Castres strike a blow for Wasps with surprising victory over Perpignan
It means the London side top Pool One, but with tricky games to come against both French sides, this pool may take a twist or two yet.
In Pool Two, Leinster have taken firm control on the back of their impressive win over Agen on Saturday. Gloucester beat Edinburgh 38-22 the same day and look to be coming into form at just the right time to put pressure on Agen for the second spot. With the French outfit’s form on the road open to question, Gloucester may need to beat Leinster at home in the last pool game to go through.
Stade Français’ 27-16 victory over Sale yesterday sets them up nicely in Pool Three. The game, played in front of 45,000 spectators, went more or less as expected given Sale’s lengthy injury list, which includes Jason White, Charlie Hodgson and Andrew Sheridan, but the English club’s bonus point may yet prove vital. Ospreys remain ahead of Sale, having cruised to an expected win over Calvisano. The Welsh side ran in eight tries while notching a 50-27 victory, but they’ll be looking nervously over their shoulders, and the Anglo-Welsh clash in the new year may determine who progresses.
Pool Five was thrown wide open when Ulster were surprised at the Madejski by London Irish. The Exiles showed no mercy to the Northern outfit, putting them to the sword 29-13 to claw their way up the table. Ulster have not made the quarter-final stages since the year they won the competition, 1999, and that statistic doesn’t look like changing.
The real surprise in Pool Four was Llanelli Scarlets’ one-point win over Toulouse, 20-19. Toulouse trail the London side on points difference — barely — but Irish will feel confident ahead of their new year clash with the French aristocrats, when home advantage may be decisive for the Exiles.
Pool Six is going as predicted, with Biarritz and Northampton well out in front. Reivers couldn’t even get on the scoresheet against the Basques last Saturday, losing 25-0, while not surprisingly, Northampton ran riot over makeweights Parma, running up a 68-21 victory.
Munster’s hard-fought win over Cardiff yesterday may have been the focus for many people’s interest in the competition, but elsewhere in Pool Four, Leicester carved out an impressive 28-13 win away to Bourgoin on Friday evening.
If the Welsh side’s interest in the competition was more or less ended yesterday, that may remove some of the edge from the Leicester-Munster clash in the new year. And if you believe that…
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