HC Cup next season

[tigerburnie]

Not that it matters,but when the two Welsh teams names went in,why was the Sinners group,not included?

[TigerMuz]

Regurgitating what others have already said, but it could have been better and it could have been worse. Toulouse have not looked quite as dominant in recent seasons in the HC, Ospreys never fulfil their potential in Europe and Treviso must be regarded as two 5-pointers if we have aspirations of winning the cup. Undoubtedly a tough group, but look at Pool 5 (Leinster, Clermont, Scarlets & Exeter) and Pool 1 (Munster, Edinburgh, Saracens & Racing) and you can see that some big teams will leave the competition early. I am quietly confident so long as prioritise HC performance from Match 1 and not wait until the middle matches to buck up our ideas.

[Smurphswillgetya]

According to Dean Ryan on Sky Sports we have the 'group of death' yet again!

[Smurphswillgetya]

Treviso must be regarded as two 5-pointers

Comments like this are really annoying. Treviso at home have given a lot of teams a run for their money. It wont be easy at their place. The key will be how we perform away to Toulouse and Ospreys. As a minimum we must target some sort of win home and away to Ospreys and Trevsio.

[jamiewilkinson]

A decent couple of away days though for the fans.

And then there's Ospreys!

Looking at tier 3 I wasnt going to jumping for joy having to go to any of those home towns.

Lets get behind them, pool of death or not

[jgriffin]

Pools 3 & 6 are weak. Quins have a doddle. Chiefs really do have the Pool of Death! We are in the second worse pool IMHO.

[Cagey Tiger]

Did the Merc have some insider knowledge about the draw? From an article published before the draw, they managed to get two out of the three:

For every trip to dour Swansea to face the Ospreys, there is always the alternative that is the French Riviera for Perpignan, the possibility of the gorgeous Italian city of Treviso or the pub-laden Irish capital of Dublin.

Full article @ http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/L ... story.html

[MJ Chairman]

Toulouse aren't the force they were and will miss Servat next season. Obviously they have a huge budget and we will have to see who arrives close season.
Likewise Ospreys are losing Williams, Bowe and a couple of others so will be interesting.
Absolute minimum has to be 3 home wins, 1 away win, and 2 losing bonus points

[Chesterfield Chris]

Treviso must be regarded as two 5-pointers

Comments like this are really annoying. Treviso at home have given a lot of teams a run for their money. It wont be easy at their place. The key will be how we perform away to Toulouse and Ospreys. As a minimum we must target some sort of win home and away to Ospreys and Trevsio.

I agree Smurphs but getting/not getting 5 points away at Treviso might be the difference between qualifying and not

[Pete]

Let's hope we learn from last year's naive mistake when we failed to realise the importance of winning at home by more points than we lose away against the same team.

Both Clermont and Ulster knew that if they lost at Leicester by fewer points than we lost at their places, they would go through to the quarter finals instead of us.

[CitizenSmiff]

Another year of agonising over whether we'll escape the group phase, oh to switch places with Quins right now. It could be worse but not by much, ending up in a group with two league champions isn't ideal by anybody's standards. My prediction- Saracens, Toulouse, Quins, Ulster, Leinster, Toulon to win their pools, Tigers and Clermont best runners up.

[Smurphswillgetya]

Another year of agonising over whether we'll escape the group phase, oh to switch places with Quins right now. It could be worse but not by much, ending up in a group with two league champions isn't ideal by anybody's standards. My prediction- Saracens, Toulouse, Quins, Ulster, Leinster, Toulon to win their pools, Tigers and Clermont best runners up.

How could you Citizen? Boon and Crumblies will be upset with you. What no Saints the best English team in Europe!

[jgriffin]

Let's be honest, it was a rubbish draw.

We could have had several weaker teams - bit like Quins got, or Group 6!

[tigerburnie]

We now need all our players fit and in pre-season training from the off,with that luxury,we can win this pool.My opinion is we need to get through the best teams in Europe to win it,so why not start with home and aways against a couple of tough ones,rather than a one off game away from home.

[Smurphswillgetya]

If we go undefeated in the group stage then we could eliminate both Toulouse and Ospreys from the knockout stages.