Falcons Head For Grenoble


By Ridley
October 10 2002

A breath of Alpine air and a good stiff workout against a rugged French pack might be just what we need this weekend. We desperately need to pick ourselves up after the shambles at the Stoop and Grenoble gives us the chance to win back a bit of pride.

Not that it will be by any means easy. But it will be a break from the Premiership.

Grenoble have won their last two games and sit happily in mid table having won six from 12. They have a big industrial pack ... and some fair talent in the backs.

One bit of good news is that Simon McDowell from Ireland will be the ref and hopefully his interpretation of the rules will be closer to ours than to Grenoble's.

There is no clear indication yet of how seriously Rob Andrew is taking the "B" competition. The glamour, the TV coverage and the dosh are allocked into the Heineken Cup and it must have been a bitter pill for Thumper Thompson when we failed to qualify.

Both he and Jonny Wilkinson have been putting on a brave public face and have been "talking up" the competition.

We'll get a better idea when we see Rob's line up. Will he give the likes of Springgay and Hamilton a start or will he give last week's pack a chance to redeem themselves?
Grenoble (Fra) - Falcons                  
                   
Treviso (Ita) - Castres (Fra)                  
                   
L'Aquila (Ita) - Colomiers (Fra)                  
                   
Bucarest (Rou) - Saracens                  
                   
Ebbw Vale - Montauban (Fra)                  
                   
Madrid (Spa) - Borders)                  
                   
Parme (Ita) - Bath                  
                   
Pau (Fra) - Bridgend                  
                   
Parma Rugby (Ita) - Wasps                  
                   
Alcobendas (Spa) - Bègles (Fra)                  
                   
Caerphlly - Harlequins                  
                   
Rovigo (Ita) - Stade Français (Fra)                  
                   
Silea (Ita) - RC Narbonne (Fra)                  
                   
Mont-de-Marsan (Fra) - Connacht                  
                   
Petrarca Padova (Ita) - Leeds                  
                   
Rome (Ita) - Pontypridd                  

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