2013 Heineken Cup Draw

[tackle-bag]

Pretty happy with that group overall I have to say. Clermont away will be an enormous challenge but, if we're at full strength, we should be good for at least a bonus point. Would fancy us to beat them in front of a packed Lansdowne Road too.

I suspect that the Scarlets will remain competitive in the league next season, but I could see them struggling in this competition. They'll have a new coach in the form of Easterby, who will be at the head of the table for the first time in his career. While I think he'll do a good job, he's going to lose a large number of key players this summer:- Ben Morgan, Dominic Day, Stephen Jones, Lou Reed and Seán Lamont to name just a few. I don't want to get carried away, but I wouldn't rule out the prospect of 10 points from those two games.

Exeter have made a few astute signings, such as Dean Mumm, but I really can't see them competing in this company. They played with a lot of heart in the Premiership and the Challenge Cup this season, but they could be on the end of a few hidings in Dublin and the Auvergne. Again, 10 points should be the target.

[mikerob]

From an Ulster perspectiveI'm pretty happy with Northampton, Ulster, Glasgow, Castres. Northampton are beatable at home, as Munster and Scarlets showed. Glasgow will be adjusting to a new coach - Gregor Townsend who is a bluffer compared to Lineen who made Glasgow quite hard to beat, and hopefully Ulster will get Castres away in a later round when they don't give a toss anymore. (Yeah, I know Ulster will be adjusting to a new coach as well...)

Based upon the www.eurorugby.com rankings this is by far the closest matched group as all 4 teams are within 3 points of each other.

[tackle-bag]

From an Ulster perspectiveI'm pretty happy with Northampton, Ulster, Glasgow, Castres. Northampton are beatable at home, as Munster and Scarlets showed. Glasgow will be adjusting to a new coach - Gregor Townsend who is a bluffer compared to Lineen who made Glasgow quite hard to beat, and hopefully Ulster will get Castres away in a later round when they don't give a toss anymore. (Yeah, I know Ulster will be adjusting to a new coach as well...)

Based upon the http://www.eurorugby.com rankings this is by far the closest matched group as all 4 teams are within 3 points of each other.

I predict that you will beat Northampton comfortably in both legs next season. They're basically just a front five at this stage. It will be a whole new back-line next season with Ashton (the danger man), Downey (the defensive organiser) and Clarke (well, there's no point in pretending that Clarke is any good). Cameron Shepherd is a decent signing for them, but he's not going to beat teams on his own. You're also getting Wilson who has been a permanent fixture for them over the past few seasons and who will give a very clear insight into how they play. Could easily see a repeat of your destruction of Leicester last year.

[Oldschool]

1 Munster, Edinburgh, Saracens, Racing Metro
2 Toulouse, Leicester, Ospreys, Treviso
3 BOPB, Quins, Connacht, Zebre
4 Northampton, Ulster, Glasow, Castres
5 Leinster, Clermont, Scarlets, Exeter
6 Cardiff, Toulon, Sale. Montpellier

Thanks

[simonokeeffe]

Am happy out with that draw, Exeter and Scarlets have decent 1st xv's but nothing past that and their front fives arent great shakes, 23 point pool for us IMO, danger is Clermont could get that too, pool is going to come down to bonus points

Pool1: looks like 1 team qualifying and away for quarters at that
Pool 2: nice to see Ospreys get the bum draw
Pool 3: Biarritz still on the wane and anything happens to Yachvilli and/or Harryordinary theyre FUBAR, Quinns to Qualify and Connacht could well get 3 wins
Pool 4: Race between saints and the nordies kinda depends on when Castres stop caring, IMO home quarter for Ulster
Pool 6: Cardiff have lost half their squad, Sale have Cipriani tackling at 10 and mushy anchoring scrum so Toulon will be licking their lips and have the squad for 2 fronts, Montpellier might take an interest too

Quinns, Leinster, Toulon, Toulouse, Ulster, Munster/Sarries, Clermont, Northampton for quarters

[footrush]

Happy enough with that draw. It would be great if we could organise a march to the stadium with the Clermont fans when we play them, maybe from the RDS down to Lansdowne. I guess we would want that game to be played in December.

They will probably march from O'Connell street again, hope so epic : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJBxg70xfIc

[Doc]

why did sarries get placed into pool 1, could they not have been drawn with us either?

Thought that as well. Not complaining though!

It's because Munster have to get an English team and a French team and there no way to get both otherwise

Aha, never thought of that, cheers Sarah

Noticed that at the time. It reinforces my belief that they have the procedure wrong - they should be drawing teams in the order of how many teams have already been drawn, and only then based on how many there are in total in the cup.

i.e. there were 2 Irish, 1 Welsh, 1 English and 2 French first seeds

The draw for the second teams should have been the 2 French, then Ulster, then Quins and Leicester, then Embra
etc

[footrush]

Excellent string on the Tigers forum : http://forum.leicestertigers.com/viewto ... =1&t=34792

[claire_m]

Glad for BOPB. They never get an Italian team so they were definitely due one

Remarkable stuff alright!

