Champions Cup. The Russell threat, revenge against Toulouse: the foreign press analyzes the quarter-finals
That’s it, the Champions Cup quarter-finals are fast approaching, Since this weekend, the four French clubs still involved will compete for a place in the semi-finals of the competition.. Toulouse will have a lot to do. The Haut-Garonne team will travel to Ireland to challenge Munster, while Racing 92 will host Sale. The Franco-French confrontation on Saturday will oppose La Rochelle to Montpellier at the Marcel-Deflandre stadium. In short, an enticing program since the other quarter-final between Premiership leaders Leicester and URC leaders Leinster will also be worth its weight in gold.
RUGBY. Champions Cup. It’s (almost) sure, there will be a Top 14 team in the final
Regarding the foreign press, RugbyPass took a particular interest in Finn Russell, before a Racing-Sale which promises to be boiling. The Anglo-Saxon site is particularly wary of the Ile-de-France opener, which it describes as ”contrarian” and indicates that players from the suburbs of Manchester require ”quell this probable danger”. The site even went so far as to ask Sharks coach Alex Sanderson about it. The latter specifies:Russell is unpredictable, and the best players are.”. Before continuing: ”He is a threat. Not just with his passes. But more of a running threat with his wings showing up on the inside or with Virimi Vakatawa on the outside. Then his attacking kicks are a threat we haven’t seen before”. Because of this, RugbyPass wonders ”how did young Kieran Wilkinson prepare ahead of this game ?” Indeed, the 22-year-old opener should be lined up against Russell. Sanderson is not afraid for his number 10, since he has already faced Marcus Smith, whom he compares to the Scottish jewel: ”Marcus Smith is quite similar, he has the same characteristics, as Russell”.
On the other hand, the Sale manager is wary of the entire Racing 92 squad and not just Finn Russell. He admits to having examined the Ile-de-France formation for a long time but thinks that this one could adapt and find solutions not analyzed on the video: ”The more you show this type of images, the more you predict a certain type of way they play (Racing 92 Editor’s note), and that’s when they set up something you didn’t expect, didn’t see coming. This is the black swan theory. It will therefore be a question of being attentive to all the players, rather than focusing on the only element that is Finn Russell”. Finally, The Independent recognizes that Sale will serve ”of underdog” against the Ile-de-France team while Sanderson concluded by saying he wanted ”counter lightning” from Racing.
Top 14. Racing 92. Lorenzetti on Travers: ”He is destined to become president eventually”
On their side, the Irish media raised the temperature a few days before the clash between Munster Toulouse. The Irish Times, for example, returned to the proposals of Johann van Graan, manager of the Limerick-based training. The site confirms the latter’s words and believes that the ”Munster are in much better shape than they were when they were beaten 40-33 in the round of 16 by Toulouse 13 months ago. Van Graan, for his part, adds : ”It’s the second time in one that we’ve played in Toulouse, and a lot of guys have more experience in our journey as a group. We would like to believe that we are in a better position this year, but every game is different. It’s a new challenge, a new venue, different teams, a new referee and it will definitely be a challenge on Saturday afternoon. Above all, the Munstermen could count on the unfailing support of their public, absent a year ago due to health restrictions as van Graan indicates, even if the match is played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Thomond Park being occupied by vocalist Ed Sheeran: ”The other big difference this year is that we will have our 16th man, the “Red Army” going to Dublin. It is already the second best attendance for a Munster quarter-final in its entire history. We’re banking on our 16th man to make a huge difference in Dublin”.
Champions Cup. Occupied by Ed Sheeran, Thomond Park will not host the Munster-Toulouse meeting
An atmosphere that promises to be hot, even if the Irish players will not play in their mythical enclosure. Another good news for Munster, the return of his winger Andrew Conway. The Irish Examiner also titles: ”A huge boost for Munster with the return of Andrew Conway before Toulouse”. The latter comes back ”after a knee injury at the end of March during the 6 Nations”. The site continues, returning to the performance of Toulouse on La Rochelle by titling: ”Toulouse warm up for Munster by beating La Rochelle”, to succeed ”the French giant in form before his visit to Dublin”and therefore particularly fearing the defending champion and his individualities (Marchand, Dupont, Ntamack, etc.). ”If anyone in the Munster camp needed a reminder of the challenge awaiting them in Dublin this weekend, Toulouse’s Top 14 victory over Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle will have reminded them.”, judging Ugo Mola’s men ”impressive”. Finally, not in the foreign press but on RMC, Simon Zebo, Munster winger who passed through Racing, spoke at length about this meeting against Toulouse and judged the opponent of the weekend.
We really want to win this trophy and beat the defending champion. It won’t be easy, but this competition is very important for us, as it is for other Irish teams. […] There have already been many confrontations between the two teams in the past in the European Cup and it has always resulted in incredible matches. Munster and Toulouse are two respected clubs in the European Cup with two different styles: the “standing game”, passes after contact, and French players on the one hand, and on the other a more direct and physical game for we […] They have the best players in the world, a very big pack and the best players in the France team. We are never calm when we play Toulouse, even when we are in their 22 meters (laughs). We will have to be at our best level to hope to beat them. We will have to play simple, a direct game and be disciplined, and stay faithful to the game plan of Munster
The English and Irish sites then returned at length to ”the final before time” who will oppose Leicester and Leinster. Finally, logically, across the Channel, the last quarter between La Rochelle and Montpellier did not thrill the crowds. But whatever it is, these 4 matches are already making us salivate in advance and we can’t wait to be there.