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The Heineken Cup goes from strength to strength and
is sure to build on the euphoria of the recent Rugby
World Cup which ended back in October in a blaze of
glory in Paris. Its now the turn of Europe's premier
clubs to demonstrate their credentials and battle their
way to the final, thus following in the immense
boot prints of London Wasps and Leicester Tigers
who pulled in a record rugby union crowd of 81,076 for
their Heineken showdown at Twickenham back in May. In
a game worthy of such a magnificient occasion, underdogs
Wasps came through by 25-9 and provided skipper Lawrence
Dallaglio with his second Heineken Cup triumph. This
seasons campaign gets underway on November 11th the 24
clubs competing across six pools. All will be desperate
to make it to the 2008 final in Cardiff.
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POOL ONE |
Benetton Treviso | London Irish
| Newport Gwent Dragons | Perpignan |
| Perpignan look like being the
team to beat in Pool One. Runners up in the 2003
final, their Heineken Cup record has been patchy
in the past. But an ambitious close season
recruitment policy, headed by South Africa's
record points scorer Percy Montgomerie and
including two fellow countymen, lock Gerrie
Britz and Philip Briger, not to mention man
mountain Samoan Henry Tuilagi and highly rated
Scottish scrum half Chris Cusiter means the
French outfit are extremely strong. |
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POOL TWO |
Bourgoin | Gloucester |
Ospreys | Ulster |
| Watch out for Gloucester's
immense Lesley Vainikolo in Pool Two. The giant
Tongan, who crossed codes from rugby league with
the Bradford Bulls in the summer, has already
made his mark with a five try debut in the
domestic Guiness Premiership competition and
will be a handful for any defence. With
metronomic Scottish kicking expert Chris
Paterson also arriving at Kingsholm, Gloucester
look to have the talent to make a real mark in
this year's competition. It'll be up to Ulster,
buoyed by the arrival of Italian lock Carlo Del
Fava, and French side Bourgoin to try to knock
the English club off its stride. The team with
perhaps the best chance of doing so though, is
the Ospreys, who'll be prompted by New Zealander
Justin Marshall and his former All Black team
mate Marty Hollah at flanker,. This is a tough
pool to claw your way out of, but the Heineken
Cup isnt for the faint hearted. |
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POOL THREE |
Bristol | Cardiff
| Harlequins | Stade Francais |
| Look out for former Irish
international centre Kevin Maggs sporting the
colours of Bristol in Pool Three a full 11
seasons after first tasting European action with
the West COuntry club. Another homecoming of
sorts that will be well worth following is that
of former Wales captain Gareth Thomas, who has
returned to the land of his birth with Cardiff
Blues. Thomas will know all about French
Champions Stade Francais, who have been boosted
with the arrival of highly rated Scottish lock
Simon Taylor from Edinburgh and French
international second rower Pascal Pape from
Castres. Stade will begin their campaign at home
against a resurgent Harlequins, whose first
season back in the English top fligh under coach
Dean Richards resulted in Cup qualification. |
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POOL FOUR |
Biarritz | Glasgow
Warriors | Saracens | Viadana |
| There'll be no quarter asked in
Pool FOur as French giants Biarritz go head to
head with Saracens in a top spot shootout.
Saracens have made one of the signings of the
summer in capturing All Blacks lock Chris Jack,
arguably the worlds finest second row, wand will
be looking to put down a marker in this year's
tournament. But Biarritz have been active in
their recruitment too, with the pick of the
bunch being lightning quick Springbok wing
Ashwin Willemnse. |
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POOL FIVE |
Clermont | Llanelli
Scarlets | London Wasps | Munster |
| Reigning Champions London Wasps
will kick off their defence of the trophy in
Pool Five with a mouth watering fixture against
Irish outfit Munster. Such is the interest in
this game and this years Heineken Cup
competition that it will be played at the 32,000
capacity Ricoh Stadium rather than Wasps 10,000
capacity Adams Park home. Wasps boss Ian
McGeechan has been cautious in his recruitment,
but given the numbers of proven internationals
in the club's ranks, expect a strong Wasps
showing this campaign all the same. |
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POOL SIX |
Edinburgh | Leicester
Tigers | Leinster | Toulouse |
Last season's beaten finalists
Leicester Tigers have it no easier in their Pool
group than Champions London Wasps. Both Leinster
and Toulouse have proven pedigree in the
Heineken Cup and the French side in particular
will be desperate to prove that last year's Pool
stage exit was nothing more than a fluke.
They'll have All Black scrum half Byron Kelleher
on board to help them, not to mention SA back
rower Shaun Sowerby, who joins from rivals Stade
Francais. Leinster will be hoping that South
African prop Ollie Le Roux can add some steel,
while they welcome back former player Leo Cullen
from Leicester.
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Recommendation:: |
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| The bookies favourite, Stade
Francais (11/4 at Skybet and Paddy Power) are
paired with Bristol, Cardiff and Harlequins in
Pool 3 and its difficult to see any early
stumbling blocks. However Pool 5 on the other
hand contains defending champions Wasps, 05/06
winners Munster, Llanelli Scarlets and Clermont,
who just missed out on the French Champioinship
last season. Its a difficult start for Wasps who
will open against Munster at Coventrys Ricoh
Arena. Bookies are undecided who should cary the
favourite tag for this group with some siding
for Wasps, while others take Munster. For the
tournament outright, last years runners up
Leicester who will still be licking their wounds
after missing out on the trble, are difficult to
ignore and at 10/1 look value to go one better
this time around. |
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