Check out our take on all the weekend Heineken Cup matches starting with Saracens important match in Glasgow

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Heineken Cup Round 6

Pool 4

Glasgow Warriors v Saracens Friday 18^th January 8pm

Current Form

• A very interesting 6^th round tie at Firhill on Friday night with Glasgow requiring a bonus point victory to qualify for the quarter-final stage for the first time, whilst denying Saracens a bonus point.
• A Saracens win will also put them in the quarter-finals for the first time, with a home tie guaranteed.
• Glasgow lost at home to Newport Gwent Dragons last time out in the Magners League and they sit in 7^th place having won 4 from 10 with 1 draw. All their points have come at home and they have lost their 4 away games.
• They beat Viadana in Round 5 in the Heineken Cup last Saturday, their first away win in the competition in 27 matches.
• Saracens have lost their last 2 matches in the Guinness Premiership and they are now 4^th in the table having won 6 from 10. They have won 4 from 6 away from home.
• They had an excellent win last Saturday in the Heineken Cup beating Biarritz 45-16, their heaviest defeat ever in the competition.
• When these two teams met at Vicarage Road in Round 1, Saracens won a close encounter 33-31.

Current Information.

• Glasgow are looking to win 4 matches in a Heineken Cup season for the first time. They also won 3 in 1997/1998.
• Dan Parks has scored 63 points for Glasgow in this season’s competition, the 5^th leading scorer.
• John Barclay is the only Glasgow player to have scored 3 tries in the Heineken Cup this season.
• Sarries have scored 25 tries in this year’s Heineken Cup and they are the only team to have scored over 200 points in the first 5 matches.
• Richard Haughton and Kameli Ratuvou have both scored 4 tries for Saracens in this year’s competition.
• Glen Jackson is the leading points scorer in this year’s competition so far with 82 and he has extended his club record to 152.
• Kevin Sorrell has increased his Saracens Heineken Cup appearance record to 21 and Kris Chesney is second with 19.

European History

• Glasgow Warriors qualified for this season’s Heineken Cup as a result of finishing 7^th in last Year’s Magners League.
• This is the 9^th season they have played in the Heineken Cup, they have also played 3 times in the European Challenge Cup.
• The closest they have come to progressing from the Pool stage was in the first season in which they took part, 1997/1998, when they lost heavily to Leicester in a quarter-final play-off match.
• In 2 of their 3 European Challenge Cup campaigns, 2003/2004 and 2006/2007, they were beaten by Friday’s opponents, Saracens.
• Glasgow have an amazingly poor away record in the Heineken Cup. They won their first ever game at Ulster in 1997 and lost their subsequent 26 matches before winning at Viadana last Saturday. A gap of 10 years and 4 months!
• They have a better home record though and have won 14 from 26 played with 1 draw.
• Glasgow have entertained English opposition 7 times in the Heineken Cup winning 3 and losing 4.
• Tommy Hayes has scored the most points for Glasgow in the Heineken Cup with 388.
• He is now 8^th on the all time Heineken Cup leading points scorers list having been overtaken by Leicester’s Andy Goode last Saturday.
• Hayes has scored the most Heineken Cup tries for Glasgow with 10.
• With 41 appearances, Gordon Bulloch has played the most Heineken Cup matches for Glasgow.
• Glasgow were on the end of the highest score in the history of the competition at the time, now the 5^th highest, when they were beaten 90-19 by Leicester in the quarter-final play-off match in 1997/1998.
• No Glasgow player has ever been sent off in the Heineken Cup.

• Saracens are competing in the Heineken Cup for the 4^th time this season. They have played 6 times in the European Challenge Cup.
• Although Saracens have never reached the final of the European Challenge Cup they have come extremely close. They drew on aggregate with Bath in the semi-final of 2003 but lost on try count and last season they lost 31-30 in the semi-final, again to Bath.
• Saracens do hold a few European Challenge Cup records though. Their 151-0 defeat of Dinamo Bucuresti in 2003 is a competition record. They also hold the second and third highest scores having beaten both Bologna and Dinamo Bucuresti 113-3 in 2002.
• Jannie de Beer, of 5 drop goal fame, scored a Eurpean Challenge Cup record 13 conversions in the Bologna match.
• Glen Jackson was the leading points scorer in last year’s competition with 111.
• Saracens have never progressed from the Pool stages in any of their previous 3 Heineken Cups.
• They have played 12 matches at home and only lost twice, to Munster in 1999/00 and Cardiff in 2000/01. They are currently on a run of 7 home wins in succession.
• Saracens have never played a Scottish team in the Heineken Cup before this season..
• Glen Jackson has scored most points for Saracens in the Heineken Cip, Richard Hill most tries, with 6 and Kevin Sorrell most appearances.
• Hooker Andy Kyriacou has only made 5 appearances in the Heineken Cup, for 3 different teams. One appearance each for Sale and Munster and 3 for Saracens.
• No Saracens player has been sent off in a Heineken Cup match.