Picamoles relishing Heaslip match-up

AS anticipation in Toulouse continues to climb ahead of the tomorrow’s Heineken Cup semi-final between the French giants and Leinster, France international number eight Louis Picamoles has declared he is relishing the prospect of playing against Leinster and Lions number eight Jamie Heaslip.

There is no shortage of mouthwatering individual clashes between the two teams, but the match-up between Heaslip and the young pretender Picamoles promises to be one of the more interesting side shows on offer at the Stadium de Toulouse.

“There’s no doubt he’s a great player and he’s had a quality season,” said Picamoles when asked about his opposite number. “But Leinster have quality players across the pitch in lots of positions so we know how difficult it is going to be to play against them in general.”

He continued: “It’s going to be tough match like all the matches at this level in the Heineken Cup. We did a lot of work this week to prepare for the match on Saturday and to get us to the level we believe is necessary.”

Picamoles, 24, burst onto the international stage two seasons ago as one of Marc Lievremont’s new recruits and the former Montpellier player followed that up with some seismic performances in France’s wins against New Zealand and South Africa last year.

This stage of the Heineken Cup is a new experience however for the powerful number eight and he admitted he can’t wait to get out on the pitch.

He said: “I have to say that I’m really looking forward it and I’m really up for it. I’m expecting a hard game but that’s not surprising. We have the champions of Europe at home and it’s going to be a huge battle.”

Picamoles took a back seat during much of the Six Nations with Lievremont’s preferring Basque talisman Imanol Harinordoquy to the Toulouse player. And although that was a disappointment for him, he is still very much seen as the heir apparent to Harinordoquy’s crown.

Although not blessed with the same athleticism as the Biarritz player, Picamoles’ strengths lie in his ability as a ball carrier, a trait he shares with his Leinster counterpart.

Picamoles added that he was impressed with the way the champions have gone about defending their crown this season. The mark of a great team, in his opinion, was one that could defend their title.

“I think they fully deserved their title last year and this year they’ve proven once more that they really are a great team. It’s a major source motivation and a source of great excitement to be playing against them on Saturday.

“They’re a team that are always around at this stage of the tournament and they’ve got a lot of players that can make a difference on the pitch so we know exactly how well we’ll have to play to get the better of them.”