RUGBY AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP FINAL: Harlequins v Stade Francais:TWO COACHES familiar to Irish fans will have their eyes on a place in next season's Heineken Cup as much as the Amlin Challenge trophy tonight in Cardiff City Stadium.
Neither side have qualified through their domestic leagues for the premier European competition so Harlequins’ Conor O’Shea and former Leinster coach Michael Cheika will open the weekend of finals in the Welsh capital with the French team, who have twice lost in the Heineken Cup final, remarkably still seeking their first European trophy. Harlequins have won this cup twice before, in 2001 and 2004.
Stade have arrived at the final unbeaten so far and have brushed aside Montpelier and Clermont Auvergne in the quarter- and semi-finals. Having just finished in the French championship where they ended up 11th from 14 teams, they will be looking on this match as something of an end-of-season saver. Fourth from the bottom of the French league table is a dismal outing for such a large metropolitan club, which is going through some change under Cheika.
O’Shea and his team ended their season in the Premiership in seventh place but if they lose tonight they still have a chance of Heineken Cup qualification if Northampton beat Leinster in Saturday’s Heineken Cup final.
In that sense O’Shea is also looking for some salvation for the season. Connacht, of course, will be cheering Leinster as a Heineken final win for Joe Schmidt’s team would mean four Irish provinces in next season’s competition.
If both English teams win the trophies, then Stade will be the 24th team in next season’s Heineken Cup as the highest ranked club in the ERC European rankings.
Harlequins have found themselves in the final after falling away to Bayonne earlier this year before fighting back to control Pool One. They then beat former European Champions London Wasps and finally Munster to earn their place in the final.
The defeat of Munster at Thomond Park you can be sure will be used as a motivational tool in tonight’s game. It is interesting to see O’Shea has been able to field the same starting team which beat Munster in Limerick with the only change being Peter Browne coming on to the bench for Tomás Vallejos, who has broken his thumb.
The two Joes, Marler and Gray, return to the frontrow following Harlequins’ most recent loss to Saracens. Nick Evans has also recovered from the knock he shipped against Munster and takes his place in the starting blocks beside Danny Care.
The last time the teams met was three years ago in 2008, where they played each other three times. Stade won the first match in England 10-31 but Harlequins won the other two, in Paris, 10-15, and at The Stoop, 19-17. It was an Evans drop goal in that final game which controversially won Harlequins the match. Evans landed the kick well into the fifth minute of injury time to steal the win.
Stade have a few English players who are expected to make a mark. Flanker James Haskell and secondrow Tom Palmer start although Scotland’s Hugo Southwell has not recovered from an ankle injury and French hooker Dimitri Szarzewski remains sidelined with Achilles tendon problems.
Both teams have big players and proven match winners. The former All Black Evans remains pivotal to Harlequins hopes and if he fires the team will perform. The two backrows are also expected to have an epic clash with Stade’s Sergio Parisse, Haskell and Antoine Burban knocking heads with Nick Easter, Chris Robshaw and Maurie Fa’asavalu.
According to data supplied by Amlin, Haskell has been the French team’s outstanding defensive player in Europe this season having made 64 tackles, an incredible 22 of those coming against Clermont in the semi-final.
It is also the final game for Stade for international outhalf, Lionel Beauxis. He may have missed out on a World Cup spot with France but he too will be hugely influential as will the barnstorming centre Mathieu Bastareaud, who with some space and momentum is one of the most difficult players in world rugby to stop.
In the last two matches just a score separated the teams. That would seem to be how this final will unfold. A moment of magic from one player amidst what is certain to be an epic battle could be the difference and while Stade probably have more of those types of individuals, there are enough on both sides for a match-winning contribution and with it Heineken Cup competition next season.
PERMUTATIONS FOR NEXT YEAR:
HARLEQUINS:M Brown; G Camacho, G Lowe, J Turner-Hall, U Monye; N Evans, D Care; J Marler, J Gray, J Johnston, O Kohn, G Robson, M Faasavalu, C Robshaw (capt), N Easter. Replacements:M Cairns, C Jones, M Lambert, P Browne, W Skinner, D Moore, R Clegg, R Chisholm.
STADE FRANCAIS:M Rodriguez; J Arias, M Bastareaud, G Bousses, D Camara; L Beauxis, J Dupuy; R Roncero, R Bonfils, D Attoub, T Palmer, P Pape, J Haskell, A Burban, S Parisse (capt). Replacements:D Weber, R Gerber, A Joly, A Marchois, P Rabadan, J Leguizamon, N Oelschig, O Phillips.
Referee:George Clancy (Ireland)
Heineken Cup
1. If Leinster win tomorrowthen Connacht will qualify for the 2011/12 Heineken Cup. 2. If Northampton win then Harlequins (7th in the English Premiership) will qualify for the 2011/12 Heineken Cup
Amlin Challenge
1. If Harlequins win they will qualify for the 2011/12 Heineken Cup as Challenge Cup champions. 2. If Stade Francais Paris win they will qualify for the 2011/12 Heineken Cup as Challenge Cup champions
Two champions from the same country?
If Northampton Saints win the Heineken Cup and Harlequins win the Amlin Challenge Cup then Harlequins will qualify for the 2011/12 Heineken Cup as Amlin champions and Stade Francais Paris, the highest ranked club in the ERC European Rankings which has failed to qualify through their domestic tournament, will qualify for the 2011/12 Heineken Cup as the 24th team.
