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The Crowd Says (20) | Page 1 of Comments

• October 9th 2008 @ 12:40am
  Benjamin said | October 9th 2008 @ 12:40am | Report comment

  Harlequins are 4th in the GP.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 1:26am
  Benjamin said | October 9th 2008 @ 1:26am | Report comment

  Pool 2:
  Wasps – Wasps are in the unenviable position of having lost two talismans, Dallaglio and Fraser Waters, and whilst pundits all over England like to refer to Dallaglio’s loss as the reason for the clubs poor form Paul Sackey – the England winger, has said that Waters loss has been the greater. As organiser of their rush defence he was key. A vastly underrated player Waters now plies his trade in Italy. It should also be noted that Dallaglio has employment at Wasps and so is often around the training ground or the boardroom.

  Ian McGeechan is blaming the ELVs for stifling his teams penchant for creativity but the fact of the matter is that the players are taking bad options. Lewsey is playing horribly and Sackey and Flutey are injured. However, not all is gloom and doom. Cipriani is on his way back and Ibanez is a talisman in his own right. As long as Wasps can remedy their poor lineout and shaky scrum then they are always dangerous. They have, after all, just beaten Leicester at Leicester. I would expect Wasps to win all of their home games and perhaps even win in Dublin. Traditionally slow starters – never write off this team, it simply contains too much class.

  NB – for the avid stattos out there, Tom Voyce is currently 9th in the HC all-time top ten try-scorers list with an impressive 21 touch downs.

  Leinster – like Wasps they have a poor scrum, and thus van der Linde has been brought in, however the scrum is an 8 man job and so he shouldn’t be too pressured by the fans. Having tried hard to fight the stereotype of having all the skill in the world but little mongrel to match Leinster also brought in Elsom to bolster the forwards. Unfortunately for the pair Leinster were stuffed in their debut, at home, versus Munster.

  Leinster have often been the European bridesmaid but this season they could potentially go all the way. As aforementioned Wasps are not setting the world alight so it is down to Michael Cheika to really turn it on this year. The backs are a delight to watch, specifically Luke Fitzgerald, however Contepomi blows too cold before he blows hot. Unless Contepomi plays 10 instead of 12 Leinster only have the callow, yet promising, Jon Sexton as an alternative fly half option. Therefore if the pack struggle there is no real kicking alternative. Ultimately whether Leinster progress depends on the pack but that Shane Horgan and Brian O’Driscoll are in the top ten Heineken Cup all-time try scorers, 23 and 20 tries respectively, illustrates perfectly the ability of the back line. Stuart Barnes is picking Leinster as his tip for the title but I still have reservations over their consistency. Far too flaky for my liking.

  Castres – woeful form, weak defence, no real European pedigree. Castres have a tough pack but the excellently resilient Lionel Nallet is often fighting an up-hill battle. Given their league form it is likely that Castres will ignore the HC but their league form also means that they are under no pressure whatsoever. I would mention that French teams perform well when least expected but in reality there are hardly any Frenchmen in the team. The front row,which includes Hoeft, Lensing and Saayman, should unsettle all of the other teams but beyond that too much rests on Nallet, Masoe, Phil Cristophers and mini-kicking dynamo Romain Teulet. Castres will probably place last which means we might see more terrace tears from ex-beast Gerard Cholley as we did last time that Wasps beat Castres in France (16-13 2006/07). Castres would probably stand a greater chance if the big old boy came out of retirement.

  Edinburgh – Andy Robinson has reinvigorated the team who have an excellent native core; Jacobsen, Ford, Hamilton, Hogg, Rennie, Blair, Godman, Cairns, De Luca and Paterson, but little grit. The team are inconsistent scrummagers, which can largely be attributed to Gavin Kerr, and rely far too much on the boot of Paterson. The backline provides spark, like Leinster, but also like Leinster the pack is lightweight. Robinson is an excellent club coach so I wouldn’t write them off, especially given that Robinson has coached the majority of the Wasps team, but simply put, Edinburgh do not possess the big hitters that Wasps and Leinster can call on. It should also be remembered that Edinburgh play at Murrayfield which is of course close to empty thus their home games are eerily bereft of atmosphere. I suspect that the plucky Scottish side will finish 3rd.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 1:55am
  Benjamin said | October 9th 2008 @ 1:55am | Report comment

  Pool 3:

