Heineken Cup Pool 2 Preview - Leeds Get The Blues!
By Tyke Steve
October 17 2005
It’s here again after a few years absence; we’re back in the Heineken Cup, the pinnacle of club rugby in the Northern Hemisphere. Leeds Tykes last graced this competition back in the 2003 to 2004 season, where we beat Welsh opposition (The Ospreys) on our home ground, but lost in the away fixture.
And this time, we’ve got the Blues, the Cardiff Blues that is!
We’ve got the joys of a group that could actually see us through, though recent results and performances might make many of us think, and say, otherwise. But then, this is something different, it’s the Heineken Cup, a time to raise the game.
So, what’s the opposition for the Tykes Group?
Calvisano are our Italian side, everyone prays for an Italian side in their group, but this is becoming less of a wish come true (check out Benetton Treviso side who beat Bath!). However, Calvisano lost all their pool games last year, the only joy being a close(ish) game against Wasps at home where Wasps edged it 22 – 31. So, this could be bonus point territory for us, which is always helpful. Oh, and not forgetting a nice trip away perhaps.
Perpignan are our French side. They don’t travel well, like most French sides, if we can beat them at home and push them close on their own backyard (not an easy task I know) then we’d be doing pretty damned well! Perpignan are currently 4th in the league over in France only 5 points off the leaders Stade Francais.
And that brings me to our first up team, the Cardiff Blues. Rugby in Wales has undergone a restructuring with the birth of “regional” rugby a few years ago; this meant that Cardiff RUFC “became” Cardiff Blues who play in the Celtic League (Cardiff RUFC still play in a Welsh Premiership League). The Blues have a wealth of talent and many internationals, several Lions - Tom Shanklin, Martyn Williams and Gethin Jenkins; several Welsh internationals (I won’t name them, the list would be quite long); and a number of overseas quality players too including Jonah Lomu! There is some good news though (for us!); Lomu won’t be playing on Saturday nor will Shanklin; Gethin Jenkins is out through injury (I think); and they’ve got Dai Young as their coach, and (some might argue) he’s been rubbish!
The Blues only decent result of the season has been a win over Saracens in the Powergen Cup, otherwise there’s been nothing to shout home about. Their defence in their last game against Leinster was apparently shocking. So this could be a good opportunity for us. If we fire on all cylinders and take the game to them, then who knows? I personally don’t think that they’ll be fully up to speed on us, so we could catch them cold. They do have Rob Howley on their coaching staff however, so they might know a thing or two about us, but that didn’t help them against Wasps the other weekend, where, apart from a 10-15 minute spell when Wasps switched off, they were shown how to play rugby.
However, we’ve not made a good start this season (I won’t go on about it), and maybe (oddly) the Heineken Cup will give us a chance to throw caution to the wind, give Biggs, Balshaw and Doherty the ball and let them play with wanton abandon! Lets hope so! So come on, get behind the Tykes, shout “Yorkshire!”; “Leeds!”; “Leeds Tykes!” or whatever and lets see what the Tykes can really do!
Just remember, “Things Can Only Get Better!”