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Le Garrec continues to shine
Le Garrec continues to shine
France's embarrassment of riches at scrum-half is getting so big that they might forget who Antoine Dupont even is. No, but in all seriousness, Nolann Le Garrec is something special, and his performance in Racing 92's hard-fought victory over Connacht was a joy to watch.
The 22-year-old nine, who's already earned 10 international caps with plenty more to come, scored two tries and kicked eight points off the tee.
You've got to be a stubborn player to deny England's record points scorer and star summer signing Owen Farrell from taking over the goal-kicking duties, but Le Garrec possesses the utmost confidence shown by his ability to try audacious moves others wouldn't dare.
Welsh clubs bow out
Whether it's their national team or their four regions, Wales rugby is in dire straights, and Ospreys losing at home to Lyon confirmed there would be no Welsh representation in the last four.
Welsh outfits failed to qualify for this season's Champions Cup with their sides instead hedging their bets on a Challenge Cup campaign in the hope of reaching a home final in Wales at the Principality Stadium.
Cardiff finished fourth in Pool 1, meaning they faced an away round of 16 match against Connacht, which they were comfortably second best in.
The Dragons finished fifth in Pool 2 and were eliminated, while the Scarlets finished third in Pool 3 and came unstuck away at the Ospreys in the round of 16.
All bets were on the Ospreys reaching Cardiff next month, but despite a herculean effort from the likes of Jac Morgan, they were narrowly beaten by Lyon.
Bath maintain treble bid
For the seventh game in a row, Bath scored 40 points as they demolished Gloucester 61-26 courtesy of a barnstorming display from No.8 Alfie Barbeary.
The Premiership Cup winners and English domestic table toppers scored nine tries through Tom de Glanville, Tom Dunn, Archie Griffin, Ben Spencer, Barbeary (2), Jaco Coetzee, Ted Hill and Tom Carr-Smith.
Gloucester made schoolboy errors and while they did score four tries through Santiago Carreras, Jack Singleton, Jake Morris and Lewis Ludlow, director of rugby George Skivington would have been seething at his side’s weak defence.