It's been some 7 days for European sporting semi-finals, eh?
Many reckon that the semi-final is often better than the final. It's something I've never understood, but a lot of teams talk about getting to the final rather than winning it, and it's as though there is more to play for in a semi. Is it just me?
Even the overly glamourised and much pomped Champions League delivered two semi final second leg ties that had to be seen to be believed and had everything from the sublime (Ramires) to the ridiculous (Terry).
Not many had anything other than an El Clasico final in their heads, even after both Real Madrid and Barcelona came away from their away fixtures with 1 goal deficits. Do we over-glorify their abilities and prospects and do we not give Chelsea and Bayern Munich enough credit? In Chelsea's case, they had it all to do after 40 minutes last Tuesday, but they did it. Bayern on the other hand, should never be discounted so easily. They have a phenomenally balanced team that has the ability to really pull out a result at any time. It's easy to forget that they have made their 2nd European final in 3 years, making them the not-so-dark horses of European football.
Torres rounds Valdes in the closing seconds to put their
result beyond doubt in Barcelona
And then came the weekend, and with it 4 European rugby semi-finals of extremely high quality and gripping intensity.
Friday night saw Johnny Wilkinson and his Toulon cohorts squeak out a 32-29 win over Stade Francais in the first Amlin Cup semi-final game that saw the scoreline yo-yo from the opening minutes to the final whistle. All of Toulon's points were scored by Englishmen Steffon Armitage and Wilkinson, highlighting the recent exodus of English players to the cash laden Top 14.
The other all-French affair in the Amlin Cup saw Brives take on Biarritz with French talisman and world rugby's cult hero Imanol Harinordoquy. An altogether much more one sided affair, Biarrtiz, led by outstanding scrum half Dmitri Yachvili ran out comfortable 19-0 winners.
All this was a mere prelude however to the spectatorial delights that were the Heineken Cup semi-finals. On Saturday, Ulster relocated their troops and loyal fan base to Dublin to take on the surprise package of the tournament Edinburgh in what proved to be a thrilling, if often mistake prone game. In short, Ulster played the better semi-final stage rugby, controlling the game where they had to through the experienced and faultless kicking of South African Ruan Pienaar. His place kicking from distance in a swirling wind was something to behold.
Edinburgh did what Edinburgh do, playing some really dynamic rugby, making most of the running throughout the game but coming unstuck at the most crucial moments. Greig Laidlaw was simply outstanding and wasn't to be outdone by Pienaar as he kicked all of his attempts on goal in another perfect display of place kicking. With 10 points in it, Edinburgh's late try was too little too late, but brought the scoreline to 22-19 come the final whistle, closer than many would have expected. The result sees Ulster head to Twickenham for their first final since they won the competition in 1999 and Edinburgh home to Scotland having done many good things for Scottish Rugby as a whole.
The icing on a truly tasty sports cake was perhaps the best game of them all in either sport. The second Heineken Cup semi saw two time champions Leinster travel to Bordeaux to take on Clermont Auvergne. If Clermont were 230 miles from their usual home, you couldn't tell as the noisiest fans in European rugby helped create an atmosphere second to none.
The game was enthralling, even with a try-less first half that saw Clermont nick the opening 40 by 12 points to 6. There were intriguing match-ups all over the field - Bonnaire vs O'Brien, Cullen & Thorn vs Cudmore & Hines, James vs Sexton, Rougerie vs O'Driscoll - I could go on.
Clermont's physicality dropped a little in the second period and Leinster, who are becoming quite adept at producing barn-storming second halves and led by potential player of the tournament contender Rob Kearney run riot for the first 10 minutes. The Leinster full back making a clean inside break before offloading to prop Cian Healy to touchdown. This was closely followed up by Kearney drop kicking a stunning 45 yard goal from near the touchline after gathering a poor Brock James clearance.
Leinster never looked back really, and despite some resolute attacking from Clermont that almost saw Wesley Fofana clinch it at the death but for the ball coming loose off his own arm as he attempted to touch down, it was Leinster that held out to silence the boisterous home support with a 15-19 final score.
Brian O'Driscoll & Co head to their 3rd Heineken
Cup Final in 4 years
Clermont have only won 1 of 5 European knock-out games (this year's QF), but this one will be the hardest to take. It will though, be the most valuable to learn from I would not be surprised to see them back at this stage next season.
It really has been quite some week. If even one of the three respective finals throws up a spectacle like any of those this weekend (with the possible exception of the Biarritz game), we're in for a treat.
