All Blacks great Dan Carter on Saturday made a dream start to his Racing 92 career, thriving off a dominant pack to help the Parisian club to a bonus-point 33-3 victory over Northampton to go to the top of the European Cup Pool 3.
Carter kicked three conversions and was happy to sit deep in the pocket and allow halfback partner Mike Phillips dictate the pace of the game through the strong home backrow of Wenceslas Lauret, Yannick Nyanga and Chris Masoe, and an ever-present front five.
“We’re really happy with that performance,” Phillips said of the 33-year-old world record Test points scorer, who was not made available to the media after the match.
Photo: AFP
“Dan’s been great all week, he’s obviously world class and will get better and better each training session, each game, so it’s great for the squad,” Phillips said.
“He’s certainly a quick learner, today was as if he’s been here for a long time,” he added. “It’s been great having him here and the boys have all helped him, it’s a squad performance, not just about Dan.”
Almost seven years to the day since leading Perpignan to a European Cup victory over Leicester in his last club action on the continent, Carter kicked off at a Stade Yves-du-Manoir, which was not full for the New Zealander’s home debut.
However, that mattered little as Racing dominated the first 40 minutes, with center Henry Chavancy streaking in at the right-hand corner after a sustained period of pressure from the home side.
Carter made no mistake with the tricky touchline conversion to send a swathe of sky blue and white flags aflutter.
More pressure paid off when prop Eddy Ben Arous crashed over from short range after the forwards maximized from some slack defense around the ruck. Carter hit the extras before his Saints counterpart J.J. Hanrahan booted a penalty after a rare incursion into French territory.
The Saints then suffered a disaster just before halftime when Victor Matfield, the 127-time capped Springbok lock, popped up in the center with the line beckoning.
His telegraphed pass was picked off by Racing’s France international fullback Brice Dulin, who raced away for a third try converted by Carter.
Irish referee George Clancy then controversially disallowed Northampton center Luther Burrell a try as a breakdown in communication rendered redundant the TV match official.
Racing notched up an attacking bonus point minutes into the second period when Dulin crossed for his second try thanks to a great charge and offload from former Chiefs prop and one-time All Blacks hopeful Ben Tameifuna, weighing in at 134kg. Carter’s conversion came back off the crossbar.
Racing rounded off an impressive display when Juan Imhoff crossed for the team’s fifth try to rub salt into the wounds of a disappointing Northampton side.
Also in the group, Glasgow gave themselves a lifeline, while simultaneously all but eliminating Scarlets with a thumping 43-6 win over the Welsh region, who have lost all three games so far.
Australia international wing Taqele Naiyaravoro scored a hat-trick as the Scottish side plundered six tries to move to just three points behind Saints.
Stade Francais went one better than Glasgow as they scored seven tries in a 50-17 rout away to Pool 4 whipping-boys Treviso.
Former New Zealand international center Paul Williams scored two tries as the French champions led 50-0 before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Treviso to hit back with three tries of their own.
In the day’s late match, Leicester took control of the pool with a rare win at Munster.
Tries from Fiji wing Vereniki Goneva, New Zealand lock Mike Fitzgerald and England scrumhalf Ben Youngs gave Leicester a 31-19 success that continues their perfect start to the group.
In Pool 2, Exeter stunned last year’s runners-up Clermont 31-14 and even secured a bonus point thanks to Australian forward Mitch Lees’s last-minute try.
Clermont led 14-3 after 20 minutes, but two converted tries from New Zealand-born England No. 8 Thomas Waldrom put Exeter 17-14 ahead early after the break.
Zimbabwe-born flanker Don Armand stretched that lead with the third try seven minutes from time before Lees’s bonus-point clincher at the death.
Exeter are level on 10 points at the top of Pool 2 with Ospreys, who beat Bordeaux-Begles 19-16.
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