‘Revenge is a dish best served
cold’ and that is a sentiment that many teams will carry into the second act of this European drama. Last weekend our Aviva Premiership
teams reigned supreme and wouldn’t it be nice if they could do it again?
The Champions Cup action will
start in Bath on Friday night as
they host Montpellier, given last weekend’s result I’m not expecting
Montpellier to be hugely excited by their game away from home. On the other hand Bath will
be going hell for leather on home soil as they cannot afford to let 5 points slip again. Naturally, as has happened over the past few matches, all eyes will be on Slammin Sam as he
makes his first professional start in rugby union however it will be the
collective power of Mike Ford's side that puts Montpellier to bed. Bath are a side I look forward
to watching, their forwards are as powerful as their backs are exciting... the
blend and balance of the squad is one that excites me.
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| (C) Claire Jones |
A game that will be anything but
straight forward is the rematch between Toulon and the Leicester Tigers. After
Castro turned the air blue with profanities last weekend and subsequently he
has been described as petulant by the objective of his ‘affections’ it will add huge spice to
the play on it and make us all hold our breath in anticipation for the press conference after!! The Leicester front
row is back, and the combination of Auyzera, Youngs and Cole is power charged
whilst Owen Williams continues to prove that he has been one of the best
signings into the Aviva Premiership over the past two seasons. Dare to dream,
that will be the sentiment the Tigers take with them to France.
In London, at Allianz Park, Saracens will host Steve Diamond’s Sale Sharks in what will also be a
close encounter but one that you expect to have a slightly less bitter taste to
it! Personally I still think that Saale are a side that are underrated given
the personnel in their ranks and what they can deliver when they are on the
money. Will it be the Cips show? Will it be the Farrell show? Or will it simply
be a day for the forwards in the beautiful English rain and wind? We’ll have to
wait and see though a ferocious contested breakdown is a given!
In my team at work we have an avid Harlequins fan and a Leinster man through and through so as expected during the course of last week there was a lot of banter flying around with my Irish colleague being the more vocal and indeed confident of the two. However this week the roles have reversed somewhat for after Harlequins’ stellar home display they and indeed ntheir fans have genuine belief that they can get a result the
RDS. Harlequins’ Premiership form has been patchy at best but in Europe they
have thrived and there is absolutely no reason why the men that guided them to
victory last weekend, Easter, Robshaw, Marler and co won’t do it again.
The final game of the weekend is
at Adams Park where Wasps will play their last ever competitive game there
after completing the purchase of their new home, the Ricoh Arena earlier in the
year. Wasps travelled to Castres
last weekend and finally delivered on the road, something we all thought might
not happen given their current away form. Castres’ looked sprightly last
weekend however I expect that like their fellow French side Montpellier they
might not be too interested in this away leg and instead be focusing ahead to
trying to revive their Top 14 campaign. A solid Wasps’ win will be the icing on
the cake for the 12 year stay at Adams Park and the perfect stepping stone
before their first game of a new era of Wasps at home in Coventry. Northampton Saints Photos © Claire Jones RedHatPhoto.com all proceeds supporting Restart, the rugby players' charity.
