The News Review:
- Quins face Heineken Cup expulsion over ‘Bloodgate’
- Poitrenaud out for Heineken openers
- Mascot Race Kicks ff Heineken Cup Rivalry
- Guinness Prem – Your view: Richards’s ban
- Leigh Halfpenny targets Shane Williams’ Welsh try record
Quins face Heineken Cup expulsion over ‘Bloodgate’
Independent
There has been a slippage in standards and it is important that we remind everyone involved in rugby of what we consider our standards to be. "There will be blood: What happens nextQ. Will Harlequins play in the next season’s Heineken Cup?A. They are in the draw as of now but the European Rugby Cup board is deeply unhappy at the continuing fall-out from the affair and will revisit the decision to rubber-stamp their participation at a meeting next week. Will the Rugby Football Union take its own action against Quins?A. If anything the RFU is even more furious than ERC.
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Poitrenaud out for Heineken openers
European Rugby Cup
As well as losing their free scoring back for up to six weeks the three time Heineken Cup champions were also knocked off the top of the league table when they lost 17 to 15 to USAP at the Stade Aimé Giral on Saturday. The ERC Elite 50 Club award winner broke his right hand during the game on Saturday and underwent surgery on the injury on Sunday. In other Top14 actions Brive and Clermont drew 9-9 on Friday evening while the Montauban v Castres clash was postponed due to restrictions imposed because of swan flue concerns. Albi were the only team to lose at home over the weekend when they were defeated 9-15 by Toulon.
Mascot Race Kicks ff Heineken Cup Rivalry
irish Rugby News
Stephen’s Green on Thursday© Pinnacle Photo AgencyWhilst the Leinster and London Irish players continue preparations for a pre-season match at Donnybrook on Friday the mascots from both sides faced off in a sprint race at St. Stephen’s Green watched by more than 200 people.
Guinness Prem – Your view: Richards’s ban
Yahoo! Eurosport
Details about the Tom Williams fake blood affair continue to be drip fed to us by the Heineken Cup authorities – it must be like Chinese water torture for the Quins! – and none of it has painted Deano is a good light. Three years is a long time away for someone who has given so much as a player and then a coach but the majority of Yahoo!-Europort readers believe the former England icon is fully deserving of his punishment. Indeed almost three-quarters of the 2363 people who voted believe the ban was not too harsh. ne suspects that for many it was not the actual ‘cheating’ which was Deano’s worst act more the repeated efforts at covering it up and then ‘leaning’ on Williams not to tell the full truth. How the Quins squad manage to put the shenanigans behind them and perform in their Premiership-opener with Gloucester on Saturday remains to be seen but one can be sure the season cannot come quick enough for them.
Leigh Halfpenny targets Shane Williams’ Welsh try record
Walesnline
Instead he stressed he has much to learn and improve upon as the new competitive challenges loom. “If I can achieve half of what I achieved last year I’d be very happy” said Halfpenny. “But looking ahead there are loads of things to achieve like winning the Heineken Cup with the Blues and the Magners League. “ Also beating the New Zealand would be a great scalp and getting a Six Nations win over England. “Teams will have looked at me from last season and done a bit of analysis. “I am sure they have pinpointed things about my game they feel they can exploit and that’s why it is up to me to improve. But I am looking forward to showing new aspects of my game.