By Benjamin
October 10th 2008 @ 12:44am
Loading ...Behind the scenes of the Heineken Cup 3
This is the third installment in my series of previews of the teams that are contesting the Heineken Cup this season.
POOL 5
Stade Toulousain
Champions 1996, 2003 & 2005
Current league position – T14 – 2nd
SH players – Daan Human (SA), Alberto Vernet Basualdo (Arg.), Patricio Albacete (Arg.), Shaun Sowerby (SA), Finau Maka (Tonga), Byron Kelleher (NZ), Gaffie du Toit (SA), Maleli Kunavore (Fiji), Bertus Swanepoel (SA), Manu Ahotaeiloa (Tonga)
Key men – Thierry Dusautoir, Byron Kelleher, Yannick Jauzion
Bath
Champions 1998
Current league position – GP – 1st
SH players – Pieter Dixon (SA), Justin Harrison (Aus.), Jonny Fa’amatuainu (Sam.), Daniel Browne (NZ), Michael Claasens (SA), Butch James (SA), Shaun Berne (Aus.), Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu (Sam.), Shontayne Hape (NZ), Joe Maddock (NZ)
Key men – Matt Stevens, Michael Claasens, Butch James
Newport Gwent Dragons
Current league position – ML – 7th
SH players – Tom Willis (NZ), Hoani MacDonald (NZ), Grant Webb (NZ), James Arlidge (Jap.), Marc Stcherbina (Aus.)
Key men – Tom Willis, Colin Charvis, Andy Williams
Glasgow Warriors
Quarter-final playoff 1998
Current league position – ML – 6th
SH players – Justin Va’a (Sam.), Opeta Palepoi (Sam.), Lome Fa’atau (Sam.), Jose Maria Nunez Piossek (Arg.), Bernardo Stortoni (Arg.)
Key men – Al Kellock, John Barclay, Dan Parks
POOL 6
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque
Losing finalists 2006
Current league position – T14 – 7th
SH players – Mosese Moala (Tonga), Campbell Johnstone (NZ), Manuel Carizza (Arg.), Samiu Vahafolau (Tonga), Jacques Cronje (SA), Henry Fa’afili (Sam.), Ilikene Bolakoro (Fiji), Ashwin Willemse (SA)
Key men – Jerome Thion, Imanol Harinordoquy, Dimitri Yachvilli
Gloucester
Semi-finals 2001
Current league position – GP – 7th
SH players – Greg Somerville (NZ), Akapusi Qera (Fiji), Willie Walker (NZ)
Key men – Marco Bortolami, Olly Barkley, Mike Tindall
Cardiff Blues
Losing finalists 1996
Current league position – ML – 5th
SH players – Taufa’ao Filise (Tonga), Paul Tito (NZ), Maama Molitika (Tonga), Xavier Rush (NZ), Jason Spice (NZ), Ben Blair (NZ)
Key men – Gethin Jenkins, Paul Tito, Xavier Rush
Calvisano
Current league position – S10 – 4th
SH players – Hoani Tui (NZ), Cameron Treloar (Aus.), Justin Purll (Aus.), Gerard Fraser (NZ), Ben Smith (NZ), Winston Mafi (Tonga)
Key men – Leonardi Ghiraldini, Alessandro Zanni, Paul Griffen
Like this article? Please spread the word about the Roar to your mates.
Free Email updates:
Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...
(12)
Benjamin said | October 12th 2008 @ 8:24am | Report comment
Toulouse - Jean Pierre Rives once noted that “The whole point of rugby is that it is, first and foremost, a state of mind, a spirit.” It is only right then, that his old club would maintain that ethos. Unfortunately for Toulouse they lost last years HC final because they tried to out-Munster Munster. Apart from that they have been a glorious rhythm of gold weave. It is often a joy to watch Toulouse. They are my pick for the HC.
The pack is sturdy yet mobile. The front row is massive; Humaan, Perugini, Servat, Poux and Lecouls. The second row is massive, Albacete and Pelous. The back row is mobile; Nyanga, Sowerby, Dusautoir, Maka and Boilhou. To that extent the forwards are perfectly balanced, the scrum is rock solid and the Toulouse lineout is agile and inventive.
