Now
as you may know Out On The Full doesn’t feature European rugby week in week out
however given the very prominent Premiership representation at this point in
the competition it would be remiss of me not to cast an eye over the fixtures
that include our domestic teams.
Let’s
start with the Amlin Challenge Cup, where for the first time in 6 years all of
the semi finalists are English Clubs and every single one of these clubs has won the competition at least once before.
The first Semi Final will be played underneath the Friday Night Lights at Franklin’s Gardens as the Northampton Saints welcome Harlequins. In spite of the fact that the home side dropped down from the Heineken Cup their form has been extremely strong and was particularly prominent in their Quarter Final when they clinically dismissed the Sale Sharks. Harlequins were equally impressive over in France where they made light work of Stade Francais and during the last few weeks in the Aviva Premiership they have really cranked things up a notch and are back playing the type of rugby that secured them the Aviva Premiership title just a few years ago.
Northampton already have all of their domestic
ducks in a row and Harlequins are still chasing a playoff spot, however this
hasn’t affect team selection in the slights as Conor O’Shea’s as fielded a full
strength squad. The enigmatic Charlie Walker will return from injury after 3
months out and Quins will be showcasing their full collection of England stars
underneath the Friday Night Lights. The only major asset that they are missing
is Nick Evans who will miss the match due to a niggle sustained against Leicester
and his place is taken by Ben Botica and with Stephen Myler fit again for the
Saints his could be a tipping point in favour of the home side. Jim Mallinder
has stayed true to his word and ‘freshened things up’ slightly bringing in
Calum Clark up front and igniting the back line with his talented youngsters;
James Wilson and Tom Stephenson. Northampton’s bench is full of impact with Tom
Wood, Courtney Lawes and Luther Burrell amongst those ready to come into the
game at any point.
Northampton
must deliver a huge amount of physicality to combat Harlequins’ champagne style
of rugby and be patient with their own game, whilst for Harlequins tempo, tempo, tempo
will be the key to their success. Both teams are extremely hungry for
silverware and underneath the Friday Night Lights at Franklin’s Gardens it could
come down to the smallest of margins.
The
second Semi Final is at Adams Park where the London Wasps take on Bath Rugby and whilst they are familiar with each other in the domestic league, the two haven't met in the Europe since 2003.
Bath
have an outstanding record in the Amlin Challenge Cup having won 22 of their
last 23 fixtures and have been impressive from day one in all competitions this year. Mike
Ford is fiercely ambitious and demanding of his squad and has fielded a very strong side for this weekend's game. He has made 6 changes to the side that beat Worcester in the Premiership last weekend bringing into the starting line up; Anthony Perenise, Dominic Day, Guy Mercer, Peter Stringer,
Jonathan Joseph and Semesa Rokoduguni. This means that there is an equally strong bench housing Carl Fearns, David Wilson and Anthony Watson to name but a few. Dai Youngs has chosen to follow the motto 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', there is only one change to the side that bulldozed Gloucester at Twickenham last weekend and that is forced due to injury; Phil Swainston repalces due to Jake Cooper-Woolley's injury.
The whole match will be a huge battle, and the most ferocious will be between the
two back rows, Garvey, Mercer and Houston versus Johnson, Haskell and Hughes is simply mouthwatering prospect and one that brings tears to the eyes thinking about the hits that they will dish out to each other! Elsewhere on the field both sides have a serious amount of firepower
in their backlines; Eastmond, Rokoduguni, Daly, Varndell, Abendanon and so on... therefore expect an exciting game that is likely to be just as tight as the one at Franklin’s
Gardens.
Finally
in the top tier of the European competition Saracens will host ASM Clermont
Auvergne at Twickenham in a bid to reach the Heineken Cup Final. Saracens will
be hoping that it is third time lucky as they have lost their two European Semi
Finals, one against Munster in 2008 and the other against Toulon last year and to top things off they have never actually beaten their opponents in the competition before.
Saracens have within their ranks the tournament’s top try scorer; Chris Ashton,
one of the most prolific ball carriers; Billy Vunipola and a huge amount of collective experience and expertise. They have led the way in the Aviva Premiership and were pushed almost to breaking point in the cauldron that was Ravenhill a few weeks ago, but somehow they emerged victorious. Unsurprisingly Saracens have fielded their strongest side for the clash, Owen Farrell has been cleared fit to play and his half back partner of choice is the very experienced Neil de Kock. Steve Borthwick will lead the team in their quest for their first ever Heineken Cup Final Neil de Kock For Clermont there is good news and bad news... Sitiveni Sivivatu is fit however captain Rougerie misses out. Morgan Parra combines with Brock James in the middle and up front the big men are out to play; Jamie Cudmore, Nathan Hines and Julien Bonnaire who has the honour of captaining the side. Vern Cotter’s men
showed a huge amount of grit and determination against Leicester in their Quarter
Final and they will need every ounce of that this weekend at Twickenham.
It
will be an absolutely electric match, the hits will be heard back in France
along with the noise that Clermont's travelling fans will make. Saracens are in for one
hell of a battle and will need to be on top of their game if they are to finally put to bed that Heineken Cup Semi Final demon and progress forwards in the competition.
So
there you have it, the five Premiership teams that are heading towards the European stage in a few days time... all
five are desperately hungry for success however only three will end the
knockouts happy. Europe, we are ready for you...
