After an interesting third round, with the door seeming to be shut on Northampton and Biarritz, what might have been the end of the line for the mighty Leinster no longer seems so definite. There are no shortage of big games - as ever at this stage of the competition - and for rugby lovers it will be a great long weekend.
Pools 1, 2 & 5 seem to have the pick of the games, with Saracens and Munster having a shoot out to win the group, the loser quite probably failing to qualify unless they go on a huge scoring spree.
In Pool 2 the Ospreys have the chance to get even with Toulouse, though Toulouse have the chance to finish the Welshmens ambitions this year, whilst Leicester need a win - and probably a bonus point win - in an increasingly tough Treviso, whom they only edged out by 8 at Welford Road - could the Tigers exit at the group stage for the second year running?
Pool 5 has the match of the weekend with Leinster going head to head with Clermont, Leinster have to win, and need to look at a big one to deny Clermont the group, otherwise a very tough draw might await them as might the possibility of outright elimination.
As ever its 2 for the right result, 1 for being accurate +/-5 or better, 1 for being the most accurate and a "grand slam" bonus point for getting all four results right
Leinster Vs Clermont Auvergne - Actual result: Clermont by 7
SARS: Leinster by 4 -1pt (closest poster)
DingBatMan: Leinster by 10 - 0
Sporty & Portly: Leinster by 5 - 0
Saracens Vs Munster - Actual result: Saracens by 6
SARS: Saracens by 7 - 4pts
DingBatMan: Munster by 5 - 0 pts
Sporty & Portly: Saracens by 3 - 3pts
Ospreys Vs Toulouse - Actual result: Ospreys by 9
SARS: Toulouse by 4 - 1pts (closest poster - not sure I actually deserve this!)
DingBatMan: Toulouse by 12 - 0pts
Sporty & Portly: Toulouse by 10 - 0pts
Treviso - Leicester - Actual result: Leicester by 1
SARS: Leicester by 4 - 4pts
DingBatMan: Leicester by 9 - 1pt
Sporty & Portly: Leicester by 15 - 1pt
No bonus points this time, though the winner is: SARS - yay!
Heineken Cup Predictions - Round 4
posted on 15/12/12
Leinster Vs Clermont Auvergne - Leinster by 10
Saracens Vs Munster - Munster by 5
Ospreys Vs Toulouse - Toulouse by 12
Treviso - Leicester - Leicester by 9
posted on 15/12/12
Hey SARS,
Fantastic summary mate, good job
Leinster Vs Clermont Auvergne - Leinster by 5
Saracens Vs Munster - Sarries by 3
Ospreys Vs Toulouse - Toulouse by 10
Treviso - Leicester - Leicester by 15
No doubt I'll be way off as usual!
posted on 17/12/12
Well folks, what did you make of that?
Some very interesting stuff going on and if anything things are less clear now than they were on Friday.
In Group 1 Saracens have the box seat, but neither Racing nor Munster are out of it. I think Sarries do have enough to win the next two and take the group - especially as they beat Racing in Brussels, which was more an away game than a home one - did you know they wanted to play Munster in New York!!! Anyway, that would leave Saracens on 23 and Munster on 20 probably
Group 2 could go either way, but I reckon Toulouse will win the group on 19 with Leicester second on 19 I think Toulouse will get the crucial losing bonus point at Welford Road
In Group 3 I reckon Quins will finish on 25 (losing bonus point at Biarritz in the last game) with no others in contention
In 4 - Ulster to win on 21 with Northampton second on 19
In 5 Clermont on 27, then Leinster on 19
In 6 Toulon on 24 and Montpellier on 21
Which would mean:
Clemont Vs Munster
Harlequins Vs Montpellier
Toulon Vs Toulouse
Saracens Vs Ulster
All totally theoretical but fun nonetheless - look at all the sides on 19!