The backs are genius; Jauzion, Ellisalde, Heymans, Clerc, Poitrenaud, Medard and Kunavore, and like the forwards the backs are also perfectly balanced, thus the genius of the above players is supported by the persperation and confrontation of Kelleher and Fritz. The only real problem lies in the teams lack of a true fly half. Gaffie du Toit is shockingly inconsistent and David Skrela is pedestrian. This has led Guy Noves to play Ellisalde at no.10 on the big occasions and whilst he is a quality performer it is only logical that he would be found out by the true number 10s. Apart from that the team is flawless. Pace, verve and sweat. Everything.
Bath - to a certain extent Bath are the English equivalent of Toulouse. They like to throw the ball around but they also have a heavy duty pack. All plaudits must go to Steve Meehan.
The front row is an excellent scrummaging unit; Flatman, Barnes, Mears, Dixon, Stevens and Bell, and the second row has the traditional 4 and 5 combination with Grewcock and Harrison, and Short and Hooper. It seems that the loss of Steve Borthwick has not been felt that keenly. The back row is sturdy and powerful without offering any real speed. Team captain Mike Lipman has improved every single year but Meehan’s insistence on playing Stuart Hooper out of position at 6 has often led to defensive problems. Overall it is a very strong pack.
The backs are good. They’re quick and know how to read a game. Meehan has really got the best out of Butch James, however his kicking has let Bath down on too many occasions. To that extent Olly Barkley is a far bigger loss than Borthwick. Nick Abendanon is also improving under the Australian’s tutelage and he is accompanied by the giant Matt Banahan and the very able Joe Maddock. The centres are direct but not to the detriment of the team pattern. Overall there is a very good sructure to the line and it is no coincidence that they are the top try scorers in the Guinness Premiership. The ship is steered by the rejuvinated Michael Claasens.
Colin N said | October 12th 2008 @ 9:32am | Report comment
Benjamin, what’s happened to Valentin Courrent. He was considered a big talent a couple of years ago, but he seems to have disappeared. Other than their fly-half problems, Toulouse are a superb side to watch, but they are typically French at times. Bottle it in some high pressure situations (I know they’ve won it 3 times but with their budget and squad they arguably should have won it more). I think they’re better when they play with a free spirit, rather than over-analysing the opposition (which I think they did against Munster). This attacking approach can lead to surprising home defeats (eg Leinster) but the positives of this far out-way the negatives.
Regarding Bath, despite their lack of ‘big’ names, they have a great pack that are very mobile and have superb footballing skills. Their backs are a mixture of pace and power and probably contain arguably the most under-rated player in the GP-Joe Maddock, who has been superb this season. They don’t seem to have the budget of say a Gloucester, Leicester or Sale but they play as a team and play with an attcking attitude, which has served them well for the last couple of years. They can mix up their game when they need to and arguably come into this competition in the greatest form out of the GP sides. But when does form count for anything in the HC, as Sale have proved against Clermont. I believe Bath can do it but they’ll obviously need to be at their very best.
Benjamin said | October 13th 2008 @ 6:37am | Report comment
Colin, Courrent is at Biarritz. He may be currently injured because he didn’t even make the bench against Gloucester. Who was that other Frenchman Sale had - the bald fly half/full back?
You’re right about Maddock. He’s a very natural footballer. It always makes me sigh when SH fans always take Maddock’s success as some form of proof that the GP is weaker than the S14.
Benjamin said | October 13th 2008 @ 6:48am | Report comment
Pool 5
Toulouse 18 - 16 Bath
An excellent game. Won only in the last minute with the tighest of kicks. Bath played all the rugby and perhaps lost the game because of that. Had Bath showed a bit more nous and not attempted to run the ball out of their half at every opportunity they may have gained a greater foothold onto the game. Poor Butch James missed a comparatively easy conversion and Bath lost by two points, not only that but he gave away the penalty that allowed Skrela to seal the match. Bath will be dissapointed to only come away with a losing bonus point.
