Saints boss wary of Toulouse

Northampton face a daunting Heineken Cup quarter-final clash against French giants Toulouse tomorrow, with Saints coach Wayne Smith admitting: “It’s a big ask.”

Not only must Northampton tackle the 1996 European champions on their own patch, but they also need to recover quickly from another domestic cup final defeat.

Saints’ 40-22 Powergen Cup reversal against Gloucester last weekend was their fourth domestic final loss in 12 years, and Smith’s reaction saw him drop four international players – John Leslie, Peter Jorgensen, Robbie Morris and Steve Williams – for the Toulouse mission.

Although Northampton have never previously played Toulouse in European competition, Smith is only too aware of the task that awaits his team.

“We have got a starter’s chance,” Smith said. “I think we’ve only won once in France, so it is a big ask.

“Toulouse play a style of rugby that we don’t come across too often. The play with a lot of continuity and they pass before contact. If they put it together on the day, then they destroy teams.

“They’ve got the likes of Isitolo Maka out injured, but French teams don’t have a salary cap – or not much of one – and they have a much bigger squad from which to choose quality players.”

Smith is optimistic, though, that Northampton can recover from their latest Twickenham setback and set about trying to defy distant 16/1 Heineken Cup odds against the tournament second favourites.

“They are a good team, Gloucester,” Smith said. “We put ourselves in a position to win it last Saturday, but we blew it.

“The boys put a lot into the game and they’re going to have been pretty sore this week. But there is a great spirit here – good character, good people and a good work ethic.

“People point to our stars – the Ben Cohens and the Matt Dawsons – but everyone has gelled together and everyone gives 100%.”

Despite Northampton’s underdog status, Toulouse and Irish international flanker Trevor Brennan knows that the French aristocrats cannot take Saints lightly.

“We sometimes get called the Real Madrid of rugby union, but you can’t be a good team if you blow hot and cold,” Brennan said.

“If we play to the best of our ability and are in the right frame of mind, never mind about Northampton, we can beat any team in Europe. It’s about getting the best out of the guys on the day, and everybody giving 100%.

“We will have to tighten up our game a bit. Matt Dawson likes to steal ball from around the rucks and mauls, and it’s important to close down a player like him.

“We will also have to stop their rolling mauls and hold our own in the scrum. At the end of the day, the players here really want to win the Heineken Cup as much as the French Championship, and that starts on Saturday.”

While Northampton’s fellow Premiership survivors, reigning European champions Leicester, face a huge last-eight clash against Munster on Sunday, a much-maligned Welsh rugby nation could clinch the first semi-final place tonight.

Hardened Heineken Cup warriors Llanelli entertain Perpignan at a sold-out Stradey Park, hopeful of securing semi-final status for the third time in four seasons.

But the Scarlets have identified Perpignan’s Australian star Manny Edmonds as a major threat to those ambitions.

“Perpignan represent a huge challenge, there are no bad teams left in the tournament,” said Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins.

“These are the best eight sides in Europe at the moment, and Perpignan are definitely one of those. We have played them three times in the Heineken Cup, winning once and losing twice, and as they were in our pool last season, we are quite familiar with them.

“However, I went over to see them a couple of weeks ago, when they were playing Agen, and they are a different side nowadays. And that difference is one player – Manny Edmonds.

“He makes them play, he totally runs the show, and while they also have a very physical front five huge in stature, Edmonds is the one who really makes them tick.

“They will come to Llanelli believing they can win, and anyone thinking it is a foregone conclusion that we will go through, can think again. We will have to be at our very best to get the result we want.”

Llanelli welcome back their Welsh international hooker Robin McBryde following three months out recuperating from toe surgery, and he lines up in a side containing 14 Test players.

Perpignan’s Canadian number eight Phil Murphy rates Llanelli highly, claiming: “They are a reference point in the European game because of their Heineken Cup record.

“I would say that we have one chance in three to win, but we will play that chance to the full.”

The winners of tonight’s clash face a semi-final against Leinster or Biarritz in Dublin on April 26 or 27.

Leinster have sold around 45,000 tickets for the Lansdowne Road encounter tomorrow, a game which offers players like Brian O’Driscoll, Denis Hickie and Malcolm O’Kelly their first chance to bounce back from Ireland’s Grand Slam drubbing by England 12 days ago.