2009/2010 Heineken Cup Draw

[dullonien]

Here's my initial reactions.

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Pool 3
Leicester, Ospreys, Clermont, Viadana[/b]

Wow that's a tough group!

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Pool 4
Bath, Paris, Ulster, Edinburgh[/b]

Even worse! Kinda.

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Pool 5
Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Sale, Harlequins[/b]

Oh snap!

 

[shazbooger]

Yeah Pool 4 looks tough but Pool 5 looks absolutely orrible. Cant see two teams escaping from it.

Funnily enough, looking at those two pools makes all the others a bit more appealing. Leinster did alright, no easy group but could have been much much worse.

 

[Sir Speedy]

Looks like none of the Welsh regions have it good. Poor Cardiff.

Pool 3 is tougher than Pool 4. I can see both Bath and Paris getting out of 4, but only one from Pool 3.

Here're my picks:

POOL 1: Munster, Perpignan, Northampton Saints, Benetton Treviso

POOL 2: Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, Gloucester Rugby, Newport Gwent Dragons, Glasgow Warriors

POOL 3: Leicester Tigers, Ospreys, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Viadana

POOL 4: Bath Rugby, Stade Français Paris, Ulster Rugby, Edinburgh

POOL 5: Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Sale Sharks, Harlequins

POOL 6: Leinster, London Irish, Scarlets, Brive

In order:
1. Leinster
2. Stade Francais
3. Munster
4. Cardiff
5. Gloucester
6. Leicester
7. Biarritz
8. Bath

 

[MunsterMan]

A f***ing Italian team and we are not in the group of death! Can someone check if hell has frozen over?

Anyway, looks disasterous for the English teams.

POOL 1: Munster, Perpignan, Northampton Saints, Benetton Treviso

POOL 2: Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, Gloucester Rugby, Newport Gwent Dragons, Glasgow Warriors

POOL 3: Leicester Tigers, Ospreys, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Viadana

POOL 4: Bath Rugby, Stade Français Paris, Ulster Rugby, Edinburgh

POOL 5: Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Sale Sharks, Harlequins

POOL 6: Leinster, London Irish, Scarlets, Brive

Munster, Biartiz, Clermont, Stade Francais, Toulouse, Leinster are my picks for group winners, with Perpignan and London Irish qualifying as runners up.

Munsters group will be tough, Top14 an ECC winners, both teams with excellent home records. I'd expect us to win all our home games and the away game at Treviso, but the away games against Northampton and USAP will be massive, win one of those and we are through. Think we will win in Franklins gardens personally, but it won't be easy especially the way Northampton are recruiting.

Leinster to be top seeds, even without Rocky.

 

[SaintsFan_Schweinsteiger_Webby]

Pool 2 is appalling when you look at the rest.

Quietly pleased with Saints group. Wanted to draw a really big name to both test ourselves and show what we can do. I don't think our qualification for the quarter-finals is totally unrealistic, we could be a good pick as dark horses in the tournament. I see us being able to cause an upset and ruffled some feathers, particularly against Perpignan.

 

[elgringoborracho]

Novès was probably a bit gutted by the refeering on French clubs which admittedly has been very harsh this year, and given next year’s pool, he seems to take the Top 14 as a priority.

Really disappointed with that, as the H Cup is the best NH competition, but I can understand the man, those calendars are crazy…

 

[Thingimubob]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elgringoborracho @ Jun 9 2009, 06:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Novès was probably a bit gutted by the refeering on French clubs which admittedly has been very harsh this year, and given next year's pool, he seems to take the Top 14 as a priority.

Really disappointed with that, as the H Cup is the best NH competition, but I can understand the man, those calendars are crazy…[/b]

So Toulouse will be fielding weaker teams for their games to focus on the Top 14? Can't say I saw that one coming. As a Blues fan can't say I;m complaining too much, but still find it a strange decision, and tbh, the Blues proved they can beat their best team in Cardiff this year, so I'd prefer to see us play their best team tha a 2nd string. Also, Ospreys v Leicester again? Third time in 4 years I think, Dragons v Glasgow has popped up in the pools a few times too.

 

[Bullitt]

Interesting post found on COYS based on the "european rankings" table. http://www.eurorugby.com/index.php

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Adding up the rankings from the Tosh Table, makes our HC group the second hardest group. This is even with Treviso in our group. [place in table = pts; lower the points/higher up the table/toughest oppo]

Hardest HC Groups in order of hardest to weakest

Pool 5 (32pts)
Toulouse (4)
Cardiff (6)
Sale (15)
Quins (7)

Pool 1 (51pts)
Munster (2)
Perpignan (5)
Saints (8)
Treviso (36)

Pool 6 (55pts)
Leinster (3)
Notnots (10)
Scarlets (24)
Brive (18)

Pool 3 (60pts)
Tigs (1)
Ospreys (17)
Clermont Auv (9)
Viadana (33)

Pool 4 (68pts)
Bath (14)
Stade Fr (16)
Ulster (26)
Edinburgh (12)

Pool 2 (85pts)
Biarritz (13)
Glos (19)
Dragons (31)
Glasgow (22)

This should be recognised as a "Fact!"... "end of!"... etc... because of the rigour of the Euro Table.[/b]

 

[Bumbadum]

If we do a job on Edinburgh and Bath are still in a 'orrible mess then I guess we're in with a shout, I won't hold my breath though.

 

[fillypunky]

I hope Treviso could win one match against Northampton, but it's hard...
I think Viadana have no chance to win, but it will meet Ospreys, a future rival in ML...

Viadana said that probably will play the Heineken match in Stadio Giglio (30.000) in Reggio Emilia.