Heineken Cup

[Drogba's Bitch]

Friday night rugby again and Gloucester are back on. This week they are home to Opsreys. Another chance for big les to run some people over! By all accounts Ospreys little winger Shane Williams has cried off with a thigh injury, didn't fancy Lesley running all over him for 80 mins ;) Got this off the BBC Gloucester lock Marco Bortolami comes into the starting XV for Friday's Heineken Cup clash after Alex Brown was ruled out with a shoulder injury. Will James is on the bench as cover in the only other change to the squad. The Ospreys are without Shane Williams because of a thigh problem and his place is taken by Jonathan Vaughton. Mike Phillips is named at scrum-half instead of Justin Marshall, who drops to the bench, while flanker Marty Holah and prop Adam Jones both start. Gloucester opened their Heineken Cup campaign with an impressive 32-14 victory over Ulster at Ravenhill last week. And director of rugby Dean Ryan has predicted that Friday's match will be a "fire-cracker of a game". "This week will be an enormous challenge," he said. "They have some great players and the group will be alive well beyond Friday. "We'll deal with this game and then see where we are but we need 16,000 people screaming us on because games are won and lost on small margins. "We'll need a bit of luck and we'll need to play well - we cannot just throw flair at a game like this. We need to understand what they are trying to do and be intense about what we do. "My experience is that every minute matters in this competition. The moment you lose track you risk a result that knocks you out. "The Ospreys are a totally different proposition to Ulster and they have great try-scoring ability - it will be a real fire-cracker of a game and something we are very much looking forward to." The Ospreys take on their English opponents in confident mood, buoyed by their 22-15 victory over Bourgoin at the weekend. And coach Lyn Jones says his side travel to Kingsholm with no fear. "We are confident and back ourselves going there," said Jones. "We want to put them under pressure and take them on. "We want to play attractive rugby and it'll be great if both sides go out there and express themselves. "If you want to do well in Europe you need to be able to adapt the style of rugby you play and both of us can do that. "Everyone game is a challenge and a test we have to turn up to win. "We have the ability and the confidence to go to Kingsholm and win, we hold no fear going there."

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Gloucester: Balshaw; Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Allen, Vainikolo; Lamb, Lawson; Wood, Azam, Nieto, Buxton (capt), Bortolami, Strokosch, Qera, Narraway. Replacements: Titterrell, Califano, James, Delve, Prendergast, Paterson, Morgan. Ospreys: Byrne; Walker, Parker, Henson, Vaughton; Hook, Phillips; D Jones, Bennett, A Jones, Gough, Evans, J Thomas, Holah, Tiatia (Capt). Replacements: Hibbard, James, Wyn Jones, T-Pole, Marshall, Connor, Taylor. Referee: George Clancy (Ireland). Should be closer this week, can't see Gloucester scoring 5 early tries again. Ospreys have some very good players including James Hook, who on his day can be pretty amazin, but think the home advantage will see Gloucester through. Its gonna be a cold night, glad im watchin on Sky :) Think it will be pretty tight game tonight, with the defences holding strong. Im gonna have a flutter on Gloucester to just pip the handicap -7 @ 1.9 Ladbrokes, with the handicap cover. Also small stakes on Total points under 44.5 @ 1.83 Skybet Fingers crossed i can have a better weekend than last one :hope

[Drogba's Bitch]

