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**dudeabides** · 01-14-2010, 07:49 PM

This weekends' matches:

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The weekend brings the first Heineken Cup action of the new decade, and Europe's finest are starting to feel the pressure. With two rounds left to go the race is on for top spot, or a frantic grab for as many points as possible in the rush to secure a best runners-up spot.

Pool 3 is too tight to call, with Leicester, Clermont Auvergne and the Ospreys all in with a shout. Ospreys travel to face Clermont at the Stade Marcel Michelin in our Game of the Week on Saturday with a four-point cushion thanks to back-to-back bonus point victories over Viadana. Les Jaunards returned to the summit of the Top 14 last weekend and will be a fierce proposition for an Ospreys side that has shown flickers of its best in recent weeks.

Leicester defied the cold snap to thrash Wasps last weekend and there will be a typically fiery welcome for Viadana as the Tigers go in search of a bonus-point win on Saturday. The Italian side have a number of internationals on show, with Tongan Pierre Hola handed the reins at fly-half alongside Italian scrum-half Pablo Canavosio. Carlo del Fava starts with former Bristol lock Sean Hohneck in the second-row.

The round kicks off on Friday as Ulster aim to keep themselves in contention. Edinburgh are the visitors to Ravenhill in Pool 4, where the Irish province are four points behind Stade Francais. Stade host Bath with their destiny in their own hands.

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has recalled Darren Cave and Paddy Wallace in the centre, alongside enterprising fly-half Ian Humphreys. Willie Faloon is out with an injury, giving David Pollock a chance on the openside as Stephen Ferris and skipper Chris Henry complete the back-row.

Chris Paterson skippers Edinburgh from fullback in the absence of Mike Blair and Phil Godman returns at fly-half. Young prop David Young starts alongside Ross Ford and Allan Jacobsen, and faces a stern test against the Ulster trio of Tom Court, Nigel Brady and BJ Botha.

Friday's other game sees the Dragons make the trip to Firhill to take on Glasgow in Pool 2. Both sides are playing for pride as Biarritz have taken a stranglehold on the group. The Basque club are ten points clear and face Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday with their unbeaten run intact.

Toulouse are a point clear in Pool 5 and welcome bottom-placed Harlequins to the Stade Chaban Delmas in Bordeaux on Sunday. They will have one eye on events at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday, where Cardiff Blues host Sale.

The Sharks are poised to cause an upset but must first overcome the Blues, who are unbeaten at home in Europe so far. Kingsley Jones' men will want desperately to set up a winner-takes-all showdown with Toulouse next weekend.

That eventuality will likely also befall Munster and Northampton in Pool 1, with the Irish giants currently two points clear and set to meet their Premiership rivals next weekend. The Saints host Perpignan at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday and need to reproduce the form that downed Munster in the opening round.

Munster have the simpler task of a trip to face Benetton Treviso, though as Perpignan and Northampton found out, winning there is easier said than done.

Reigning champions Leinster host Brive at the RDS, with no margin for error in the battle for Pool 6. London Irish are level on points with the holders after dispatching Brive for two bonus-points in recent rounds, and the sides are set to meet at the Madejski next weekend. First up for the Exiles however is a Sunday trip to face the Scarlets, who picked up the points when the sides met earlier in the season.

No margin for error in Europe | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby News | Scrum.com

Osprey coach feeling it:

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Ospreys skipper Ryan Jones is under no illusions about the task that awaits his side in their vital Heineken Cup meeting with Clermont Auvergne on Saturday.

The Welsh region travel to the Stade Marcel Michelin in pole position in Pool 3 after back-to-back bonus-point wins over Viadana, but face a Clermont side in ominous form.

Their first-half blast to secure a bonus-point win over Leicester in round three remains one of the most impressive performances in the tournament this season and Jones is all too aware that his side need to take something away from France to set up a nerve-jangling showdown with Leicester in the final round.

"We are at crunch time now, and you can't fail to be excited about it," he said. "We've worked hard to put ourselves in a good position after four rounds of the tournament, but this is where the hard work really starts.

"If we don't hit the right performance levels in the final two fixtures this month, then the results we secured in October and December won't count for anything. It is fantastic to be involved in big games like these for the region, and everyone in the squad is looking forward to them.

"We realise that we face a tough challenge, but we have been working hard to build towards January as we always knew that this was the decisive month in terms of progression to the next stage."