Dragons 32 - 22 Glasgow
Glasgow started well, building a 10-0 lead but a Lome Fa’atau knock on near the try line perhaps cost Glasgow the game, however Luke Charteris committed the same mistake so what goes around…
Benjamin said | October 13th 2008 @ 7:35am | Report comment
Pool 6
Calvisano 20-56 Blues
A strong second half performance saw Dai Young delighted - somewhat prematurely. The Italians were obstinate and hung in during the 1st half but struggled to cope with the off-loading game of the Blues in the 2nd half. Nicky Robinson played well but sterner tests await.
Gloucester 22-10 Biarritz
Gloucester were rather poor once more. The refereeing was inconsistent and the game was dull. Had Biarritz really gone for the jugular instead of their traditional swamping lethargy then they could have won. The HC winner won’t be coming out of this group.
Colin N said | October 13th 2008 @ 8:26am | Report comment
That bald, I have to say useless fly-half/full-back Benjamin was Daniel Larrachea. He was good under the high ball and a decent kicker but to be honest, he was pretty rubbish for us. He was a terrible decision maker. I think he went to Bayonne when he left us.
The Toulouse-Bath game was a great one and I enjoyed the ambition that Bath played with. I agree with you that their ambition eventually cost them the game. It was almost roles reversed, with Bath playing all the rugby and Toulouse generally playing the percentage game.
Benjamin said | October 14th 2008 @ 2:24am | Report comment
Larrachea, I remember him. Saint-Andre has had quite a few Frenchmen im his teams. I even recall a young Yachvilli at Gloucester.
I think Bath have the edge over Toulouse having watched the game again. If they can stop Toulouse from attaining a losing bonus point in England then who knows?
Colin N said | October 14th 2008 @ 5:22am | Report comment
Bath are contenders providing they can win their home games, but that pretty much goes for every team who has ambitions to get to the quater-finals and beyond. That’s why I think teams like Clermont and the Scarlets are already up against it. However, Clermont have the ability to win at Sale or Munster, where as the Scarlets are likely to lose against Stade and are arguably already out. To get through in the Heineken Cup, I believe you need to win at least four games. Bath lost at Toulouse but picked up a vital bonus point, where in reality, they could have got hammered. Bath have the game the beat any team in this competition, but perhaps Sunday showed that this team lacks the experience. After all, it’s been a while since Bath had a side like this, so that big game experience isn’t really there.
In general, do you think the standard of games in the HEC have been good Benjamin?
Benjamin said | October 14th 2008 @ 5:50am | Report comment
Yeah, I always thought that Clermont sort of gave up prior to their away game in Munster last year. They certainly have the power. Having watched Sale’s defence suceed again I think they could really do a number on Munster. Bruno is a big loss but Sheridan could tear Hayes apart. If Sale plan it right they could inflict another Leicester on the Irish, however I would never write Munster off either.
Reagrding Bath I worry about the kicking of Butch James. Shaune Berne used to kick so I’m not sure why theu’re not giving him a go.
Overall it’s been quite enjoyable. Bath and Sale were great games. Wasps at home was ok. The Leicester game wasn’t that great but it was engaging, as was the Munster game. Gloucester were appalling - that was a horrible game. Cardiff played well and the Italian teams seem to have improved. All in all it’s great to have it back. You?
Colin N said | October 14th 2008 @ 10:22am | Report comment
I’ve been impressed by the games. Agree that the best games were Bath and Sale, as all the teams involved wanted to play with ambition. The Gloucester game was awful. The problem really lied with Biarritz as they have such a talented side but they never utilise it. I enjoyed the first-half of the Leicester game but the second-half was disappointing. The Ospreys may regret that game as Leicester, after butchering so many opportunities were there for the taking in the second-half and really it was James Hook’s kicking that cost them the game.
I tried to watch all the English games so I didn’t see the games like Stade-Ulster or Edinburgh-Leinster but there were some good tries scored in the those games, mainly created by a seemingly rejuvinated Briann O’Driscoll. The Dragons got a good result against a poor Glasgow side and Harlequins got a good result against the Scarlets, who really should have been out of site by half-time. Almost the forgotten result of the weekend, the Harlequins one.
