Championship Rugby - GPR
1 major northern hemisphere rugby championship down, 2 to go!
On June 8, the Gallagher Premiership Final was played at Twickenham Stadium in London between Northampton Saints and Bath Rugby in a tight, tense final that lived up to the standard expected of two English clubs packed with experience and flair.
The teams finished the 18-game regular season tied for first place on 60 points but with Northampton taking the honors due to their superior won/loss record (12-6 vs. Bath’s 11-7). And so, after 2 thrilling semi-finals against Saracens and Sale respectively the previous weekend, Saints won a terrific game that could have gone either way until the final whistle. After 20 minutes each side had been held to a single penalty but then, disaster struck for Bath; their loose-head prop was judged to have committed a dangerous tackle on the Saints #8 and was red-carded - Bath would have to play with 14 men for the remaining 60 minutes!
Against a side the quality of Saints, Bath fans could have feared a rout and within 10 minutes Northampton scored 2 tries to go 15-3 up. But Bath scored 1 of their own after 30m and went in down just 15-10 at the half. In H2 after exchanging penalties, Bath scored a try at the 50th minute to tie the game and at 65m scored a penalty to go ahead 21-18. With 15 minutes to go Bath defended valiantly but legs were tiring and the mismatch in numbers saw Saints score the decisive try after 72m, running out the winners, 25-21.
Over 80,000 people got to watch a thrilling finale to a strong season for English rugby, despite the echoes from last year’s club problems and for one player in particular, the season couldn’t have ended more perfectly. Courtney Lawes (#6), after 17 years with the Saints played his final game for the club before moving to Brive in France next season. This after a stellar career playing for England (105 caps) and the British and Irish Lions (7 times). What a way to finish!
In the United Rugby Championship (teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and S. Africa) the regular, 18-game season finished as follows (the top 8 qualify for the knockout phase): Munster (#1), Vodacom Bulls, Leinster, Glasgow Warriors, DHL Stormers, Ulster, Benetton and the Ospreys. The quarter-finals were played on June 7 and 8 with results in line with the results of the regular season: Munster over Ospreys (23-7), Bulls over Benetton (30-23), Leinster over Ulster (43-20) and Glasgow over the Stormers (27-10). Semi-finals are scheduled for June 15 - Munster vs. Glasgow and Vodacom Bulls vs. Leinster. The final will be played on June 22nd. (Live streaming on FloRugby)
France’s Top 14 finished its 26-game season as follows (the top 6 go on to the knockout phase): Stade Toulousain (already winners of the Investec Champions Cup), Stade Francais Paris, Union Bordeaux-Begles, RC Toulon, Stade Rochelais, Racing ‘92. The clubs in 3rd through 6th place play quarter finals on June 15 and 16 with the winners playing in semi finals on June 21 and 22 - the winner of RC Toulon vs. Stade Rochelais will play Stade Toulousain, and the winner of Union Bordeaux-Begles vs. Racing ‘92 will play Stade Francais Paris. The final will be played on June 28th. (Live streaming on FloRugby)