MARCH TO MARSEILLE
RW’s Alan Pearey puts meat on the bones of the 2019-20 Heineken Champions Cup draw
OTHING BRINGS out the
clichés like a Heineken
Cup draw, where there
are “no easy games” and
every pool is a “huge
challenge”. Coaches are quite right to
offer such platitudes, not least because
they are true; the days of chalking up a
routine try bonus in Italy are long gone.
The ‘Pool of Death’ is also mandatory
in such matters and fitting the bill in the
draw for next season’s competition is
Pool Four, where holders Saracens are
grouped with last season’s semi-final
victims Munster and 2018 finalists Racing.
The Ospreys, sole representatives for
Wales, complete the pool and will have
to play out of their skins to get past that
lot. There was a degree of bullishness
from coach Allen Clarke when he said:
“We’ve shown what we can do,
particularly at home when we get our
best combinations on the field. I’m sure
having us as the fourth-choice team in
the pool, nobody was after that either.”
Saracens are chasing their fourth
European crown in five seasons but the
potential fly in the ointment is the World
Cup. History suggests that an early World
Cup exit will benefit that country’s club
sides in the European competition to
follow. Saracens’ breakthrough Heineken
title was in 2016, a few months after
many of their players had crashed out
of England 2015 before the knockouts.
So if Japan 2019 runs to form, perhaps
we should expect a French Heineken
Cup winner next season?
Top 14 clubs will have an
added incentive because
the final, on 23 May,
takes place at the
67,394-capacity Stade de
Marseille. Some 30,000
tickets have already been
sold for Finals Weekend.
Other talking points
emerged from the draw
conducted by BryanHabana and Dimitri Yachvili in Lausanne.
The Burns brothers, Freddie and Billy,
will come head-to-head when Bath face
Ulster in Pool Three, and, with delicious
providence, Exeter’s star signing Stuart
Hogg will renew acquaintance with his
Glasgow buddies having only just
ended a nine-year career at Scotstoun.
“It was almost destined that Stuart
would end up facing Glasgow in Europe.
I think he even predicted it himself in an
interview!” said Chiefs DoR Rob Baxter.
Consistent Premiership contenders in
recent years, Exeter have only reached
the Champions Cup quarter-finals once- losing to Wasps in 2016 – and their
bid to take a few chunks out of Europe’s
finest will be one of the intriguing
subplots in next season’s 25th campaign
of European pro club competition. The
opening round is on 15-17 November. n
N
The ones to beat
Saracens celebrate
this year’s triumphPICS
Getty Images & InphoFront Row
“AFTER I retired from pro rugby in 2017,
my family and I spent five months on a
cathartic pilgrimage before arriving back
in Australia, having been away for over
11 years. Then I completed my Masters
thesis before starting the afterlife.
“I’ve been working within the Graduate
School at the University of Queensland.
My role as a Higher Degree by Research
(PhD/MPhil) Team Leader involves
managing a team of liaison officers and
facilitating the PhD programme. I’m also
working as a performance consultant to
elite athletes as my field of study was
sports/organisational psychology and
my recent research has focused on
performance under pressure.
“Rugby is evolving year by year. Tactics
change dependent on the refereeing
imperatives and I fear for bloodlusty fans
as player safety justifiably claims more
airtime. I love seeing past team-mates
succeed and genuinely miss the ‘contact’
from the close-quarter forward tussles.”W H E R E
ARE THEY
NOW? TOM COURTAge 38 Position Prop Teams Queensland Reds, Ulster, London Irish, Ireland, Lions