Bucharesti Oaks v Leeds Carnegie
Bucharest Stadium
By Kyle Gomersal
December 10 2009
A welcome break this weekend and a chance for some more youngsters to gain important game time in the Amlin challenge cup. The 3rd week of the Amlin challenge cup and Bucharest the place. This time of year Bucharest has an average temperature of between -2 and 3 degrees so it’s going to be a tough challenge for our boys and we can use the phrase its coming down with snow on for real this week!
Bucuresti Oaks are coached by Marin Mot who also coached the Romanian international team between 07 and 09. They are formed every season to play in the Challenge Cup, consisting of rugby lads playing in the domestic Romanian leagues.
Bucuresti have 11 Romanian
internationals, 3 young new Zealanders and 2 young Tongans in their
big squad so have a fair bit of experience and beef. They have
competed 28 times in Europe, winning 7 of these with 1 draw and sadly
loosing 20 consequently the team has yet to make it
past the group stages in the Challenge Cup how ever they’ve only
ever finished bottom of the group once.
This season Bucuresti have beaten rugby Parma, the game finishing 21-9, but they were also beaten by Bourgoin, that game finishing 21 - 19. Both very close games mirroring the results Leeds gained against the same opposition, so Bucharest are going to be a tough challenge.
On the face of it then, Bucharest and Leeds are in a similar position. But in actual fact, Leeds are way ahead: They go into this game in a lot better position, having competed in Europe 39 times including two seasons of Heineken Cup rugby and with 20 wins, 3 draws in European rugby behind
us we are quite the experienced side.
Another major factor of this
game - and it’s a huge one at that - Bucharest has never EVER beaten an
English side home or away!
We're going into this game on a huge
high even though we didn’t win last week. We have a very varied
run of form in which we were robbed at Sarries, lovely victories at
Wasps and then Leicester before letting a lead go to get beat by Sale,
was then followed by heavy defeat by Leicester and last week
with a very hard fought game against Quins in which I though we were
fantastic.
All in all the last month hasn’t been too bad for the club and will welcome some more victories in the next 2 weeks.
I think the boys fancy another win
under their belts and a win is what I’m predicting both home and
away! Away is going to be very tough it is not a nice place to go at
all, weather conditions will be horrible, little support for the boys
if any at all, and Bucuresti are going to come out hard hitting
looking to get a victory but my prediction a win by more than 15
points.
Next week Bucharesti come to Headingley now I cant
imagine the conditions are going to affect them on this game and
neither will the professionalism of the club so they have no
disadvantages other than being away so another victory for Leeds this
time by at least 30 points.
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i.e English 11.00 a.m.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:12:11:20:19:03 by dragon27.
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( with John Toshack I hear).