LONDON, ENGLAND – Tonight, Round 2 of the Heineken Cup will kick off with a mouth-watering fixture, as Saracens face Toulouse on the hallowed turf at Wembley. The match will kick-off at 2:45 Eastern time, so if you’re looking to kill some time at work on a Friday afternoon (and who isn’t) keep an eye on the developments from London. Leicester and Treviso are the other two sides in action, beginning their contest at 3:00, marking the second consecutive week the Tigers have had a Friday night match.
This marks the second week of “expert” predictions from our panel. Though the first round of fixtures seemingly contained a number of lopsided matches, Edinburgh shocked the world with a decisive victory over Munster. It proved to be the only pick that our entire panel got wrong. To refresh your memory and bring you up to speed, the Six Pack has been revised. The Panel is comprised of West Ghana’s Rugby Rain Man Junoir Blaber, England’s knight of the realm Jamie Loyd, The English East Midlands Machiavellian Rugger Nick Hall, the infamous Ireland National, Declan Yeats, the Irish Born-Castres residing, lean(ish), mean(ish) writing machine, James Harrington, and contrived Kiwi Co-Host, Johnathan Wicklow Barberie.
Each week, our panel will be providing their justification for their “Pick of the Week,” a competitive match (ie, one not containing Zebre) that will be a mark of pride or shame as the year goes on. So far, in the “pride” column, Junoir, James, and JWB nailed their picks. However, Nick, Yeats, and Jamie have cause to be ashamed, missing on their “sure things.”
And now for the reasoning behind the madness; Round 2 Heineken Cup Picks from the RWU Six Pack Panel:
JWB: Italian rugby players have too many beautiful women, too many spectacular vacation getaways within their country and the best wines and foods on the planet. They can’t possibly be expected to focus on rugby. That is clearly not the case – in any of these instances – in Leicester. The boys their can focus solely on the rugby! It will be a long day for Treviso.
Jamie: Leicester by 20; the Italians can expect a backlash from the wounded Tigers. Returning Eagles winger Blaine Scully should have plenty of opportunities to showcase his finishing skills.
James: Montpellier at home? With a pack the size of France? No contest. I’ve been kind to say Ulster will keep the deficit down to 12.
Junoir: Leicester at home and in need of a BP against Treviso = Lambs to the Slaughter. BANK on it.
Nick: Despite Leinster’s away struggles so far this year, their home form remains solid, and I’ll always take an excuse to root against the French.
Yeats: The Mighty Men of Munster at home in fortress Thormond will be a sight to behold. Would feel sorry for Gloucester if they weren’t English. The lads will be singing “the fields of Athenry” loud and proud!
That’s it for now… feel free to comment below, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @: RugbyWrapUp, Junoir Blaber, DJ Eberle, Nick Hall, James Harrington, Cody Kuxmann and Declan Yeats, respectively.
