Llanelli may have last laugh, warns Reddan

LLANELLI SCARLETS may be the only team in Pool Five of the Heineken Cup out of contention for a qualifying spot, but the Welsh region could yet prove to be the joker in the pack, according to Wasps scrum-half Eoin Reddan.

With two rounds to play, all eyes will be on the Stade Marcel-Michelin on the second week in January when Munster visit Clermont Auvergne.

A week later and the focus will switch to Thomond Park where Declan Kidney’s side play host to Reddan’s European champions, with Lawrence Dallaglio already admitting that the English side may well be travelling to Limerick in search of a bonus-point win.

If the remaining four games go as expected, then there will be less than a coat of paint to separate the top three sides on the last day. Whether things actually do go as expected is another thing entirely. Munster were at pains to talk up the challenge Llanelli represented prior to Sunday’s win in Limerick, despite the fact that the Irish team had left Stradey Park the week before with four points.

Clermont and Wasps have already racked up over 80 points against the pool’s bottom feeders and, though Dallaglio again talked of taking five points against them at Adams Park next month, Reddan is preparing for an ambush. “I was speaking to some of the Muster lads in the last week and we were saying that it is hard to imagine Llanelli going through the whole group without a win. That’s a fair point so they are going to be dangerous.

“There is a lot of rugby to be played yet. I always said there would be unforeseen twists and turns in this group. It’s a long competition in terms of time, even though it is only six games.

“Teams are going to come into form and out of form, especially after the World Cup. It’s going to come down to some big games, especially at the end. Munster have to go down to Clermont next which will be a big game for them.”

At this stage of the Heineken Cup, players and fans alike invariably turn to the nearest calculator in order to work out just what is required from the remaining group games for a team to reach the last eight.

Reddan claims he isn’t one of them. For now, Wasps will reset their sights on the Premiership. Currently ninth, they need to start climbing some rungs and they aim to start away to Bristol this weekend.

“It’s just the nature of the competition,” said Reddan of the European Cup. “We don’t get bogged down collectively by looking at other teams. We know ourselves what we have to do and we need to finish games better than we did this one (against Clermont at the weekend). We’re still in a position where, if we win our remaining games, we should go through. We like the big days.”

Few in the history of this great competition have been as memorable as their game last Saturday evening where, despite building a 22-point lead with some sumptuous rugby, they ended up clinging to a one-point advantage.

Whatever happens in round five, round six is already guaranteed to be one of those special days in Thomond. Leicester may have punctured the air of invincibility the venue carries on European days but it is still likely to require a Herculean effort from any team to ransack the fortress again.

“At the start of the season when the group was announced you just knew, we knew and everyone in Munster knew, that the last day would have us facing each other. Both teams were probably thinking ‘God, it would be great if we were both through by then’ but things rarely work out the way you hope.

“We’ll need to have the bit between our teeth and perform when we go there. Munster are playing well at the moment. They are in a strong position but Clermont are well in there too. It should be a great end to the group.”