Heineken Cup Final Preview - Toulouse vs Munster

Toulouse and Munster, the two heavyweights of European rugby, go head to head today in a clash of the titans as they meet in Cardiff for the Heineken Cup Final.

The brawn of Munster meets the flair of Toulouse as both side's look to add to their already glistening trophy cabinets at a sold-out Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Declan Kidney, in his last game as Munster's head coach, has kept faith with the same starting XV that secured the semi-final win over Saracens.

Donncha O'Callaghan gets the nod ahead of Mick O'Driscoll in the second row, and he partners captain Paul O'Connell. Behind the pack the impressive Rua Tipoki continues his partnership with Lifeimi Mafi.

Toulouse head coach Guy Novès has selected Jean-Baptiste Elissalde at fly-half, and he partners former All Black Byron Kelleher at half-back.

Maxime Medard and Yves Donguy line up on the wings, neither of whom have ever played in a final, let alone a Heineken Cup final. However with Cédric Heymans at full-back they will have plenty of guidance and support in attack.

It promises to be a classic that brings us more of the great European rugby action we've seen all season. Predictions anyone?


Time: 02:40
Always Where I Need To Be by The Kooks

    

Rob Howley's miraculous try to win the Heineken Cup 2004

Looking back on previous Heineken Cup Finals, the 2004 meeting between Wasps and Toulouse will forever be remembered for this moment of sheer brilliance by Rob Howley, but perhaps more significantly, the blunder by Clement Pointrenaud that ultimately divided the two best sides in Europe.

The game was heading for extra time as it came to a cliff hanging climax with the scores tied at 20 points all. Toulouse had taken a rather poor 22 drop-out and Howley was penned in close to the touchline, with little obvious room for manoeuvre.

Shrugging off his chronic wrist problem, he fielded the restart, swiveled and grubbered a teasing kick along the touchline. The kick was aimed more in hope than expectation as it bounced and bounced. Toulouse full-back Clement Poitrenaud waited and waited, clearly hoping it would end up harmlessly in touch. That final half-second of delay will trouble his sleep for many years to come.

By the time he reached to get half a hand on the ball Howley was swooping, snatching the ball from out of his grasp to touch down for what looked like a stunning try. The delirium around a packed Twickenham was put on hold for only a minute while the video referee deliberated, before giving the go ahead to award the try.

Toulouse were stunned, as well they should have been. Had their full-back not fatally dawdled in dealing with Howley's rolling kick, Toulouse might well have become the first side to win this tournament three times. Instead the ball stayed in play, Howley pounced and the rest is history.

"I wasn't sure whether he'd got a hand to it or whether I'd got downward pressure," admitted Howley. The TMO was in no doubt though.

Toulouse will be hoping this type of lack of concentration doesn't come back to haunt them when they take on Munster in Cardiff in this years Heineken Cup Final. I doubt it will, as this was a bizarre moment that will surely give Clement Poitrenaud nightmares till the day he dies.

Final Score: Wasps 27 Toulouse 20
Note: We've updated this to show the slightly longer version. Enjoy.

    

Munster prepare for Millennium Showdown - Interviews

With less than 24 hours to go before their Heineken Cup Final showdown with Toulouse, Munster give some insight to their preparations for the Millennium Stadium.

In this short clip we hear coach Declan Kidney giving his feelings about the big game.

We also hear from Rua Tipoki, who talks about staying focussed on what they need to do, not the opposition. And a confident sounding Donnacha O'Callaghan seems to relish in the idea of being the underdogs.

Note: We hope to bring you a more in depth preview shortly.

    

Friday Funnies - Refs, it's dangerous out there

Being a rugby referee is not easy. A ref is the most watched, listened to, and continuously criticised man on the field at any given time. Thirty guys, all much bigger normally, hang onto his every move in anticipation of what game changing decision is coming next.

