Heineken Cup: Draw for next year

First topic message reminder :

The draw will be shown live tomorrow, 12 June, at 11:00 am apparently.

Can see the draw live here:

http://live.ercrugby.com/index.html

Are those the final pools in the OP?????

They are listed about three posts down rodders.

Pool 4:
Northampton Saints
Ulster Rugby
Glasgow Rugby
Castres Olympique

Delighted with that draw. Really evenly matched sides there so its anyone's pool

SUFTUM!

Tough going for the Tigers to get the most dangerous Tier 3 team two years in a row! Maybe you should go back to the name Sam, formerly known as Sam. Seems like you bossed Europe in those days

Ulsters group is great. Three tough teams, but all six games are winnable if we play well and banana skins if we don't. First things first is to protect our unbeaten run at home in Europe. That's a serious matter of pride. Then hopefully we can get that elusive away win in France. Then it's a matter of going over to Glasgow, who we know so well, and winning.

Yes it's a tough group but if we play at our best we can win it. If we don't, we could be embarrassed. Thats good, you need that to stop complacency sneaking in and to keep the mind focused. Perfect group for us.

This year will be about winning our home games and getting a win at sale. I don't see us getting much in france, other than '2' under the 'Loss' column.

Unlucky Exeter.

Sale have an OK pool

Also with the blues facing Sir Jonny of Wilkinson, hopefully we'll get shifted from the red button and have a game at a decent time on a saturday rather than 4pm on a sunday!

Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

gcBlues wrote:This year will be about winning our home games and getting a win at sale. I don't see us getting much in france, other than '2' under the 'Loss' column.

It depends on how seriously Montpellier take the HC. We could do the double over Sale and Montpellier - then it will depend on winning our home game against Toulon, which I wont be confident of if they play a strong squad.

rodders wrote:Pool 4:
Northampton Saints
Ulster Rugby
Glasgow Rugby
Castres Olympique

Delighted with that draw. Really evenly matched sides there so its anyone's pool

SUFTUM!

We really should be expecting to qualify from this group, very nice draw.

profitius wrote:From a Munster point of view its ok. Theres no easy games but they're all winnable too.

Pool 2 looks to be the pool of death. Even Treviso are capable of winning a few matches.

Yea, and it will help that Munster's new backs coach was released from Racing, not to mention Strings sojourn with Sarries.

Not a lot of video analysis required there!

2012/13 Heineken Cup Dates

Round 1 12/13/14 October 2012
Round 2 19/20/21 October 2012
Round 3 7/8/9 December 2012
Round 4 14/15/16 December 2012
Round 5 11/12/13 January 2013
Round 6 18/19/20 January 2013
Quarter-finals 5/6/7 April 2013
Semi-finals 26/27/28 April 2013

Sin é wrote:

profitius wrote:From a Munster point of view its ok. Theres no easy games but they're all winnable too.

Pool 2 looks to be the pool of death. Even Treviso are capable of winning a few matches.

Yea, and it will help that Munster's new backs coach was released from sacked by Racing, not to mention Strings sojourn with Sarries.

Not a lot of video analysis required there!

fixed that for you

Reasonably happy with the Edinburgh pool. Munster are the weakest they have been for a long time, Sarries will be tough and we know what to expect from RM.

Edinburgh I would like to think will have a decent chance of doing well in this group.

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

We also get Toulouse and the Ospreys!

nathan wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

We also get Toulouse and the Ospreys!

I think Ospreys will be a bigger danger than Toulouse.

Sine, both Sarries and Racing will have new backs coaches then, I would imagine that will cause quite a lot of work for the video analysis chappies as there won't be a back catalouge to work from.

Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Fancy a swap Boyne?

Tough going for the Tigers to get the most dangerous Tier 3 team two years in a row! Maybe you should go back to the name Sam, formerly known as Sam. Seems like you bossed Europe in those days

I know Notch, . We did have argueably the greatest pack ever to grace the HEC though. The front row was simply monstrous (the now infamous ABC club that had a bar named after them at Welford Rd), the second row was the engine room for the 2003 RWC victory and the backrow was pretty awesome and held 3 RWC winners (Back, Corry and Moody). Oh for their like again...

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

Boyne, a little respect, sir, if you please! Anyhew, I'm delighted with that - we'll face mighty opposition in our first adventure in the European big-time, and regardless of the result, we'll be better for it, no question. It will be great to welcome each set of fans to Sandy Park

Glasgow group is ok, could have been easier and could have been much worse. Can't see the Runner up of this one making the HC 1/4s.

Glasgow v Ulster first up would be good for us with the move to the new ground, would be a good crowd for that.

