As you may recall we are taking a sabbatical from our regular weekly musings on International rugby until the end of May in time for us to spool up for the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in June. In the meantime we will continue to bring you the best of the action unfolding in Super Rugby and the European Champions Cup, based on our YouTube picks for the week.
This past weekend saw plenty of action in Super Rugby as well as some outstanding quarter-finals in the European Champions Cup. So here’s the best video summaries we could find as well as an excellent look back at an incredible Six Nations which we still can’t get enough of!
Super Rugby
Round Six saw the Australian teams enter crisis mode as they languish well behind all the other teams in terms of points with the exception of Japan’s Sunwolves. Despite middling form from many of the South African teams, the Stormers, Sharks and the Lions in particular are showing some promising form regardless of the stormy seas that South African rugby finds itself in these days. However, it is the men from the land of the long white cloud, New Zealand, who are continuing to dominate this year’s competition. The usual three suspects, the Crusaders, Chiefs and Hurricanes look to be unstoppable for the most part. Australian teams desperately need to find some form and some big points, while Argentina’s Jaguares remain a distinct threat along with South African sides, the Stormers and Lions. It’s still early days in the competition so for everyone except the Australian sides there is still some breathing room as we head into round 7 this weekend.
European Rugby Champions Cup
What an outstanding weekend of quarter-final action it was. Irish eyes are smiling as their two powerhouse sides, Munster and Leinster comfortably secured semi-final berths while English giants Saracens made sure that Glasgow’s impressive run this season sadly ended on a whimper. In France, Clermont and Toulon did battle to determine who would represent France. Still this year’s competition has suddenly developed a distinctly Irish tinge to it and the semi-final clash between Saracens and Munster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin is likely to have all the intensity of the recent Six Nations clash there between the Irish and English national sides. This competition is very much alive and kicking this year with two mouth-watering semi-finals in prospect at the end of this month.
Six Nations
If you still haven’t had enough of this year’s epic then here’s two more trips down a spectacular memory lane!
The Lineout 