Biggest Winners and Losers in World Rugby for Weekend of December 11-13
The power balance in European rugby underwent significant change this weekend after the Champions Cup saw the continental big guns advance their bids for major silverware.
Exeter Chiefs, Glasgow Warriors, Leicester Tigers and Racing 92 were among those to take impressive wins from their most recent outings, with Dan Carter making his debut for the Top 14 outfit.
Elsewhere, Harlequins-bound centre Jamie Roberts turned out for Cambridge in their Varsity match defeat to Oxford, where he was unable to stop his university team extending their poor run of form in the annual fixture.
We discuss all that and more in the biggest winners and losers from around the world of rugby this weekend.
Winner: Rob Baxter
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This weekend produced a handful of results that shook up the Champions Cup standings tremendously, but a bonus-point win over Clermont Auvergne meant Exeter were perhaps the proudest team of the lot.
Rob Baxter has taken this team from relative rags to riches in the six-and-a-half years he's been steering their ship, and Saturday's historic 31-14 win was recognition of their status as European contenders.
The Chiefs are now level on points with Pool 2 leaders Ospreys, and while Baxter isn't getting ahead of himself, he did acknowledge the Clermont result as a potential "defining moment," per the Exeter Express and Echo:
"If we get out of the pool at the end of all the games maybe we will look at this as the defining moment. I think we will wait and see if it is the defining moment before we define whether it was the best game in our history.
If we don't get out of the pool then it doesn't end up being worth all that much – that is the tough reality of it.
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Two-try hero Thomas Waldrom was in top form, as were Jack Nowell filling in at outside centre and summer signing Julian Salvi, in an all-encompassing display of superb recruitment and implementation of a team's tools.
The Chiefs are now unbeaten in four and have come through an incredibly difficult patch with wins to their name, beating Clermont after victories over Wasps, Harlequins and Bordeaux.
Loser: Cambridge's Varsity Blues
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Oxford won their sixth successive Varsity Match in a row on Thursday, beating Cambridge 12-6 despite lining up against British and Irish Lions centre Jamie Roberts at Twickenham.
Injury forced the Wales international off at the half-time break and four penalties from Oxford's George Cullen paved their way to victory in a try-less collision.
Harlequins will be glad Roberts only suffered a dead leg in the 143rd staging of the Varsity fixture, but the Welshman's pride will be slightly dented as the first active international to feature in the match since 2009.
Winner: Dan Carter
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World Rugby Player of the Year Dan Carter could hardly have hoped for a more convincing result on his return to Europe on Saturday as he enjoyed a slow but safe start to life at Racing 92.
The French giants defeated Northampton Saints 33-3 in Paris, Carter's first game since the 2015 Rugby World Cup final and his first club game on the continent since featuring for Perpignan in 2009.
The Kiwi kicked six points and made nine successful tackles as Racing moved to the top of Pool 3, and the French outfit can now afford to get excited about the talent on their hands.
Carter told BT Sport he was "nervous" leading up to his debut for the club, but it certainly didn't show.
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Loser: Alex Corbisiero
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Northampton Saints and England prop Alex Corbisiero announced his decision to take a year-long sabbatical from rugby on Sunday following a prolonged period of injury concerns and mounting pressure at the sport's peak.
Corbisiero posted a message to his official Twitter account explaining the decision before then telling the Sunday Times (h/t Press Association, via ESPN Scrum):
"The decision was made before I knew that I would need that knee surgery. My contract with Northampton Saints was up at the end of the year and I just decided not to renegotiate with Saints or speak with any other club. I am not stopping because I don't have options.
It is a decision that I feel is necessary if, in the longer term, I'm going to be the player I want to be. It is way more mental than physical. It's no secret I've had a number of injuries and there's been some frustrating times. But mentally I am drained and I'm really looking forward to some time away from the game. Recharge my batteries, come back re-motivated, ready to crack on again.
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At his best, the 27-year-old can be considered a first choice for England at loosehead, and national team coach Eddie Jones will consider the prop's decision a big blow even before he's begun his career at the Red Rose helm.
Fans can only hope Corbisiero comes back fit, fresh and ready to contend at the top level again once he's laid to rest any doubts or mental battles that have led to his decision.
Winner: Pro12 Powerhouses
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Although it's assumed that the Aviva Premiership and Top 14 will move ahead of Europe's other combatants in the years to come thanks to their spending power, this weekend was a terrific one for the Pro12.
Friday was a particularly positive evening for the Celtic nations as Cardiff Blues and Connacht triumphed over Montpellier and Newcastle Falcons, respectively, in the Challenge Cup, while Ulster thumped Toulouse 38-0 in the Champions Cup.
We then saw Ospreys defeat Bordeaux 19-16 and Glasgow Warriors overcome Scarlets 43-6 on Saturday, but losses for Munster and Leinster saw the Pro12 pickup in form brought back to ground.
Nevertheless, it was a positive couple of days for the clubs who are at risk of falling off the pace in European competition, showing the Pro12 most certainly can still duel against their foreign rivals.
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