The Heineken Cup returns to much fanfare this weekend. Finished and forgotten are the pool games. It’s knockout time and there are no second chances now. Ireland has three representatives still in with a chance of being crowned European champions while France has two. England, Scotland and Wales all have one sole team flying their respective flags. The fixture list is as follows:
Saturday 7th April
Edinburgh vs Toulouse @ Murrayfield
Leinster Vs Cardiff Blues @ Aviva Stadium
Sunday 8th April
Munster Vs Ulster @Thormond Park
Saracens vs Clermont Auvergne @ Vicarage Road
PREVIEWS
EDINBURGH vs TOULOUSE
First up sees Edinburgh host four times champions Toulouse at Murrayfield, refereed by Welshman Nigel Owens. Edinburgh currently rank 11th out of 12 in the Rabbo Direct Pro 12, while Toulouse head the Top 14 in France. However both teams topped their respective pools earlier in the tournament, so one shouldn’t expect an anialation. Toulouse are regarded as the Real Madrid/ Barcelona of European rugby. In the last decade, they have been crowned champions on three occasions and have made the final five times. Therefore, the thinking is that if you want to be the best, you’ll probably have to beat them in the process. It doesn’t look particularly promising for the Scots if you look at the stats. Their head to head record shows 11 games played; one won and ten lost....so history is not on their side.
However they will have the backing of a record-breaking Murrayfield crowd for Scottish club rugby, with over 30,000 spectators expected through the turnstiles (twice the Scottish club rugby record). Edinburgh also achieved a home and away double in the competition over Toulouse’s French rivals Racing Metro earlier in the year, which will give them some confidence in their ability to get over the line against French opposition. For Toulouse it will be a case of doing what they do best. They are captained by IRB World Player of the year Thierry Dusautoir (inset) and have a whole host of Internationals in their midst. Their coach Guy Noves will be looking to produce their usual brand of running rugby to build a healthy lead early on, in order to quieten a parochial Scottish crowd, thus preventing it being a factor if the game were to become tight late on. There could be fireworks if it is and that would be worth seeing!
Who have they faced to get to the Quarter-Finals?
Edinburgh: Cardiff Blues, London Irish, Racing Metro
Toulouse: Harlequins, Gloucester, Connacht
The Players’ Perspective
Edinburgh Captain Greig Laidlaw:
"It's important that we take this opportunity to put a marker down in terms of our own ability and ambitions, both as individuals, as a team and as a club. We've had some big performances on big occasions in Europe this season. We've shown that our pace, power and fitness are a real threat and can put teams under pressure, and I think it could be even more potent with a big, vocal crowd at our back. It's up to us as a team to use that support and that noise to drive us on, while it will be down to the individuals to maintain their composure in the heat of battle to ensure that we get the basics absolutely right in this high-pressured environment.”
"It's important that we take this opportunity to put a marker down in terms of our own ability and ambitions, both as individuals, as a team and as a club. We've had some big performances on big occasions in Europe this season. We've shown that our pace, power and fitness are a real threat and can put teams under pressure, and I think it could be even more potent with a big, vocal crowd at our back. It's up to us as a team to use that support and that noise to drive us on, while it will be down to the individuals to maintain their composure in the heat of battle to ensure that we get the basics absolutely right in this high-pressured environment.”
Toulouse Prop Jean Baptiste-Poux:
"Edinburgh are a very dangerous team. They have the ability to keep possession and play through a lot of phases - it is very offensive rugby and they can beat anyone. We could have lost the Six Nations match against Scotland and they are improving a lot. I watched several of Edinburgh's games during the Pool stages and against Racing Metro they showed a lot of power - and when the Racing players were exhausted they scored in the last minutes to win the game.“
DumptacklePrediction
Toulouse have an aura about them which can build a fear factor in players’ minds. Despite this, they are not unbeatable. Their losses to both Harlequins at home and to Gloucester at Kingsholm prove that. It will however take a monumental effort from Edinburgh to beat Toulouse, even with the backing of a record breaking crowd. With all French clubs and their enviable depth, you have to overcome their squads of 22, not 15. Dumptackle predicts that the game will be close up to the 60 minute mark, but the Toulouse bench will blitz their tired opponents and that will be enough to take the game away from the Scots. Toulouse to win by 7 points.
