Try of the week:
Clermont’s replacement scrum-half Charlie Cassang, rose superbly to gather Morgan Parra’s clearance kick 60 yards out and set off for the Northampton line. The speedy Tom Collins tracked as Cassang weaved to the left and then shaped to pass which kept Ben Foden on his wing, before hitting turbos to make the line. Where do France keep finding these 9s?
Quotes of the week:
“I’m done. I hated the tour. I just hated the Press and the negativity in New Zealand. When I look back on it now there were a lot of things that were satisfying and what an achievement it was but it was tough work. It was hard.” – Warren Gatland, above
Champagne moment:
A crate of bubbly please for David Scully who retired yesterday morning after 30 years with the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. During that time he also helped England to a World Sevens title and played senior rugby until he was damned near 40.
On this day:
October 22 1955: The WRU celebrated their 75th anniversary with a match against the British & Irish Lions. The Lions, with a strong side drawn mainly from their party in South Africa earlier that year, won 20-17 in front of a 40,000 crowd at Cardiff Arms Park.
Quiz question:
The Barbarians famously beat New Zealand 23-11 in 1971 but what was the only other occasion they have defeated the All Blacks? Answer to last week: Felipe Contepomi scored two tries for Argentina against France in their 2007 Rugby World Cup play-off game.
Diary marker:
This Saturday is ‘local derby’ day as the European Conferences get underway. Serbia play Slovenia, Estonia meet Finland, Norway entertain Denmark, Latvia entertain Lithuania and Poland travel to the Czech Republic.