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The Irish Sun
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Conor Murray makes surprise cameo appearance at Champions Cup final as fans hail ‘class touch'
CONOR Murray made a surprise appearance at the Champions Cup final to present Damian Penaud with the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy. Penaud was an apt recipient after scoring two tries in Bordeaux-Begles' 28-20 victory over 2 Cian Tracey of the Irish Independent drew attention to the nice moment post-match Credit: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland 2 The French side were the superior side throughout though their opposition were remarkably resilient in defence Credit: Getty The award has been given out as an additional gong to the Champions Cup Player of the Year each year since 2017 when it was created by the EPCR in memory of the Munster legend who France hero Penaud's two took him to 14 in the competition, with Adam Coleman also crossing for the Top 14 side in a first half that ended 20 points apiece. The nice moment between Penaud and Murray was captured by INPHO photographer Billy Strickland and praised by rugby journalist Cian Tracey. He tweeted: "Conor Murray presented European player of the year Damian Penaud with the Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy. Nice touch." Read More On Irish Sport Among the replies, JJ Casey hailed it as a "class" moment of the community values rugby prides itself on. In saying that though, there was a bit of friction post-game as Henry Pollock was at the centre of a storm with rival players. The Lion bolter was clearly steaming at some of the French side's antics during a ding-dong decider and tempers spilled over after the final whistle. Bordeaux travelling reserve Tevita Tatafu was seen grabbing the Englishman by the throat and Saints skipper Fraser Dingwall accused them of acting against the spirit of the game. Most read in Rugby Union Pollock's England teammate Fin Smith confirmed: 'They were after him. I don't think they liked him. They all sort of charged at him and tried to get hold of him. 'I'm surprised if you have just won a European Cup and the first thing you want to do is start a fight with a 20-year-old. I felt that was interesting.' Ireland rugby legend Conor Murray and wife Joanna Cooper play VR Back row Pollock had a running battle with the French and Northampton are ready to take things further if officials do not take action. Boss Phil Dowson said: 'There was a fracas at the end, there was foul play involved and I have been assured the touch judge has seen it and will deal with it appropriately. 'Henry was particularly upset because it was uncalled for and out of order and so he reacted. The officials have told me they will deal with it.' Saints' George Furbank ended up on the deck early on after challenging Penaud in the air and then copped a knee on the jaw from Romain Beros as he was getting up. The English side lost him there and then and were then undone by the brilliance of Penaud and fly-half Matthieu Jalibert as the first half wore on. But a pair of tries from Alex Coles at either end of the half meant Saints were right in it and the 20-20 interval score was a points record for that stage of a Champions Cup final. Dowson's men were briefly down to 13 men with yellow cards for Leinster's semi-final tormentor Tommy Freeman and Ed Prowse. But they had two scores disallowed before Cazeaux got the only try of the second half to seal victory and keep the cup in France for a fifth straight year. Bordeaux's win meant a second Champions Cup medal for former Leinster and Munster star Joey Carbery, 29, though he was not involved in the matchday squad. SCORERS — Bordeaux: Tries: Penaud 2, Coleman, Cazeaux; Con: Jalibert; Pens: Jalibert, Lucu. Northampton: Tries: Coles 2; Cons: Smith 2; Pens: Smith 2.
The 42
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast: Lions rivals but 'loosely in touch' since first meeting in 2022
THE STAKES IN a Champions Cup semi-final are self-evident but the unavoidable reality is that Saturday's sequel between Leinster and Northampton will take on a heightened importance for several individuals on both sides. Leinster's meeting with the Saints will make for a final Lions audition before Andy Farrell names his squad to tour Australia next Thursday. Northampton's Champions Cup Player of the Year nominee Henry Pollock will have a cut off former World Player of the Year Josh van der Flier in the back row. Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell will surely secure his seat on the plane if he shines in his individual battle with Jamison Gibson-Park, the latter a virtually guaranteed selection already. James Lowe's name will also be read out next week but his matchup with Tommy Freeman on Saturday may determine whether the English flier is included alongside him. Saints centre Fraser Dingwall has also entered Lions contention in recent weeks and may well find himself in a straight shootout with at least one Irish Test midfielder. The headline bout, then, is the battle between two of the most exciting young out-halves in Europe, Sam Prendergast and Fin Smith. If Andy Farrell requires any kind of nudge to bring his son, Owen, to Australia, he'll receive it from assistant coach Johnny Sexton who in February backed Racing's 'Test-match animal' to start against the Wallabies irrespective of his underwhelming first season in Paris. Northampton and England half-backs Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell will hope to feature for the Lions this summer. Juan Gasparini / INPHO Juan Gasparini / INPHO / INPHO Were Owen Farrell to tour, it would likely mean that two of Prendergast, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith and Finn Russell would be left at home. Sexton's input may spell bad news for the latter, who is just not his cup of tea, but Saturday's face-off between Prendergast and Smith at Lansdowne Road may prove pivotal for one or both of them ahead of next week's big announcement. And when the topic is broached with Northampton 10 Smith, who locked down his starting berth with England during the Six Nations, he immediately breaks into a smile as he reveals that he and Prendergast have been mutual admirers of each other's work since they first crossed paths during an Irish victory during the 2022 U20 Six Nations Summer Series. 'He's brilliant, isn't he?' Smith says of his Leinster contemporary. 'Since he's taken to professional rugby, he's not really put a foot wrong. 'It's funny, I played against him as a 19-year-old, and he was 18, for the U20s. He kicked a penalty late on in the game from 50 metres out to get the game over the line for them. 