Christmas victories over the Scarlets and Blues in the Magners League hinted at a purple patch of form, but past European failures will hang heavy over the squad as they pursue a third successive quarter-final appearance. With Clermont and Leicester both set to meet Viadana in the coming weeks, their four-point cushion will count for nothing unless they capitalise in France and then at home to the Tigers.

"We've improved throughout the season week on week, but we are under no illusions about where we are right now," Jones said. "We realise that we still have some way to go if we are going to finish off the job. We go out to Clermont, knowing that we have to be professional out there and do our job properly to ensure that we bring something back with us. If we can do that, it will then set up the Leicester game to be something special."

Jones excited by Heineken pressure | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby News | Scrum.com

Edinburgh not wanting to be counted out:

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Edinburgh skipper Chris Paterson has warned his side's Heineken Cup rivals not to count them out of contention for a quarter-final berth.

The Scottish side are currently four points behind French aristocrats Stade Francais in Pool 4, with a vital way trip to face Ulster on Friday night before Stade make the trip to Murrayfield in the final round.

Victory in Belfast will be hard to come by, with the home side level on points with Edinburgh and eyeing a quarter-final berth themselves. Paterson's men have not made the knockout stages since 2004, and remain the only Scots to do so.

"Make no mistake about it, there is still a lot to play for," he said. "For perhaps the first time I can recall since I started playing in the Heineken Cup, we are coming up to weekend number five and you still cannot tell with any degree of certainty just how the group is going to finish.

"Stade have put themselves in pole position with one more win than ourselves and Ulster but, so far, there is no real winner or loser in our group. Sometimes, after just a couple of rounds, sides can see they are already on the way out, but this pool is finely-balanced. We know we have performed poorly away from home, so we need to sort that out, and an away win on Friday would be like gold dust."

This season there is also the dangling carrot of a European Challenge Cup place should Edinburgh or Ulster fall short of ousting Stade from top spot. The third, fourth and fifth best Heineken pool runners-up this term will enter the Challenge Cup knockout equation, which also offers an outside chance for Pool 2 rivals Glasgow and Newport Gwent Dragons, who meet at Firhill on Friday.

Both sides are a long way, 13 points, behind Pool leaders Biarritz but could salvage their European ambitions with a strong finish.

"Although we have a good record against them, the fact they are riding high at the top of the league and the fact they've made Firhill a bit of a fortress means this definitely won't be an easy game," said Dragons head coach Paul Turner.

Paterson fires up Edinburgh | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby News | Scrum.com

**dudeabides** · 01-15-2010, 07:07 PM

Good one in Belfast in Heineken cup Pool 4 play today:

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It's crunch time in the Heineken Cup this weekend with the penultimate round of pool action and as a resul the race for the knock out stages is set to hot up.

Check out our review of the latest action:

Pool 4:

Ulster maintained their push for this season's Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a 21-13 victory over Edinburgh at Ravenhill. Issac Boss and Darren Cave scored tries and Ian Humphreys kicked eight points, with Niall O'Connor adding a penalty. Edinburgh replied with a Jim Thompson try and eight points from the boot of Chris Paterson.

Pool leaders Stade Francais host already-eliminated Bath tomorrow and remain favourites to progress but if they don't claim a bonus point win then Ulster could still top the Pool and move into the last eight with victory over Bath next weekend.

Ulster were unable to make any inroads early on, even when Edinburgh's Belfast-born prop David Young was sin-binned for seemingly pulling down a maul. In fact, it was Edinburgh who took the lead soon after Young returned when Paterson nailed a penalty after Ulster strayed offside. The hosts responded with a well-worked try for Cave who fixed the Edinburgh defence, straightened and got over the line. Humphreys, into the teeth of the gale, failed to add the conversion.

Paterson's second penalty seemed scant reward for having the conditions at their backs as the sides trooped off at the break. Ulster's cause seemed further boosted when, with the conditions now at his back, Humphreys slotted an early penalty to give his side a two point lead at 8-6. Boss stretched his side's lead ten minutes later, dummy the Edinburgh cover to dash in under the posts after some good work from Andrew Trimble. Humphreys converted.

The try by Isaac Boss

Five minutes after Boss's score, Ferris found himself in the bin for persistent infringing. Unlike Ulster in the first half, the visitors took immediate advantage of the situation and moved the ball at pace for Thompson to step inside for a score. Paterson converted to bring Rob Moffat's side within two points.