Re: Heineken Cup Gloucester start me off well again lets hope it continues All the team news is off the bbc website Dragons v London Irish Wales international Kevin Morgan has recovered from his knee injury to start at full-back for the Dragons. Wayne Evans is in for Andy Williams at scrum-half, while Jamie Ringer replaces Dan Lydiate at flanker. The 19-year-old Lydiate could be out for around six months, the neck injury he suffered last week being assessed. For London Irish, Sailosi Tagicakibau, the Samoan World Cup player, replaces Topsy Ojo on the wing, while they include five forwards on the bench. The Dragons lost their opening Heineken Cup game 23-19 to Perpignan but did claim a losing bonus-point. London Irish travel to Rodney Parade at the head of Pool One after their opening 42-9 bonus-point win over Benetton Treviso. Dragons: K Morgan, G Wyatt, R Davies, A Smith, R Mustoe, C Sweeney, W Evans, A Black, S Jones, R Thomas, L Charteris, M Owen, J Ringer, C Charvis (captain), R Parks. Replacements: P Emerick, A Thomas, A Williams, H Gustafson, B Daly, A Hall, J Bearman. London Irish: P Hewat, S Tagicakibau, D Armitage, S Mapusua, T de Vedia, M Catt, P Richards, D Murphy, D Paice, T Lea'aetoa, N Kennedy, B Casey (captain), K Roche, D Danaher, J Leguizamon. Replacements: R Skuse, D Coetzee, J Hudson, R Thorpe, S Armitage, P Hodgson, T Ojo. Gonna go for Irish to stay close in this one. Kinda got a soft spot for Irish, my local club and the other half knows Nick Kennedy so gonna take them small stakes for a bit of interest +5 @ 1.8 Skybet, coverin handicap draw Harlequins v Blues Harlequins make one change to their starting XV with England winger David Strettle moving into the centres as Simon Keogh comes onto the wing. Nick Easter and Andy Gomarsall play their first home games of the season. New Wales captain Gethin Jenkins returns to the Blues line-up in place of loose-head prop John Yapp. Dai Flanagan continues at fly-half in the absence of Nicky Robinson (hip) and Nick Macleod (hand), with scrum-half Richie Rees (hamstring) also out. Blues full-back cum wing Jamie Roberts faces a minimum of three weeks out with a shoulder injury, after which time a decision will be made on whether he needs an operation. Marc Stcherbina, James Goode and Chris Czekaj are long-term casualties, and Andy Powell has another few weeks out. Quins lost 37-17 at Stade Francais in the opening Heineken Cup round, a result that flattered the French side. The Blues got their Heineken Cup campaign off to the perfect start with a bonus point victory over Bristol at the Arms Park. Harlequins: Brown; Keogh, Strettle, Barry, Monye; Malone, Gomarsall; Jones, Fuga, Ross, Kohn, Evans, Robshaw, Volley, Easter. Replacements: Brooker, Nebbett, Percival, Hala'ufia, So'oialo, Jarvis, Masson. Blues: Ben Blair; Tom James, Jamie Robinson, Tom Shanklin, Gareth Thomas; Dai Flanagan, Jason Spice; Gethin Jenkins, Rhys Thomas, Taufa'ao Filise, Deiniol Jones, Paul Tito, Maama Molitika, Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush (capt). Replacements: John Yapp, Gareth Williams, Robert Sidoli, Scott Morgan, Robin Sowden-Taylor, Tal Selley, Rhys Williams Going for a home win @ 1.91 Stan James. Home crowd should help with the stoop a bit of a fortress. Quins had chances against stade last week but couldn't take them, they should have been closer on the scoreboard. The blues have a few injurys and im hoping Quins can see them off. Think there might be a few points in this one so going over 43.5 @ 1.83 Ladbrokes Scarlets v Wasps Llanelli Scarlets have international duo Simon Easterby and Mark Jones back after injury for their must-win Heineken Cup game with holders Wasps. They come in for James Bater and Dafydd James, the latter set to miss a few weeks with a groin strain. Wasps meanwhile name the same side that narrowly beat Munster by one point last weekend. There are two changes on the bench, where Dave Walder and Josh Lewsey come in for Dan Leo and Rob Hoadley. Scarlets: Morgan Stoddart; Mark Jones, Regan King, Gavin Evans, Matthew Watkins; Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel (capt); Iestyn Thomas, Matthew Rees, Deacon Manu, Vernon Cooper, Scott MacLeod, Simon Easterby, Gavin Thomas, Alix Popham. Replacements: James Hayter, Bruce Douglas, Adam Eustace, Nathan Thomas, Liam Davies, Rhys Priestland, Daniel Evans. Wasps: Mark van Gisbergen; Paul Sackey, Fraser Waters, Riki Flutey, Tom Voyce, Danny Cipriani, Eoin Reddan, Tim Payne, Raphael Ibanez, Nick Adams, Simon Shaw, George Skivington, James Haskell, Tom Rees, Lawrence Dallaglio. Replacements: Joe Ward, Michael Holford, Richard Birkett, John Hart, Simon Amor, Dave Walder, Josh Lewsey. Have been undecided about this game but in the end im on Scarlets -2 @ 1.91 Stan James, cover on handicap draw. This is a must win game for them. If they can turn on their league form i think they will win. Although i like Wasps, they let me down last week. Imo they took a big risk, giving up any real home advantage by moving the game, felt more like a munster home game, but it paid off for them. Not for me :@ If they would have played in Wycombe i think they might have cover the handicap. Wasn't to convinced by there overall performance tho so home win for me Small stakes accy on all 3 match results aswell, taking Irish -2, @ 6.96 Stan James