'I didn't actually know much about him at that time', Smith continues, 'but since then, yeah, I've obviously kept an eye on him and we've stayed in touch very loosely and always sort of wished each other well. I'm sort of in touch with him on Instagram very loosely. He messaged me after the game at Croke Park last year and said, 'Well done today, sorry I didn't get to see you, all the best for the rest of the season.' Then, I actually caught up with him just after England had played Ireland (during this year's Six Nations). We just had a brief chat at the bar and I said, 'Well done today'; chatting about naus-ey stuff that fly-halves chat about. 'I've got a lot of respect for him, I'd like to say he does likewise,' Smith adds. 'It's not a hostile relationship but we both want to win, don't we?' Advertisement An emotional Smith after Northampton's Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Leinster at Croke Park last season. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO Sam Prendergast in action for Leinster against Harlequins in this season's Champions Cup last-16 tie at Croker. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO Game has recognised game, then, ever since a 73-point thriller in Verona three summers ago. Smith describes Prendergast as 'an unbelievable game-manager' who 'plays the space really well.' 'He's a real triple threat,' adds the Englishman, who is nine months Prendergast's senior. 'Run, kick pass — and he just seems like a real calm, calm customer. So yeah, our job is obviously to try and put him under pressure. 'Obviously, everyone's talking about head-to-head [within a Lions context] and things like that. I'm gonna be as boring as I can and say I've got to focus on playing well personally and he'll be doing the same,' Smith smiles. There has been nothing boring about Northampton over the past month or so, during which time Smith and co. have finally turned the corner after a bumpy campaign. Already afflicted by the departures of several important players last summer, most notably talisman Courtney Lawes and captain Lewis Ludlam, Saints have equally found themselves the victims of last season's Premiership success in that more of their standout operators are now also key to England, rendering them unavailable at key stages of the Premiership season. But having reassembled the band after the Six Nations, Northampton are back in tune. They've won their last four games, averaging 45 points across Champions Cup knockout-stage victories over Clermont and Castres and Premiership successes over Newcastle and Bristol. Smith is a big believer in out-halves playing what they see as opposed to playing what they feel, but as his side prepares for their return to Dublin, he can certainly feel the difference in Northampton's attack which is nearing its instinctive best. 'Like, I hate to say the phrase 'it feels like it's clicking', but it really does feel like we're getting a lot of reward for the stuff we've been trying to do all season,' Smith says. 'And I'd say it's that weird kind of feeling when things start working: you almost don't need to overthink it and it just sort of happens naturally. We've gotten close to that sort of feeling where it just flows over the last couple of weeks, whereas earlier on in the season, it feels more like you're really struggling for answers and you're problem-solving and things like that. 'I think we've played some good stuff in the last three or four weeks, so it's definitely put us in a fairly confident position going into Saturday.' Smith attempting a chip through against Leinster last year. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO Saints will clearly require their attacking A-game if they are to punch holes in a Leinster wall which hasn't been breached during their last five halves of Champions Cup rugby. But whereas Harlequins were beaten at Heathrow and Glasgow were shorn of a handful of their primary attacking weapons, there would appear to be less fear in a Northampton side who fought back and pushed their hosts to the brink in last season's Croke Park semi. England out-half Smith embodies their attitude: his crossfield assist for clubmate Tommy Freeman against France in the Six Nations, attempted and executed to perfection without a penalty advantage, will live long in the memory. And without referring to Quins or Glasgow by name, the 22-year-old insists that his Saints side will take a more proactive approach to Saturday's last-four clash against a Leinster side who have racked up 22 tries — and 142 unanswered points — since Bath's Tom de Glanville crossed their whitewash in the first half of their final pool game. 'It's so much easier to say than to do it, but there's no point going over to play the best team in Europe and not firing a shot,' Smith says. Like, we'd rather die trying, and be seen to do the right things, and have a crack rather than just sort of let the game flow. Ultimately, when that happens, they're probably the team that's likely to come out on top. 'These are the games you remember for a long time. They're also the games where you learn the most about yourself, whether that's, I dunno, how you stand up in big pressure moments or any sort of technical areas you need to get better at, or even what you're good at. 'I love these weeks because you find out the most about yourself and it's a real sort of honest test rehearsal of where you're at.' Fin Smith phones home during Northampton's captain's run at Croke Park last season. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO As far as what he personally learned during last season's narrow defeat at Croke Park, Northampton's out-half explains that 'the main thing is that there's going to be mistakes'. 'It's a very good defensive system and it puts you under a lot of pressure, so as long as we're trying to do the right things, holding our feet well enough with enough depth; even if there are errors, we have almost got to be okay with that. 'And sometimes you have to take risks. Sometimes it might come off and sometimes it won't, but if you just play safe and cagey it's just going to come and swallow you up. So that's probably the main thing I learned. 'Leinster are sort of in a league of their own,' Smith adds. There's probably not many games that we have played since the game against them last season that are going to prepare us or feel anything like playing against Leinster this weekend. 'They're an unbelievable outfit. It's playing a Test match at the end of the day. 'I'd like to think that since that game last year, we've had lots of members of our squad play in big international games of similar intensity to the one we have got on Saturday. 'But in saying that, that's only experience from the past. Obviously, it's going to be an incredibly tough challenge.'
