Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup Finales and Super 14 Semis

Heineken Cup



Saturday , May 22

Biarritz vs Toulouse 17:00

More Heineken Cup fixtures


Super 14


Saturday , May 22

Bulls vs Crusaders 17:05

Stormers vs Waratahs 19:10

Amlin Challenge Cup

Sunday

Cardiff Blues vs Toulon

Super 14

The average Super 14 match can be pretty average, there are lots of mismatches and you never know what you are going to get. Now the men have been sorted out from the boys, so to speak, what we are left with is real quality. First up are the Bulls and Crusaders, the old masters versus the new kings of Super 14. The Bulls are an old fashioned team in lots of ways, this is no cool team, no fancy hairdos a la Nonu, no precisely cut beards, half of them probably still live with their parents. What they have going for them is a certain brutal efficiency, they are bigger and stronger than everyone else, and follow a simple game plan – simple so they can all understand it. The Crusaders meanwhile are also the least cool of the New Zealand sides, it’s all about the team with them, and while they have their stars it’s an ego free zone. They have had a bit of an up and down season, and while they are on the up at the moment you don’t know exactly what team is going to show up. If anyone can beat the Bulls they can, but with their big stars not really firing, and the long trip back to SA, even at Orlando Stadium in Soweto I can’t see them beating the Bulls.

Then it’s over to Cape Town for the match between the Stormers and the Waratahs. Both teams bought wisely in the off season, Jacque Fourie and Bryan Habana for the Stormers, and Drew Mitchell and Berrick Barnes for the Waratahs. The Stormers seem to be finally realizing the potential they’ve always had, but you’re going to have to excuse them a bit of nerves as they are in pretty unfamiliar territory getting into the semis. The Waratahs are a really solid team and their backs in particular are really starting to gel. The Stormers have the best defense in the tournament and their attack is beginning to fire. So who’s it going to be? I’m going with Stormers at home in front of a sell out crowd.

Heineken Cup

Paris in the spring… but there’ll be no love lost between Toulouse and Biarritz as this great tournament reaches its finale. Toulouse on paper are the stronger team , but Biarritz are also a star studded team. When are they going to sort out a Super 14/Heineken Cup winners match so people in the South can understand how good some of these Northern teams are? The French tradition is that home wins are non negotiable, no matter who you play, while they are decidedly more temperamental playing away. This really leaves the match wide open, and with two superb attacking teams it promises to be a fitting end to tournament. Toulouse will probably shade it in the end.

Amlin Challenge Cup

This rounds of the weekend nicely on Sunday in Marseilles as teh Cardiff Blues take on Toulon. It could nearly be the match of the weekend, both teams are red hot in attack, and although the trophy's not as prestigious as the Heineken Cup, that in some ways means the teams have tyhe freedom to really go for it. Neither of these sides is going to die wondering, and I'm giving it to Toulon as their stars are bigger and it's in France.