Good reason to be fearful of French
So far, the one side that stands apart, with a maximum return of 10 points from their two outings, are Clermont Auvergne, who have set the tournament alight with some scintillating rugby and 12 tries to underline their attacking prowess. The closest in the try-scoring charts are Saracens with eight, while champions Leinster, a team renowned for their ability with ball in hand, have but a single five-pointer to their name.
Clermont have been knocking on the European door for a few years but have been extremely unlucky to come up against an outstanding Leinster outfit in each of the last three seasons, with the next instalment of the rivalry set to unfold with those mouth-watering clashes on successive weekends in December.
Of all the 38-man squads registered for this season’s Heineken Cup, Clermont’s is the most decorated in terms of international quality, even surpassing big-spending Toulon. Their squad has 29 internationals drawn from nine countries, 15 of whom are French. Toulon have 22 of eight different nationalities with as many capped Englishmen (six) as French. Former champions Toulouse have 25 capped players in their squad drawn from six nations — 18 of those are French.
If strength in depth is the key ingredient to Heineken Cup success then the odds on a French sidedethroning Leinster this season must be very short. The champions are backboned by 18 Irish internationals with just two capped players from overseas in Isa Nacewa and Heinke Van Der Merwe, both of whom have appeared once for Fiji and South Africa respectively. Nacewa could certainly have added to that number had he so wished but decided to concentrate fully on his club career.
Already after just two rounds, the tournament has become the preserve of the French, English and Irish with the seven representatives from Scotland, Wales and Italy having a nightmare opening phase with just a solitary win from a combined total of 14 games. That is a shocking return. Admittedly the Ospreys were extremely unlucky to leave Welford Road on Sunday empty-handed after a titanic battle against Leicester Tigers. Their win at home over Benetton Treviso in round one represents the only success for the Welsh regions this season.
When one considers the recent achievements of their national side — three Grand Slams in eight seasons and a World Cup semi-final appearance — coupled with the fact that the Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues have several players in line for selection on the Lions tour to Australia, you just wonder how they have been so inept in Europe.
The Scottish scene looks even bleaker, with Edinburgh and Glasgow drawing a blank from their four outings. Glasgow suffered stage fright after a brilliant opening quarter away to Northampton at Franklins Gardens when they raced into a 15-point lead. It was almost as if they couldn’t believe it themselves and they just froze, which allowed the hosts toscramble home.
Edinburgh have had a fortnight to forget and were surpassed by both Zebre and Treviso in terms of performance. Treviso are in the most competitive pool yet pushed the Ospreys all the way at the Liberty Stadium and even led Toulouse by 18-9 at half time. By comparison, the Scottish performances have been anaemic and you just wonder where Scottish rugby is going.
After a productive summer tour where Andy Robinson’s men enjoyed excellent wins over Australia, Samoa and Fiji, the form of their two district sides offers yet another setback on the eve of the November Tests against New Zealand, South Africa and Tonga.
A return of six wins from eight games for the four Irish sides is very credible, with all four enjoying at least one win. Ulster have been the most consistent and remain the only side in Europe unbeaten in both domestic and European competition.
Leinster are struggling to recapture their form of last season but have been severely handicapped by injury and inconsistency in selection. However, they still know how to win matches and you can be sure that when it matters most they will be back to their competitive best. The loss of Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien has been particularly acute and Joe Schmidt will be praying the pair are available for the Clermont Auvergne missions.
Connacht played some fantastic rugby against Harlequins on Saturday but must now enhance their recent Heineken Cup form with more consistency in the RaboDirect. The exposure their young back line has had in this competition will not only stand to them, but also to the national set up, with Tiernan O’Halloran, Dave McSharry, Eoin Griffin, Robbie Henshaw and Kieran Marmion all looking very comfortable at this level. With more exposure to come against Biarritz (home and away) and Harlequins at The Stoop, they will only get better. Add in the strides made by their impressive young loose head prop Declan Buckley and nobody can argue about the job being undertaken by Eric Elwood in terms of contributing to the pool of up-and-coming national talent.
On that front, Munster can also take a bow. When they secured their four-try bonus point against Edinburgh on Sunday, they did so by registering 17 points in the final 10 minutes with a side that anyone who emigrated two years ago would barely recognise.
On board at that stage, Munster had 11 players who only made their Heineken Cup debuts either last season or over the last fortnight.
Felix Jones, Simon Zebo, JJ Hanrahan, Ian Keatley and Conor Murray manned the back line while up front Dave Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, Billy Holland, Paddy Butler, Peter O’Mahony and Sean Dougall directed operations, with O’Mahony assuming the captaincy on the departure of Doug Howlett.
In addition, Duncan Williams and Stephen Archer were unused off the bench but have also accumulated valuable European experience while Dave O’Callaghan and Danny Barnes also featured off the bench against Racing Metro in round one. That is a huge investment in young talent over a very short period of time yet Munster have still produced seven pool wins from eight outings over that 11-month period.
Not a bad return.
