Heineken Cup Draw and Discussion. - Opening round fixtures announced.

by Artful_Dodger Wed 05 Jun 2013, 14:43

Pool 1 - Leinster, Northampton Saints, Ospreys, Castres Olympique

Pool 2 - Toulon, Cardiff Blues, Glasgow Warriors, Exeter Chiefs

Pool 3 - Toulouse, Saracens, Connacht, Zebre

Pool 4 - Clermont Auvergne, Harlequins, Scarlets, Racing Metro 92

Pool 5 - Ulster, Leicester Tigers, Montpellier, Benetton Treviso

Pool 6 - Munster, Perpignan, Edinburgh, Gloucester

First round:- Commencing 11/10/2013

Pool 1:
Castres v Northampton Saints
Ospreys v Leinster

Pool 2:
Exeter Chiefs v Cardiff Blues
Toulon v Glasgow Warriors

Pool 3:
Connacht v Saracens
Toulouse v Zebre

Pool 4:
Quins v Scarlets
Racing Métro v ASM Clermont Auvergne

Pool 5:
Ulster v Leicester Tigers
Treviso v Montpellier

Pool 6:
Edinburgh v Munster
Gloucester v Perpignan

http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/news/21719.php#.Ue0Qm43T_Tp

by asoreleftshoulder Wed 05 Jun 2013, 14:51

Made the same thread but yours is prettier with all the info so deleted it.

Looking forward to seeing this,hope Leinster avoid Leicester,Glasgow,the Ospreys and Racing Metro.

by Artful_Dodger Wed 05 Jun 2013, 14:52

asoreleftshoulder wrote:Made the same thread but yours is prettier with all the info so deleted it.

Looking forward to seeing this,hope Leinster avoid Leicester,Glasgow,the Ospreys and Racing Metro.

by Artful_Dodger Wed 05 Jun 2013, 14:53

Thread will be continuously updated as the draw is made.

by **Notch** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:00

Shane Horgan isn't very good at this.

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:02

Cardiff Blues -

Munster, Montpellier and Gloucester please

by Artful_Dodger Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:03

Notch wrote:Shane Horgan isn't very good at this.

Not very composed is he.

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:06

by **George Carlin** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:06

Good work, Dodger.

Watching the live feed: http://live.ercrugby.com/eng/player2.php

Apparently to be qualified to make the draw you have to have no hair whatsoever.

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:09

Great we get Toulon again furious

by asoreleftshoulder Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:10

Ulster getting a tough group so far.

by ChequeredJersey Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:11

Hard group so far for us, perfect thumbsup

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:11

Tough break for the Scarlets

Clermont again!

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:12

Leinster, Northampton and Ospreys

Ouch

by asoreleftshoulder Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:12

Bugger we get the Ospreys

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:12

Welsh regions having a mare so far

by GLove39 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:13

Hello Cardiff. Warriors are coming for you!

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:13

Damn, I would have rathered Edinburgh than Glasgow!

It's going to be worse than last year

by whocares Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:13

Musnter cant really complain!

by Coleman Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:14

Jesus, Pool 1 is stacked.

by **George Carlin** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:14

See you in Pool 2 Bluesman.

Bring it.

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:14

Now we get Gloucester or Exeter, neither are push overs

Why do we never get Zebre/Aironi

We get Exeter, the team that keeps running Leinster close!

4th in the pool it is...

by Coleman Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:15

Also, as a Blues fan, i am happy with our pool. Not suggesting we can win it. But we can get a good second place i recon.

by **profitius** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:15

Nice group for Munster!

Group 1 (Leinster, Northampton, Ospreys and Castres) is the group of death

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:15

Toulouse and Saracens have to like their odds of a 1/4

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:16

Pool 4 is pretty nasty too

by **Notch** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:17

Tough group for Ulster. Treviso have always caused us problems, Montpellier and Tigers quite tough.

by ChequeredJersey Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:17

That's about as hard a group as I can envision, should be great fun. Might try and go to an away game if I have the weekend free

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:17

Pool 6 is the easiest by far

by Breadvan Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:17

wales606 wrote:Leinster, Northampton and Ospreys

Ouch

Yet another group o death! Hey ho.... zen

by ChequeredJersey Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:18

Sarries literally stole our group from last year

by Artful_Dodger Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:18

Notch wrote:Tough group for Ulster. Treviso have always caused us problems, Montpellier and Tigers quite tough.

