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Heineken Cup – Round four
preview
11 December 2008
Dan
Carter’s eagerly awaited debut may be stealing the headlines
this week but there are six other French teams in Heineken
Cup action before Perpignan entertain Leicester Tigers at
the Stade Aime Giral on Sunday afternoon.
Last
week’s results were largely disappointing for Top 14 sides
but Toulouse (who beat Newport Gwent Dragons), Clermont (who
beat champions Munster), Stade Francais (who lost at home to
Harlequins) and Biarritz (who lost narrowly to Cardiff
Blues) are all still capable of qualifying for the
quarter-finals.
Another
win for Toulouse would make it four from four in Pool 5 and
continue their 11-match winning streak, but Clermont and
Stade Francais both travel more in hope than expectation.
As for
Perpignan, nothing but a win against Leicester Tigers would
suffice – although given their investment in Carter it will
be intriguing to see how the All Blacks’ No 10 settles in to
his new role with the Catalans.
Elsewhere, Castres will be hoping to put in a much-improved
showing at home to Leinster after their 33-3 drubbing in
Ireland, while Montauban go in search of their maiden
Heineken Cup victory at home to Philippe Saint-Andre’s Sale
Sharks.
Meanwhile, over in the European Challenge Cup, Brive and
Bourgoin attempt to firm up their chances of quarter-final
qualification, while the second part of the
Toulon-Montpellier trilogy takes place at the Stade Felix
Mayol.
Once
more I put my rep to the test with pre-weekend predictions,
this time strutting with an unexpected air of confidence
after calling correctly with all six Heineken Cup results
last week – well, it had to happen at some stage, didn’t it?
Castres v Leinster, Pool 2, Friday, 21.00, Stade Pierre
Antoine
Bottom against top looks a
mismatch in anyone’s books but Castres have a point or two
to prove on Friday night after a week of upheaval in the
coaching department. Director of rugby Alain Gaillard has
been told his contract will not be renewed, while the club
has also confirmed that Montauban’s Laurent Travers and
Laurent Labit will take over coaching duties from next
season. At least the Top 14 strugglers will have captain
Lionel Nallet back in the fold following injury, but a home
win against Leinster still looks highly unlikely.
Verdict: Leinster win
Newport Gwent Dragons v Toulouse, Pool 5, Saturday, 15.30,
Rodney Parade
Toulouse ran in four tries as they
overpowered the Dragons last week and there’s nothing to
suggest an unlikely reverse is in the offing. Sure, Rodney
Parade will be awash with Welsh pride but the classy Top 14
leaders are on a roll at the moment and should have way too
much for their hosts. Fit again David Skrela returns to the
fold to put pressure on Freddie Michalak and there is also
good news for injured Dragon Marc Stcherbina who was
stretchered from the field during last week’s encounter. The
Australia ‘A’ centre has successfully undergone a neck
operation and is due to return to Wales imminently. “Marc is
concentrating on returning to full health in everyday life,
not thinking about his rugby future,” said Dragons manager
Rob Beale. Stcherbina has apparently recovered movement in
his arms and legs and is said to be in “good spirits”. His
injury, though, was a timely reminder – if any were needed –
that rugby players really do put their bodies on the line
every time they play.
Verdict: Toulouse win
Biarritz v Cardiff Blues, Pool 6, Saturday, 14.35, Parc des
Sports Aguilera
A win is imperative for Biarritz
if they are to harbour legitimate ambitions of progressing
from Pool 6, but the French side showed enough in last
week’s 21-17 reverse to offer genuine optimism. Cardiff, for
all their stars, were disappointingly disjointed, and a
bonus-point win (not impossible) would put the French side
back within three points of the pool leaders. To achieve
that the Basque club would have to end a worrying run of
five successive defeats, but there was enough on show in
Cardiff to offer grounds for optimism.
Verdict: Biarritz win
Munster v Clermont, Pool 1, Saturday, 16.30, Thomond Park
Just two points separate the top
three teams in Pool 1, the tightest and arguably toughest of
the Heineken Cup groups, but Clermont will travel to Ireland
buoyed by last week’s 25-19 home win over Munster. The
defending champions will have been stung by that defeat –
although they did manage a crucial bonus point – and they
are a mighty outfit in front of the Thomond Park faithful.
Clermont’s main concern is their woeful away form this
season, having lost five out of seven in all competitions,
although if Brock James has his kicking boots on – he scored
all 25 points last weekend – then anything is possible.
Having said that, his opposite number Ronan O’Gara is also
quite handy with the boot and, incredibly, is poised to
become the first player to breach the 1,000-point mark in
the Heineken Cup – he currently has 993 from 78 games.
Verdict: Munster win
Harlequins v Stade Francais, Pool 4,
Saturday, 18.30, The Twickenham Stoop
Last week’s 15-10 ‘home’ defeat to
Harlequins was a hammer blow to Stade’s ongoing quest for a
maiden Heineken Cup trophy, and their response at The Stoop
could shape the rest of a season that began so brightly.
