Irish trio have it all to do
Less than 18 months have passed since Leinster joined Ulster and Munster in that exclusive winners’ enclosure and, though the format of the tournament hasn’t changed in 11 years, the posts certainly have.
England, without a winner since Wasps in 2007, looks set to launch a challenge with renewed vigour, Ospreys and Cardiff will hope to build on silverware claimed in the Magners League and Amlin Cup respectively and then there is the French.
The extent of the Gallic challenge was highlighted again – as if it needed to be – at yesterday’s Irish launch, when a TV advertisement from the France 2 network was aired for the benefit of journalists, players and coaches alike. Though done with tongue firmly lodged in cheek, there was no mistaking the message being sent by a clip which showed players answering a Batman-style ‘H’-shaped spotlight in the sky by ripping off their civvies and revealing their club colours underneath. “Super-heroique”, said the caption.
Indeed. In that sense then, no-one has been lumped with a tougher draw than Leinster, who find themselves renewing acquaintances with French champions Clermont Auvergne, the nouveau-riche Racing Metro 92 and a reinvigorated Saracens.
“Without a doubt, it’s the toughest I’ve seen,” said injured Leinster captain Leo Cullen of Pool Two. “Just look at the quality of the teams. Saracens have made massive strides under Brendan Venter.
“Clermont, we saw last year. We were pretty fortunate to get through that (quarter-final), truth be told. They went on to win the French championship which has taken a bit of pressure off them so they can really focus on Europe again this year. Then Racing are the fourth seeds so it’s a very unusual combination of teams.”
Munster, top seeds ahead of the draw, have hardly fared any better, having been handed the company of London Irish, Ospreys and Toulon in Pool Three – a clichéd Group of Death, even by the standards of a team well used to dodging the Grim Reaper in pools of the past.
“It’s always tough but it seems the pools we’re getting get tougher and tougher,” said Munster coach Tony McGahan. “The quality of the sides, the quality of the programmes being undertaken now from every side, it’s just very difficult to win a game. It’s nearly like a Six Nations game, a Test match, each weekend.”
It is no level playing field. The Irish provinces simply cannot match the financial muscle of sides in the Aviva Premiership, let alone the bottomless pockets stitched into the seam of the Top 14, where Toulon’s budget for the current season has tipped over the €20 million mark. The Irish sides are simply having to do more with less.
“If you have four or five foreign players out of 44 players, the best of what your programme represents needs to be at its strongest,” said McGahan. “You need the money and resources to do that, but you need some creativity. The richest companies aren’t necessarily the best so you need creative people, dynamic people to think a little bit out of the square and come up with ways of improving your programme across the board.”
Ulster would appear to have found something of a middle ground having forked out considerable sums on a number of players, most notably a trio of South Africans spearheaded by the world-class talents of Ruan Pienaar.
The province hasn’t passed the pool stages since winning the competition in 1999 but the influx of talent has already delivered an unbeaten opening to the Magners League and their group is by no means a mission impossible.
“It doesn’t matter what pool you are in,” said coach Brian McLaughlin. “They are all exceptionally tough. We’ve got the experience of having played Aironi already and they are an exceptionally hard side full of Italian internationals.
“The other two pool members are Biarritz who were runners-up last year and Bath who have got a great pedigree in the competition as well. We know how tough the group is.”
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