Could have been better could have been worse. I was really hoping we got Zebre as the draw was being made, when we didn't I had a horrible feeling we were going to get Racing, so Treviso is a relief in that sense. Still a tough group.

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:18

Sarries, Toulouse and Munster will be pretty happy at the moment

by Artful_Dodger Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:19

wales606 wrote:Sarries, Toulouse and Munster will be pretty happy at the moment

I think Toulon will be the most pleased of the tier 1 teams to be honest.

by Thomond Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:19

Questions will be asked if we don't get to the minimum of thw Quarter finals next year.

by wales606 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:21

Artful_Dodger wrote:
wales606 wrote:Sarries, Toulouse and Munster will be pretty happy at the moment

I think Toulon will be the most pleased of the tier 1 teams to be honest.

Yep

Worst possible result for the Blues Sad

by GLove39 Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:21

If Edinburgh actually turn up this time around then pool 6 could be quite tasty.

by ChequeredJersey Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:22

Should be some beautiful, beautiful rugby in our group (4)

by Pete C (Kiwireddevil) Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:22

Thomond wrote:Questions will be asked if we don't get to the minimum of thw Quarter finals next year.

To be fair T, you should be aiming for a home QF as a minimum.

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:22

Sun in Toulon, Whisky

in Glesgae, and points in Cardiff Wink

by HongKongCherry Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:23

Munster, Perpignan and Edinburgh for Glaws. That'll be a tough group to get out of!

But once again Glaws miss Treviso; I've been dying for an Italian away game for years

by Effervescing Elephant Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:25

Very happy with that draw. Fancy our chances of home wins against Blues and Warriors. Wouldn't bet any money on away wins though. Think Toulon have it sewn up but the rest is very evenly macthed and should offer up some good matches!
Chief

by **LondonTiger** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:26

Artful_Dodger wrote:
Notch wrote:Tough group for Ulster. Treviso have always caused us problems, Montpellier and Tigers quite tough.

Could have been better could have been worse. I was really hoping we got Zebre as the draw was being made, when we didn't I had a horrible feeling we were going to get Racing, so Treviso is a relief in that sense. Still a tough group.

Yeah, right at the end there I thought Treviso were in Pool 2 and we would have Racing. For me disappointed with the draw as I fancied playing someone different and we have had Treviso a lot recently and you guys in 11/12. Ulster and Leicester will have been disappointed with their away performances against each other - and will want to improve.

by **LondonTiger** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:27

HongKongCherry wrote:Munster, Perpignan and Edinburgh for Glaws. That'll be a tough group to get out of!

But once again Glaws miss Treviso; I've been dying for an Italian away game for years

As you were both tier 4 sides, could not happen however.

by ChequeredJersey Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:28

What's the city of Clermont like?

by HongKongCherry Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:29

Good point LT!

by HongKongCherry Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:30

And no need to rub in the tier 4 part, sitting high up in your tier 2 status! Wink

by ScarletSpiderman Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:36

I am starting to think the end of the HEC may be a good thing, no more seeing the Scarlets getting pumped by all the other teams in the pool!

I think I would really love to be a Sarries or Toulouse fan right now.

by whocares Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:39

difficult to predict where the 2nd best runner up will come from (assuming the 1st one will be either Toulouse or Saracens). shows how tougher this competition is becoming.

by **George Carlin** Wed 05 Jun 2013, 15:45

whocares wrote:difficult to predict where the 2nd best runner up will come from (assuming the 1st one will be either Toulouse or Saracens). shows how tougher this competition is becoming.

Yes - one of the two runners up will likely come from Pool 3 - Sarries or Toulouse will take advantage of games against Connacht and Zebre away from home, I would think. Then again, Connacht have shown that they are HC animals and have already made good signings this year. So who the feic knows?

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