Anyone else slightly disappointed at the HC viewing this last weekend of the group stages?

The only non-Quins game i am going to watch is Leicester-Ulster, whereas the past few HC weekends i have watched 4 or 5 matches.

Shouldnt they have the top seeds in each group playing each other last? Or do they already do that but the seedings have gotten all turned upside down?

The top teams usually play in the middle. Also you don't want it to come down to six matches that people only care about.

This year the top teams have more or less picked themselves but other than ulster/leicester no other second place team is confirmed. Each result will have people doing maths on who goes where.

I know for tv they won't do it but imagine in half the games kicked off at the same time it would really grab attention with each score

Could argue it the other way- very often the last weekend is so exciting and/or controversial because the top two seeds are playing other teams and each know what they need to get and it's very close between them- i.e a try bonus point or total tries count makes the difference to the overall complexion. Last year when it was either Munster or Leinster to go through from different pools based entirely on their overall try count was very exciting.

Ideally I would have the top seeds in half the pools playing each other and and not in the other three pools.  My favourite time of year is the double header, I like when thats the two most heavyweight teams in the pool going head to head because the short turnaround adds a psychological dimension to it which is always intriguing so I'd want to hold onto that. Hopefully that is retained in any future iteration of the tournament. Unfortunately it can settle some pools prematurely, so you wouldn't want every pool to follow that but its always good to have a couple of ties like that.

To be honest, I think Sky Sports distribute the games in such a way as they have the massive heavyweight clashes spread over every single round and normally it works well for them and there is still plenty of interest in Round 6. This year it has rather blown up in their face but thats sport.

I think Saracens vs Connacht could be very interesting, massive amount at stake for both teams, and at the very least should be a good game to watch even if there is no upset on the cards. Connacht will be pumped up and make a very good game of it, if Saracens are anywhere close to their best they should have enough but it will be competitive and entertaining none the less. It's not a foregone conclusion but even if Sarries do win with a bit to spare you're still guaranteed a good game with plenty of heart and endeavour for the visitors.

As much as the Leicester vs Ulster game is exciting, the abject performances of Montpellier and Treviso in our pool have taken one of the best runners up spots out of the equation and that leaves a lot of teams dead in the competition that would otherwise be alive. You would have expected Montpellier to win at least once against Irish/English opposition! They've been rather pathetic to be honest, they only barely limped past Treviso in Round 1 as well.

I also think that home advantage has counted for less this year which has led to a few teams stretching their leads more than in previous years.

Or maybe Sarries vs Connacht will be abject, one-sided and uncompetitive. Maybe that.

Sarries vs Connacht was just that. The only game that is not being televised that I would have liked to have seen is Blues vs Exeter.

It's pretty rare to have so many dead rubbers at this point.

It's odd that Leicester ulster is the biggest draw despite both already knowing they were through.

The Saint wrote:Sarries vs Connacht was just that. The only game that is not being televised that I would have liked to have seen is Blues vs Exeter.

I don't understand how Zebre vs Toulouse is a bigger game than that but there you go.

Sky Sports and/or the Heineken Cup trying to appease the big spenders in England and France I guess.