Not only do the men with the whistles have to deal with players moaning, coaches nitpicking, the media tearing them to pieces, and the reality of the job being at risk if they have an off day, but they also have to be extremely fit and get around the ground with the same speed as a top player who needs to be at every ruck.

We sometimes under-estimate how fit these ref's actually are, and that they have to go through stringent testing to get to the top level, and if they're not fit enough, they won't make it.

But as you can see here in this great little compilation video that was apparently thrown together by someone at the IRB, sometimes getting to the ruck and staying up with the action can be a little bit on the hazardous side. Perhaps it's safer for those old overweight ref's you at times see on school grounds. The ones who are never up with play and therefore stay out the danger zone, staying away from the contact situation up front.

Besides the bad collisions, notable funny clips here are Steve Walsh catching the ball in a test match, and Paddy O'Brien blowing the whistle from on the floor.

Enjoy, and the next time you play, spare a thought for the little guy out there who's doing his best to blow a good game, while at the same time avoid becoming a prop sandwich.



Time: 04:13

    

Va'aiga Tuigamala Try - Barbarians vs New Zealand 1993

When you hear the name Va'aiga Tuigamala you think of one thing - raw power. The man who was the first of the big wingers, Tuigamala struck fear into his opponents with extraordinary physical presence and dazzling runs.

We forget that before Jonah Lomu came along, this other powerful force existed. In his early days he was capable of the impossible on the field, but after a few seasons things changed and he became the bash up guy in the center, which led to him bulking up even more to deal with the demands placed on him. Therefore, tries became more scarce sadly.

But in his prime, a modern day comparison would possibly be Alesana Tuilagi at his most potent, putting the head down and charging into opposition, bouncing them off with discontent. Or perhaps because of his height, he's quite similar even to a slim Rupeni Caucau. Whoever you'd like to compare him too, one thing is certain, and that is that back then players of this size, speed and ferocity just didn't exist.

Inga, as he was commonly known, had a career that had many different phases and are difficult to capture in these few paragraphs. Nevertheless, on form, as seen here when scoring this try against the Baa Baa's, he was unstoppable and struck fear into the opposition.

He was signed up by rugby league side Wigan during this tour in 1993, and New Zealand rugby never got to see more of that tremendous potential he had shown since 1989.

After a highly successful league career, he returned to rugby union in 1996 with Western Samoa, and then later played club rugby for Wasps and Newcastle in England.

He is a legend of the game, for his valuable contributions to so many facets of rugby life both on and off the field, and this rare clip is just a small example of the great man in action.

Extra: Did you follow Tuigamala's career closely, and perhaps have a favourite memory of him in action? Post it here or in the forum as we'd love to hear it.

    

Hard hitting action from Narbonne against Toulon

This little piece of action comes to us from our good friends over in France, and more specifically, down at Toulon.

Toulon has been featured on RD before, mainly for it being in the headlines with big name acquisitions such as George Gregan, Andrew Mehrtens, Victor Matfield, and then more recently, talk of Dan Carter going there.

The French Second Division, or Pro D2 is known for it's ferocity as we've highlighted in the past, and in this short clip you get a good feeling for it.

The massive hit near the beginning comes in from Narbonne's Sebastien Geni on Toulon's center Davyd Douy. Duoy is smashed to the floor, and as you can see, looks to be in bad shape for quite some time.

Later in the clip we see Andrew Mehrtens getting into a scuffle after a late hit on him, and then there's even time for a nice try in the end.

Plenty of action whenever Toulon play it seems, and we'll more than likely be seeing them in the Top 14 next season, mixing it up with the big boys.

    

Behind the scenes - British & Irish Lions Tour 1997 vs Natal

The British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 1997 was remembered as being one of the best Lions tours to date. A victory over the Boks in their own back yard was achieved for only the second time in the century by the Lions, making it a tour that will always be remembered as a historic occasion for fans around the globe.

Over the course of the next few months and year leading up to the 2009 tour of South Africa for the British & Irish Lions, we'll be digging up the best moments from the Lions tours thus far and featuring them in the build up to what should be another classic period in the history of world rugby.

