POWERGEN CUP ROUND 6 Saturday 18th December 2004 2:15pm
Bath v NEC Harlequins
Bath, knockout cup kings of the 1980s and 1990s, welcome Harlequins to the Rec on Saturday, in a game which is likely to be one of the closest of the weekend.
After disappointing in Italy a fortnight ago, Bath easily reversed the result with Treviso in the Heineken Cup on Saturday at the Rec. They now move to second place in pool 2 with only an outside chance of progressing to the next stage of the competition. Things have been going better in the Zurich Premiership of late and they are unbeaten in the last four league games and are fourth in the division, level on points with Sale. They have won three of five home games this season. Bath have a tremendous record in the Powergen Cup. In the 13 years between 1983/84 and 1995/96 they appeared in 10 Cup Finals and won them all. Since 1996 though their record is not so good and in the last eight years they have only reached the quarter final stage twice, in the last two seasons, losing to Northampton and Leeds respectively.
Harlequins were heavily beaten by Neath-Swansea Ospreys at the Stoop on Saturday and their Heineken Cup is now effectively over for this season. They left the Zurich Premiership three weeks ago having won their third match on the trot and moved up to 10th place in the league. They have only managed one win on their travels to date and that was against a weakened Sale side. Harlequins have reached the final of the Powergen Cup five times, winning in 1988 and 1991 and losing the last three. Since winning the trophy in 1991, they have reached at least the quarter finals in 11 of the 13 years. Last year, like Bath, they lost at Headingley to Leeds.
Bath have beaten Harlequins on the last three occasions they have met in the cup. In the final of 1992 and semi finals of 1994 and 1995. This fixture tends to go with home advantage. Bath have beaten Harlequins eight times from the last nine matches at the Rec. They also beat them 18-10 at the Stoop in September and should win again on Saturday.
Prediction: Bath to win by 10 points
Leicester Tigers v Gloucester
The tie of the round is at Welford Road where the Tigers face old West Country adversaries Gloucester.
Leicester were involved in two monumental Heineken Cup matches against Wasps over the last fortnight and came out on top in both. They are now second in pool 1 behind Biarritz and will fancy their chances of not only winning the group, but going on to win the competition. They sit eight points clear at the top of the Zurich Premiership and are unbeaten in the league at Welford Road since Gloucester beat them on 3rd January. They have a good record in the Powergen Cup, winning five times, but only two of these have come in the last 23 years. They last won it in 1997 when they beat Sale and last season they lost at this stage when Sale beat them at Welford Road, only their fifth home defeat from 38 matches in this competition.
Gloucester also had two difficult Heineken Cup matches over the last two weeks and won both against Cardiff by small margins. They are still second in pool 6 behind Stade Francais but have a good chance of qualifying as either group leaders or best runners-up. They dropped to fifth place in the Zurich Premiership during the Autumn internationals when they were without their star players and badly hit by injuries, and lost two of the three matches played. They have won three from six away games this season and have already lost 28-13 to Leicester at Welford Road on 6th November. Gloucester were the first winners of the Powergen Cup in 1972 and have won it a further three times since. They beat Leicester to win it in 1978 and they also beat them in the semi final at Franklin’s Gardens, the last time they won it in 2003. Last season, they were beaten at this stage of the competition by London Irish at Kingsholm.
Leicester are in tremendous form and do have the better of Gloucester in this fixture. They have won 9 of the last 10 meetings at Welford Road and are likely to add to this tally on Saturday.
Prediction: Leicester to win by 12 points.
Northampton Saints v Bedford BluesNorthampton, fresh from their exploits in the Heineken Cup against the mighty Toulouse,
welcome East Midlands National One neighbours Bedford, along with a number of Northampton old boys, to Franklin’s Gardens for the first time in five years.
Northampton lost for the first time in this year’s Heineken Cup when they were beaten 25-12 at the Stade Ernest Wallon on Saturday. They now trail the French side by two points but still have a chance of going through to the quarter final stage of the competition. They have played their best rugby in the Heineken Cup this season as their Zurich Premiership campaign has been an absolute disaster. Unbelievably, at the half way stage, they are bottom of the league having lost their last nine games on the run. Northampton have reached the final of the Powergen Cup four times, including three visits to Twickenham in the last five years, but they have never won it. Last season they were defeated at Bath at this stage of the tournament.