Defeat would all but end their European dreams for another
year and they travel to England with serious concerns over
the fitness of a number of crucial players. Winger Julien
Arias is definitely unavailable after a fractured vertebra
ruled him out of action for two months, while fellow wing
Julien Saubade, as well as colossal young centre Matthieu
Bastareaud, South African Brian Liebenberg and Scottish lock
Simon Taylor are also doubtful starters. Argentine
play-maker Juan-Martin Hernandez, set to play at full-back,
will have to improve on a poor kicking performance if they
are to have any realistic hopes of downing Dean Richards’
gallant fighters. “We are the only ones who can have an
impact on our own fate,” said Stade Francais captain Sergio
Parisse. “It’s down to us to do the work necessary during
our preparation and we have to be in control of what we do
on the day.”
Verdict: Harlequins win
Montauban v Sale Sharks, Pool 1, Saturday, 19.00, Stade de
Sapiac
Pride. That is all that’s at stake
for Heineken Cup newcomers Montauban as they entertain pool
leaders Sale Sharks at the Stade de Sapiac. Philippe
Saint-Andre’s visitors cruised to a 36-6 win in Manchester
last week and it’s difficult to see Sebastien Chabal & Co
coming unstuck here. Their hosts, however, will be desperate
to register their maiden win in the competition as they seek
to consolidate their reputation as one of France’s emerging
clubs.
Verdict: Sale Sharks win
Perpignan v Leicester Tigers, Pool 3, Sunday, 17.00, Stade
Aime Giral
The waiting is finally over for
Perpignan’s colourful fans, but the question they’ve been
asking all week is ‘Is too late?’ Dan Carter’s arrival has
sparked an inevitable media-frenzy at the Catalan club, but
his unavailability for last week’s 38-27 defeat in Leicester
might have already left them with too much ground to make
up. They currently lie third in Pool 3, five points behind
second-placed Ospreys and a whopping nine adrift of leaders
Leicester. That’s a massive gap in anyone’s books, even if
your initials are DC and you’re touted as the world’s best
fly-half. Victory is imperative, but Perpignan could also do
with a bonus point if they’re going to have serious
pretensions in this competition. The atmosphere should be
terrific at a sell-out Stade Aime Giral, but will it really
count for anything? The home side will definitely be without
Romanian hooker Marius Tincu, whose 18-week European ban for
eye gouging has now been officially extended to encompass
Top 14 games as well.
Verdict: Perpignan win
Over in
the European Challenge Cup, a competition almost
treated with disdain by most of its French entrants, the
most intriguing match sees Bourgoin travel to last
year’s runners-up, and Poll 3 leaders, Worcester Warriors.
The
French club closed the gap to just one point with last
week’s 29-14 home win and will be looking for a repeat
performance to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.
Worcester, who will be without Chris Latham and Miles
Benjamin, are still smarting from last week’s defeat,
leaving director of rugby Mike Ruddock to comment: “We tried
to play too much rugby last week and so we’ll focus on
keeping it simple and retaining possession, rather than
throwing the ball around.”
The only
other Top 14 sides still in realistic contention for a
last-eight berth are Brive (in Pool 4) and Montpellier (in
Pool 2).
Brive
travel to take on El Salvador
having put 84 points past the Spanish side last week, and
another bonus point win – combined with a Newcastle home win
against group leaders Overmach Parma – should lift them to
the head of Pool 4.
Montpellier, meanwhile, go to
Toulon – linked in today’s Australian press with veteran
Wallaby George Smith - hoping to emulate last week’s 14-10
home win as they seek to stay in touch with runaway leaders
Northampton Saints.
Toulon
have recalled club captain Jerry Collins as they look for
their first pool win, with the eagle-eyes of consultant
coach Jake White looking on from the sidelines.
Elsewhere, Dax travel to Guinness Premiership leaders
London Irish in Pool 1 tonight, while Top 14’s basement club
Mont-de-Marsan visit Viadana on Saturday. Both French
sides lost at home last week, so the prospect of anything
other than further defeats is remote.
Finally,
high-flying Bayonne take on Pool 5 leaders Saracens
at Vicarage Road on Sunday having been undone 16-6 last week
by the 2007/8 Heineken Cup semi-finalists.
European Challenge Cup fixtures
London Irish v Dax, Pool 1,
Thursday, 20.45, Madejski Stadium
Worcester Warriors v Bourgoin, Pool 3, Saturday,
16.00, Sixways Stadium
Viadana v Mont-de-Marsan, Pool 5, Saturday, 19.00,
Stadio Luigi Zaffanella
Toulon v
Montpellier, Pool 2, Saturday, 20.45, Stade Felix
Mayol
El Salvador v Brive, Pool 4, Sunday, 12.30, Campo de
Pepe Rojo
Saracens v Bayonne, Pool 5, Sunday, 16.00, Vicarage
Road
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