The next score was critical and it came courtesy of Trimble whose carry into contact saw Scott Newlands penalised. Humphreys did the honours with the three pointer just as Ferris rejoined the action. All that remained was O'Connor's last minute penalty as Ulster's European hopes remained alive.

And even better in Glasgow:

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Pool 2:

In Friday's other game, Glasgow held on for a 29-25 victory over the Dragons at the Firhill Arena. With both sides out of contention for a quarter-final berth, their only hope of continuing their European season beyond next weekend came with the slim chance of European Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification.

The hosts made a superb start to the game with two tries in the opening four minutes courtesy of centre Rob Dewey and No.8 John Beattie. Fly-half Ruaridh Jackson converted one of the scores to cement his side's advantage. But the Dragons rallied immediately and lock Robert Sidoli crossed to reduce the arrears. The kicking exploits of Jackson and scrum-half Colin Gregor kept Glasgow in control but tries for Dragons flanker James Harris and centre Rhodri Gomer-Davies pegged them back before the break. The visitors edged the second half but a try from hooker Fergus Thomson saw Glasgow hold on for the win and edge towards a likely Challenge Cup quarter-final berth.

Ulster keep euro hopes alive | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby News | Scrum.com

**dudeabides** · 01-16-2010, 03:03 PM

Munster v Treviso:

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Munster ran in six tries to comfortably beat Treviso in their Heineken Cup encounter at Stadio Comunale di Monigo this afternoon.

Keith Earls touched down in either half while Denis Hurley, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul Warwick and Donnacha Ryan also scored while Ronan O'Gara added 12 points in an emphatic victory.

Alessandro Zanni grabbed an interception score but the Italian champions never had a hope against a rampant Munster.

The result leaves Munster seven points clear at the top of Pool One, ahead of Northampton Saints who play tomorrow.

Treviso had proved tough opponents in Italy having beaten Perpignan in the opening round of the group stage and pushed Northampton hard.

However from the moment outside-half Marius Goosen missed their first scoring chance with a penalty on two minutes, they were always struggling to remain in the game.

Munster took control of the tie after scoring three tries in the space of eight minutes.

A break by Earls was followed by Paul O'Connell's pass to Hurley who ran in for his first Heineken Cup try, in the fourth minute.

Earls was then rewarded for his earlier break when he was on the end of Doug Howlett's attack from deep to double the lead on six minutes.

The third try followed swiftly as the ball moved through several pairs of hands before O'Callaghan passed to Niall Ronan before staggering to his feet to receive the return pass to score on 11 minutes.

O'Gara had missed his first two conversion attempts but this proved to be third time lucky before adding a penalty that opened a comfortable 20-0 lead after just 16 minutes.

Treviso had a brief spell with the upper hand and looked effective in the scrum. That saw scrum-half Simon Picone go close before his opposite number Tomas O'Leary had his pass intercepted by flanker Zanni who had the legs to run in from half-way.

Goosen converted to reduce the lead to 20-7 but Munster got back on track before half-time.

O'Gara kicked a second penalty before his pass saw Warwick break clear, kick ahead and beat two defenders to the bouncing ball beyond the try line. That wrapped up the bonus point for Munster, six minutes before half-time.

Even at 30-7 down, Treviso refused to buckle and put the wraps on Munster for 20 minutes of the second half as the game slowed. However Jean de Villiers finally broke the second-half deadlock when his burst allowed Earls to grab a second try. O'Gara converted for 37-7 on 63 minutes.

Damien Varley thought he had scored his first Heineken Cup try but was ruled to have knocked on over the line but the replacement was involved in the game's final attack that saw Ryan touch down for their sixth try.

RTÉ Sport: Treviso 7-44 Munster

**dudeabides** · 01-16-2010, 03:03 PM

Clermont v Ospreys:

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Clermont Auvergne edged nearer this season's Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a 27-7 victory over Ospreys in their crucial Pool 3 clash at Stade Marcel Michelin.

Second-half tries from wingers Julien Malzieu and Napalioni Nalaga and 17 points from the boot of fly-half Brock James carried the Top 14 leaders to a vital victory that also denied the Ospreys what could be a vital losing bonus point. A maximum points haul against Viadana in their last pool clash next weekend would see Clermont progress to the last eight thanks to their previous results over rivals Ospreys and Leicester, who will meet in Swansea.

