TOPS
Smith, the English magician
What performance gave us the English opener.
Despite the defeat against Racing 92 (30-29), Marcus Smith is surely the man of the match this afternoon.
After a fairly discreet first period, he made the show in the second period.
On Murley's first try, he puts the whole Ile-de-France defense in the wind with a double feint and a dazzling acceleration then offers a ready-made try to his winger.
As the 6 Nations tournament approached, Marcus Smith sent a real signal to his coach by succeeding almost everything (only one failure against the poles) and winning his direct duel against Finn Russell who was too inconstant and author of several bad choice.
Le Garrec, providential man
The young scrum half delivered a very solid performance this Sunday.
Without him, Racing would certainly have bowed.
Decisive in the current game with very good stints, especially on the Kamikamica try (35'), he perfectly replaced Finn Russell after his yellow card.
It was his slightly off-centre penalty 40 meters from the poles that gave his team the victory (78').
And what about his sacrifice in defense with his hand under the ball to save the try after a Harlequins maul which had crossed the line.
It's a real full game for the 20-year-old scrum-half.
Dupont and Lucu seem untouchable in the France team but for the future, Le Garrec asserts himself as a serious candidate.
The Incredible Storyline
6 tries granted, 3 others refused, 5 yellow cards and a final advantage obtained in the 78th minute.
What more can I say about this meeting.
The 11,000 spectators in the Racing Arena got their money's worth.
Undecided until the end of the match, the score could have turned one way or the other as there were so many opportunities.
In the end it was Racing who emerged victorious from this match full of twists and turns but they were scared until the end and a saving return from Imhoff during an English attack from wide (80').
FLOPS
The conquest of Racing
When a team can't rely on their scrum and struggles in touch, the game is naturally more difficult.
This is what happened this Sunday for Racing.
Not helped by the premature exit of Gomes Sa (KO), the Ile-de-France scrum and Narisia were penalized far too much.
The touch was also hampered by the English line-up but woke up at the right time by stealing two hot balls in the money time while Racing was outnumbered.
It's generally the whole pack before that didn't have a good match like Cameron Woki, author of a great breakthrough but too little present and inconsistent throughout the match.
Ile-de-France approximations
If Racing wanted to make the match complicated, it could hardly have done better.
As Gaël Fickou told
Bein Sports
, "there is not much good to remember from this match".
It's a hot reaction, perhaps abusive, but in the end it's not wrong as Racing struggled in certain sectors and missed it narrowly.
Dominated in touch and scrum, Racing committed a number of forwards and impressive bad choices which often undermined the continuity of the game. Without its many small slags, the score of this match could have been quite different .