Cheika expects tough road to Paris
June 09 2009
Leinster coach Michael Cheika admits the road to another Heineken Cup success will be filled with obstacles when his team bid to become only the second in history to defend their title.
The reigning champions were pitched in Pool Six with London Irish, the Scarlets and Brive when the draw for the group stages of next season's tournament was made at Stade de France, the venue for the 2009/10 final.
The Irish side's early opponents will be tricky enough next season but Leinster will also be fighting the history books, with only one team - Leicester - having won back-to-back European crowns.
"As champions you are always more of a target, you are there to be shot at, and history has proven that defending the Heineken Cup is a massive task," said Cheika.
"Leicester managed it once but it has proved too much for all the other Heineken Cup winners.
"We know going to Brive will be extremely challenging. London Irish did exceptionally well in the Guinness Premiership last season and we know the Scarlets well, that week in week out they are capable of getting the right results.
"I can't wait for us to start defending the title."
Brive, the winners of the competition in 1997, are back in the big time after a period in the wilderness and they will have in their ranks for next term England centres Jamie Noon and Riki Flutey, the latter a former London Irish player.
Brive Chief Executive Simon Gillham, who was present at the draw, told PA Sport: "I got texts from Riki and Jamie when we qualified, saying they were excited to be playing in the Heineken Cup.
"And what greater thing is there than to be playing the European champions."
There are no easy-looking Pools next season, and one in particular stands out.
Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Sale and Harlequins were pitted against each other in Pool Five in what is arguably the 'Group of Death'.
Sale coach Kingsley Jones knows his team are up against it given that Toulouse are three-time champions, Cardiff lost in a penalty shoot-out to Leicester in last year's semi-finals while Harlequins beat Stade Francais home and away last campaign before pushing Leinster to the wire in the quarter-finals.
"It's a very difficult looking group on paper, and I can't see any side winning all their games," said Jones.
Elsewhere, Magners League champions Munster will clash with French champions Perpignan in Pool One, which also features a return to Heineken Cup rugby for Northampton.
Having spent a year out of the Premiership, the Saints have not been in the competition for the past two seasons but they, like Brive, are former champions looking to prove themselves again at the highest level.
"This happens to be our 10th anniversary of winning the Heineken Cup, back in 2000," said Northampton Chief Executive Allan Robson.
"Playing Munster is a bit more exciting compared to some of the teams we played in the European Challenge Cup last season!"
Last year's beaten finalists Leicester have again been drawn to face the Ospreys, with Top 14 runners-up Clermont-Auvergne and Italian side Viadana completing Pool Three.
Pool Four comprises Bath, Stade Francais, Ulster and Edinburgh. And Biarritz-bound full-back Iain Balshaw will lock horns with his former employees at Gloucester plus the Dragons and Glasgow in Pool Two.
Organisers today revealed more than 30,000 tickets had already been sold for the final, which will take place next May.
Around 18,000 tickets have been sold in France, with more than 12,000 purchased in the UK and Ireland.
The showpiece has not been held in France since 2001, when Leicester defeated Stade Francais in a thrilling match at the Parc des Princes.
"It's true to say the intervening period between 2001 and now was part of the building process of the tournament and we were prioritising the commercial reality," said Derek McGrath, the chief executive of European Rugby Cup.
"At the time when sterling was strong, we did go to Wales and Twickenham to benefit from that.
"We were keen to come back to France at the right time. And this year, France ticked the boxes in terms of destination, stadium, and where the tournament is at."