Thoughts from me:

Pool 1: looks a cracker. Munster, Saracens and Edimburgh will battle for supremacy you'd think.

Pool 2: another cracker. Fancy Toulouse to come through.

Pool 3: probably the weakest. Harlequins should come through you'd think. Decent chance for a best second-placed team here though (Biarritz or Connaught?)

Pool 4: intriguing. Not the strongest in terms of teams, but four well-matched sides.

Pool 5: I feel a bit sorry for Exeter and Scarlets, as Leinster and Clermont will know they'll need to be strong to both go through.

Pool 6: another one that's wide open, Cardiff and Toulon the favourites, but don't rule out the other two.

Rava wrote:

nathan wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

We also get Toulouse and the Ospreys!

I think Ospreys will be a bigger danger than Toulouse.

As an Ospreys fan i highly doubt that.

between ospreys ,toulouse and tigers , its too close to call on current form so it will be down to injuries/squad fitness and the away result at treviso.

I just don't think the Ospreys squad/team is good enough yet. Especially next year when we lose Shane, Tommy and Paul James.

I think all our Regions will do very well to get out of their groups. I guess the O's may feel they have chance with Treviso in there but they are no mugs at home

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

Boyne, a little respect, sir, if you please! Anyhew, I'm delighted with that - we'll face mighty opposition in our first adventure in the European big-time, and regardless of the result, we'll be better for it, no question. It will be great to welcome each set of fans to Sandy Park

And that attitude, sir, is why we love Exeter and its fans. I will be cheering you on next season and I fully expect the Chiefs to do in the HEC what they have done in their first two years in the Premiership. Namely, to put up a fight in all their matches and also to spring a surprise on at least one of the big boys.

As a Quins fan, I'd have loved to face Leinster in our group, but I will accept a trip to Biarritz in its place. I don't want to be over-confident, but I think that if Quins can carry their end of season form into next season, they will have a great chance of qualifying. I was at the Amlin final, and Biarritz won it by virtue of wanting it more than Toulon (who seemed to be saving themselves for the Top 14), rather than by the quality of their play. They'll be tough at home (as will Connacht, as we well know), but Quins are a more complete side now than they were even back in January.

gowales wrote:I just don't think the Ospreys squad/team is good enough yet. Especially next year when we lose Shane, Tommy and Paul James.

Gowales I think you undersell yourselves. You won the Rabo12 and you have a young team that is playing for one another. You will win your home games and should be able to pick up a win in Italy. Ulster were able to get through as a best runner-up in those circumstances last year.

When are the fixtures announced ? Ospreys / Leicester double header in Rounds 3 & 4 anyone ?

whocares wrote:

Sin é wrote:

profitius wrote:From a Munster point of view its ok. Theres no easy games but they're all winnable too.

Pool 2 looks to be the pool of death. Even Treviso are capable of winning a few matches.

Yea, and it will help that Munster's new backs coach was released from sacked by Racing, not to mention Strings sojourn with Sarries.

Not a lot of video analysis required there!

fixed that for you

who cares whether he was sacked or released. The end result is that he will know a lot about the team and he will be well peed off with them

Rava wrote:

gowales wrote:I just don't think the Ospreys squad/team is good enough yet. Especially next year when we lose Shane, Tommy and Paul James.

Gowales I think you undersell yourselves. You won the Rabo12 and you have a young team that is playing for one another. You will win your home games and should be able to pick up a win in Italy. Ulster were able to get through as a best runner-up in those circumstances last year.

That's all true but i'm trying to keep things in perspective. Leinster almost won the Pro 12 with a B team! They only played the big boys in the play offs. Ospreys basically had the same team out the whole year bar when the internationals were away. Next year we are losing a lot our key players. I just don't think this squad is mature enough yet.

PenfroPete wrote:When are the fixtures announced ? Ospreys / Leicester double header in Rounds 3 & 4 anyone ?

Penfro I don't think the fixtures are announced until the Summer . Middle of July last year.

gowales wrote:

Rava wrote:

gowales wrote:I just don't think the Ospreys squad/team is good enough yet. Especially next year when we lose Shane, Tommy and Paul James.

Gowales I think you undersell yourselves. You won the Rabo12 and you have a young team that is playing for one another. You will win your home games and should be able to pick up a win in Italy. Ulster were able to get through as a best runner-up in those circumstances last year.

That's all true but i'm trying to keep things in perspective. Leinster almost won the Pro 12 with a B team! They only played the big boys in the play offs. Ospreys basically had the same team out the whole year bar when the internationals were away. Next year we are losing a lot our key players. I just don't think this squad is mature enough yet.

Fairynuff mate. I'll be having you down as a potential surprise team for sure.

