Preview: EDF Energy Cup semifinals
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:19
Play-off time: Marcelo Loffreda and Richard Cockerill of Leicester
There is no doubt the spotlight will be shining that much brighter on the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, as four teams line up in Cardiff's premier rugby venue for the semifinals of the EDF Energy Cup.
The reason is not so much that it is the play-offs of a major European competition.
The focus will be on Welsh glamour club Ospreys, with is collection of Welsh Grand Slam-winning stars, to see if they can stop the English contingent.
With both semifinals taking place at the Millennium Stadium, the Ospreys versus Saracens encounter has been afforded showstopper status, with the curtain raiser being between English giants Leicester Tigers and London Wasps.
Wasps are the defending EDF Energy Cup champions, after they beat Tigers at the semifinal last year.
Ospreys lost to Wasps in the 2007 Final.
We look at the semifinals!
Saturday, 22 March:
Leicester Tigers v London Wasps
(Millennium Stadium, Cardiff - 14.30 GMT)
Marcelo Loffreda heads into his first semifinal as Leicester Tigers head coach, the first of back-to-back encounters with fellow Guinness Premiership title chasers London Wasps, with high hopes of silverware for the former Argentinian boss.
The Tigers also face Wasps in a Premiership encounter next Saturday, and this Saturday's semifinal showdown follow victory over Saracens (the other English side in the EDF Energy Cup play-offs) last Saturday.
Loffreda said his team is well placed to advance to the Final, with the win over Saracens having shown that Tigers have the credentials to go all the way.
"It was a good test of character and the players succeeded in that test," he said of last week's triumph over Saracens.
"It was important to get the win because Saracens are a good team who have been playing well. But it also gives us tempo and momentum to go into these difficult games against Wasps."
Loffreda made it clear that winning both the EDF and Premiership competitions remains a priority for his team.
"We try to have a good position in every competition we play in and we know that everybody will make an extraordinary effort to do that," said Loffreda, who has previously visited to the Millennium Stadium with Argentina for matches against Wales and also the British & Irish Lions.
The Tigers have won their last four semifinal matches in all competitions, since losing this equivalent semifinal to Wasps at Millennium Stadium in March 2006. That reversal was Leicester's only loss in four previous visits to the new home of Welsh rugby.
Wasps will be hoping for a touch of déjà vu, having won this trophy two seasons ago and beating Leicester in the semifinal at Millennium Stadium.
Wasps have won their last four encounters in all competitions, and have won 13 of their last 14 knockout ties in all competitions.
Leicester and Wasps have met in four previous semifinal encounters, with the Tigers only winning the first: 43-7 at Sudbury in the 1978/79 John Player Cup. Leicester won 20-17 when the two teams last met in the Guinness Premiership at Adams Park on September 30.
Tigers' path to the semifinals:
Lost to Bath 14-20 away
Beat Cardiff Blues 42-20 at home
Beat Sale Sharks 32-8 at home
Wasps' path to the semifinals:
Drew with Newport Gwent Dragons 3-all at home
Beat Gloucester 29-26 at home
Beat Newcastle Falcons 24-6 at home
Prediction: This is tough to call, with both teams' play-off credentials worth considering. However, we are backing Loffreda's superior experience of big matches to give his side the edge. The Tigers to win by less than 10 points.
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: TBC
London Wasps: TBC
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Jon Mason (Wales)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Ospreys v Saracens
(Millennium Stadium, Cardiff - 17.15 GMT)
The main question ahead of this game is whether the Ospreys' Welsh stars can shake off their Six Nations/Grand Slam hangover in time for the trip to the Millennium Stadium.
After the delirious highs of winning the Six Nations Grand Slam last week, the Welsh glamour club's star players must get their feet back on the ground to face the unpredictable English outfit.
Saracens travel to Cardiff with the chance of making their first cup Final in a decade and Director of Rugby Alan Gaffney has called on his players to grab the opportunity with both hands.
The North London club last made the final of a competition in 1998 and went on to lift the Tetley's Bitter Cup. Ten years on, the Ospreys stand in the way of Saracens making it to Twickenham once again.
"We set out our stall at the start of the year to try and compete in all three competitions and we want that to continue," stressed Gaffney.
"We're still battling on all three fronts without achieving anything yet. But we're now entering the business end of the season when trophies are won and we want to be in that mix – starting on Saturday.
"All teams want silverware and we are no different. It's been 10 years since this club placed a trophy in the cabinet and Saturday's match represents a great opportunity for this current group of Saracens players to make a cup final."
For Saracens, it's part one of a double-bill against the Ospreys as the two teams meet in the Heineken Cup quarterfinals at Vicarage Road on Sunday April 6.
"It's the start of what promises to be two very close battles between the two teams," added Gaffney.
"The Ospreys are a very good side and they will have been given a boost by Wales' Six Nations success. Much has been written about the 13 Ospreys players named in the starting line-up for Wales against England recently, but it's easy to forget those who didn't take part in that game, but who will be available to Lynn Jones on Saturday – Justin Marshall, Marty Holah and Filo Tiatia to name but a few. I think some clubs still underestimate just how good a side they are – but I can promise you we won't be one of them."
For the second successive year Ospreys ended up as the best qualifiers in the pool stage of the EDF Energy Cup, with 14 points from a possible 15 from their three games.
The Welshmen's only defeat in this competition since October 2005 was in last season's Final to Leicester Tigers at Twickenham. Ospreys won last season's all-Welsh semifinal of the EDF Energy Cup 27-10 against Cardiff Blues at Millennium Stadium, and have won four of the last five matches they have played against English opposition.
This game is Saracens first domestic cup semifinal since season 1997/98 where they beat Northampton 25-10 at the same stage at Franklin's Gardens before carrying off that season's Tetley's Bitter Cup at Twickenham with a 48-18 victory over Wasps in the Final.
Saracens have actually lost the last six matches they have played against Welsh opponents since a 22-18 victory at Pontypridd in the European Cup on 17 December 1999.
Ospreys' path to the semifinals:
Beat Worcester Warriors 47-16 away
Beat London Irish 51-16 at home
Beat Harlequins 19-8 away
Saracens' path to the semifinals:
Beat Leeds Carnegie 46-28 away
Beat Bristol 45-15 at home
Lost to Llanelli Scarlets 32-36 away
Prediction: We suspect the Ospreys will lift themselves long enough out of their celebration mode to sneak another win. The Ospreys by 10 points or less.
Teams:
Ospreys: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Johnny Vaughton, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Alun Wyn Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Lyndon Bateman, 19 Filo Tiatia, 20 Justin Marshall, 21 Daniel Biggar, 22 Andrew Bishop.
Saracens: 15 Brent Russell, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Francisco Leonelli, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Dan Scarbrough, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock (captain), 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Donald Barrell, 6 Kris Chesney, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Chris Jack, 3 Cencus Johnston, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Nick Lloyd.
Replacements: 16 Andy Kyriacou, 17 Cobus Visagie, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Paul Gustard, 20 Mosese Rauluni, 21 Kevin Sorrell,
22 Kameli Ratuvou.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Martin Fox (England), Peter Huckle (England)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)