  Leicester – since Dean Richards left Leicester have never been the same. Pat Howard was an able replacement but his teams were often out-thought by Wasps in the crunch games. Loffreda was rather abject but given that he had never coached professionally it was a rather bizarre and unfortunate appointment by the Leicester board. Having reiled on brute power for far too long it seems equally bizarre that Peter Wheeler thought it best to give the vacant Head Coach position to the man least likely to diversify the Leicester brand. Meyer, although highly rated in SA and perhaps the SH, never had the Bulls playing much galactico rugby and beyond a callow S14 title he never achieved all that was possible with such a talented squad. Despite being a genuinely likeable man I would be infinitely surprised were he to galvanise Leicester toward any sort of greatness. In a nutshell, Leicester have always had the brawn but rarely the brains.

  The pack is meaty with Ayerza and Castrogiovanni true modern day props, however due to Castrogiovanni’s injury the rather cumbersome Julian White is the no. 3 anchor, and whilst a destructive scrummager he simply does not offer the same carrying option that Castro does. Chuter and Kayser provide excellent hooking skills although Kayser’s throwing is notoriously hit and miss. Ben Kay has still not found his 2003 WC form… 5 years later and so Corry and Marco Wentzel lock the scrum. Wentzel is certainly no Matfield, which IMO typifies the current problems of Leicester. The back row is competative. Tom Croft is the next England blindside and is as fast as Tom Varndell over 40 metres. Newby and Moody are injured therefore Ben Herring, who is playing very well – but has this bizarre tendency to kick the ball away in attack, and Jordan Crane are at 7 and 8. Crane is admired in England… but not by me. He is slow and plodding. A real carthorse. Without Castrogiovanni and Moody the pack is not mobile enough. Meyer needs to take the forwards away from their traditional maul mentality.

  The backs have similar problems to the forwards. Harry Ellis seeks contact far too often and yet Toby Flood is far too clever for his outside backs. It is no surprise then that Meyer has brought in the boot of Hougaard. Dan Hipkiss has great potential but is under-utilised by the Tigers, he has this great ability to act as a back row target. Tuilagi and Varndell have not progressed in 3 years and whilst Varndell is exceptionally fast he doesn’t have a natural rugby intellect. The only true footballers in the squad are Mauger, Flood and Geordan Murphy. Unless this team evolves then I would expect the Ospreys to qualify. If the truism applies that you should never write of Wasps, then it also applies to Leicester, however I do have this sneeking feeling that they are too one-dimensional. Their position in the GP belies their poor form and like Sale they will eventually be caught out.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 2:28am
  Benjamin said | October 9th 2008 @ 2:28am | Report comment

  … Pool 3 (cont.)

  Perpignan – their home ground is a bear pit and aside from the home team brutality it is a lovely away day/weekend for the fans. The USAP pack is aggressive and big, containing slightly unhinged internationals Tincu (Romania), Mas (France), Hines (Scotland) and Alvarez-Kairelis (Arg.). They have an excellent home record and often win through sheer intimidation. If Leicester attempt to meet the home aggression then they will come a good 2nd. Unfortunately for the Basques the hugely powerful ex-Leicester player, Henry Tuilagi, is injured although Vaki and Tonitu are more than able replacements.However this ferocity does occasionally develop into full-on brutality and last year the England prop Perry Freshwater broke the cheekbone of England A flanker, Kieran Roche, with a deliberate elbow to the face. If you can ignore any attempts at foul play then you are half-way to beating the nutty boys. I imagine this is easier said than done though.

  The team had a good season last year and despite their typical French away game frailties they were very unlucky not to beat London Irish in England. Fly -half has often been a problem position for Perpignan but the signing of Dan Carter should remedy this, especially in tandem with the homegrown international pair of Grandclaude and Marty. If Carter doesn’t succeed then Perpignan will suffer accordingly. Nonetheless they should win all of their home games and win in Italy, as should Leicester and the Ospreys. Therefore away bonus points will be vital, as they will be in all groups… which I suppose goes without saying. I would classify Perpignan as the French Leicester but I am sure that Carter can take them to new heights, thus it will be between the Ospreys and the Basques to top the group.

