Search Results for 'Heineken Cup'

Connacht Rugby will have a final run-out this morning at the Galway Sportsground ahead of this season’s big French test in the Heineken Cup.

Connacht are preparing for a massive backlash from English premiership champions Harlequins when Heineken Cup rugby returns to the Galway Sportsground on Saturday. No supporter could forget Connacht’s 9-8 victory over Quins in the final pool match last season - a win which ended a nightmare run of 14 defeats on the trot for the home side, produced a first much-cherished win in the Heineken Cup, but one which also ended the English outfit’s European dreams.

Greater expectations surround Connacht’s second Heineken Cup campaign which begins tomorrow with a return visit to Italian newcomers Zebre. Having already claimed a RaboDirect Pro 12 win in Parma, Connacht head to Italy knowing what is needed to open this year’s cup campaign is a win. Any thing else will be seen as a backward step for the Irish side which also faces Europe’s third ranked side Biarritz and English champions Harlequins in pool three.

Greater expectations surround Connacht’s second Heineken Cup campaign which begins on Saturday with a return visit to Italian newcomers Zebre.

Connacht will open the new RaboDirect Pro 12 season with a home fixture against the Cardiff Blues in the first of two clashes with Welsh opposition in the opening month.

There will be new challenges and old rivalries renewed as Connacht embark on their second Heineken Cup campaign in October. The draw for the 2012/13 tournament was made this morning in the Aviva stadium under the tutelage of ERC president Jean Pierre Lux and chief executive Derek McGrath. Connacht have been drawn in Pool 3 along with Amlin Challenge Cup winners Biarritz, Aviva Premiership Champions Harlequins and new Italian franchise Zebre.

There is something old and new for Connacht in next season’s Heineken Cup.

Connacht’s new-found confidence, both on and off the field, received the best fillip on Sunday with Leinster’s victory over Clermont Avergne guaranteeing Eric Elwood’s team Heineken Cup rugby for a second successive year.

Heineken Cup semi-finalists Ulster visit Galway on Saturday (5.15pm) and Connacht Rugby coach Eric Elwood hopes the Sportsground faithful will give the visitors a suitable welcome in this final interprovincial of the season.

From the high of their Heineken Cup victory over Harlequins and a two week break, Connacht return to competitive action in the Pro 12 when they travel to Cardiff to take on the Blues this evening. The challenge for Eric Elwood's men is to deliver the type of performance they displayed in Europe in the bread and butter competition of the Celtic League. If they do not, they will languish at the bottom of the table where Italian strugglers Aironi are poised to overtake them, while a win could see them leap the Dragons.