Heineken Cup N
orthampton, of course, still have the chance to get the most coveted ‘double’ in
rugby...to win the Premiership
Final and take the Heineken Cup to become champions of Europe.
On Sunday, April 10th, Saints face Ulster in a Heineken Cup
quarter-final and such is the spectator interest in the game that they’ve had to shift the venue from home turf at Franklin Gardens and travel half an hour down the M1 to the bigger Milton Keynes Dons football stadium. Northampton was the only team to go through the Pool stages of the competition unbeaten...but in the knock-out stages that means nothing. It’s all down to who wants it most on the day and the game will be truly intense. Saints have already sold 17,000 game tickets to their season
ticket holders so getting a seat in the Milton Keynes stadium at this stage is likely to be a long shot. Give it a try anyway, via the Saints website at
www.northamptonsaints.co.uk – you might just get lucky. Leicester Tigers are also in with the chance of a double but
they’ve got arguably a much tougher task in the quarter finals, having to take on the fighting Irish of Leinster away from home - in the new Aviva Stadium on the old Lansdowne Road Dublin site, in fact.
Here are the web addresses of the Premiership clubs that are all within easy reach of our four shires:
www.northamptonsaints.co.uk,
www.wasps.co.uk.
www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk,
www.leicestertigers.com,
www.saracens.com,
www.london-irish.com, www.
bathrugby.com,
www.quins.co.uk
silverware that any European professional club would be proud to see in the trophy cabinet. British interest lies in the clash between Wasps - a Four Shires
A
favourite - against Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop on the evening of Friday, April 8th. Wasps have already had a setback with the news that an ankle ligament injury will keep flying winger, Tom Varndell out of the game but don’t rule them out... they have a proud record in European competition and will be out to enhance it.
LV=Cup (Anglo Welsh) N
orthampton are the current holders of the Anglo Welsh Cup but are out of the competition this year thanks to only
getting a draw with Saracens in the first round and being beaten by London Irish in Round Three. So sadly there’s now no chance for Saints to win English rugby’s ‘triple crown’ of Premiership, European and Anglo Welsh tournaments. There’s an LV= Cup semi-final with much local interest on
March 13th, when another Four Shires favourite, Gloucester, face Newport Dragons at home - and it should be a great game. Gloucester went down 12-18 when they clashed with the Dragons in the opening round but on their current form and with the Kingsholme faithful roaring them on from ‘the Shed’ I’ll put my money on Gloucester going through to the final. Tickets will be tough to get for this one too...but again, it’s
worth a try. Go online via
www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk and hope for the best.
All in all, this is a great time of year to be a rugby fan in the Four Shires!
Amlin Challenge Cup
lso at the quarter-final stage is the Amlin Challenge Cup – one step down from the Heineken but still a piece of
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