The Heineken cup is well and truly under way. This year the title holders, Leinster, will be battling for their fourth consecutive win. If they succeed it will be the most consecutive wins any club has had in the tournament.
Leinster have been put in a good position to get their record breaking win. The only real challenge in their group is Clermont Auvergne, semi-finalists last year.
England have six teams in the competition, the surprise entry being Exeter. It was the Chief’s first season in the Premiership and they surprised all of Europe by gaining the top seven position necessary to enter the Heineken Cup. For Exeter just entering the tournament is a victory in itself.
On a more competitive note current Premiership champions, Harlequins, look in good form for the Cup. They have already defeated Biarritz with a sterling difference of 27 points. There is no real challenge for them to get into the knock out stages so a real goal for the Mighty Quins will be to take the Cup itself.
Harlequins’ biggest rivals in the Premiership, Saracens, could be making more problems for them on the European stage. They have already destroyed Edinburgh rugby by an embarrassing 45 points.
There is enough bad blood between Leinster and Harlequins without records coming into it. In their 2009 quarter-final match a scandal emerged that shocked all of English rugby. ‘Quins winger Tom Williams was caught on television using fake blood capsules so as to provide an extra substitute for his team. ‘Quins went on to loose that match but there has been an animosity between the two teams ever since.
Normally the tournament takes the route of a few English teams making the knock out stages, hopefully getting to the semi-finals. This is where the dream usually ends. Thankfully this year looks far more optimistic with our arguably weakest team, Exeter, only loosing by three points to defending champions of Leinster.
Toulouse currently hold the record for most Heineken Cup wins but even this record is injeopardy because of the Irish side. The French side is traditionally one of the powerhouses of the tournament and this year looks to be no different. All in all this year looks to be one of the closest and most exciting Heineken Cups in recent years. More than ever before it looks really possible that we could have an English team in the finals and even bring home the silverware.