Final dash in Euro race
Three-time European Cup winners Leinster and English giants Saracens will look to secure their places in the last eight of this season's competition in the final round of pool matches this weekend.
On paper Leinster look odds-on to reach the quarterfinal stages for the 10th time in 13 years as on Friday they welcome Welsh side Ospreys, who are bottom of Pool 1 and have just one win in four previous visits to Ireland while the hosts last defeat to a Welsh side dates back to 1998.
Leinster – who won the second tier Challenge Cup trophy last season after surprisingly, as holders, being eliminated at the pool stage of the European Cup – lead Northampton by four points going into the final matches.
The Irish side – who beat Ospreys 19-9 in Wales in their opening match – need just a point to top the pool no matter if Northampton, who host French champions Castres, come away with a bonus point win.
However, they will be looking for far more than that as they are desperate to secure a bonus point win to try and secure a home draw in the quarterfinals, which, as they are presently the pool leaders with the lowest total of points, leaves them needing other results to go their way.
Their New Zealand fly-half Jimmy Gopperth, who joined from English side Newcastle last year as a replacement for Johnny Sexton when the Irish No 1 left for Racing-Metro, said that they should avoid thinking of the bonus point win as it could affect their performance.
"Of course you want a home quarter and, to achieve that, we've got to win the game against the Ospreys," Gopperth told the European Rugby Cup website.
"We've just got to make sure we get the points on the board early, make sure we win first and let the game take care of itself after that. Hopefully we'll get a good outcome from it," added the 30-year-old.
Leinster, though, will have to be wary of not allowing Ospreys Welsh international fly-half Dan Biggar too many cracks at goal as he is yet to miss one kick in this season's competition, landing 20 of his 20 attempts and is the leading scorer in the competition with 62 points.
With Castres out of contention Northampton should get their bonus point win although the last three games between the two sides have been tight affairs – realistically Saints will probably have to make do with a place in the Challenge Cup knockout stages.
Saracens for their part are in action on Saturday hosting plucky Irish province Connacht, who will be seeking to repeat their astonishing victory over Pool Three leaders and four-time European champions Toulouse in France earlier in the competition.
Toulouse lead Saracens by four points and are already guaranteed one of the two best runners-up spots but the French side are likely to seal top place in the pool as they are away at pointless Italian outfit Zebre.
Saracens, though, don't need anything but a win against Connacht to get the second runners-up spot – Ulster and Leicester who also play each other on Saturday will take the other runners-up spot with the winners of their match finishing as Pool 5 winners.
However, Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall is wary of a Connacht side that still entertains hopes of squeezing into the last eight themselves, as an unlikely bonus point win would leave them with 18 points and a chance of the second runners-up spot.
McCall, formerly coach of Ulster, also wants to see his side produce a better performance than the one that saw them lose to Toulouse in France last weekend.
"If we can win against Connacht we get the chance to go somewhere else in the quarterfinals and prove we are better than we were against Toulouse," said the 46-year-old former Irish international centre.
"There is something at stake for Connacht too – whoever wins that game could qualify and so it is a huge game."
AFP