Certainly, 1997 had some breathtaking moments that will forever be remembered and looked back on as classic bits of play that will be revered for being ingredients towards the tremendous victory. Who could forget Matt Dawson sniping down the wing and dummying about three of the Springbok defenders? Or that classic John Bentley 50m try vs Transvaal at Ellis Park? The biggest moment of course was Jerry Guscott's winning drop kick that sealed the series for the men from the British Isles.

This footage that you're about to watch though features one of the poignant occurrences on the tour. It's the devastating moment when superb Welsh scrum half Rob Howley realises his tour is over, the week before the first test, after dislocating his shoulder against late nineties powerhouses Natal in Durban. The injury cruelly denied Howley the chance to gain a full Lions cap at the time.

The clip starts with a highly rousing speech from coach Ian McGeechan that sends shivers down the spine and gives you an inside view as to one of the reasons why he's so well respected. Through the game we see the reactions of the players up close, and then of course the ill-fated injury to Howley. We also see tough as nails Martin Johnson nonchalantly getting stitched up before returning to the field.

Final Score: 42-14 to the Lions.
Time: 08:55


PLEASE NOTE: After the Waratahs War video from 2001, plenty of you mentioned and requested this clip, so here it is, but it comes with a warning for the more squeamish of viewers. The Howley injury isn't pretty, and the Martin Johnson gash to the eye is also very graphic, so watch with caution and if you don't like blood, rather watch Percy having his hair pulled here.

    

Percy Montgomery's nightmare vs Clermont

With the ever increasing amount of Southern Hemisphere players plying their trade all across Europe, it's always interesting to follow up and see how they've been doing playing for their new club.

I was sent this footage recently of Springbok World Cup winner Percy Montgomery having an absolute nightmare for his club Perpignan in the south of France.

The game was against Clermont in the Top 14 and as you'll see by this clip, Percy had a few embarrassing moments, namely getting shoved aside by big Napoleoni Nalaga, dropping a high ball which resulted in a try, and getting involved amongst the rough stuff with the forwards for whatever reason.

Percy looked far from happy, particularly with the hair pulling, but this isn't really a fair reflection of his season I'm sure. And with him more than likely returning home to play for his country soon, I'm willing to bet this was just a random off day and that he'll be back to his best in no time.

It was however quite funny to see the treatment he received from the Clermont forwards, who clearly weren't happy with the amount of bleach that entered the driving maul.


Disclaimer: Under no circumstances does Rugbydump condone the pulling of back line players' hair on the rugby field. While it's funny to see and not experience, if you do it on the field you will be penalised, and possibly punched in the ribs. So be responsible and play by the rules at all times.

    

Ryan Kankowski gallops in for a great Sharks try

The Natal Sharks secured their place in this years Super 14 Semi Final on Saturday with a clinical 47-25 win over the Chiefs in Durban.

The seven tries to three victory not only booked the Sharks' place in the play-offs, after they finished third in the standings, but they also knocked their compatriots, the Stormers, out of the semifinals.

To advance the Sharks needed to win with four tries or win by 18 points. They scored six tries and won by 22 points, despite the score being 21-18 after 46 minutes.

One of the tries of the match came from thoroughbred Sharks number eight Ryan Kankowski. Kankowski is fast becoming a legend of Kingspark down in Durban, and will surely be a Springbok starter against Wales in the upcoming test series.

The Chiefs were on the attack when big substitute loose forward Jean Deysel marked a chip ahead. The big man tapped and ran, selling a dummy as he pounded up the field. He gave to Ruan Pienaar who dazzled the Chiefs defence before he gave to Kankowski who scored over 80 metres down field.

The Sharks are hitting their straps right on time, and if they continue to perform like they did on Saturday, we may well see them in the Final for the second consecutive year.

Note: Please excuse the useless commentary on the replay. It's not Jean Du Plessis as Garth Wright says - it is in fact Jean Deysel.