When Saracens beat Clermont Auvergne 46-6 in the semi-final of last year’s Heineken Cup, the rugby world sat up and took notice. Clermont are swaggering French big dogs, beaten finalists the year before and expected to go the same, or one better, this time around. That Saracens trashed them so comprehensively was a real shock.
One of the supposed beauties of the new, streamlined, European Rugby Champions Cup is that it will provide more heavyweight clashes, and the drawing of these two respective giants in the same pool certainly lends weight to that claim. That they faced off in last year’s semi-final only makes it even more enticing an encounter.
Kelly Brown played in that fateful game last season, not making the headlines in the way that some of his colleagues did, but going about his business in a quiet, but ruthlessly efficient, manner. It is largely his MO.
The Scottish flanker, however, does not think that last year’s result will make a great deal of difference when the two sides take to the field at Allianz Park tomorrow.
“I don’t think [it gives us] a psychological edge – their side has changed a little bit, they’ve got a new coach, etc,” he says. “And it’s a different game, it’s a different season. It’s kind of difficult to look too much into what’s gone before, it’s a new day and a new season and they’ve got a slightly new regime.
“What is does give us is a bit of confidence, that we can beat them because we’ve done it in the past. But, what’s happened in the past doesn’t really count for that much, so it’s about making sure that we put in the necessary preparation.”
Their preparation certainly needs to have been good – the necessity to hit the ground running in this new competition is unparalleled. Lose at home to Clermont this weekend, and they face needing to win at either, or possibly both, of Thomond Park and the Marcel Michelin – two of the toughest places to visit in Europe.
“It’s exciting – we’ve got three of last season’s four semi-finalists in our pool,” points out Brown. “Yes, it’s going to be tough but you want to play against the best sides and you want to challenge yourself against the best players in the most difficult environments – and I will certainly be doing that!”
If Sale are being written off as pool whipping boys, Saracens’ other great challenge will come from Munster, a club who loved the old Heineken Cup like no other. The Irish province are, perhaps, not the powerhouse that they used to be, and even Thomond Park, such a fortress for so many years, is having its aura somewhat destroyed. The Ospreys and Edinburgh have already triumphed there this season.
Brown knows not to read too much into this, however. Despite the new qualification criteria making the PRO12 more competitive this season, Munster will always save their best for the European Cup.
“I think it’s very dangerous to look too much into that because Munster, over the years, have always been a very different beast in the Heineken Cup than in the Celtic League.
“They really seem to relish playing in Europe, and they seem to raise their performance levels for these games. We’re playing them on a Friday night there as well, so it’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere.”
With one of the most difficult pools in the tournament, Saracens face climbing plenty of mountains if they are to repeat last year’s feat of making the final, or go one better to win it. Brown, however, salutes the new levels of competitiveness and insists they will only yield a more worthy champion.
“Whereas over the past few years in the old Heineken Cup, there were maybe one or two of the pools that you could say weren’t that strong, if you look at the pools for this Rugby Champions Cup, they’re all unbelievably strong. The team that wins it is going to have to overcome a lot of challenges on the way.”
As challenges go, they don’t get much more difficult than the visit of Clermont this weekend. A repeat of last year’s semi-final will do just nicely.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Kelly Brown is an ambassador for GUINNESS, official partner of Scottish Rugby.
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