

Agen vs Racing Métro

SUA v RM 92 - Le résumé en vidéo por racingmetro92

Bordeaux vs Perpignan

Résumé du match Bordeaux vs USAP - Mai 2012 por USAP_Communication

Clermont vs Brive

ASM-Brive : Le résumé por asm

Toulouse vs Montpellier


Lyon vs Toulon

Jamie Cudmore Tribute video

Cudmore breaking through a tackle vs Leicester

Jamie Cudmore is a legendary rugby player in both his home country of Canada and his French club, Clermont.  The secondrower is a hard man both on and off the field and is well respected in French rugby circles. He has played in three Rugby World Cups and four French Top 14 Finals and, in 2010, was crowned champion of France. Now aged 33 he is into the twilight of this career but could join the elit club of players to have played in four Rugby World Cup´s but he will be turning 37 come September 2015. Cudmore has been playing for the French club since 2005 and previously played one season for Grenoble and before that he played two seasons in Wales with Llanelli. 

His   performances over a long period of time at the top level in France speak wonders for his abilities and underline his contribute as a representative of Canada to the global game. Off the field, Cudmore leads an active life in France and is even the owner of a wine bar. The following video is a fitting tribute to the player and the person. 

Heineken Cup - Semi Finals Wrap

 
Ulster 22-19 Edinburgh

1999 Heineken Cup champions, Ulster are into the final after defeating Scottish side, Edinburgh in Dublin on Saturday. The match saw one try being scored per team with Ulster scoring a first half try and Edinburgh leaving it too late as the team´ try was in the 80th minute. Curiously, neither side will play in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 Semi Finals in May. The match was a reminder of the power of rugby with the Irish province of Ulster which, in effect, is essentially Northern Ireland winning the match in the capital of the Republic of Ireland. The venue, Aviva Stadium, attracted a strong crowd despite it being the Northern Irish team, the enemy of the Republic of Ireland in others sports including soccer. While the two Ireland´s are united in rugby and play without any political or religious issues the same is not true in soccer. Neil Lennon, for instance, retired from international duty with Northern Ireland in 2002 following death-threats from supporters  Following a statement of Lennon saying he wished to play for a combined Irish team. While soccer calls itself the beautiful game rugby is the gentlemans game. The USA´s Callum Black did not feature for Ulster while neither of Edinburgh´s Argentine players, Esteban Lozada and Ulises Gamboa, played either.

Clermont Auvergne 15-19 Leinster

Bordeaux was the venue for the second final with a packed stadium yet again in South-Western France.   Many Leinster fans made the trip for the match and it was a memorable match for them, unlike Ireland´s two matches at the same venue in Rugby World Cup 2007. It was far from being a Clermont Semi Final for this reason as the competition organizers srt aside a number o tickets for fans of each team making it closer to being a neutral macth than anything else. With Leinster winning it will be a Republic of Ireland vs Northern Ireland final with the match being played in London. Canada´s Jamie Cudmore started in the secondrow and played the full match for Clermont. He came close to scoring a try in overtime. It would have won the match for the French team. The Argentine-Italian centre, Gonzalo Canale, missed the match as he has been pushed out of the team due to France´s new worldclass centre, Wesley Fofana. Canale is rumoured to be leaving France to play in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 for the new Italian side set to replace Aironi for next season and beyond.

Rugby World Cup 2007 - Canada vs Fiji

Host venues for France 2007

The best Rugby World Cup ever was not Rugby World Cup 2011 but rather 2007. Both tournaments delivered quality matches with upsets taking place and were well organzed. The crowds were larger at France 2007 not only because the venues are larger but because there were some matches that were not well attended in New Zealand 2011. The crunch Pool 3 match of Argentina vs Scotland in Wellington had a crowd of under 30,000 at a venue of 40,000. The empty seats painted a negative image. The same did not happen four years earlier as France delivered big crowds with crowds packing matches throughout the country. The one weakness of the tournament was the allocation of two matches to Edinburgh and three to Cardiff. These British cities hosted matches in exchange for voting on France rather than England as the host nation for Rugby World Cup 2007. Ireland had been set to all host but missed out due to the reconstruction of the former Lansdown Road in Dublin. Curiously, Wales will host yet again in 2015 as England looks to utilize the Millenium Stadium, a venue which failed to deliver for two of its three matches in 2007. 

