The Heineken Cup is approaching the business end of
proceedings, we have enjoyed 5 phenomenal rounds of rugby that showcased some
of the best talent that Europe has to offer and next weekend we will know which
teams will battle it out to the bitter end. As you are all well aware not every
one of our Aviva Premiership teams were given the chance to fulfil their
European dreams and the burden of expectation was this year shouldered by Saracens,
Harlequins, Gloucester, Northampton Saints, Exeter Chiefs and Leicester Tigers.
With one round left in the pool stages it is the perfect time to have a little
European Review and see which of our Premiership teams blossomed in Europe and
which sadly wilted;
Let’s start with the Exeter Chiefs… their European
journey has certainly been a mixed bag. In Round 1 against the Cardiff Blues they
produced the best 40 minutes of rugby that the club has ever seen… they were
ruthless, absolutely cutthroat and demolished the Blues as if they were
amateurs. However since then their form has dipped… despite a strong showing at
home against Toulon they were out muscled at the Stade Mayol and surprisingly
lost both of their matches against the Glasgow Warriors. All in all despite
early promise Europe hasn’t quite gone to plan for the Chiefs and they will be disappointed
in themselves. However let’s not be too harsh on the young side as
lessons will have been learned and these European defeats will make Rob
Baxter’s team stronger.
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| The joy of Round 1 sadly didn't continue... |
Gloucester Rugby’s woes in the Aviva Premiership
have been discussed at length by anyone who is anyone in the world of rugby and
sadly for the Cherry and White faithful these woes transcended across into
Europe. Their last gasp win against Perpignan in Round 1 was a shining light
for the club, however narrowly losing to Edinburgh at home was symptomatic of their
troubles. Last weekend’s gallant defeat
against Munster showed glimpses of the team that we all expected Gloucester to
be this season… sadly it was a case of too little too late for this year’s
HCup, however hopefully it will provide
a platform for the rest of 2014 and beyond.
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| Europe is now out of the C&W grasp (Image Getty) |
Leicester Tigers’ Aviva Premiership has been
surprisingly shaky, who would have predicted that the reigning Champions would
be lying in 5th at the end of Round 12 and have lost 4 matches already? However
their form in Europe has been stronger… having not won the competition in more
years than they would care to admit to the expectation and desire to win it is
stronger than ever and this has shown in their performances. Whilst Ravenhill
was their undoing in Round 1, doing the double over Montepellier and eventually
settling things at Treviso has put them in a very strong place. Personally
I can only see Leicester going from strength to strength now especially with
the return of Anthony Allen and Manu Tuilagi, both men are game changers and
both could lead Leicester to a very strong finish!
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| Tigers slipping under the radar in Europe... |
Harlequins’ European journey has been tumultuous
and an emotional roller-coaster for all involved at the club… being played off
the park at home is never really how you wish to start a European campaign and
with things shaking badly in the Aviva Premiership a trip to the Stade Marcel
Michelin was not really what you wanted to see next on the calendar! However the manner in which Conor O’Shea’s
men fronted up and gained a losing bonus point set up their revival and a
clinical double against Racing meant that the Quins shaped phoenix had almost
risen from the ashes completely. Here is where the emotion kicks in again as for
40 minutes last weekend they looked as if they were going to pull off the
unthinkable however Clermont cruelly snatched the game away from then and it
was bye, bye to the HCup dream for Quins.
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| Charlie Walker inflicted double damage on Racing! |
Northampton Saints have been flying high in the
Aviva Premiership and along with Saracens, who I will talk about in a moment,
have been bulldozering every other team in their way week after week however in
Europe they have experienced more than their fair share of ups and downs! Two
strong wins against the Ospreys and one narrow defeat to Castres were
punctuated by the most memorable back to back clash in recent times.
Categorically smashed is the only way to describe Northampton during that
Saturday afternoon fixture on 7th December however exactly one week later they
blew us all away and did the unthinkable beating Leinster in their own back yard. Northampton and all that they have achieved to date are to be admired and it will be interesting to see where they do end up this season!
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| A Back to Back We Will Never Forget.... |
Saracens’ European progression ultimately rested on how they fronted up against Toulouse
at the front and back ends of the pool stages... that thumping encounter at
Wembley set up a mouth-watering return leg last weekend however sadly for Mark
McCall’s men Toulouse upped their game exactly when it mattered. The Wolfpack
have Connacht left to get their teeth into and I think it is fair to say that
there will be a lot of pent up frustration that will be unleashed at Allianz
Park this weekend. Premiership high flyers they may well be, certain European
qualifiers they are not… yet!?
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| The Clash of the Titans... |
All in all the Heineken Cup is a special competition and as I mentioned at the start of this piece the quality of the rugby that it produces is simply outstanding... whenever the powers that be have sorted their European differences I hope that there is a competition left that will fill the shoes of this outstanding one because it would be a great shame to lose something so very, very special.