That's good to hear, i think there's a secret 5 year plan in place and we're going into year 3.

... I completely made that up, but it does sound good doesn't it?

gowales wrote:That's good to hear, i think there's a secret 5 year plan in place and we're going into year 3.

... I completely made that up, but it does sound good doesn't it?

Does, except its not a secret any more. Is it?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

Boyne, a little respect, sir, if you please! Anyhew, I'm delighted with that - we'll face mighty opposition in our first adventure in the European big-time, and regardless of the result, we'll be better for it, no question. It will be great to welcome each set of fans to Sandy Park

Asbo, NO disrespect intended whatsoever... It is an almighty welcome to the HEC. You have the continents 2 best teams in your group. Not sure where you picked up a dis there bud !

BoyneRFC wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

Boyne, a little respect, sir, if you please! Anyhew, I'm delighted with that - we'll face mighty opposition in our first adventure in the European big-time, and regardless of the result, we'll be better for it, no question. It will be great to welcome each set of fans to Sandy Park

Asbo, NO disrespect intended whatsoever... It is an almighty welcome to the HEC. You have the continents 2 best teams in your group. Not sure where you picked up a dis there bud !

Ah right, apologies if I took that the wrong way, sir - very much looking forward to welcoming your lot to SP - Gib has already booked his pit, the young Micks as well, let me know if you need one too?

Rava wrote:2012/13 Heineken Cup Dates

Round 1 12/13/14 October 2012
Round 2 19/20/21 October 2012
Round 3 7/8/9 December 2012
Round 4 14/15/16 December 2012
Round 5 11/12/13 January 2013
Round 6 18/19/20 January 2013
Quarter-finals 5/6/7 April 2013
Semi-finals 26/27/28 April 2013

Yeah it's really annoying that they cant tell us who we will be playing and when ! It's always an almighty scramble for ryanair.com when the actual games are announced !!!

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

BoyneRFC wrote:Surprise surprise Tigers get Italians again.....

Exeter- welcome to the HEC ! LOL!!

Boyne, a little respect, sir, if you please! Anyhew, I'm delighted with that - we'll face mighty opposition in our first adventure in the European big-time, and regardless of the result, we'll be better for it, no question. It will be great to welcome each set of fans to Sandy Park

Asbo, NO disrespect intended whatsoever... It is an almighty welcome to the HEC. You have the continents 2 best teams in your group. Not sure where you picked up a dis there bud !

Ah right, apologies if I took that the wrong way, sir - very much looking forward to welcoming your lot to SP - Gib has already booked his pit, the young Micks as well, let me know if you need one too?

Will do, but when !!!??? Damn ERC !! Just tell us when we play each other !!

Rava wrote:

gowales wrote:

Rava wrote:

gowales wrote:I just don't think the Ospreys squad/team is good enough yet. Especially next year when we lose Shane, Tommy and Paul James.

Gowales I think you undersell yourselves. You won the Rabo12 and you have a young team that is playing for one another. You will win your home games and should be able to pick up a win in Italy. Ulster were able to get through as a best runner-up in those circumstances last year.

That's all true but i'm trying to keep things in perspective. Leinster almost won the Pro 12 with a B team! They only played the big boys in the play offs. Ospreys basically had the same team out the whole year bar when the internationals were away. Next year we are losing a lot our key players. I just don't think this squad is mature enough yet.

Fairynuff mate. I'll be having you down as a potential surprise team for sure.

On the other hand I guess you never know, Ulster kind of came out of the blue a couple of seasons ago and now they're regularly challenging for the title.

I can't believe it - Am not sure how the Scarlets will increase their seedings with the teams we've been drawn with in the past few years - Leicester, Munster (Twice), Leinster, Clermont (Twice), Stade & Wasps when they were good.

Think we can be competitive in this group and could win all our home games but realistically the Scarlets are never going to qualify from that group - many teams would struggle, and as such we'll be in for another difficult draw next season...

Delighted to have ASM again. Trip to France is on the cards thus year!!,

Hoog wrote:Delighted to have ASM again. Trip to France is on the cards thus year!!,

What about a trip to Llanelli!

Can you guys help, I can't find out which HC group Bath are in?

Bahahahahaah!

HERSH wrote:Can you guys help, I can't find out which HC group Bath are in?

Pretty chuffed with that pool for Quins. As long as Connacht behave and know then they're beaten

Oh and good luck Exeter, some brilliant matches lined up there for you.

Unlucky Tigers, another season of not getting out of your pool again I think (although pretty understandable this time).

HERSH wrote:

+1

Spot the Bath fan amongst all the chiefs.

The Chiefs draw will no doubt boost their finances next year