PARIS, FRANCE – This weekend was an exciting and busy one for The Rugby. In South Africa, the HSBC Sevens Series continued and there was one great match after the next. Not to be outdone, however, was Round 3 of the Heineken Cup, which our guys, Junoir Blaber and Johnathan Wicklow Barberie picked. Further, Declan Yeats will have more ammo to shoot at members of the backline after what we saw from a certain French scrum half playing against the Leicester Tigers. But first, let’s compare the picks of the experts:
Cardiff Blues 25 – 8 Edinburgh Rugby… Right: JWB Wrong: Junoir Blaber
Ulster Rugby 31 -10 Aironi Rugby… Right: Both
Harlequins 10 – 21 Toulouse… Right: Both
Scarlets 14 – 17 Munster… Right: Both
Castres Olympique 41 – 22 Northampton Saints… Right: JWB Wrong: Junoir Blaber
Racing Metro 14 – 34 v London Irish… Right: Both
Saracens 31 – 26 Ospreys… Right: Both
Benetton Treviso 30 – 26 Biarritz Olympique… Wrong: Both
Connacht Rugby 10 – 14 Gloucester Rugby… Right: Both
Glasgow Warriors 20 – 15 Montpellier… Right: JWB Wrong: Junoir Blaber
Bath Rugby 13 – 18 Leinster… Right: Both
ASM Clermont Auvergne 30 – 12 Leicester Tigers… Wrong: Both
So, JWB went a steady 10-2, while Junoir Blaber an awful 7-5…
Now to the biting! Apparently, Frenchman Morgan Parra didn’t read last Wednesday’s column by Declan Yeats that bashed backline members for doing silly things to tarnish the game. Either that or the Castres Olympique scrum half was just hungry, taking a nibble of Leicester’s hooker George Chuter’s arm. This was after he ticked off the always-in-the-middle-of-something, Alesana Tuilagi. Please Morgan, eat before you come to the pitch. Merci. The Tuilagi brothers will otherwise eat you alive.
As for the HSBC 7s… Port Elisabeth was bustling this weekend as South Africa hosted the 3rd round. 
Our guys, Matt Hawkins and Mat Turner had different experiences for Team USA and England, respectively, but they did go head-to-head in a match. Turner’s English squad edged Hawkins’ Eagles, but it was exciting for us and, suffice to say, we could be heard yelling out for “Matthew” constantly… Yet there were other reasons to bellow. Our favorite moment was when the camera caught the usually gruff and/or stoic Gordon Tietjens dancing up a storm on the sideline when Tomasi Cama capped an unbelievable turn of events – after the final hooter – by touching down his 100th try, giving the Kiwis an unbelievable comeback win in the Cup Final. The stunned Boks and all the South African fans fell silent in a stunned disbelief. With Wellington up next, only 4 points separate the top 4 teams, so it’s anyone’s title for the taking. Stay tuned…
Tomorrow, the aforementioned Mathew Drew Turner returns… Please comment below and if you, pass our little site along to your mates. Merci Beaucoup.
