European rugby returns this weekend, and before the main course of the Champions Cup gets underway, we turn our attentions to the entrée – the Challenge Cup. As always, it’s a bit of a lottery which sides are going to bother with full strength teams, making predictions pretty difficult – but we’ve had a crack anyway.
Friday night sees Cardiff welcome Rovigo to the Arms Park, which should be a regulation win for the Welsh region. Speaking of the Welsh, their ailing London exiles continue their search for a first win, but out in Bordeaux – even against a side that will probably feature mostly second team players – they’re not likely to find it.
The pick of Saturday’s games comes from Kingston Park, where the Falcons welcome the Dragons and renew a surprisingly spicy rivalry that peaked when Rob Andrew was in charge and deliberately rubbed the Welshmen up the wrong way. Dean Richards is no less spiky a character, but the way his Falcons side have been playing, they won’t need a media distraction to get a win over a Dragons side who have struggled again this year.
Elsewhere, London Irish will look to build on their decent new year form and secure a win against Grenoble – which shouldn’t be too tough, given the French side’s obvious disdain for this tournament, and the fact that they are French, and away from home. Another side that has come into good form in the new year, Edinburgh, face a more tough acid test with an away trip to Lyon.
The weekend finishes with probably the game of the round, as the Exeter Chiefs make the trip over to Galway to take on Connacht. The Premiership side are in desperate need of a win after an alarming slump in form, as much for confidence to take back to the league as their actual chances of qualifying. The Irish province could also do with a win, so it should be a hard-fought affair.
Round 5 SuperBru Predictions:
CARDIFF BLUES to beat Rugby Rovigo by 40
BORDEAUX BEGLES to beat London Welsh by 20
STADE FRANCAIS to beat Bucharest Wolves by 15
LONDON IRISH to beat Grenoble by 12
GLOUCESTER RUGBY to beat US Oyonnax by 18
ZEBRE to beat Brive by 2
NEWCASTLE FALCONS to beat Newport Gwent Dragons by 14
BAYONNE to beat La Rochelle by 7
EDINBURGH to beat Lyon by 3
CONNACHT RUGBY to beat Exeter Chiefs by 5
How do you see the weekend going?
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images