Racing 92
Dan Carter steers Racing 92 into uncharted waters of European final
Tom Hamilton
April 24, 2016
© PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images

NOTTINGHAM -- It was not pretty but Racing 92 will care not a jot. The Racing half-backs were the best players on the field and for the first time in the Francilian club's history, they are in a European final after a defensive performance to rival any this season.

Leicester, who went toe-to-toe with Racing throughout, will lament poor handling and an inability to turn second-half territory into points. The Tigers have come on leaps and bounds this season with their fluidity in the backs and set piece excellence paramount but it was the basics that let them down at the City Ground. Knock-ons were littered throughout both halves leaving those associated with the club frustrated.

Richard Cockerill's notebook was flung to the ground with ferociousness at full time; he was left to ponder opportunities that went amiss. The Tigers' inability to control the ball and link up phases meant any pressure on Racing's line soon abated with either a scrum given or a ball squandered into opposition hands. In turn, Racing's defence was exemplary and it was not until the 79th minute that their line was eventually breached.

Racing were by no means exempt from losing possession through basic handling errors, though. Offloads, from both sides, were forced rather than earned which meant sustained passages of possession were sparse but it was still a match which went to the wire with the world's best player at the centre of everything Racing did well.

En route to the City Ground, a Tigers supporter was heard saying Dan Carter "only had one leg" due to his heavily strapped right peg. Only Carter knows exactly how much pain he was in, but he played with a virtuoso assuredness with his game management flawless.

There was a moment in the second half where Carter, about 10 metres inside his own half on the right-hand-side, was looking to kick to the left corner and was caught by a Tigers player as boot hit ball. Yet he still managed to find the T of the Tigers' 22 and Tom Croft, who did well from the bench, was forced into touch as he scrambled to gather the loose ball.

It was these sorts of moments that were the difference between the two sides. He played the length and breadth of the City Ground with precision and worked well in tandem with Maxime Machenaud who also had a superb match controlling and sniping at the breakdown.

© David Rogers/Getty Images

It was an even game overall, with Machenaud's second-minute try the dividing factor in the end, but Racing's game management and ability to turn ventures into the Tigers' 22 into points proved vital. Luke Charteris was titanic in Racing's second-row as was Wenceslas Lauret at blindside.

Heading forward, Joe Rokocoko was their go-to man while Brice Dulin and Chris Masoe also enjoyed attacking with ball-in-hand even if they only mustered one try. They should have had another but for Nigel Owens' wrong call in ruling a Racing knock-on with Juan Imhoff already closing in on Leicester's line. Johan Goosen also had a score, correctly, disallowed.

For the Tigers, they will leave the City Ground frustrated. They had enough time on the ball to win this game but they failed to hit the level of intensity they imparted on Stade Francais in the quarterfinal. Leicester fly-half Freddie Burns was brilliant for the 36 minutes he played before limping off injured while Owen Williams did well as his replacement.

Harry Thacker produced the moment of the match with his outrageous offload on his own 22 but away from those eye-catching performances, it will be their unforced errors that will be the focus of the post-mortem. It was those mistakes which eventually did for them. Their scrum creaked in the first half and although they then gained their familiar ascendancy in the second 40, chances remained squandered until Veainu eventually bundled over with a minute left on the clock. They had already run out of time. 

As their footballing neighbours put Swansea back in their place 30 or so miles away at the King Power Stadium, the Tigers turned attention to their fight for the Aviva Premiership title and if they can correct those errors, then they will fancy their chances of reaching the Twickenham showpiece in late May.

For Racing, they are in uncharted waters but with the experience of Carter in their ranks, they will feel confident of avoiding stage fright with silverware on the line. Even in front of a crowd featuring a couple of hundred Racing fans, and thousands of Leicester supporters, the men wearing blue and white were not overawed. Attention for Racing now switches to Lyon where they will face Saracens; it is a fitting stage for the world's best player.

© Tom Hamilton

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.