Weekend Round Up

Another weekend in European rugby races by, leaving us to pore over the action. Big wins were matched by tight physical contests, in what was an exciting round of rugby.

Guinness Pro12

We begin with a look back at the Pro12 action. Connacht played on Friday, travelling to Cardiff in search of an 8^th successive victory. They came unstuck in the cold in Wales, settling for a losing bonus point on Friday night. In what was a good weekend for Welsh teams, the Dragons also defeated Munster, and emphatically so. The 22-6 final scoreline was much deserved, with the Welsh outfit dominant all afternoon. The biggest win of the weekend came in the final match, with Ospreys putting in a fine performance away in Italy to record a 39-22 victory over Zebre. Sam Davies landed six kicks in the match, the most of any kicker in the Pro12 this weekend.

Aviva Premiership

There was a full schedule of fixture played in England, giving up a total of 280 points across the fixtures. Performance of the weekend undoubtedly goes to Exeter, for their big away win over Wasps. Wasps have been in imperious form of late, with wins over Leinster and Toulon, but they struggled in the face of the pace and precision of the Chiefs. 41-27 a deserved scoreline in a highly entertaining clash. The closest match of the round was Bath vs Northampton, the saints winning 11-13 at the Rec. This game was a turgid scrum-fest, but it did give us the try of the round with Samesa Rokoduguni putting in two big handoffs on his way to the tryline. Saracens again put up the leagues biggest winning margin in their win over Newcastle, 38-3 the final score. They are still unbeaten so far this season, looking by far and away the best team in the league, and perhaps Europe.

Top 14

Finally we reach the Top 14, where Toulon, Clermont and Toulouse were all in action as the race to the summit hots up. Toulon were performers of the weekend, putting up the biggest score in their 53-23 demolition of Agen. The likes of Nonu, Cooper and Habana were all on show as the European Champions looked like their usual selves after a poor couple of weeks in Europe. Close rivals Clermont got back to winning ways, edging out Brive 26-21 on Sunday. Toulons Eric Escande was the player of the week, 6 succesful conversions in what was an all-round steller display by the halfback.