Bedford beat Coventry at home on Saturday to move up to sixth position in National One. They are unbeaten at home this season but they are not great travellers and have only won twice from six away games. Their finest moment in the Powergen Cup came in 1975 when they beat Rosslyn Park to win the trophy. This is the first time they have reached round six since 1979 and they have got here courtesy of victories against Tabard, Halifax and Exeter.
Northampton are likely to continue to improve under their new management team. The last time these sides met in the Powergen Cup they fought out a close game at Franklin’s Gardens in 1998, which Northampton won 31-26. Bedford may have fancied their chances at Goldington Road but will find it very difficult away from home and this competition might provide Northampton with their best opportunity to play in the Heineken Cup next year.
Prediction: Northampton to win by 18 points.
Worcester Warriors v London IrishWorcester have the privilege of entering the Powergen Cup at the sixth round stage for the first time, and they have been rewarded with a home tie against London Irish.
Having fallen at the first hurdle in the European Challenge Cup, Worcester cruised through to the second round of the European Shield with a massive aggregate 115-17
victory over Italians Rovigo. Previously, in the Zurich Premiership, they had recorded their first away win at Northampton, followed by their biggest scalp to date with a home win against London Wasps. They are now next to bottom of the division and are proving difficult to beat, particularly when playing at Sixways. Worcester have little history in the Powergen Cup. They have only qualified 11 times and only reached the sixth round once before, in 2002/03 when they lost at Leicester. Last year they lost in the fifth round at Wakefield, their only defeat in the whole of the season.
London Irish had a more difficult task over the last fortnight and went down by a three point aggregate to French side Pau, to exit the European Challenge Cup at the second round stage. They are having a decent season in the Zurich Premiership and are currently in sixth place, having won two from five away from home. London Irish have been to two Powergen Cup finals, losing to Leicester in 1980 and beating Northampton in 2002. They have only once failed to reach at least the quarter finals in the last nine seasons. Last season they lost to eventual winners Newcastle in the quarters.
These two sides have only ever met twice before, a Powergen Cup 4th round tie in 2000 which London Irish won 12-8 at Sixways, and a league meeting at the Madejski Stadium on 7th November this year which Irish also took 25-15. Worcester are growing with confidence all the time and they have a great chance to reach the quarter finals for the first time.
Prediction: Worcester to win by 3 points
Bristol Shoguns v London WaspsOne of the most interesting ties of the round sees National One leaders Bristol host the Zurich Premiership and European Champions London Wasps at the Memorial Ground, where a crowd in excess of 6000 is expected.
Bristol maintained their position at the top of National One when they beat Otley at home on Sunday. They have now won 11 from 12 league games this season. They have reached the final of the Powergen Cup on four occasions, winning for the only time in 1983. Bristol have now reached the sixth round for four consecutive seasons and last year lost 46-8 at home to London Wasps. To reach round six this year they have beaten Bradford and Bingley, Nottingham and Waterloo.
London Wasps were involved in two epic Heineken Cup battles against Leicester over the last fortnight, but unfortunately, all they have to show for their endeavours is a single bonus point. Their hopes of retaining the trophy are now hanging on a thread. They have now not won for four weeks, and last time out in the Zurich Premiership were beaten at Worcester. They lie second in the league table, 8 points behind Leicester. Wasps have been to six Powergen Cup Finals at Twickenham and won in 1999 and 2000. Last season, they played a weakened team in their home quarter final against Pertemps Bees and suffered an embarrassing 28-24 defeat.
Wasps beat Bristol in a high scoring semi final at the Madejski Stadium in 2000, but they got revenge the following year knocking Wasps out in the fourth round. Bristol will be relishing this challenge to measure how far they have progressed over the last 12 months. Although they should run Wasps closer than last year, it is difficult to see them winning the game.
Prediction: London Wasps to win by 12 points
Sunday 19th December 2:30pm
Leeds Tykes v Pertemps BeesBoth last year’s beaten Powergen Cup semi finalists meet at Headingley on Sunday, but Pertemps Bees are going to have to improve on recent performances if they are going to cause an upset here.
