Heineken Cup, round six
preview: Top-drawer Toulouse seek ultimate high
23 January
2009
 It’s
crunch time in the Heineken Cup and, with all due respect to
other French teams, this weekend is all about Stade
Toulousain.
The
three-times champions and Top 14 leaders go into Sunday’s
away clash at Bath knowing only a victory will guarantee
them safe passage through the quarter-finals.
To add
spice to a game that is already enticingly pungent, this
will be Toulouse’s 100th Heineken Cup match.
Elsewhere, Clermont Auvergne and Perpignan both have a
mathematical chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals,
but the prospects of both are dependent on others failing –
never the best of scenarios.
Biarritz, already down and out, kick off the action when
entertaining Gloucester tonight (Friday) in Pool 6 at the
Parc des Sports Aguilera, while Montauban, Castres and Stade
Francais also have weekend matches with nothing to play for
except pride.
Whether
French teams can bounce back from the batterings they took
last weekend remains to be seen, but the prospect of no Top
14 side being represented in the quarter-finals for the
first time in Heineken Cup history remains a possibility.
Flop 14
or Top 14? Only time will tell.
Heineken Cup tables
Biarritz v Gloucester Rugby, Pool 6, (23.01.09, 21.00, Parc
des Sports Aguilera)
Biarritz
may have nothing but self-esteem – and the rare prospect of
a third consecutive victory – to play for, but this is
guaranteed not to be a ‘dead’ rubber as Gloucester still
hold out slim hopes of squeezing through. Last week’s home
defeat by Cardiff Blues has severely dented their chances
but they’re bringing the strongest possible squad as they
seek mission impossible at the Parc des Sports Aguilera.
Olly Morgan and Mike Tindall have both been included, with
wingers James Simpson-Daniel and Iain Balshaw sure to be
involved as they seek the four tries they need to give
themselves a chance of going through. Head coach Dean Ryan
is wary of the French threat. “A side playing without real
fear and a side of that quality can become extremely
dangerous at home. We can only go out and try to win the
game. If we’re winning the game, well, we may have some
decisions to see if we can get the bonus point,” he said.
Verdict: Gloucester win
Stade
Francais v Ulster Rugby, Pool 4, (24.01.09, 14.35, Stade
Jean Bouin)
The
question this week in France hasn’t been ‘How did the mighty
fall?’ but rather ‘Why did we believe Stade Francais were
mighty in the first place?’ Three consecutive Heineken Cup
defeats have highlighted a raft of playing problems, not
least of which is that if you have serious pretensions for
grandeur – and let’s face it, no other club in Europe
outscores Stade on this point – then you have to get the
pieces in place on the pitch first before you go shouting
about it from the roof tops. They may be able to fill the
Stade de France, but they couldn’t even beat a team that had
failed to register a single European win in the past two
years – the Scarlets. Last week’s shocking reverse has
brought the inevitable recriminations and with it a
sub-standard starting XV as the Parisian would-be giants
scale down their European campaign to concentrate on
domestic affairs. No Juan-Martin Hernandez allows Lionel
Beauxis to start at 10 – the position he was selected for by
France this week – while Ulster are likewise ‘resting’ many
of their first-choice XV. Thus, the match has become an
irrelevance, unless the battle to avoid third-place in Pool
4 is what tickles your fancy. Food for thought indeed for
the capital’s premier team
Verdict: Stade Francais win
Sale
Sharks v Clermont Auvergne, Pool 1, (24.01.09, 16.35,
Edgeley Park)
The odds
are against them but if Clermont are to defy expectations
and somehow squeeze through then they must be focused on
their minimum requirement – they have to win with a bonus
point at Edgeley Park. That means victory with four tries or
more for Les Jaunards, a challenge they singularly failed to
fulfil when going down 15-32 in the home ‘leg’ against Sale
back in October. That defeat, in all likelihood, has proved
the nail in their qualification coffin, and with 13 changes
to their starting XV from last week’s destruction of
Montauban it seems that even ‘revenge’ is off the menu in
Manchester. The only two survivors are Seremaia Bai – who
switches from centre to fly-half – and number eight
Alexandre Audebert. Sale, meanwhile, would dearly love to
complete the double against their French opponents,
especially with director or rugby Philippe Saint-Andre set
to be unveiled as Toulon’s new top man on Monday.