The Ospreys produced a lively opening that included a try for winger Tommy Bowe and a conversion for fly-half Dan Biggar, but they were unable to maintain that momentum and were left to rue missed chances. However, the Welsh could not complain about the result.

The visitors made a confident start, moving the ball at pace and they could have had the opening try with less than a minute on the clock. A long pass from Biggar found centre Sonny Parker, who released Byrne and the fullback found Bowe but the Irishman lost his footing when a try looked on. Back came Clermont immediately with fullback Anthony Floch breaking free in midfield before launching a kick and chase downfield. Nalaga claimed to have beaten Ospreys captain Ryan Jones to the loose ball but the Television Match Official ruled a knock on by the Clermont speedster.

The breathtaking opening continued with the presence of Byrne in the line again causing chaos and this time Bowe was able to collect the pass and race in to score for the opening try of the game. The conversion from Biggar helped to silence the vociferous home crowd - if only temporarily. There was more trouble for Clermont when Ospreys scrum-half Ricky Januarie caught Nalaga in possession on his own line before stripping the ball, but a superb tackle from Seremaia Bai denied the Springbok the try.

The impressive Byrne claimed a high ball superbly on the quarter hour but was penalised for not releasing and the prolific James put his side on the board with the penalty.

Clermont continued to steady the ship with scrum-half Morgan Parra catching the eye with a neat chip and chase and winger Julien Malzieu causing trouble with a strong run into the Ospreys' 22. Parra was the next to cut a great line through the visitors after a neat lineout move but some scrambling defence ensured another scoring chance went begging. But a big scrum drew another penalty that James slotted to make it a one-point game.

Clermont continued to show the more enterprise and were handed the chance to stretch their lead when flanker Jerry Collins was penalised harshly for two successive high tackles. Justice was served when James hit the woodwork with the kick. But interference from the Ospreys' Alun Wyn Jones gifted the Clermont No.10 another shot at the posts moments later - and this time there was no mistake. And James turned the screw before the break with a well-taken drop goal.

There was no let up in the second half and Clermont continued to dominate in terms of territory and possession and they were rewarded for their endeavours with another penalty chance but James pushed the kick wide of the target. The Ospreys rallied with Byrne sparking a break and Wyn Jones adding some grunt with Aurelien Rougerie eventually scrambling a Collins chip into touch inside his own 22. The Welsh side chose to spin the ball off the lineout but failed to find a weak link in the Clermont defence and they would struggle to trouble the hosts for the remainder of the half.

Biggar was later handed a chance to reduce the arrears but he failed to slot the kick and James' off day with the boot continued on the hour when he hit the post for the second time.

In what proved to be the key moment in the game, Byrne was then stripped of possession with the ball falling kindly for Rougerie, who fed Malzieu and the winger had the pace to score in the corner. James achieved the rare feat of hitting the other post with his conversion attempt.

Sensing blood, James found another great touch and Clermont stole possession before prop David Zirakashvili burrowed close to the line. Desperate but effective defence from the Ospreys turned over the ball but they remained under the cosh and another penalty resulted in a yellow card for prop Adam Jones and another three points for James.

The Ospreys went looking for at least a bonus point to strengthen their case for a quarter-final berth but Nalaga pounced for an interception and coasted in for his side's second try to put the game beyond doubt. James's conversion took his personal tally 17 points and set the seal on a deserved win.

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Stade Francais continue to set the pace in the pool but they failed to shut the door on Ulster despite beating Premiership rivals Bath 15-13 at the Stade Jean Bouin. The hosts went into the game knowing that a bonus-point victory would seal their place in the knockout stages. However, they managed just two tries - both of which were scored by Julien Arias - in what proved a hard-earned win in desperately difficult conditions.

Stade appeared well on their way to a bonus point at half-time. After Lionel Beauxis and Nicky Little had exchanged penalties in the opening quarter, Stade took control of the game when Arias dived over after winning the race to Mathieu Bastareaud's clever kick in behind the Bath defence. Arias was over again in the 34th minute, the winger putting the finishing touches on a free-flowing move involving James Haskell, Hugo Southwell and Dimitri Szarzewski.

However, Bath were gifted a route back into the game just before the interval when Beauxis made a mess of an attempted clearance, allowing Michael Claasens in for the simplest of scores. Little converted and then stroked over a penalty in the early stages of the second half to draw the men from the West Country to within one score of victory. However, despite their best efforts, Stade held on quite comfortably to strengthen their position at the top of the Pool.

