Nottingham eager for Friday cup action to come to Meadow Lane

Posted on Jan 14, 2011 in Rugby News

BRITISH AND IRISH CUP action comes to Meadow Lane this Friday when Nottingham take on Munster in the evening match-up.

The Green and Whites are currently placed third in Pool B of the competition and hold a game in hand over current table-toppers Llanelli and Munster in second.

A bonus point win in the East Midlands at the end of the week would leave Delaney’s men in first place with three games left to go, with their Welsh rivals not due to play until Saturday afternoon.

With Munster just one point above the Green and Whites, fans can expect a closely contested counter, with Nottingham determined to take full advantage of home territory ahead of trips to Wales and Esher in the near-future.

A first or second place finish in the Pool would see the Meadow Lane club progress to the quarter final stages, where they would play opposition from Pool B which is currently led by Pontypridd and Llandovery–with Doncaster and the Bees yet to play a single match.

Nottingham Director of Rugby Glenn Delaney believes the competition can provide great excitement to fans of the Green and Whites.

He said: "Cup competitions bring a special atmosphere to games and it will be great to have that at Meadow Lane. We have some great teams in our Pool and Munster will be a real highlight of the season.

"With the competition only one game in for us it will provide a brilliant opportunity for new fans to get involved with supporting the side as they look to press forward in what promises to be a very exciting tournament."

Montpelier have Falcons in their sights

Posted on Jan 10, 2011 in Rugby News

Montpellier remain on course for Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification as Pool 3 winners – and victory at Newcastle Falcons on Friday night would take them a giant step closer to a place in the last eight in April.

“We aimed at qualification from the start of the season and at present we are still within reach of that goal,” said back row forward and captain Vassili Bost. “However, we have two complicated games left in the Pool phases against two big English squads so we know it will be tough.

“Exeter Chiefs, despite being newly promoted, have shown that they are up there with the rest of the English squads and are very physical up front. They beat Newcastle twice in three encounters this season – including a big win in Round 3 of the Amlin Challenge Cup – and they only lost to them by two points in Round 4 so we cannot take them lightly.

“The level in this competition has intensified in the last few years, especially the last two seasons with the introduction of the new quarter-final qualification format. That means the teams have to go up one gear to secure first place in their respective Pools to make it to the knock-out stages.

“There is hardly any room for error now but it’s great to see some Heineken Cup teams taking part in the quarter-finals. It makes the tournament more attractive for us because you get to compete against big squads.

“The Heineken Cup is also one of the long sought after goals we set ourselves at Montpellier and since the club has never played in that competition it remains a massive ambition.

“We may finally be able to get there, either by qualifying through the Amlin Challenge Cup or through our Top 14 ranking, which seems more likely seeing that we currently stand in third position. We take one game at a time and we’ll see where that takes us.

“Now we start our two remaining Amlin Challenge Cup rounds with a trip to Newcastle. We will approach that game very cautiously because even though we beat them earlier in the season that does not mean we will repeat that performance and this time we are away from home. We will try to impose our game and we will keep in mind that we need to secure our first position in the table.

“We will have to be strong, compete physically and dominate in the scrum in particular. In Round 2 we struggled to gain territory in the earlier stages of the game then we managed to find solutions and find the breaks.

“My best memory so far in the Amlin Challenge Cup was last year in Round 1 when we went to Worcester with a team consisting mostly of young players and came away with a win. We didn’t expect to succeed but we played with all our hearts and managed to impose our game.”

HEC – race for quarter finals

Posted on Jan 10, 2011 in Rugby News

The race for the prestigious eight Heineken Cup quarter-final places is entering the final straight – but 11 of the 24 teams in the 2010 / 2011 tournament will still be in elite European club rugby action come April.

While the six Pool winners and two best Pool runners-up will prolong their Heineken Cup adventure into the knock-out stages, the next three best Pool runners-up will join the five Amlin Challenge Cup Pool winners in the tournament’s quarter-finals.

With the incentive of an extended run in European competition, and the possibility of winning a coveted European title, there is bound to be an added edge to the final 24 Heineken Cup Pool fixtures.

Last season’s innovation which led to three Heineken Cup teams doing battle with the pick of the Amlin Challenge Cup sides was a resounding success with the record-breaking final in Marseille ultimately won by a Heineken Cup starter – Cardiff Blues – against an Amlin Challenge Cup starter, Toulon.

