double?

[stana]

anyone think an english club can win league and heineken , this year , maybe quins?

 

[Conal]

nahh
french or irish id have to go for

lenister munster

clermont , toulouse etc just seem to play the h cup better than english clubs


however intresting to see how Saracens do

 

[Teh Mite]

anyone think an english club can win league and heineken , this year , maybe quins?

No

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Toulouse will win the HEC

 

[M Two One]

Probably not, I will be looking at Clermont.

 

[JW.]

If Saints can step up to the same level they were at last year, they should have a shout at the HEC. Can't see Munster winning, neither can I see Quins winning. But Leinster, Toulouse, Saints, Clermont are favourites for me.

 

[m0rris]

If, and it is a big if, Saints can repeat last years performance then they are our only real hope. Sarries might but I suspect that they could have their buttocks presented to them by the Irish/French teams who would be able to counter Sarries attacking play and out do them in the forwards stakes as well.

The other "top" English teams simply can't do it: Tigers are on a downward trend that is going to be hard to reverse in time for the pool stages, Glaws aren't good enough on away form ATM so as soon as they lose a home game they're toast, Quins aren't bad but aren't Heine standard and Bath have a front row so poor ATM that Cian Healy with rip them to shreds and we'll just give up and return with our tails between our legs cursing the fact that we've blown a large amount of money of a FH and not bought a decent Front row.

Finally to do the double you have to win the Prem. Out of the sides I would see as likely/nailed on top four finish: Bath just won't, Quins probably won't, Saints have had too poor a start and they will lose another wave of players to the 6Nats, Tigers could... just, Irish won't, Glaws won't. Sarries will.

So basically... if ever there was hope of an english club dong the double it isn't this year.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I don't know, I think Tigers are in with a shout as well - Think they'll do better than Saints

 

[nickdnz]

I love the Quins, but I can't see a H-Cup win. Hopefully they'll win the Premiership.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Clermont are looking awesome this season. And their roster is really deep enough to be competitive on both Top 14 and H cup.
I don't know about the engligh. Tigers are always there, and you'd think Saints could have a shot. I don't see Quins or Sarries up there. Irish are obvious candidates as well.

The Stade Toulousain has been looking all right so far, the 11-odd world cup players will definitely improve the team and should be enough not to need to focus on one competition.

 

[big ginger 8]

Leinster, Clermont and Tolouse are IMO the only realistic ones.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

An English team will be lucky to win the aviva never mind the Heineken.

 

[Tricia McMillan]

An English team will be lucky to win the aviva

As opposed to...?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

It was a joke, notice the smiley face with a tongue sticking out.

 

[Teh Mite]

As opposed to...?

A South African team. Again.

 

[stana]

An English team will be lucky to win the aviva never mind the Heineken.

lol, very sharp

 

[j'nuh]

I don't know, I think Tigers are in with a shout as well - Think they'll do better than Saints

I don't know - they might not even make the playoffs in the Aviva. The standard benchmark for a team to make the playoffs over the last few years in the Premiership is around 61-65 points, which means Tigers have to get around 49-53+ points from their remaining 15 games. Last season they averaged 3.54 points a game - this year they'll need to average around 3.53 to get the 53 points, but could potentially go through with less. So it's managable - but they've still got Saracens away and Harlequins away, as well as Northampton, Gloucester and Irish home and away. Injuries to Crane, Tuilagi and Youngs (at least?). Also, they're likely to be missing a few internationals during the six nations. So they have to be incredibly focused from this point on.

I guess that the one ray of light is that they're only 6 points off the playoff zone atm, but I think Harlequins and Saracens will most likely get playoff spots, so that leaves the Tigers to jostle with many teams for the 2 remaining places...