Pool 3

Scott Hamilton made it five tries in two games against Viadana by crossing twice in Leicester's 47-8 victory over the Italian minnows at Welford Road. Dan Hipkiss also struck twice for the Tigers, for whom Ben Woods, Toby Flood and Aaron Mauger also touched down. However, some of the shine was taken off what was a resounding win by a knee injury to Tom Croft which forced the England international off after just 27 minutes of play.

Hipkiss opened the scoring six minutes after jinking his way past two would-be tacklers and although Garry Law replied with a penalty for the visitors, Leicester pulled further clear when Woods beat Michele Sepe to Jordan Crane's grubber kick down the line. Flood coasted over just after the half hour after Alesana Tuilagi's awesome break had left the Viadana defence in tatters and Hamilton wrapped up the bonus point when he streaked clear to score on 34 minutes. The fullback dotted again just before the interval, this time touching down after being released by Flood, who then maintained his perfect record with the boot by nailing the resulting conversion.

Leicester, somewhat unsurprisingly, took their foot off the gas in the second half and Viadana took advantage, scoring a fine breakaway try through Italy's Pablo Canavosio in the 55th minute. However, the Tigers still summoned up enough energy and interest to see the game out in style, racking up two further tries in the closing minutes. First, Sam Vesty put Hipkiss in for his second try of the game and then Tuilagi went on the rampage again before leaving Mauger with an easy finish.

Euro race set to go all the way | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby News | Scrum.com

**dudeabides** · 01-16-2010, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Pool 5
Sale's hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals were severely dented by a 36-19 defeat by the Cardiff Blues.

The Sharks needed to triumph in the Welsh capital to reclaim top spot in the pool from Toulouse ahead of the French outfit's clash with Harlequins on Sunday. However, despite scoring three tries, through Sisa Koyamaibole, Mathew Tait and James Gaskell, they left the Cardiff City Stadium empty handed.

That was down to the excellent goal-kicking of Blues fullback Ben Blair and the fact that the hosts managed three touchdowns of their own, with Richie Rees, Bradley Davies and Xavier Rush all dotting during an absorbing second half.

Sale fell behind to a penalty from Blair less than 60 seconds after kick-off but, in truth, they could not have hoped for a better start as Koyamaibole crashed over some horribly lax work from the Blues at the back of a scrum just a couple of metres out from their own line.

However, the home side had opened up a seven-point lead by half time after two successful strikes on goal from Blair and a long-range effort from Leigh Halfpenny. The game was then effectively decided in Cardiff's favour during a four-minute spell after the restart in which both Rees and Davies sniped over from close range.

Sale responded with a well-worked try for Tait but Blair's boot kept them at arm's length. Another superb spell of possession from the visitors resulted in a third try, this time for Gaskell, and that meant that one more try would have secured Sale not only a losing bonus point but also a try bonus point. However, their attempts to keep the ball in hand and run from deep ultimately resulted in an intercept try for Rush with the last play of the game which ultimately left Sale's qualification hopes hanging by a thread

However, Gloucester still have high hopes of extending their run in Europe beyond January with an impressive 23-8 victory over Biarritz at Kingsholm less than 24 hours later. Tries in either half from Lesley Vainikolo and Tim Molenaar, and 13 points from the boot of Nicky Robinson proved enough to see off their French foes, for whom veteran No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy touched down late on. Gloucester now lied second in the pool on 12 points, six behind Biarritz, whose place in the last eight is assured after four wins from their opening four games.

Biarritz arrived at Kingsholm without a number of first-team regulars through injury and it certainly showed. Gloucester dominated the first half and after Robinson had opened the scoring ten minutes in, the try that the home side's early endeavour deserved arrived at the end of the first quarter when Vainikolo touched down after an excellent break from Alasdair Dickinson. Valentine Courrent responded with a penalty for Biarritz but Robinson responded in kind just after the half hour to send Gloucester in 13-3 ahead at the break. Robinson struck again six minutes into the second half and the Cherry and Whites effectively put the game beyond their Basque visitors when man of the match Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu released Vainikolo, who put Molenaar away to score.

Indeed, the game had long since last its intensity by the time Harinordoquy barged over under the posts from close range with just five minutes remaining.

