We will end up believing that the European costume suits them better than that of the Top 14. Barely in the league (8th), Racing 92 had a blast against Northampton at the opening of the 2021 Champions Cup, Friday 10 December. By signing, one of their most successful performances of the season and in particular a first half where they walked on the water in the wake of their opener Finn Russell, the Ile-de-France players won (14-45) facing the English.
If they were scared from the kick-off, it took less than ten minutes for the Racingmen to knock out their opponents for the day. 13-0 in exactly eight minutes. Thanks to the boot of scrum-half Maxime Machenaud, who applied to punish the opposing indiscipline (8/9 against poles in total), Racing achieved a first break, while the sharp races of the second row Wenceslas Lauret , author of a hat-trick (8th, 42nd, 64th) and Argentinian winger Juan Imhoff (23rd, 37th), ended up choking Saints who had almost nothing to eat.
Disciplined, clean in conquest, facing the third in the Premiership, Racing recited the palette that has allowed him for several seasons to shine in a competition where he finished three times a finalist (2016-2018-2020). Namely dominating forwards which allow to fix the fenders to offer spaces on the exteriors to the rods of their three quarters. A recipe which had enabled Racing to finish top scorer in the previous edition. With five tries and an offensive bonus up for grabs on Friday night, Virimi Vakatawa’s teammates are laying a good foundation for repeating the performance.
A performance that will probably only be possible with a Finn Russell at the height of his art, as was the case against Northampton. Kicking behind the defense, inside throw to take it from the back, a jump pass to get around two opponents and send his wing into the in-goal in a chair, taking an interval to offer shifts to his teammates, the fanciful opener Scottish has distilled a slew of caviars. He is a decisive passer over four Racing tests.
The fight was much tougher for the other French club which made its debut on Friday night, him in the European Challenge. Jostled in scrum, but solid in touch, the LOU of Pierre Mignoni ended up getting the better of Gloucester (19-13).
Start of the European campaign ✅ @ChallengeCup_
LOU Rugby victory against @gloucesterrugby on the score of 19 to 13.#LOUGLO #TeamLOU #ChallengeCupRugby pic.twitter.com/Ywot8vL6SM– LOU Rugby (@LeLOURugby) December 10, 2021
“We wanted to attack hard. This first match, we had targeted it for several weeks because we really want to do something in this competition and tonight we did what was necessary”, commented satisfied the third line Lyon, Felix Lambey at the end of the meeting. The contract is therefore fulfilled for the first two French representatives.