It was the first week of Europe's number one club competition at the weekend, and each round 
Ulster 19 Wasps 9
Ulster staged a second half comeback to overcome Wasps in a tense Pool 1 match in Belfast. Jacob Stockdale scored one try and made another as the Irish giants overcame injury-plagued Wasps. It was Stockdale’s fifth try in 5 games and Ulster’s sixth victory in the last 7 games. As for Wasps, their injury-hit season is going from bad to worse as they were left try-less, and it’s their fifth defeat on the bounce.
Jacob Stockdale was in the thick of it for Ulster
Harlequins 27 La Rochelle 34
La Rochelle made it a miserable start for the English clubs in Pool 1 as they beat Harlequins at The Twickenham Stoop. It was La Rochelle’s first ever game in the Champions Cup and Harlequins did their best to welcome the French outfit with an error-strewn performance to gift the first-timers a precious away win. Englishman Ryan Lamb ran the show for the French newcomers. La Rochelle scored four tries with the best one being created by Lamb as he fooled 2 Harlequins players with a show-and-go, which created the space for Geoffrey Doumayrou to cross the line. Harlequins will be kicking themselves, however, as basic errors opened the way for the French outfit a perfect start to life in the Champions Cup.
Northampton Saints 13 Saracens 57
Saracens made a flying start to the defence of their Champions Cup with an emphatic win at Northampton. Some excellent attacking rugby from the two-time champions must have sent a shiver down the very spine of all their opponents. After going behind to a Saints penalty, Saracens upped the tempo. A beautiful weave between two defenders saw Liam Williams cross the line to put the London outfit in front. Three more tries in the first half saw the champions take a comfortable 29-6 lead into the break. 4 tries in the second half, the pick of which saw some fine interplay with Owen Farrell and Alex Lozowski, and the former Leeds Carnegie man touch down. Saracens have been pretty dogmatic and highly successful for the last few years, and this win was a statement of intent that they do not intend to give their title up.
Owen Farrell will be hoping for a third championship in 3 years
Ospreys 21 Clermont Auvergne 26
Clermonts’s unmitigated power saw them win a tough encounter at the Liberty Stadium in Wales. Clermont got off to the perfect start when Alivereti Raka saw off two tackles to score. Then Camille Lopez exposed Osprey’s defence again before offloading to Scott Spedding to score a second try. Rhys Webb brought Osprey’s back into it with a fine try, but a couple of Clermont penalties saw them take a 23-7 half time lead. Ospreys dominated the second half with 70% possession, and two more tries made for an exciting finish, but the boot of Morgan Parra and then Scott Spedding was enough to get the French giants off to a winning start.
Leinster 24 Montpellier 17
Leinster started their bid for a fourth European Champions Cup with an opening day entertaining win in Dublin. Montpelier gave as good as they got in a nail-biting match, but ultimately came away from Dublin with yet another defeat. For Leinster, it was a bonus-point win as they racked up 4 tries. The try scorers were Joey Carbery, Josh van der Flier, Robbie Henshaw and Barry Daly. Fijian Nemani Nadolo scored twice for the Frenchmen, but it was in vain as the best Montpelier could muster was a losing bonus point.
Luke McGrath makes a break during Leinster's opening day win
Exeter Chiefs 24 Glasgow Warriors 15
Exeter Chiefs began their Champions Cup campaign with a dogged win at Sandy Park, as a late Sam Simmonds try proved decisive. Glasgow started strongly and scored first through Sam Seymour. Finn Russell added the conversion and a penalty as the Scottish outfit went 10-0 up. Glasgow, who were unbeaten this season until yesterday, have won only 2 European away games against Premiership teams. Exeter weren’t to be their third European victims as tries from Harry Williams and Jonny Hill started the Chiefs revival. Glasgow scored just into the second half through Lee Jones to pull it back to 17-15, and that’s how it stayed as both sides battled a tough contest. Exeter sealed the game with 2 minutes remaining as back-row Sam Simmonds touched down under a pile of bodies to give the the Chiefs a winning start.
Racing 22 Leicester 18
In Paris, Racing overcame English giants Leicester in a close encounter at the Stade Olympique. Leicester got off to a storming start as Luke Hamilton crossed the line after only three minutes. Paris’ response was magnifque, however, as 3 rapid tries from Leone Nakarawa, Bernard Le Roux and Teddy Thomas gave them a nine-point lead. Leicester weren’t done. They upped the ante and a great move from right to left saw wing Jonny May touched down in the corner. May almost put the Tigers in front, before half time, but the ball was knocked out of his hands just before he grounded the ball. The second half wasn’t as eventful as Racing held on.
Action from the stalemate i
Castres Olympique 17 Munster 17
A tough encounter in the south of France saw Castres and Munster end all square. Munster will be most relieved to take the two points after several late scares from the French outfit. Castres scored first while Munster were down to 14 men. Robert Ebersohn intercepted a pass and ran in for the opening try. Simon Zebo crossed the line on 32 minutes to bring the scores level but within a minute Castres were back in front with a Julien Dumora try. Dave Kilcoyne scored Munster’s second try in the second half and with the scores all level at 17-17, Castres hammered the Munster defence, but the Irishmen held on for the draw.
Bath Rugby 23 Benetton Rugby 0
A flattering scoreline saw Bath absorb plenty of Benetton pressure as they ultimately picked the Italians off with 2 tries in an intriguing game of attrition. Only two penalties had given Bath a slender cushion until they touched down on 38 minutes. Zach Mercer finished off some mesmerizing interplay play by Rokoduguni and Chris Cook to cross the line and put Bath into a comfortable half-time lead. Benetton, who had 66% possession, kept the pressure on, but failed whenever they got into the Bath 22. Bath put an end to matters when Aled Brew superbly sliced through the defence off the back of a lineout to end any Italian hopes in the second half.
Zac Mercer is mobbed by his Bath teammates after scoring a try
RC Toulon 21 Scarlets 20
This was truly a game of two halves as both rugby giants went hammer and tongue for the win. With tries from Eric Escande and Guilhelm Guirado, Toulon raced into an 18-0 lead with only 22 minutes played. The French side were so dominant in the opening half an hour, it seemed like the Toulon of old. All the talk from Wales has been about Scarlets being contenders for this year’s Champions Cup, and after 30 minutes, that’s all it seemed: talk. But they came back into it and were unlucky not to inflict defeat on Toulon. Johnny McNicholl scored a fine try, and then when Leigh Halfpenny touched down against his former club, it seemed like the impossible was about to happen. Halfpenny put a penalty over to put Scarlets into a 20-18 lead, but Toulon, who have a knack of winning big European games at home, found a way to stop the flow and a penalty from Francois Trinh-Duc was enough to give Toulon the slenderest of wins.
It was an excellent weekend's first round of Europe's premier club rugby competition. There were some tight games that could have gone either way. Italians Benetton were nilled, but they gave as good as they got, and the scoreline didn't reflect their effort. Scarlets deserve another mention for almost pulling off the most amazing comeback away to Toulon, but the final word has to be with Saracens. Wow! Who can stop them from winning a third championship?
Photo Sources:
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www.ibb.co
www.independent.ie
www.irishrugby.ie
