Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Aurelien Rougerie classy double vs Toulouse

Monday, April 21, 2008

Aurelien Rougerie classy double vs Toulouse

Big French right winger Aurelien Rougerie scored himself two quality tries for Clermont Auvergne against rivals Toulouse on the weekened.

The first of his tries came from a great build up and then a tremendous piece of skill by Rougerie, picking the ball up from his toes after letting it slip out of his grasps initially.

The second try came from a painful looking injury to wing compatriot Vincent Clerc, who went down with ligament damage to his left knee. He is expected to be out for up to nine months.

Rougerie showed great skill and pace once again to score after kicking ahead and controlling nicely, but what strikes me is the unfortunate manner in which the try came about.

I originally thought it was a bit rough on Clerc that after injuring himself so badly, Rougerie took advantage and scored. But, after watching again, there wasn't really any way of Rougerie knowing the seriousness of the incident, therefore you can understand him continuing play as though nothing was wrong.

Two great tries by Rougerie showing the true class of the man.

very classy first try, the instinct catch as he was falling to ground was exellent.
but shows how quickly things can change in rugby, promising attack down the blindside, and clerc injures himself and you loose a soft try. sometimes you think the rules should be changed for that kind of thing, but great cool head thinking from rougerie to finish of the try and cement a double blow for toulouse.

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 3:04 pm
I agree with the comments. I thought Aurélien was somewhat unfair to play the ball, but if you watch the replay there's no way he could know what just happened to his national teammate (he could have slipped w/out any injury...)
What I found more surprising in this game was the KO for Dusautoir who's to me one of the toughest guy around the league.... (kinda reminded me of Betsen's ko during the world cup).
Let's hope Toulouse can have him next week-end ...

By jay, at April 21, 2008 3:05 pm
What a pity for vincent clerc...

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 3:34 pm
awful looking injury for clerc

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 4:24 pm
i'm very sade for Clerc. He doesn't merite this.
Good game from Rougerie.

Would we see the Dusautoir KO? It's very impressive...

By Unknown, at April 21, 2008 4:25 pm
Great tries.

My opinion on the second one is even if he had seen/known what happened he shouldn't have felt guilty about playing on. It's the ref or touch judges decision to bring the play back or stop it etc. The game carries on while someone is down in pain all the time. It's unfortunate for Clerc but Rougerie was right to play on.

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 4:28 pm
On the second try, Isn't there a knock on from Rougerie?
I'm not sure, but the ball seems to bounce, hit his hand, and bounce again.

About this game, what do you think about this event: the ball is kicked by a player of Clermont, hit the eel of heel of Ellisalde, and is catched by Albacete in front of Ellisalde.
Do you think a penalty for offside has to be given?
http://www.stadetoulousain.tv/

By le detective, at April 21, 2008 4:32 pm
great kick by mignoni for the first try! about that injury, in rugby game is stopped only if there is a head injury, in football there is a tradition to kick the ball out every time someone falls to ground. not in rugby though,and thats fair enough if you ask me

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 4:37 pm
To zilba:

When we see the slow motion, there is foward from Rougerie when he tries to catch the ball...

And for Albacete's offside, the ref is right. If Elissalde kick the ball, whereas it's unintentional, all the gamers front the kickers are offside

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 5:24 pm
gutted. clerc was in my fantasy heineken cup team

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 6:17 pm
oooooo not nice injury, sad the try came about from it, but hey as they always say "play to the whistle!" Very nice first try though, fantastic hands to recover the ball!

By No.7, at April 21, 2008 6:55 pm
I swear his team mate jumped on him, for the first try.

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 7:44 pm
First try - that caught fumble - pure class.

Second one... I just feel sorry for the guy. Both of them, even. Great try, just a shame it was marred by the injury.

Get well soon, Vincent.

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 10:42 pm
Anyone think Rougerie is a underrated? I just feel for Clerc now. Get well soon Vincent.

By Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 11:46 pm
I think he's overrated
He's a great club player and a glorious captain with his club, but with France, he was never really a clutch player, and he's really a poor defender

By le detective, at April 22, 2008 12:10 am
I dont see how those tries are classy.. The most important thing in that video is Clerc's injury. in fact, he deserved a video on his own. It is very, very sad for him. As a player, he loose one year in his career. And he is unsure to come back as quick and as pacy as he was until that day.

Sad day for French and Toulouse supporters, really. He was our most classy winger, far better than Rougerie, and it's a big loss for us. I'd like to add "and for world's rugby", but that would just be chauvinistic. or not.

By Anonymous, at April 22, 2008 1:18 am
2nd try : knock forward, that's for sure.
Overrated ? maybe as he is not as good a defender as he is on the offense (but then again Clerc isn't the best defender in the world).
One thing that's been pissing me off is that throughout the years, he's always kept his inside vs. the winger... even when Robinson for England scored twice vs. him ... taking the outside near the lane.
I just never got it, apart from him being so cocky that he's certain to catch the guy... which obviously is not always the case.
Btw, you can see on one of Toulouse's try the poor defense from Rougerie, trying to hold the guy instead of trying to do one good tackle....

By jay, at April 22, 2008 10:15 am
Shame for Vincent Clerc. Nothing to complain about regarding Rougerie's tries though. Did what he had to do.

Dusautoir's KO (along with highlights of the game) can be found at the following URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Kn26f0gpU

By Anonymous, at April 23, 2008 3:31 am
You only stop the game if there's a head/neck injury or (I believe) if the injured player is a specialist front rower.

By Anonymous, at April 23, 2008 8:52 pm
It was not a Knock-on as the ball didn't touch the ground or another player, great skill. Nasty looking injury for Clerc but play was right to continue

By Anonymous, at April 24, 2008 12:47 pm
Clerc broke his LCA (anterior-cross-ligament?) and will be out for at least 9 months, so he will probably miss 6 nations tournament 2009. Will we see him again? Who knows...

What a shame. clerc played during the whole 2006-2007 TOP french tournament, plus the 2006-2007 ERC, plus the 2007 6 nations tournament, plus the world cup, plus ...

Such an injury can be directly linked to a lack of rest IMHO

By Anonymous, at April 24, 2008 2:54 pm