LEINSTER VS CARDIFF BLUES
Cardiff meanwhile lie mid-table in the Rabbo Direct Pro 12, and qualified for the Quarter-Finals after finishing second in their group during the pool stages behind Edinburgh. Their points tally of 21 meant they qualified as one of the highest scoring runners-up. They will be looking to bounce back from a poor defeat to Glasgow last weekend in which they were trounced 31-3 at Firhill and the subsequent bad press from Gavin Henson’s misdemeanors on their now infamous flight back home. Their head to head record shows that they have faced off on three occasions in the Heineken Cup, with Leinster coming out on top on two of them. Cardiff has a solitary win. Their record in all competitions is a far more damning statistic though, as Cardiff have lost nine out of their last ten games against the Irish province.
Recent player news is that Cardiff have lost centre Gavin Henson after he was sacked but have now also been rocked by injury to Welsh International Jamie Roberts, who will be sidelined for six months. The odds don’t look good for Cardiff, especially when they are facing the reigning champions away from home, who also boast the reigning European player of the Year in Sean O’Brien. Having said that it’s amazing what you can achieve when players have their backs up against the wall, so don’t dismiss the Blues hopes entirely.
Who have they faced to get to the Quarter-Finals?
Leinster: Glasgow, Bath, Montpellier
Cardiff: Edinburgh, London Irish, Racing Metro
The Players’ Perspective
Cardiff Fullback Leigh Halfpenny:
We know what a quality outfit Leinster are.To be going to play them in the Aviva Stadium is going to be huge challenge for us but we're looking forward to that challenge. We hope to go there with confidence, and we're hoping the confidence of the boys coming back from the Grand Slam will come through with the Blues too. Hopefully that can spread through the whole squad and we can move forward from there.” “That's one thing the international boys will have experienced recently - the Aviva Stadium being packed. It's a great stadium to play in and I've personally got good memories of playing there so far. I'm hoping that will continue."
Cardiff Blues Co-coach Justin Burnell:
"Rightly so, everybody will write us off, which in all fairness, is quite nice for us because there will be no pressure. If we go there, give it our all and if we come away with a good performance and a good result it will be totally unexpected. Nobody is going to expect us to go there and win, so good luck to Leinster."
Dumptackle Prediction
The Cardiff Blues are massive underdogs and one suspects they won’t have enough to topple the reigning champions, but the Heineken Cup has thrown up upsets before and they will have pride to play for after their names have been dragged through the mud in the last week. Dumptackle expects Cardiff to give a good showing, but Leinster’s class will tell. Sexton will run the backline with aplomb and will lead Leinster to eventual victory by 10 points.
For more stats and team news, have a look at Ruggerblogger's post as found below:
http://ruggerblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/heinken-cup-quarter-finalists-squad.html
The Cardiff Blues are massive underdogs and one suspects they won’t have enough to topple the reigning champions, but the Heineken Cup has thrown up upsets before and they will have pride to play for after their names have been dragged through the mud in the last week. Dumptackle expects Cardiff to give a good showing, but Leinster’s class will tell. Sexton will run the backline with aplomb and will lead Leinster to eventual victory by 10 points.
For more stats and team news, have a look at Ruggerblogger's post as found below:
http://ruggerblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/heinken-cup-quarter-finalists-squad.html
Good solid run downs there, Bailey. Ta. Hard to deny your logic ... but we all love an upset. Roberts is a huge loss for Cardiff, been in great form.
ReplyDeleteEdinburgh will find it tough, but they have done bloody well to get there to the last 8.
I back Toulouse for French teams so will be happy for them to go through. Irish teams I take Munster (coz they beat NZ once, haven't you heard?).
It's great to see an upset, but personally as I have no allegiance, I just want the teams that play the best rugby to get through to the final. So Toulouse would do nicely. I have a soft spot for Clermont as well though.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes...Munster came very close to beating the midweek NZ side a few years ago too!