Clermont take big step towards quarter-finals | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby Match Pack | Scrum.com

**dudeabides** · 01-16-2010, 03:53 PM

And in Dublin, how'd Leinster do a week before the 'showdown of all showdowns':

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Pool 6

Brian O'Driscoll bagged a last-minute bonus point for an off-colour Leinster as they overcame a stubborn Brive side at the RDS.

A lack of game-time over the festive period, with their two Magners League fixtures being postponed, left the reigning Heineken Cup champions with a far from ideal run-in to this Pool Six tie.

But despite obvious rustiness and a scrappy all-round display, Michael Cheika's men showed enough glimpses of class - including Shane Horgan's sublime offload for O'Driscoll's score - to seal a deserved fourth pool win.

The result moved the champions five points clear at the top of Pool Six, putting the pressure back on their nearest rivals London Irish who are away to the Scarlets tomorrow before hosting Leinster in a likely pool decider at Twickenham.

Back after a spell out with a hand injury, Jonathan Sexton kicked a penalty and two conversions - the first of which came after a penalty try.

Isa Nacewa and Gordon D'Arcy were Leinster's other try scorers, while Brive's commitment and spirit saw them deservedly cross the whitewash twice through Retief Uys and Scott Spedding.

When these sides met in France in October, Leinster ran out comfortable 36-13 winners but this time around, with captain Antoine Claassen and Wales' Alix Popham setting the physical tone, Brive were altogether more competitive.

Their Italian fly-half Luciano Orquera missed a third-minute penalty but Leinster's line was never truly tested in a sloppy opening quarter and a lovely show-and-go got the returning Sexton into the groove.

The vast majority of the 17,836-strong crowd breathed a sigh of relief on 26 minutes when referee Andrew Small awarded the hosts a penalty try.

The Brive forwards gave way for a second time as Leinster's bulky eight got the nudge on at a five-metre scrum, and Sexton slotted the simple conversion.

The score came off the home side's first incisive bit of attacking play. Winger Nacewa's dinked kick was gathered by the advancing D'Arcy, who was held up just short.

Sexton and man of the match Jamie Heaslip almost followed up with a second try before the break but, on the resumption, Leinster quickly built on their 7-0 half-time buffer.

Sexton slammed over a penalty before an incisive run from full-back Rob Kearney, a change of direction by flanker Kevin McLaughlin and a well-timed pass by O'Driscoll sent Nacewa over in the left corner.

Brive hit back on the hour mark when athletic lock Uys showed great strength and feet to swivel his way over after breaking loose from a lineout maul.

The try went unconverted and Leinster responded seven minutes later when D'Arcy slipped out of a tackle and dotted down to the right of the posts, with Sexton adding the extras.

With four minutes to go and the game becoming looser and looser, Leinster were almost through for a fourth try when Nacewa kicked through - only for the bouncing ball to elude the advancing Kearney.

The moment was made all the worse when replacement Viliame Waqaseduadua blazed forward on the counter and some excellent continuity was finished off by full-back Spedding whose brilliant step left the Leinster cover for dead.

Nonetheless, Leinster engineered a final attacking platform off a midfield scrum and they struck devastatingly for the bonus point.

Kearney raced onto a Shaun Berne pass, Horgan swerved off his right in support and a deft behind-the-back offload out of the tackle teed up for O'Driscoll for a darting run to the corner.

RTÉ Sport: Leinster 27-10 Brive

**dudeabides** · 01-17-2010, 06:02 PM

Sunday afternoon in the Heineken cup:

Quote:

Pool 5

Toulouse booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 33-21 bonus-point victory over Harlequins.

Florian Fritz bagged the opening try for the hosts before second-half tries from Jean Bouilhou, Cedric Heymans and Maxime Medard eased Guy Noves' side to victory and the knock-out stages at the Stade Ernest-Wallon. Mike Brown and Ugo Monye crossed for the visitors who suffered their fifth defeat of this year's competition.

Quins bagged the opening try as a slick handling move put lock James Percival through a gap and although his pass looked forward, Brown was able to score under the posts. The joy was to be short-lived for the visitors.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde booted home two penalties in quick succession to take the lead before Heymans broke and found a reverse pass for Fritz to score. The second try came through flanker Bouilhou. Elissalde made the break in midfield and after neat support play by replacement Gregory Lamboley and Dusautoir, Bouilhou added the finishing touch.