Should Argentina host Rugby World Cup 2023 it can do so on its own and has absolutely no need to have a subhost involved. The stated requirements of a minimum of ten venues can be more than catered for by the Republic of Argentina. The South American country´s home matches in 2012 are a strong indication that the country has the capability with six different cities confirmed to host Los Pumas´ six home matches. The UAR had given cities throughout Argentina the opportunity of officially bidding to host internationals this year and delivered on its promise with Córdoba, La Plata, Mendoza, Rosario, San Juan and Tucumán confirmed to host matches. All meet the requirements as cities to host World Cup matches and, with the exception of Tucumán, all are modern stadiums. In awarding these cities matches, there were other´s interested in hosting  who missed out. Buenos Aires, Resistencia, Salta and Santa Fé had all applied for matches too and all have appropriate stadiums. This would give Argentina with ten venues, one less than what Australia used in hosting Rugby World Cup 2003 and the same number of French venues in 2007.

Morgan Williams passes from a ruck

On the second weekend of France 2007 Canada vs Fiji took place in Cardiff. It was the second match for both teams with Canada having pushed Wales hard before at a packed Nantes being overwhelmed  and Fiji having played one of the best matches of the tournament to hold off Japan for a 35-31 victory in front of a packed Toulouse. It was a match that neither Fiji nor Canada could afford to lose as both were chasing the dream of a Quarters Finals appearance, with Canada having made the final eight in 1991 and Fiji in 1987. Whoever lost this match would see its chances of advancing evaporate. With a highly visible large quantity of unsold seats, Fiji held off a Canadian team that was determined to get the job done but missed ou on scoring tries at crucial times. Having been leading 15-6 at the interval, Fiji were able to complete a 29-16 win but it was Canada playing all the rugby in the second half. Had Mike Pike´s 70th minute try been awarded by the video referee then Canada could well have won the match. Fiji´s spontaneity, however, proved to be match winning.  

The tournament was the end of an era for Canadian rugby with legendary internationals and former Stade Français players Morgan Williams and Mike James playing international rugby for the final time. The strength of Canada in certain positions meant Jamie Cudmore was playing in the backrow and Ed Fairhurst was on the bench. Curiously, Canada´s 2011 no. 8 was also on the bench but as hooker. Another play to change position was Ryan Smith who in New Zealand 2011 played inside centre but was the teams flyhalf vs Fiji in 2007. He replaced Ander Monro for the match and had a good performance, scoring Canada´s only try. At the time he was based in France with the then Top 14 Orange side, Montauban. 

Canada vs Wales - Rugby World Cup 2007

RWC 2007 captain, Morgan Williams

Canada produced some of the biggest shocks in the 1990´s with wins over elite opposition including Ireland, Italy and Wales. The North Americans also made the Quarter Finals of Rugby World Cup 1991 and for a large period were the best teams from the Americas. With the advent of professionalism, things were never the same for Canada but this has not stopped the country´s team performing well at subsequent World Cups. While the team has not been able to repeat the Quarter Finals appearnace, Canada has, nonetheless, scored some good wins over Namibia, Romania and Tonga and two draws with Japan. 

Canada´s debut match at Rugby World Cup 2007 was against Wales, the team who had surprized everybody in the 2005 Six Nations with a Grand Slam victory. Wales entered the World Cup as the second seed from its pool which also included Australia, Canada, Fiji and Japan. The Europeans were keen on putting up their hand to show they were the real thing. Canada had other ideas, however, and Wales were pushed very far. It took the introduction of Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas int the secondhalf to change he shape of the match. Wales had been ahead 9-0 but Canada had turned the first half around to be ahead 17-9 to the delight of the Nantes crowd. Wales´s second half come back was too good for the Canadians but the match was another reminder of the power of rugby in the Americas.