[Gowfer_Lichtie]

This weekend sees the first pool games in the Heineken Cup for 2011/12. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow have struggled in the past, chalking up the occasional one-off victory and Edinburgh once made the quarter finals. After impressive wins by both teams in the first round of games, can this be the year that we see some progress?

I think Edinburgh might get through, especially if they can build on their away win at London Irish and if Glasgow continue to win their home games they could be in with a shout. However, both have tough pools.

Edinburgh have Cardiff, London Irish and Racing Metro. I can see them beating Cardiff at home and perhaps away, they've already beaten Irish, but the return game may prove more difficult with them out for revenge. I'm not aware of either Scottish team playing Racing Metro before, but Edinburgh should be able to put in a good shift at home.

Glasgow have the defending champions, Leinster, but have beaten them before in the Celtic League, so may fancy their chances at Firhill - maybe not so much at the RDS. Glasgow have played Bath in recent competitions and have always acquitted themselves well, so might look forward to the trip down there. As for Montpellier, like Racing Metro, a bit of an unknown quantity for me, so we'll have to wait and see. Don't think they'd fancy a cold, wet night in Partick though.

I think the winners will come from one of the French teams, although the big two from Ireland and perhaps the Ospreys will also be competitive. I think the English league is overrated, but the likes of Leicester and Northampton have done well recently and Bath have history too. Fingers crossed for both Scottish clubs, who will hopefully do well if they can avoid injuries and silly penalties.

This post has been edited by Gowfer_Lichtie: 13 November 2011 - 17:09

[Jeek]

think (hope) the gunners make it into the next round.

was great stuff at times yesterday, and defo should have got the try that big tim 'scored'. however we could easily have lost it at the end.

Cardiff beat racing yesterday i think so that group is wide open, If edinburgh beat Racing away (think i might go to that one ) then we could top the group!

As for Glasgow, i havent seen them this season but they seem about on a par with Edin. Cracking result against Bath tho!

[flyingscot]

Glasgow were good value for the win. I thought the penalty at the end for Bath that they scored to take the lead was very harsh and to be honest I don't think they ever really had consistent pressure on the try line. Bit of lucky with the try at the end (although I felt Bath were offside more than once in the run up) but good win

[morrison]

Going to head along to the Racing Metro game on Friday night. That was an impressive comeback against London Irish at the weekend, and two wins on the bounce would obviously put them in a great position. I saw them play some great stuff against Munster last month to see them off 29-14 (granted, World Cup absentees all round) and looking forward to this one.

Edinburgh probably more likely of the Scottish sides to make it through with three winnable home games still to come. It'd be quite an achievement.

[Dunning1874]

Edinburgh beat Racing Metro 48-47, with Racing missing a drop goal at the end. Incredible result.

[Gowfer_Lichtie]

Dunning1874, on 18 November 2011 - 21:44, said:

Edinburgh beat Racing Metro 48-47, with Racing missing a drop goal at the end. Incredible result.

Was listening to it on 810MW having got rid of Sky Sports to save some cash. Sounded absolutely fantastic. A result against Cardiff in the next game might be enough for Edinburgh? London Irish out already?

Will have to wait until the roundup on Sunday night so I can watch it my parents house.

Brilliant result.

[morrison]

Just back from the game - what a bloody match that was!

Visser races in to score after 40 SECONDS (capitals essential) after a cheeky chip'n'chase, and Edinburgh 17-3 up after 8 minutes only to be 24-17 down to two lovely tries and a horrendous missed tackle. When Racing opened the scoring in the second half to go 41-20 up I thought that had killed the game as a contest, but from somewhere Edinburgh found fresh momentum.

Two tries to two penalties had us back at 34-47 when a yellow card with 10 minutes left sent a wave of hope-bordering-on-expectation through the Murrayfield crowd. Jesus, was ridiculously animated and celebrated the try for 46-47 like it was a win - Laidlaw's kick from the touchline was spot on and proceeded to go mental again.

Typical Scottish side though, on self-destruct almost from the off. A daft penalty puts Edinburgh under the cosh, stopped a dash at the line from the resulting lineout right in front of the posts but the three points for heartbreak were so straight forward that defeat-snatched-from-the-jaws-of-victory was the inevitable result as everything went into slow motion.

Christ, he's missed it!

[calum_gers]

Great result for Edinburgh. Hope themselves and Glasgow can make it through.

[Jeek]

Wake up call for glasgow

[Gowfer_Lichtie]

Jeek, on 20 November 2011 - 14:40, said:

Wake up call for glasgow

Can't do much worse than that. Winning the home games is the most important bit.

[Jeek]

if leinster beat bath once, its in the bag surely

[Rancid_saint]

Gowfer_Lichtie, on 20 November 2011 - 22:11, said:

Can't do much worse than that. Winning the home games is the most important bit.

Its the same in any sport! Winning at home essentail. Not Just Rugby

[Rancid_saint]

Stade Toulouse to win the cup. scottish sides to get to Q/F's at least

[Gowfer_Lichtie]

Four games gone and both Scottish teams are in the top 2 of their respective pools. If they can win one of their last two games then it should be enough. For Edinburgh, an away trip to Racing Metro will be very difficult and if they lose and Irish beat Cardiff in Reading then it'll be winner take all at Murrayfield. With Leinster more or less through and Glasgow knowing that a win will take them through, they might fancy their chances at Firhill. If not, then a difficult trip to Bath awaits.

I have a feeling both of them will do it!

[morrison]

Glasgow have got a bit of work to do if they want to qualify - probably need to pick up at least six points to be in with a reasonable shout, especially with such a low try count.

