Montpellier player ratings v Dragons: ‘Fulcrum of the pack’ plays key role in war of attrition settled by ‘plenty of snipe’
Lenni Nouchi, inset, with his player of the match award after Montpellier's semi-final win over Dragons (INPHO/Manuel Blondeau)
Following an 18-12 victory against Dragons in the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final at Stade Septo on Sunday, here are the player ratings for Montpellier.
Crazy moment
15 Tom Banks: A mixed bag from the full-back. Showed intelligence with his 23rd minute intercept defending in his 22 and it nearly led to a Montpellier try but he had a crazy moment seven minutes later when failing to ground behind his line and gifting Dragons a try. 5
14 Donovan Taofifenua: Didn’t feature until just before half-time when a smart grubber-and-chase attempt nearly paid off. Endured an embarrassing knock-on fielding a kick 13 minutes into the second half with no one near him. 5
13 Auguste Cadot: Thought he had scored the game’s opening try when sprinting all the way from his 10-metre line only to get held up in the grounding. Made quick amends for that near-miss by giving the offload out of the tackle for Tyler Duguid to score two minutes later. 7
12 Lennox Anyanwu: An opportunity to show a UK TV audience what they are missing, the ex-Harlequins prospect has a quiet Challenge Cup outing that was cut short through injury before the break. 5
11 Melvyn Rates: Had a couple of moments when he showed his running threat, but he was another to exit the fray with a knock before half-time. 5
10 Thomas Vincent: Tried hard to get the backline moving, but it never clicked. He did play an important role in the creation of his team’s opening try, and he accounted for eight points from the boot, but there was also a terrible penalty miss heading towards the interval. 6
9 Alexis Bernadet: Was by far the main Montpellier threat in the backs, providing plenty of snipe and frequently asking questions of the Dragons’ defence. It was fitting that it was his 67th-minute try that got his team 18-5 ahead. 8
Plenty of headaches
8 Lenni Nouchi (c): Got a lucky first-half call, picking up a knocked-on ball in a seemingly offside position but referee Andrew Brace saw it differently. He was the fulcrum of his team’s pack, constantly looking to carry and cause the Dragons plenty of headaches in a war of attrition. His impact was best highlighted when blasting forward off a scrum in the lead-up to Bernadet’s try. 8
7 Alex Becognee: Did nothing of note in terms of big moments in the game, but his shift was acceptable in terms of quietly keeping tabs on what the Dragons attempted in their pack with the ball. 5
6 Marco Tauleigne: Provided a similar quietish contribution in his 61 minutes to what fellow flanker Becognee. 5
5 Tyler Duguid: An energetic effort where he didn’t shy away from the carry and was rewarded with a score on 25 minutes. 6
4 Adam Beard: The Welshman would have relished this fixture, but the dominance he would have wanted up front, especially in the maul, didn’t materialise despite his best efforts. 5
3 Valentin Welsch: Played 56 minutes. His scrum penalty concession on 15 minutes would have given the Dragons quite a lift. 5
2 Ricky Riccitelli: Carried well and went about his set-piece with a sense of reliability. 5
1 Baptiste Erdocio: Announced himself with a 13th-minute scrum penalty win but this was a draining contest for the forwards, and you could see how tired he was with the offside penalty he gave up just before he was subbed off. 5
Replacements: Montpellier were forced to go to their bench and make two backline changes just before the break, with Domingo Miotti going well. Three front row switches followed on 57 minutes, and there was immediate frustration as Nika Abuladze, the substitute loosehead, was yellow-carded within two minutes for a deliberate knock-on. 5
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