Quins' misery was further compounded when prop Ceri Jones was yellow-carded for a clear trip on Elissalde. Immediately, Toulouse capitalised on the numerical advantage and Heymans added a third before Medard confirmed the home side's place in the quarter-finals with the bonus point try. Monye scored a late consolation brace for Quins.

Pool 6

London Irish gave themselves a mountain to climb by losing 31-22 to the Scarlets at Parcy Scarlets.

Braces from Jonathan Davies and flanker Rob McCusker proved too much for the Exiles as the Scarlets fought back from 22-10 down, with Davies' second denying the visitors a losing bonus-point. Irish's meeting with Leinster at Twickenham next weekend now has a new complexion as they must deny Leinster any points and bag a five-point haul of their own to progress as group winners.

Rhys Priestland pulled an early shot at goal wide for the home side, who were quickly behind when young Exiles wing Tom Homer darted over in the corner following a Ryan Lamb cross-kick and some wonderful handling from lock Nick Kennedy.

The Scarlets' response was a thrilling break from wing Andy Fenby, whose pace left Homer and Lamb grasping at thin air along the touchline. Fenby timed his pass perfectly and Wales centre Davies crashed over under the posts. The open game continued though as Irish hooker David Paice scored their second after wriggling free from a last-ditch tackle. Their lead was extended by a Lamb penalty, which followed a sin-binning for home lock Lou Reed.

No.8 Chris Hala'ufia further punished the Scarlets after the break by powering through some weak tackles to score the Exiles' third. With thoughts turning to a bonus-point the home side rallied, with first a brilliant chip and chase from Priestland and then a dramatic try as McCusker tore through to score untouched. Minutes later the rangy Wales tourist powered over for his second despite an attempted tackle by Peter Richards and the visitors struggled to get out of their half for the remainder of the game. Davies burst clear to score his second and round off the victory in style with the final play of the game.

Pool 1

Northampton centre Jon Clarke scored a vital bonus point try with the last play of the game to pick up maximum points from their 34-0 victory over a shadow Perpignan side at Franklin's Gardens.

The Saints now travel to face Munster at Thomond Park in a shootout for top spot, but their bonus point puts them on 18 points heading into the next round and in pole position for a runners-up spot. Northampton had to re-adjust their plans hours before the match when England's new young forward, Courtney Lawes, was forced to drop out with a groin strain.

Perpignan pressed early on but lost fly-half Steve Meyer to the sin-bin after he illegally halted a counter attack from Ben Foden. A sweeping move involving Bruce Reihana, Foden and Shane Geraghty brought the opening points as Geraghty hammered over a 35-yard penalty following an infringement.

Northampton took the initiative from the restart and scored a wonderful try after only three minutes involving England call-ups Foden and Chris Ashton. Foden made a searing break involving three dummies to pass which bemused the defence before releasing Ashton up the right. The prolific wing scored his 16th try in 17 games.

Again it was the Foden-Ashton axis that shredded Perpignan in the 55th minute. Snappy passing between the two saw Ashton hurtling towards the line and the wing popped the ball outside for Phil Dowson to score.

Scrum-half Lee Dickson burrowed over in the 61st minute and the visitors were a spent force. Northampton captain Dylan Hartley kicked possession away in a failed attempt to cross-kick to his wing, when a pass to his left might have led to a fourth try, but Clarke eased all fears with his dramatic try in the last minute.

**dudeabides** · 01-17-2010, 06:23 PM

The Heineken Cup tables now show:

Pool 1

1. Munster 20 pts
2. Northampton 18 pts
3. Perpignan 6 pts
4. Treviso 5 pts

Pool 2

1. Biarritz 18 pts
2. Gloucester 12 pts
3. Glasgow 9 pts
4. Newport 6 pts

Pool 3

1. Leicester 17 pts
2. Ospreys 16 pts
3. Clermont 16 pts
4. Arix Viadana 0 pts

Pool 4

1. Stade Français 17 pts
2. Ulster 13 pts
3. Edinburgh 9 pts
4. Bath 7 pts

Pool 5

1. Toulouse 19 pts
2. Sale 13 pts
3. Cardiff Blues 13 pts
4. Harlequins 2 pts

Pool 6

1. Leinster 20 pts
2. London Irish 15 pts
3. Lianelli 13 pts
4. Brive 0 pts

**dudeabides** · 01-18-2010, 09:13 PM

The coaches speak about these past matches:

Quote:

* London Irish boss Toby Booth slammed his side's collapse against the Scarlets, insisting that they had nobody to blame but themselves.