Edinburgh have a better shout, but could do with at least the losing bonus point in France and a home win over London Irish. They're in pole position for the first of the two runner-up slots just now. ERC Rugby's showing them as top of Pool 2 ahead of Cardiff, but I'm pretty sure the Welsh should be there after picking up more points in the head-to-head.

[Bluenose5]

Being a follower of the Super 15 comp down here and not seeing any club rugby in the northern hemisphere how do they work the Heineken Cup? Is it basically like the Champions League of club rugby for Europe with the top places teams from each league qualifying for it? I hope both Glasgow and Edinburgh do well, especially Edinburgh since I own a jersey of theirs from when I went to Murrayfield. ESPN used to show some games of the Heineken Cup down here but sadly it seems they no longer do it.

[Gowfer_Lichtie]

I should have clarified that I meant qualifying for the next stage of either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Cup, as both would be fantastic for Scottish rugby. Agree Edinburgh have the best chance of the biggie, but I think both will at least make the Amlin.

The places in the competition are awarded by country and its up to each country to decide how to allocate them. Scotland gets two places, so both teams qualify automatically (same in Italy). In England, France, Ireland and Wales I believe its decided by performance in the league. Ireland seems to be different this year though as all four teams are in the Heineken Cup.

[Fuctifano]

Bluenose5, on 19 December 2011 - 12:36, said:

Being a follower of the Super 15 comp down here and not seeing any club rugby in the northern hemisphere how do they work the Heineken Cup? Is it basically like the Champions League of club rugby for Europe with the top places teams from each league qualifying for it? I hope both Glasgow and Edinburgh do well, especially Edinburgh since I own a jersey of theirs from when I went to Murrayfield. ESPN used to show some games of the Heineken Cup down here but sadly it seems they no longer do it.

Yeah, group winners + best 2 runners up go into the quarters. Not sure how many of the HC "drop out" into the Amlin, which is like the Europa league equivalent.

Think Edinburgh have got a decent chance of finishing 2nd.... Glasgow not so much.

[morrison]

Gowfer_Lichtie, on 19 December 2011 - 21:04, said:

I should have clarified that I meant qualifying for the next stage of either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Cup, as both would be fantastic for Scottish rugby. Agree Edinburgh have the best chance of the biggie, but I think both will at least make the Amlin.

The places in the competition are awarded by country and its up to each country to decide how to allocate them. Scotland gets two places, so both teams qualify automatically (same in Italy). In England, France, Ireland and Wales I believe its decided by performance in the league. Ireland seems to be different this year though as all four teams are in the Heineken Cup.

Ah, gotcha. I think you're on to something in that case with Edinburgh again looking especially strong. I read something a while back that the Celtic League were considering a change in the qualification for the Heineken Cup so it would be based solely on league position rather than country allocation. I'd be all for it.

Fuctifano, on 19 December 2011 - 21:07, said:

Yeah, group winners + best 2 runners up go into the quarters. Not sure how many of the HC "drop out" into the Amlin, which is like the Europa league equivalent.

The third, fourth and fifth best "runners up" go on to meet the five group winners in the Amlin Cup.

[Bluenose5]

That clears it up now. I could imagine there could be plenty of bickering from clubs if each countries association appoints who they think should represent the country for the cup, some clubs will claim they should have been picked over others. Had no idea the Amlin Cup was a Europa League type club comp up there, I have never seen any matches in it but had heard of it and assumed it was the name for the English league.

[NorthernLights]

Great result for Edinburgh tonight - 27-24 away win at Racing Metro.

[T_S_A_R]

NorthernLights, on 13 January 2012 - 21:56, said:

Great result for Edinburgh tonight - 27-24 away win at Racing Metro.

i turned on the last five minutes when i got home, exciting stuff.

metro get dodgy pen. metro miss pen. ref ignores two knock ons by the french. ref doesn't give a pen despite metro players coming in from the side. edinburgh hit the drop goal.

good to see leicster getting pumped as well.

[oht]

So as someone just getting into rugby, is it fair to say that

- a point for close loss should be enough for Edinburgh to get through
- winner of their group will probably have enough for a home draw in the quarters
- Glasgows chances look slim after their draw

[Bluenose5]

Good result for Edinburgh. So do they have 1 or 2 games left in their group to play?

As for rugby news down this way Western Force five-eighth Willie Ripia has quit the team after he was allegedly caught on CCTV cameras stealing money from team-mates in the players change-rooms. Apparently he has been struggling with a gambling problem so hopefully he sorts that out.

Sonny Bill Williams upcoming NZ heavyweight title match on February 8th has hit a snag after his opponent Tutaki was arrested for failing to show up to court for a number of charges so now they are scrambling to find an opponent for him. Apparently they have a couple lined up so hopefully it is finally an actual decent fighter for $BW this time and not some 43 year old gospel singer like last time

NZ Herald link

This post has been edited by Bluenose5: 14 January 2012 - 12:22

[Jeek]

T_S_A_R, on 13 January 2012 - 22:15, said:

i turned on the last five minutes when i got home, exciting stuff.

metro get dodgy pen. metro miss pen. ref ignores two knock ons by the french. ref doesn't give a pen despite metro players coming in from the side. edinburgh hit the drop goal.

good to see leicster getting pumped as well.

Went over for the game yesterday, it was absolutely BALTIC but what an end to a game, Godman becomes hero (never thought i'd say that) nice stadium and great fans, and loved seeing a big group of us in kilts!

Wish i could be at the next game against Irish, Edin with a good chance to qualify, hard game and Racing will have to do us a favour if we want to top the group, hope it'll be a decent crowd as well.

COME ON EMBRA!!!!