Leeds scored 53 points in Spain on Sunday in the second leg of the first round European Shield game, to follow the 121-0 thrashing they handed out to Valladolid RAC at Headingley the previous week. This was the biggest win in their history beating the previous best of 100-0 against Morley in the Powergen Cup in October 2000. The 19 tries scored and the 13 conversions of Gordon Ross were also club records. The Tykes stand in ninth place in the Zurich Premiership and have only won two home games from six played. The four teams to beat them at Headingley though are placed second to fifth in the league. They have a very average record in the Powergen Cup and their performance in losing at Sale in last year’s semi final represents their best ever achievement in the competition.
Pertemps Bees are having a bad time in National One at the moment and have lost their last five league games. They have quickly dropped from joint top of the league, to their present position of eighth. They have won three away matches from seven played, at the homes of the bottom three clubs. They too have not got the most impressive of records in the Powergen Cup. Their best performance was last season when they upset the mighty Wasps at the Causeway Stadium in the quarter final before going down to eventual winners Newcastle at Kingston Park in the semi final. This season they have beaten Doncaster, Orrell and Coventry to reach the sixth round.
Leeds and Pertemps Bees have only ever met twice before and that was in league rugby in 2000/01 when Leeds completed the double. They should also win this tie comfortably on Sunday.
Prediction: Leeds to win by 20 points
Saracens v Newcastle FalconsThese two sides meet at Vicarage Road on Sunday, both having had success in Europe over the last fortnight.
Saracens, having lost in Italy by one point in the first leg of their European Challenge Cup tie, slaughtered Parma 52-6 in the return at Watford on Sunday. They now have a tough draw against Brive in the quarter final. They are eighth in the Zurich Premiership but need to be careful because a number of teams below them have recently closed the gap. They have won four from six at home, but the best they have managed away is a draw, at Newcastle. They have played in and won one Powergen Cup Final when they beat Wasps in 1998, scoring a record equalling final score of 48 points. They have reached at least the quarter final stage in seven of the last eight years and were beaten in the last eight by finalists Sale last year.
Newcastle were given a hard game, but completed a European double over Edinburgh on Saturday. They maintained their unbeaten Heineken Cup record this season and top pool 5, the only English team to be leading a group after four rounds in the competition. Newcastle are one place, and five points ahead of Saracens in the Zurich Premiership. After winning their opening two away games this season, they have gone down in the last four. Newcastle have been to six Powergen Cup Finals, three as Gosforth, and won four times. Interestingly, the 27 points they conceded to Harlequins when they won in 2001, and the 33 to Sale in 2004, are the two highest scores by losing sides in the final.
The last time these teams met in the Powergen Cup, Newcastle beat Saracens 15-0 at Kingston Park in the 1999 quarter final. Although a difficult call, Newcastle may just sneak through again on Sunday.
Prediction: Newcastle to win by 3 points
Sale Sharks v Plymouth AlbionSale Sharks, now accustomed to playing their home matches on Friday evenings, move to a Sunday 4pm kick off for this cup tie, as they welcome National One third placed side Plymouth Albion, along with an expected large following, to Edgeley Park for the first time.
Sale eased through to the quarter finals of the European Challenge Cup with a second victory against Narbonne last Friday. Prior to that they had really suffered during the Autumn international matches and their depleted side lost all three Zurich Premiership matches and they dropped from top of the league to third place, 12 points behind leaders Leicester. Sale have lost two games at home this season, to London Irish and Harlequins.
They have a very average record in the Powergen Cup and have never won it. They have been runners-up twice, in 1997 when they equalled the lowest ever score in a final, 3 points, when losing to Leicester, and last season, when they scored the highest ever number of points, 33, by a beaten finalist, when losing to Newcastle.
Plymouth continued their good run in National One when they won a high scoring game at London Welsh on Saturday. This kept them in third place in the league standings, behind Bristol and Exeter. They have won four of their six away games this season but they face a major step up in the class of the opposition here. Plymouth have a poor record in the Powergen Cup, This is only the second time they have reached the sixth round and their best ever performance was in 1987/88 when they got to the quarter final. To reach this stage they have beaten Rotherham, Moseley and Otley.
These two sides have never met before and Sale must be strong favourites to move through to the quarter finals.
Prediction: Sale to win by 18 points
