Another competition... another disappointment looms for English rugby in Heineken Cup

French and Irish clubs, once again, look cup favourites

Having endured a miserable time at the recent Rugby World Cup 2011, there seems little respite for English rugby supporters.

Defending champions Leinster are 9/2 to retain Heineken Cup after win in Cardiff, May 2011

That poor showing in New Zealand looks set to be repeated, not by the national side but by the various English teams in this year’s Heineken Cup.

Without a win since 2007, when Wasps last lifted the most prestigious prize in club rugby, this year’s competing sides (Northampton, London Irish, Bath, Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Gloucester) face no easy task in bringing some much-needed silverware back home.

A cup of cheer for France & Ireland

The first trophy was won by the French side, Toulouse, in 1996 when they defeated Cardiff.

That has started something of a French domination of the competition, with France producing a total of five winners and nine runners-up over the years.

Numerically better than England which has provided six winners (Leicester Tigers and London Wasps with two wins apiece plus one-off victories for Bath and Northampton Saints). Their have also been 4 other finalists from the Premiership.

Of the rest Ireland can boast five winners (two runners-up) and the Welsh just a solitary finalist Cardiff in that inaugural final at the Arms Park 15 years ago.

As yet, no team from Scotland has ever made the final let alone Italy!!

With four wins in the last six years the current form certainly suggests a strong showing from the Irish sides Leinster (9/2) do in fact head the betting with Munster (11/1) attracting some early support.

However, we have seen at least one French side in six of the last 10 finals with 2003, 2005 and 2010 being all-French affairs.

And with many high-profile players now plying their trade across the Channel, the threat of another strong showing, especially from four-time winners Toulouse (5/1), is great.

The form of French rugby sides is never that easy to gauge (just look at the national side’s patchy form in the World Cup before their heroic efforts against New Zealand in the final) but their threat will be great.

And as for the Italians, Scottish and Welsh sides, the betting is hardly encouraging (Ospreys at 25/1 are the leading club).

What about the English sides

That swings the spotlight back onto the English representatives can they manage to mount a serious challenge? More so than their national counterparts we trust!

With the pressure mounting on the likes of Martin Johnson, Rob Andrew and the whole English RFU set-up it would ceratinly make a change.

The betting suggests that Leicester (7/1) and Northampton (10/1) will be there or thereabouts but the stats don’t recommend their claims too highly even despite Saints making last season’s final at the Millennium Stadium.

The 2012 Heineken Cup Final will be staged at Twickenham

The action starts in early November with 24 teams split into six pools containing four teams. Each pool winner goes through to the quarter-finals as do the two pool runners-up with the best record.

There’s a format for who plays who but the semi-finals are drawn at random, and played at neutral grounds, before the final at Twickenham is staged on May 20th.

A long slog it promises to be over the Winter months interrupted, as usual, by the Six Nations but by the end we’ll know who the best club side is in European rugby.

Will they be English? Probably not.

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