HC Preview: Leinster's double dream
Leinster are bidding to become only the second club to win back-to-back Heineken Cup titles - but forwards coach Jono Gibbes insists they are looking no further ahead than Saturday’s quarterfinal showdown with Cardiff Blues at a packed Aviva Stadium.
Leicester Tigers did the double back in 2001 and 2002 but the feat has eluded all eight of the other winners with Leinster missing out in 2010 when they were beaten by Toulouse in the semifinals after being crowned champions of Europe for the first time in 2009.
And Gibbes, on the coaching staff for both of those Heineken Cup final triumphs, first with Michael Cheika and last season with Joe Schmidt, is adamant there has been and will be no talk of defending their title.
"Joe has built on the strong foundations laid by Michael and fine tuned a few things," said Gibbes, the former New Zealand back row. "His attention to detail and his rugby brain are phenomenal and he has worked hard with all the players to give them the chance to reach their full potential.
"But we did not sit down at the start of the season and talk about defending our title - we have only ever thought about going out and winning the Heineken Cup again. The Pool stages bring different challenges every year and you never know who you could end up with in the knock-out stages.
"And we know how tall an order it is to win the Heineken Cup two seasons in a row.
"It took an exceptional Leicester Tigers team to do that back in 2001 and 2002 and no-one has been able to do it since.
"What that proves is the standard of the tournament is rising every year. Just look at the fact that this season Leicester, with all their European pedigree, did not make it into the quarterfinals of either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup tournaments."
Leinster are 2-1 ahead in Heineken Cup meetings with the Blues - the Welsh club winning their semifinal meeting in Dublin back in the first year of the competition - with Leinster winning both Pool contests in the 2003/04 campaign.
"The Blues are a much better side than some of their Pro12 results suggest and we know how dangerous they can be when they have their full strength side out," said Gibbes.
"For one reason or another that seems to be a pretty rare occurrence for them.
"However, they will be coming with a number of players who were able to help Wales win against Ireland at the Aviva in the recent Six Nations and that knowledge and confidence is bound to give them a big lift.
"There are also a few players in their ranks who are about to leave the club and they will definitely be looking to go out on a high. They will be well prepared, highly motivated and very dangerous.
"They have some high quality players and we are under no illusions as to just how hard this quarterfinal is going to be.
"It is great having two tough games like those against the Ospreys and Munster to lead into the quarterfinal and what the defeat to the Ospreys has done for us is sharpen everyone up and remind them of the need to be more precise.
"That defeat introduced a dose of positive fear into the camp - we now know what can happen if we are not on top of our game - and when we play the Blues we will have to be 100 per cent accurate in everything we do."
Heineken Cup quarterfinals:
Saturday, April 7:
Edinburgh v Toulouse
(Murrayfield, Edinburgh - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greg Laidlaw (captain), 9 Mike Blair, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Dave Denton, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Stuart McInally, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Chris Leck, 22 Phil Godman, 23 Jim Thompson.
Toulouse: 15 Yannick Jauzion, 14 Timoci Matanavou, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yann David, 11 Yves Donguy, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6 Jean Bouilhou, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Daan Human, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Gregory Lamboley, 19 Jean-Marc Doussain, 21 Clement Poitrenaud, 22 Yannick Nyanga, 23 Gillian Galan.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Small (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Leinster v Cardiff Blues
(Aviva Stadium, Dublin - Kick-off: 17.45; 16.45 GMT)
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Leo Cullen (captain), 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Nathan White, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Xavier Rush (captain) 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Michael Paterson, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Marc Breeze, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 John Yapp, 18 Sam Hobbs, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Maama Molitika, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Gavin Evans.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gauzere (France), David Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
Sunday, April 8:
Munster v Ulster
(Thomond Park, Limerick - Kick-off: 13.45; 12.45 GMT)
Teams:
Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Denis Hurley, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 David Wallace, 21 Tomas O'Leary, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Johne Murphy.
Ulster: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Steven Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Willie Faloon, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Nevin Spence, 23 Adam D'Arcy.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Jerome Garces, Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Saracens v Clermont Auvergne
(Vicarage Road, Watford - Kick-off: 16.30; 15.30 GMT)
Teams:
Saracens 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Justin Melck, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 George Kruis, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Adam Powell, 23 James Short.
Clermont: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana , 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Elvis Vermeulen, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Julien Bonnaire, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jamie Cudmore, 3 Davit Zirakashvili, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Daniel Kotze, 19 Julien Pierre, 20 Julien Bardy, 21 Ludovic Radoslavjevic , 22 Brock James, 23 Jean-Marcel Buttin.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Neil Paterson (Scotland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)