“The anticipation is always great at this time of the year before the qualifiers for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals are revealed, but for a second season the calculations will have an added edge with three more teams going through to the last eight of the Amlin Challenge Cup,” said ERC Chief Executive Derek McGrath.

“The four top-ranked sides from the five Amlin Challenge Cup Pools will have home advantage over their Heineken Cup rivals and the quality of those games once again promises to be of the very highest standard.”

Last season the Blues, Gloucester Rugby and the Scarlets were the Heineken Cup representatives who went into the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals, so there is still all to play for among those teams who might not make the Heineken Cup last eight.

And while Pool 6 is a two-horse race between Toulouse and London Wasps, things could hardly be tighter in Pools 3 and 5 where just three points separate the top three teams.

In Pool 3, the battle is between Toulon (13 points), Munster (11 points) and the Ospreys (10 points) while in Pool 5, the Scarlets lead the way on 15 points followed by Leicester Tigers on 13 points and Perpignan a further one point adrift.

Tournament newcomers Toulon – who have beaten the Ospreys 19-14 and London Irish 38-17 at Stade Felix Mayol – now face the acid home test in the shape of former double champions Munster on Sunday afternoon while the Ospreys, who have yet to win on the road this season, must beat London Irish at the Madejski Stadium to stay in contention.

In Pool 5, Leicester Tigers and Perpignan have away day targets at the Scarlets and Benetton Treviso respectively while the two sole surviving 100 per cent teams, Northampton Saints in Pool 1 and Toulouse in Pool 6, both enjoy home advantage.

HEINEKEN CUP ROUNDS 5 AND 6

Posted on Dec 22, 2010 in Rugby News

Defending Heineken Cup champions Toulouse and former double winners London Wasps will bring the curtain down on the 2010 / 2011 Pool stages when they clash in a key Pool 6 contest at Adams Park on Sunday, 23 January, 2011.

Tournament organisers ERC today (Wednesday, 22 December) announced the dates and kick-off times for the final two rounds in the countdown to Heineken Cup quarter-final qualification.

The two matches in each Pool will kick-off simultaneously in Round 6 with Newport Gwent Dragons and Glasgow Warriors joining Toulouse and London Wasps on the final day of Pool action.

Cardiff Blues and Castres Olympique will get Round 5 underway at Cardiff City Stadium on Friday, 14 January, with Northampton Saints playing Edinburgh and ASM Clermont Auvergne meeting Metro Racing 92 later that night.  

This is the big one – Palisson

Posted on Dec 14, 2010 in Rugby News

Brive travel to Edgeley Park to face Sale Sharks in a potential Amlin Challenge Cup Pool 2 decider on Sunday afternoon on the back of an 18-9 home win in Round 3 that provided both four points and a badly needed morale booster.

And 12-times capped French back Alexis Palisson believes they can now build on that win and take a big step closer to quarter-final qualification as the Pool winners.

“The Round 3 victory over Sale was a huge morale boost for our team considering we are going through a tough time in the Top 14 and have not won in our domestic league since September,” said Palisson.

“We desperately needed to win a game and regain some confidence so you can imagine our relief at the final whistle.

“Now we aim to earn at least one point more than Sale and that means at least a losing or winning bonus point at Edgeley Park next weekend.

“Of course it goes without saying that we will need to secure wins as well in our last two group games at Petrarca and El Salvador.

“Despite the result and the two tries I scored, the game was really tough and it certainly was not as easy as the scoreline might suggest. We were opportunists in that game and used those opportunities well but they got close to our try line on several occasions and could also have scored.

“That emphasises it will most certainly not be a picnic at Sale, far from it. They will fight back and show us what they really are capable of producing.

“Because they are solid in the basics, they are strong and have very dynamic three-quarters who know their rugby.

“We have already tasted a heavy defeat on their turf in the Amlin quarter-finals in 2008 so we know what to expect. If we are to defeat them again we must play our best rugby and do even better than last Saturday.

“Provided we don’t get upsets in the games against Petrarca and El Salvador, this return fixture against Sale Sharks will be crucial – if not decisive – in determining whether we are first or second in the pool.

“But you never know what can happen on Italian soil. Many other clubs have now been stunned by unexpected defeats against Italian clubs. In front of their own crowd they are full of fight and Latin spirit.

“It’s always tough against them because they are passionate yet borderline when they play, they manage to remain just within the disciplinary boundaries, so they prove to be trying opponents.

“However, we are focusing on the match at Sale and, apart from a few of injured players in the back row and centre, we should be able to count on almost all our squad for selection.”