Verdict: Sale win
Montauban v Munster, Pool 1, (24.01.09,
16.35, Stade de Sapiac)
Despite
being bottom of their group Montauban have largely impressed
during their inaugural outing in the Heineken Cup. Until
last week’s 43-10 crushing by Clermont they had been
competitive in all of their games, pushing Munster to the
brink of a home defeat on the opening day and registering an
impressive home win against Sale in December. But the
Munster that arrives at Stade de Sapiac on Saturday is a
different animal to the ring-rusty champions we saw in
October, and they are set on maintaining their winning
streak ensure a home quarter-final. “The job isn’t done
yet,” warned hooker Jerry Flattery. “If we can get an away
result in France this weekend then we will be where we want
to be”. That could spell bad news for Montauban, although
the pressure is not on the home side to perform
Verdict: Munster win
Benetton Treviso v Perpignan, Pool 3, (24.01.09, 18.35,
Stadio Comunale di Monigo)
Perpignan, like Clermont, are still mathematically involved,
but even a bonus-point away win at Treviso is unlikely to
see them progress. The huge investment in All Black fly-half
Dan Carter has failed to result in European glory – indeed,
the Kiwi number 10 could end up having played just one
Heineken Cup match by the time he departs if his sore
achilles once more prevents him from taking part. The
Italians have yet to register a point so far in this
campaign and it’s hard to see them upsetting the odds here,
although they will still be hurting from last week’s 52-0
thumping by pool leaders Leicester Tigers. The real
attention in this group is on the Tigers’ away trip to the
Ospreys – a true reflection of Perpignan’s European failings
this season.
Verdict: Perpignan win
Castres v London Wasps, Pool 2, (25.01.09, 14.00, Stade
Pierre Antoine)
Danny
Cipriani in France! But only on a flying visit this time as
London Wasps travel to Castres looking for the victory that
will guarantee them a quarter-final berth. With Leinster at
home to Edinburgh in the other Pool 2 match it seems this
group is set to produce two of the final eight, although
Wasps will be wary of their French hosts as they seek to
continue their European adventure. Survival in Top 14,
however, remains the home side’s premier target and the
former Heineken Cup champions are likely to have far too
much for their struggling hosts.
Verdict: London Wasps win
Bath
Rugby v Toulouse, Pool 5, (25.01.09, 16.00, The Recreation
Ground)
And so
we come to the big one, with the very best – in traditional
format – being saved until last. This contest has just about
everything you could wish for and is almost impossible to
call as a result. European and domestic pedigree come
face-to-face in a winner-takes-all shoot out at Bath’s
compact Rec. A last-ditch David Skrela penalty enabled
Toulouse to squeeze home at the Ernest Wallon in October and
it could be just as tight this time around as the two rugby
giants front up in what could be a classic of the season.
There will be no Skrela this time around – due to injury –
but Toulouse have more than enough stars to cover, with
former All Black scrum half Byron Kelleher relishing the
challenge. “I play rugby to experience these big games,” he
said. “We’ve taken it [the Glasgow defeat] like a slap in
the face, Our first half against Glasgow was catastrophic,”
he admitted.
But the
current Top 14 Player of the Year promised Sunday would be
different. “We’d won 15 matches and in our heads we must
have told ourselves that we were playing at home against a
team that hadn’t won a single game. Unfortunately, too many
of us were a bit too relaxed. But that’s history now and
we’ve decided to react as a team. We’ve had a good week of
training and everyone has something to prove. The coaches
and the players,” he said.
A ‘good
week’ is probably the last phrase anyone at Bath would come
out with after the drug-taking revelations of Matt Stevens
threw their preparations into unwanted turmoil. Quite what
affect that has had remains to be seen, but they’ll need a
top-drawer performance on the pitch to finish the week on a
playing high.
Can
Toulouse make it 100 not out, or will they fall at the final
pool hurdle as they pay the price for under-estimating
Glasgow ahead of last week’s shock home defeat? Strap
yourselves in; it should be a hell of a ride.
Verdict: Toulouse win
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