European Challenge Cup preview: Brive and Bourgoin all set for quarter-final ties

09 April 2009

Four days of European club action gets underway tonight with Top 14's Bourgoin playing in the opening quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup.

Bourgoin are one of two French clubs in the last eight of the EEC, with Brive travelling to Worcester Warriors on Saturday as the league's other representatives.

For Brive it presents a genuine shot at European glory, but Bourgoin face a far tougher task as they visit London Irish - the number one seeds - in tonight's clash at the Madejski Stadium.

European Challenge Cup - Pool results and tables

But pre-match status often goes out of the window in knock-out competition and Morgan Parra and team-mates will be hoping to pull off a shock win as they travel to play the team currently standing third in the Guinness Premiership.

London Irish v Bourgoin (Madejski Stadium, 9/4/09, 20.30)

Two weeks ago this match would have been viewed by Bourgoin as an unwelcome distraction in their ongoing battle for Top 14 survival, but back-to-back wins – against Montpellier and Dax – has dramatically changed the picture.

Instead of using the ECC game as a chance to blood youngsters and rest weary first-teamers the trip across the Channel now presents an opportunity to end their season on a mighty high by qualifying for the Heineken Cup.

That is the tantalizing prize on offer for the tournament’s winners, and with the ECC now at the quarter-final stage it is surely worth taking a punt.

The club’s financial state may still be causing concern, and its two star players – Morgan Parra and Yann David – are leaving in the summer, but a farewell present of HC qualification and Top 14 survival would more than make up for the disappointment of an otherwise trying season.

Having said that, Bourgoin must start tonight’s match as distinct underdogs as they travel to face a London Irish side packed with talent and belief. The Guinness Premiership outfit named 13 internationals in their 22-man squad, underlining their own intent for progression.

The Exiles are also the number one seeds after they romped to six wins out of six in Pool One, racking up an impressive 300 points along the way – and conceding only 34. Bourgoin, by contrast, only qualified as one of the best runners-up having won just half their Pool Three matches.

Irish have confirmed that international duo Peter Hewat and Peter Richards will be their starting half-back combination, with powerful winger Topsy Ojo, full-back Delon Armitage and outside centre Seilala Mapusua lighting up a star-studded back line.

London Irish coach Toby Booth said his side were determined to win through, but singled out Parra and fly-half Benjamin Boyet – who has scored more than half of Bourgoin’s points in Top 14 this season – as players to be wary off.

Parra is certainly out to “to create a surprise” and said a shock away victory would be “awesome”.

The French international scrum half described Irish as “a great team with a big reputation” but added that Bourgoin “have nothing to lose in this tournament” and said he wanted to leave his hometown club on a successful note.

“This is my last season with Bourgoin so I would like to finish it on a high with them. I want to make the most of it and spend as much time with the friends I play with at the club,” he added.

The odds may be against that, but you never know...
Verdict: London Irish win

Worcester Warriors v Brive (Sixways Stadium, 11/4/09, 14.00)

Brive’s trip to the Sixways Stadium on Saturday continues a run of crucial high-profile matches for Les Corréziens as they seek to fulfill their pre-season goal of Heineken Cup qualification.

A top six finish in France’s domestic league would happily achieve that, but despite currently riding high in fifth spot the Limousin club is committed to maintaining its twin track approach – either via Top 14 or the ECC.

Players and coaching staff alike identified these two avenues before the season began at a team bonding session in Limerick, Ireland, and club CEO Simon Gillham confirmed that nothing has changed despite their present elevated status in Top 14.

A heavy home defeat by Stade Toulousain at the weekend (10-42) may have ended a long unbeaten run – and been a timely reality check – but even before that match Gillham promised (in an exclusive interview with Frenchrugbyclub.com) that their commitment to the ECC remained undiluted.

“The other day there was a very interesting discussion internally because someone said perhaps now that we are in fifth place we should let go of the European Challenge Cup and not compromise our position in the Championship – and there was a huge reaction from the players who said ‘Hang on, that was our second objective that we fixed in Limerick, there’s no way we are abandoning the European Challenge Cup’.
“We might go to Worcester and lose – you never know, that’s life – but we’re definitely trying to go all the way. We are three games away from a trophy,” he reiterated.
It is a message borne out this week by the club’s in-form Welsh number eight Alex Popham, who scored Brive’s only try against Toulouse at the weekend.

“Playing in the Heineken Cup is the ultimate. It is both the toughest and most glamorous club competition in the world, and every club wants to be a part of it,” he said.

“This is a must-win game for us – we simply cannot afford to lose this quarter-final,” added the powerful back-row forward capped 33 times by Wales.

Brive narrowly missed out on a home quarter-final despite finishing top of Pool Four, but travel to a Worcester side that has struggled all season in the Guinness Premiership and remains second from bottom with just six wins from 20.

Home advantage is undoubtedly a massive bonus for Worcester but Brive’s phalanx of former British-based players will mean this trip is far from a journey into the unknown. With players such as Ben Cohen, Steve Thompson, Andy Goode, Damien Browne, Barry Davies, Liam Davies, Chris Short and Popham all in their squad – together with a handful of other experienced internationals – it means that Brive will carry a very different threat to that usually posed by French sides bewilderingly undermined by journeying across the Channel.

It also presents those same said players with another chance to remind those ‘back home’ of their skills and commitment - especially bearing in mind the recent negativity surrounding players moving from England to France – regarding their international prospects.

Goode’s form this season has been the counterpoint to that argument and the recalled England fly-half will be desperate to put in another top performance on Saturday, but Thompson will also be relishing a return to the British spotlight.

The former England hooker has been in outstanding form of late, with Gillham championing his claims for an international recall. Another stellar performance at Sixways certainly wouldn’t do him, or the club, any harm – especially with the enticing prospect of an old boys’ match up against Northampton Saints should the two clubs progress.
Verdict: Brive win

Other quarter-finals:
Northampton Saints v Connacht (11/4/09, 16.00)
Saracens v Newcastle Falcons (12/4/09, 16.00)

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