We value your privacy

We and our partners store and/or access information on a device, such as cookies and process personal data, such as unique identifiers and standard information sent by a device for personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, and audience insights, as well as to develop and improve products.

With your permission we and our partners may use precise geolocation. You may click to consent to our and our partners’ processing as described above. Please note that some processing of your personal data may not require your consent, but you have a right to object to such processing.

More Options

Wed 12 Dec 2012 | 05:05
Heineken Cup Round 3 - Four of the bigger games

9
Comments

With so many games over the Heineken & Amlin Challenge Cup weekend's, it's not feasible to post highlights from all of them. At times like these site contributors come into play, which is the case here where we have some of the best bits from four of the bigger games of the weekend.

The games featured are: Sale vs Toulon, Racing Metro vs Edinburgh, Connacht vs Biarritz, and Clermont vs Leinster. They're with French commentary only, but that's often a good thing.

If you'd like to contribute or submit highlights or other clips, please get in touch

Posted By: Grant Constable

9 Comments

  • themull
    3:49 PM 13/12/2012

    Only watched the Leinster Clermont match and it was indeed a very good encounter....Plenty of big hits, big scrums, nice offloads and broken tackles...Two main points from the game imo are, Rougerie (spelling) is a monster...He put in so many big hits, and at crucial times too...Secondly, once Leinster replaced Cronin with strauss I think they gave the ball away at lineout 3 or 4 times, often at crucial places on the field...cant do that against a side as good as Clermont and ultimately it made it much easier for Clermont to close out the game by playing it in Leinster's half...

  • stroudos
    3:32 PM 13/12/2012

    Clermont v Leinster was a belter - I saw the whole game live and I think the highlights here are a good indication. Lots of great flowing rugby and sweeping moves from one 22 to the other. The low scoreline was a reflection of well-organised defence (and some decent scrambling where defence was breached) and a very even match-up in the quality of both teams.

  • 3:58 AM 13/12/2012

    When I read the scorelines, I thought most of these games were going to boring kicking duels. And I must say that generally that was the case. You can tell how boring the Sale v Toulon game must have been if that's all the highlights they have. But it seems like Connacht v Biarritz was pretty good, and Clermont v Leinster surprised me somewhat. Maybe I ought to stop being so pessimistic and learn to love kicking duels for a different kind of match that make the high try-scoring ones more memorable.

  • reality
    11:59 PM 12/12/2012

    How good does Aurelien Rougerie seem to be? He is an absolute tank, is very fast, and offloads in the tackle just as well as Sonny (overhyped) Bill Williams did. He's just unstoppable.

    With Malzhieu on one wing and Nalaga on the other, Clermont have a pretty enormous backline. Leinster's looks tiny in comparison.

  • frenchie
    9:41 PM 12/12/2012

    @ Flying Dutchman: I wouldn't say these French commentators are biased; i'd say they were rather enthusiastic with Clermont. They comment rugby every week for Canal + and will also enjoy rugby played by any club or nation.

    @ Sroudos: Canal + is putting a lot of effort showing sports in general, and rugby in particular, in the best way possible. They have many cameras on the pitch...and a good production team when it comes to the highlights. Not sure it's the same for say France television...

    I love watching sports on the BBC. I like the comments (except Moore's) and analysis at half time.

  • 9:02 PM 12/12/2012

    kudos to stoudos, couldn't agree more!
    Nice to see Connacht winning, gutted for Leinster, great game though.
    We often talk about yellow ruining games, but I can't help thinking that some pro fouls should have been pinged on both sides for killing the ball.

  • colombes
    8:57 PM 12/12/2012

    4 nice matchs
    Good to see Connacht snatch a win vs a big dog, the Hcup will be stronger if "minnows" can improve their level
    Clermont-Leinster, despite the fact there were no tries was the Best match: impact, runs, big scrums, offloads... each team was punching back. vern cotter had a good word saying that "both teams seemed 2 big boxers who didn't want to be ko"

    and yep, even if most people on this forum don't necessarly understand french, the canal+ highlights are far more interesting than "the best of kicks" from bbc or sky ;)

  • 8:54 PM 12/12/2012

    Ha, the only thing I can take from the Leinster commentary is instant orgasms whenever the French touch the ball. Seems that they might be slightly biased there...

  • stroudos
    6:54 PM 12/12/2012

    RD:
    They're with French commentary only, but that's often a good thing.

    Couldn't agree more!

    Also, French highlight producers have an infinitely better understanding of rugby. Clermont v Leinster clip here is perfect, lots of action, the tackles, passing and very impressive defence. Not a single penalty kick shown as the actual act of kicking a penalty is not significant. If the BBC or Sky had put this together we'd have had three minutes of close-ups of kickers' faces lining up kicks, jogging back to the restart and even slow-motion replays of the ball passing between the uprights.

    Hooray for the French!

Related Articles