Heineken Cup Quarter Final Preview

Leinster v. Leicester

First and foremost its great to see the Heineken Cup back on our screens this weekend! And to have Ulster in the mix this year is something to savor, well done to them on making it this far. Leinster are rightfully favorites to go all the way this year. Winners in 09, beaten Semi finalists last year, they are one of the top dogs in European Rugby. Some people are even suggesting that they are one of the best club sides in the World at the minute (based on form) but I wouldn't go that far. Their form in the Heineken this year has been second to none and explains why they have been given the tag of favorites. Leicester marshaled by Ben Youngs and Toby Flood at 9 and 10 respectively will have had a few nightmares since their recent trip to the Aviva where Ireland sent them packing. Leicester are not a bad side but they are not a great side either while on the other hand, Leinster are. Even if Leinster were travelling away for this game (which they are not) I'd still back them to win.

RT Prediction: Leinster

Northampton Saints v. Ulster

For anyone who has been watching Ulster in the past 6 weeks (not me!) you will have seen them win games from near impossible situations. This has been very good albeit if some of those situations were brought on by themselves. However, the saying goes that winning is indeed a habit. A habit which Ulster have lacked in recent years, especially in Europe. The introduction of Pienaar this year has been fantastic for them even though it took him a while to settle in. Northampton are sitting 4th in the Aviva Premiership. In their last outing ( a week ago) they toppled Sale Sharks with a massive score-line (53-24). I'm not predicting for one second that they will do that to Ulster but what I am questioning is, when was the last time Ulster scored that many points in a game? 

The Saints have serious firepower in Chris Ashton and Ben Foden. While in the pack they should also exert a dominance over their Ulster counterparts with Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley hard at work. If Ulster can stay within touching distance of Northampton they might have an outside chance of turning them over. I don't see it though

RT Prediction: Northampton

semi finals........ Leinster v. Toulouse & Northampton v. Perpignan

Supa Dupa Rugby Roundup with Francois “Mike Tyson in his Prime” Badenhorst.

IT’S SUPER RUGBY ROUND 7. That’s how excited I am about this roundup; I wrote the entire first sentence in capitals. When caps lock comes out then you know shits about to go down.

Over in NZ, The Cheetahs rocked up to Auckland to play the high flying Blues. Unsurprisingly they lost but surprisingly by a narrow margin. The final score was 29-22 in favour of the Blues which is quite impressive considering the Cheetahs are literally the world’s most injured rugby team. Cheetah’s scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius played out of his shoes again and it is only a matter of time before one of the bigger South African teams sign his ass up. The Blues were unconvincing it must be said, they shoulda bagged this game by 30 points easily. A bright spot for them, however, is Luke “Thunder Thighs” McAllister who is playing like a boss. The Bulls ran out 26-14 over the Hurricanes in a much needed victory for them. The ‘Canes have been majorly disappointing this year and their season is spiralling outta control faster than a heroin addicts life. The Bulls still aren’t their usual selves but showed their experience and grinded out the W. The Highlanders eked a tight contest against the Brumbies at Invercargill winning 26-20. The Brumbies join the Hurricanes in the flop stakes this season as well losing another game with their Wallaby laden team. The Highlander’s on the other hand are getting everything they deserve. They play their footie hard and fair and should grab a lot more wins this year, especially at home.

THE REBELS WON TWO IN A ROW! Caps lock is back, son. That’s when you know I’m serious. They beat the Force 26-25 and I gotta say I’m fairly happy for them. They played well again this week and seem to be starting to string some performances together. Rebels flanker Jarrod Saffy is sticking up his dirty Australian hand for a Wallaby jumper with another strong performance this game. He has made the most tackles in the whole of Super Rugby this year and has a workrate matched only by a Indonesian sweat shop worker. The Waratahs beat the Chiefs 23-16 in a major league bore-a-thon. The problem with the ‘Tahs is that they seem more worried about not losing rather than winning. That mentality is gonna bite them in the ass... oh wait it already has, they lost to the fucking Cheetahs.

What is there to say about the Stormer’s defence that hasn’t all ready been said? It is utterly impregnable (in fact here’s a picture of the Stormer’s defence in action

The Sharks were the latest team to find this out on Saturday as they lost 16-6. I literally cannot write enough about what it’s like to watch the Stormer’s tackle teams into submission. They’re like a pack of hyenas torturing a lion cub to death. It might not be as entertaining as watching the Crusader’s slice and dice their way through opponents but it is just as impressive. On a side note, WHAT A MATCH THE CRUSADERS V THE STORMERS’S IS GONNA BE. See caps lock again. I’m super serious. The Lions lost again. I know. Shocker. This time they actually threw it away against the Reds losing 30-25 after surging into an early lead. Quintessential Lions. The Reds centre Digby Ioane is playing like a champ these days. He loves beating defenders more than I like randomly shouting the word penis in awkward situations (Note: and that’s a whole lot).

That is that for round 7. C u guyz nxt week lol xXx. CAPS LOCK.