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Heineken Cup preview: Pool Six
October 09 2008
It's here again! The Heineken Cup begins on Friday, with the clubs now battle-hard and ready after six weeks of domestic battery. Here are a few pointers on the forthcoming action in Pool Six.
Teams:
Biarritz
Cardiff Blues
Gloucester
Calvisano
Forecast: Getting the early ascendancy will be essential in this testing Pool and Cardiff Blues will be delighted with how the competition's schedule has panned out for them. An opening weekend trip to Italy should see them return to Wales' capital with four or possibly five points before the visit of the Cherry and Whites in Round Two for what is the tie of the Pool. Should the Blues post another four on the ladder they could start dreaming of another knockout day in the sunshine - with hopefully a better end result than their Toulouse exit last year. One can't discount Biarritz however, whose fearsome home form should put them very much in the hunt.
Key men:
Biarritz: The Basques side will take welcome relief from European competition after a shaky start in the Top 14. However, their most recent win over Montpellier will stand them in good stead with Damien Traille key to their charge. The centre's intelligent running lines and kicking strength will be a major strength to the French outfit.
Cardiff Blues: In a very tough group, discounting Calvisano, there will be tight results throughout with goal-kicking vital to gaining victory and/or losing bonus points each week. That is why full-back Ben Blair will have to be on form if the Blues are to progress past the two teams in red.
Gloucester: Despite the place-kickers, there will be plenty of grit and grunt required to claim victories along the way. So forget your Olly Barkley and Ryan Lambs, it is Luke Narraway who will need to be at his running best at the base for the Cherry and Whites.
Calvisano: The group's underdogs will need to possess a solid set-piece if they are to trouble these giants with hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini's throwing key to their efforts. Mind you every other area will need error-free performances.
Squads:
Biarritz: Benoit August, Fabien Barcella, Philippe Bidabe, Ilikena Bolakora, Marcelo Bosch, Benoit Bourrust, Nicolas Brusque, Romain Cabannes, Manuel Carriza, Fabien Cibray, Eduard Coetzee, Valentin Courrent, David Couzinet, Jacques Cronje, César Damiani, Benoit, Denoyelle, Mohammed Dridi, Jean-Baptiste Gobelet, Trevor Hall, Imanol Harinordoquy, Rémy Hugues, Campbell Johnstone, Wenceslas Lauret, Magnus Lund, Andrea Masi, Mosese Moala, Takudzwa Ngwenya, Benjamin Noirot, Julien Peyrelongue, Antonin, Raffault, Jean-Baptiste Roidot, Peïo Som, Benjamin Thiery, Jérôme Thion, Damien Traille, Laurent Tranier, Samiu Vahafolau, Dimitri Yachvili.
Cardiff Blues: Darren Allinson, Ben Blair, Aled Brew, Chris Czekaj, Bradley Davies, Faao Filise, David Flanagan, Rhys Gill, Lee Halfpenny, Dafydd Hewitt, Tom James, Gethin Jenkins, Ross Johnson, Deiniol Jones, Mark Lewis, Maama Molitika, Scott Morgan, Richard Mustoe, Andy Powell, Gary Powell, Richie Rees, Jamie Roberts, Scott Roberts, Jamie Robinson, Nicky Robinson, Xavier Rush, Tom Shanklin, Robin Sowden-Taylor, Jason Spice, Ceri Sweeney, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Thomas, Paul Tito, Ben White, Gareth Williams, Martyn Williams, Rhys Williams, John Yapp.
Gloucester: Jack Adams, Anthony Allen, Olivier Azam, Iain Balshaw, Olly Barkley, Marco Bortolami, Alex Brown, Peter Buxton, Gareth Cooper, Gareth Delve, Alasdair Dickinson, Adrian Duncan, Adam Eustace, Jack Forster, Mark Foster, Andy Hazell, Will James, Ryan Lamb, Rory Lawson, Scott Lawson, Dave Lewis, Olly Morgan, Luke Narraway, Carlos Nieto, Akapusi Qera, Apo Satala, Charlie Sharples, James Simpson-Daniel, Alasdair Strokosch, Yann Thomas, Mike Tindall, Andy Titterrell, Lesley Vainikolo, Willie Walker, Matthew J Watkins, Dan Williams, Nick Wood, Dave Young.
Calvisano: Luca Beccaris, Valério Bernabo, Gabriel Bocca, Alessandro Borsi, Paolo Buso, Nicola Cattina, Lorenzo Cittadini, Filippo Cristiano, Tommaso D'Apice, David Dal Maso, Sebastiano Dusi, Ben Evans, Daniele Forcucci, Gerard John Fraser, Matteo Galluppi, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Gonzalo Gonzalo, Paul Griffen, Mattia Locatelli, Winston Mafi, Alistair McKenzie, Luke McLean, Gabriele Morelli, Alejandro Moreno, Ludovico Nitoglia, Pino Patelli, Aaron Persico, Andrea Pratichetti, Matteo Pratichetti, Justin Purll, Nanni Raineri, Peter Sidoli, Ben William Smith, Marko Stanojevic, Cameron Treloar, Hoani Tui, Maurizio Zaffiri, Alessandro Zanni.