  Ospreys – good squad but lacking bottle. I think that is the general opinion of must rugby fans. In a sense they are flat track bullies. They have the best squad in Wales – virtually the Welsh team, and have acquired some excellent foreign players – Holah and Nutbrown, and yet they always flatter to deceive. I think a lot of that was due to the inadequacies of recently departed coach Lyn Jones, but time will tell. A rather worrying sign is that Harlequins 2nd and 3rd team, masquerading as the 1st xv, managed to give them a bit of a lesson last week. Maybe that is the wake up they need having coasted through the Magners? In terms of ability the Ospreys have it all but are often bullied out of close games. It is all well and good suggesting that Ryan Jones should be the next Lions captain but he has yet to lead his club to tangible glory. IMO he rides on the hard work of Jonathon Thomas far too much. The pack, although mobile and highly skilled has a tendency to be outscrummed, specifically Duncan Jones, and Mike Phillips, who often takes the sting away from a retreating pack, is injured, as is new signing Nutbrown. In light of this a lot of responsibility must fall upon James Hook, a player who still manages to go from sublime to … less than sublime all too frequently. Ultimately the Ospreys can go all the way if they want it enough, their backline is exceptional but it must learn to rely a little less on Shane Williams. The return of Henson therefore, is a very positive omen. Justin Marshall stated that the team lacked the mental strength to hit the highest peaks. To that extent this coming European campaign will be a very real litmus test.

  Treviso – mmm… not much to say about the Italian team. Fraser Waters is an excellent capture, but one man can’t stop the flow of the tide. Quality players are few and between. Literally. The majority of the squad are honest journeymen, Hottie Louw, Michael Horak etc. Perhaps Treviso will see the tournament as a welcome addition to life’s rich and great tapestry?! I wouldn’t be surprised to see the men in white and green slip to some big shellackings.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 3:42am
  Colin N said | October 9th 2008 @ 3:42am | Report comment

  You missed out Nick Evans as one of Harlequins’ SH players and thus I would have him as a key man. Also wouldn’t you say Ryan Jones is more of a key man than Jonathan Thomas. Although he perhaps hasn’t produced his Wales form regularly enough for the Ospreys, on his day he is one of the best number 8′s around.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 4:29am
  Benjamin said | October 9th 2008 @ 4:29am | Report comment

  Colin, I went for Danny Care ahead of Evans on the basis that Care has more of the ball and therefore has more direction into what happens with it and also the pace of the game. I think that Care has run the Quins games to this point. I did consider Evans heavily but felt that Strettle has that uncoachable quality that can turn a game on his own. It’s irrelevant I suppose as both are injured.

  Personally I think Thomas is the unsung hero of the Wales and Ospreys pack. He runs lineouts, rarely gives away penalties and always tops the tackle count. The work that Thomas does allows Jones to carry the ball. I also think that Jones needs to lose a bit of weight and put in some more 80 minute performances. I’m not suggesting that I know more than the Ospreys conditioners but he seems a bit lethargic recently. Pundits seem far too willing to jump on the Jones bandwagon and personally I can’t see their justification. As a captain he struggled to close the game out against Harlequins and his yellow card didn’t help. It has been conveniently forgotten that it was Jones’ last minute penalty that allowed Beauxis to kick the Ospreys out of the HC two seasons ago, his logic being that he didn’t think Beauxis could kick that far. I think there’s a lot of room for him to improve and this talk of him being a Lions captain is a tad premature.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 11:23am
  Skip said | October 9th 2008 @ 11:23am | Report comment

  Dear all,

  Who is broadcasting the HC & ERC in Australia. Can you see it online anywhere?

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• October 9th 2008 @ 1:31pm
  Sid said | October 9th 2008 @ 1:31pm | Report comment

  Skip,

  The Heineken Cup is broadcast live on ESPN. You’ll need Foxtel’s basic sports package to see it.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 5:28pm
  van der Merwe said | October 9th 2008 @ 5:28pm | Report comment

  I cannot fathom why Leinster would waste money on CJ van der Linde. He’s a worthless scrummager, lazy, a liability in the loose, and undisciplined. Frankly, from a Springbok point of view, I’m glad to see him go.

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• October 9th 2008 @ 7:53pm
  Benjamin said | October 9th 2008 @ 7:53pm | Report comment

  I’m guessing that some people still consider Springbok front row forwards as the peak of scrummaging prowess, however van der Linde is a lazy scrummager and prone to incorrect binding. Regardless he does provide experience and real BULK, the Leinster pack is actually very slight, but for the money I assume he’s being paid I think it would have made far more sense to purchase an Italian. Calvisano are overflowing with quality props. I have never really valued van der Linde, he certainly isn’t a 50 cap Springbok.

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