The Exiles blew a 22-10 lead to slump to a 31-22 loss that leaves them requiring a bonus-point win over Leinster next weekend.

"All the damage in relation to the competition was done when we lost to the Scarlets at home," he said. "We are bitterly disappointed, but the good thing about this team is it likes uphill challenges.

We knew it would be tough here, we knew the Scarlets would be passionate, but I do feel that a lot of what went on today was our own doing. We are disappointed by the unforced error-count, and at 22-10 up we expected to close that game out.

"You live by the decisions you make. We had glorious opportunities to put that game to bed and didn't take them. Irrespective of the mathematics involved in the pools, any team that wants to be competitive in any competition has to bounce back from adversity. I have no problem getting this team up for big games. We have to prepare well for next weekend and try to heal some of the scars."

* Leinster coach Michael Cheika praised Brive's fighting qualities after his side wrapped up a 27-10 bonus-point victory at the RDS.

"Brive came with a lot of fight and I thought they played very well and it's a credit to their new coaches - they've brought them forward," he said. "At half-time we spoke and said 'this is European Cup football and nothing's easy, don't expect anything...you have to earn everything you get and it wasn't going well for us'. But I think it's a good learning opportunity for us and probably what we needed - a good physical battle before next weekend."

* Munster team manager Shaun Payne was a happy man after watching his team comfortably beat Benetton Treviso 44-7 at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.

"It was a strange match to secure a bonus point as early as that with all the tries scored from long range," he said. "It's not something we're used to but we were pleased nonetheless. We were aware of the problems both Perpignan and Northampton had here in Italy so we were really up for this game as we chase a play-off place.

"A few of the lads hadn't played for almost three weeks because of rest periods and games being called off due to the weather but I guess our concerns that we might be under-cooked were unfounded. The lads were hungry and we made the most of the good conditions with the tries."

* Bath head coach Steve Meehan was proud of his side despite seeing them crash out of Europe with a 15-13 defeat to Stade Francais in Paris. "It came down to the conditions and, from time to time, our inaccuracies," Meehan said. "But I was happy with the effort and proud of the guys. It was a terrific performance. At one stage, it was 15-3 and we got it back to 15-13. We are desperately disappointed that we couldn't go on further. It was a terrific effort considering we were playing on a cabbage patch."

* Kingsley Jones delivered a withering verdict on his Sale Sharks team after their Heineken Cup collapse against Cardiff Blues. ""It was a five out of 10 display," he said following their 36-19 defeat. "Our basics were poor - our kicking and passing wasn't good enough, and our discipline let us down. There were not too many positives, and we will need a huge improvement to challenge Toulouse next week. I think it is unlikely that two teams will go through out of our group."

* Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath praised his side after they recorded a 23-8 victory over Biarritz. "Defensively we were strong and disciplined in the contact area," he said. "In attack, we created a lot and took our opportunities so, therefore, I'm obviously delighted.

"Nicky [Robinson] kicked pretty well and Tim Molenaar's try at the end was good which came from Eliota's (Fuimaono-Sapolu) break. Some of the opportunities we took makes a difference. Eliota was outstanding as was (Akapusi) Qera and (Gareth) Delve. I would not single anyone out. We set some standards on Monday that we would like to stick to and we did it."

* Ulster boss Brian McLaughlin praised Ulster's "no frills" performance in the 21-13 Heineken Cup defeat of Edinburgh at Ravenhill on Friday night. "We closed the game out, we were very dogged with no frills to our performance and we just got stuck in," said McLaughlin. "At the end we got in their half and stayed there. We wanted to be in a position to be going to Bath with something major at stake. We must front up there and get a result, we can go across and get that elusive win."

* Glasgow coach Sean Lineen was left very frustrated even though his side came out on the right side of a curiously shapeless Heineken Cup tie against Newport-Gwent Dragons. "The most important thing was that we won and so kept up the winning momentum. That is our side that will play during the Six Nations, and they now have the winning habit. We also have tonight's win up our sleeves ahead of the Dragons' return in April."

Booth laments Irish mistakes | Rugby Union | Heineken Cup | Rugby News | Scrum.com