Quins have never had an Italian side though (I don't think), so I'm VERY happy with this!

Looking forward to next season already

[suisse]

Is that Biarritz' first time meeting an Italian team? Normally they meet Irish giants Viadana and English side Calvisano.

Connacht should be aiming for 3 wins. If they can remain unbeaten in Galway, 4/6 would be a remarkable performance.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

Excellent string on the Tigers forum : http://forum.leicestertigers.com/viewto ... =1&t=34792

some funny comments on there. i'm in london at the moment and there were reports in the papers here that english clubs are planning to pull out of the current heineken cup format at the end of this season. the nutgraf of the argument for pulling out is that they reckon the current format favours irish teams too much! The way the bulk of the 2013 tix have been snapped up....probably by mostly munster/leinster fans....might add to their disgruntlement or whingeing.

edited: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18403809

(look at the table of winners for the last few years that accompanies the article!)

[Taffy Dub]

The English complaints are getting boring at this stage! The argument about relaegation is a non starter, it seems that you can only get relegated if Leeds or Bristol win the Championship!

[mikey]

Excellent string on the Tigers forum : http://forum.leicestertigers.com/viewto ... =1&t=34792

some funny comments on there. i'm in london at the moment and there were reports in the papers here that english clubs are planning to pull out of the current heineken cup format at the end of this season. the nutgraf of the argument for pulling out is that they reckon the current format favours irish teams too much! The way the bulk of the 2013 tix have been snapped up....probably by mostly munster/leinster fans....might add to their disgruntlement or whingeing.

edited: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18403809

(look at the table of winners for the last few years that accompanies the article!)

It is so pathetic that as they are not winning they dont want to play - I dont recall complaints when Leicester Saints and Wasps were winning all the time, or indeed the French when Toulouse were? Sour grapes is all it is and as other posters have said, relegation from the Premiereship is only possible if Bristol or Leeds win the Championship, so thats a null argument.

I assume that this is all about money - probably wanting a larger share of the TV rights I assume....

And what does this comment mean?

"ambition to expand into new markets"

What on earth do they have in mind - is this about moving games to South Africa or Dubai?

I dont disagree that it is a bit rich that a brand new Italian club get directly into the HC - but saying that every year Leicester get an Italian side and still manage to win nothing at all.....!

The English clubs should focus their minds on developing the talent and strength in depth that we have done - let the performances do the talking and not be jealous of success.

[mikerob]

Noticed that at the time. It reinforces my belief that they have the procedure wrong - they should be drawing teams in the order of how many teams have already been drawn, and only then based on how many there are in total in the cup.

i.e. there were 2 Irish, 1 Welsh, 1 English and 2 French first seeds

The draw for the second teams should have been the 2 French, then Ulster, then Quins and Leicester, then Embra
etc

Won't the draw still need to be "managed" irrespective of the preceding order? If Munster/Leinster drew Embra or Cardiff drew Ulster/Embra, the group *must* have an English 3rd seed.

I also noticed this year they went back to putting the bottom seeded team in a group with a team from the same country, which is how they did it up to last season. Last season, they decided the team to go into a "same country" group with a draw.

[rdsblue]

I hope we can get the Clermont away match first up in October when the weather is good rather than in the December back to backs with the return in Landsdowne in January. Exeter should be OK for a trip at Christmas time.

[Donny B.]

I hope we can get the Clermont away match first up in October when the weather is good rather than in the December back to backs with the return in Landsdowne in January. Exeter should be OK for a trip at Christmas time.

You won't. Mick Dawson has already said that Clermont will be the Aviva game, which pretty much means it will be in December with the return fixture either the week before or after.

[Lar]

I hope we can get the Clermont away match first up in October when the weather is good rather than in the December back to backs with the return in Landsdowne in January. Exeter should be OK for a trip at Christmas time.

Is that from a travelling fan's point of view or from a Leinster Rugby point of view?

[Hornet]

I've a feeling it will be, in chronological order:-
Exeter (H)
Scarlets (A)
Clermont (H)
Clermont (A)
Scarlets (H)
Exeter (A)

[tackle-bag]

I've a feeling it will be, in chronological order:-
Exeter (H)
Scarlets (A)
Clermont (H)
Clermont (A)
Scarlets (H)
Exeter (A)

That would suit us down to the ground. We should have between 8 and 10 points heading into the Clermont fixtures, and our last two games would be against sides who would presumably be out of the competition.

[rdsblue]

[quote][Lar wrote: Is that from a travelling fan's point of view or from a Leinster Rugby point of view?/quote]

Definitely, both