“Nobody said it was easy…” So goes the line in Coldplay’s The Scientist and that is the likely feeling among the managements of Ulster, Munster and Leinster Rugby as they reflect on yesterday’s pool stage draw for next seasons European Champions’ Cup.
The draw took place in Neufchatel in Switzerland, headquarters of European Professional Rugby and as unfamiliar a venue for the gain line as Krasnoyarsk in Siberia where Connacht will have to make their way to for their Challenge Group group stage match.
Leinster have the toughest group, a result of their lower seeding through failure to make the top 4 in the Guinness PRO12. They will face familiar foes in Bath and Toulon who they met in the quarter and semi final of this year’s tournament.
The new management team will take heart from how close they came to winning against the eventual champions and will also be boosted by the return of Jonathon Sexton and Isa Nicewa. They will though be facing two familiar faces in unfamiliar kit as Jimmy Gopperth returns with his new club Wasps and Paul O’Connell who will be in red but of Toulon rather than Munster.
Munster themselves had what is perceived as the best of the Irish draws with Stade Francais, Leicester and troves coming to Thomond and playing host to Anthony Foley’s side.
Ulster face Saracens, Toulouse and Oyonnax in their group. They are 25/1 to win the tournament with bookmakers Paddy Power, while Munster and Leinster are slightly shorter odds at 16/1 but both still outside the top 8 in the betting.
The tournament will get underway only two weeks after the Rugby World Cup Final so the progress of Ireland, England and France in particular in England will have a marked impression on the ability of each of the sides to get ready for a flying start.
From a commercial point of view the knowledge of who will be coming will serve as a timely boost to interest in season ticket sales and sets the tome for the new season even as the dust still settles on the old.
The Rugby World Cup will of course dominate the rugby landscape in the early part of the season but it is hoped that this will whet the appetite among old and new fans and help to fill Thomond, Kingspan, the RDS and the Racecourse Grounds.
Sport never sleeps…
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Image credits: Inpho.ie