I have to say thay I was impressed with Shaune Berne, less so with Alex Crockett. Berne seemed to be the creative spark against Toulouse rather than James. That delayed pass that freed Abendanon was superb. Also, last season he seemed to have a decent percentage kicking but since the departure of Barkley you would have expected him to kick more. As I mentioned before, Bath aren’t a team of stars but they play a wonderful brand of rugby and also have a solid defence to match. It’s difficult to pinpoint why Bath are so good. They create good lines, I guess they have enough creativity in midfield and they have a mixture of pace and power, whereby both forwards and backs play in unison. You could say that Stevens and Mears have the off-loading skills of backs. It’s a shame they can’t reproduce that for England, really.
Regarding Munster, their scrum does look weak as it was troubled by a Montauban second-string. John Hayes is the man who has really held up that area for Ireland for the past few years and I’m guessing he’ll have to do that against Sale. He’ll certainly be under pressure against Sheridan, because if Sheridan gets on top, then it’s going to be a long day for the Munster pack. Last time Munster played at Edgely Park, Sale won the game up front, which is quite surprising against a pretty much all-Ireland pack
Benjamin said | October 15th 2008 @ 5:48am | Report comment
Typical performance from Ospreys. Bully boys at home but never on the road. It’s surprising to see Hook continuing to miss those easy shots at goal when the pressure is on. We saw a similar effort from Llanelli. The provincial sides in Wales seem to have this mental block.
The Leinster game was bizarre. They attempted to play no rugby whatsoever and yet managed to take the opportunities that came their way. Ediburgh won’t be that bad again but they’re effectively out already, which perhaps will make them an even more dangerous proposition. I still have my reservations about Leinster. Van der Linde is a lazy scrummager who can’t help but bind illegally and Stan Wright - who Cheika persists in playing ahead of Healy - is perhaps the worst scrummaging prop ever. All this talk of van der Linde and Elsom giving their pack some ‘mongrel’ ignores the fact that the English and French national teams always coped with the pair with ease.
Bath were good. Crocket was ok, he offered directness but I saw him look for contact when the overlap was on more than one occasion. Meehan normally plays Cheeseman. I put their success down to sensible recruitment. I’m not convinced about Hooper at 6 but otherwise their pack is beastly. Regarding England I think that Stevens has the ability but that Mears is too small and is ideally suited to an impact role.
I wouldn’t put my mortgage on Hayes. It will be interesting to see how Clermont deal with them. This may be the kickstart they need but they are by far the weakest scrummaging team in their pool. Nick Adams took Horan to the cleaners and Scott Murray is hardly a powerhouse 2nd row. I can’t wait to see how it goes. What an exciting pool.
Benjamin said | October 18th 2008 @ 2:14am | Report comment
Pool 5
Glasgow: Stortoni; Fa’atau, Evans, Morrison, Evans; Parks, McMillan, Tkachuk, Hall, Kalman, Turner, Kellock (capt), Vernon, Barclay, Beattie.
Replacements: Low, McArthur, Barker, Swindall, Brown, Gregor, Jackson, O’Hare, Henderson.
Toulouse: Poitrenaud; Ahotaeiloa, Fritz, Jauzion, Medard; Skrela, Kelleher; Human, Servat, Perugini, Pelous (capt), Albacete, Nyanga, Dusautoir, Sowerby.
Replacements: Vernet Basualdo, Poux, Millo-Chluski, Bouilhou, Elissalde, Heymans, Kunavore.
You can’t underestimate the power of home advantage but then neither can you underestimate the power of quality. Glasgow are a proud outfit but are likely to come undone at the hands of a Toulouse outfit who were nearly embarrased by Bath last week. Toulouse haven’t always been the greatest of travellers but their pack is simply too powerful and in Skrela they have the tacticall kicker that they have lacked in previous years. A touch of necessary pragmatism will certainly do their campaign no harm. Toulouse to emerge victorious.