| Byrne’s quarter-final
By Larry Cooney
Ireland and Saracens hooker Shane Byrne is relishing the prospect of
this Saturday’s clash with his Ulster international teammates at Vicarage
Road.
Having previously topped Group 4 Saracens dropped to second following
their last-gasp defeat at Ravenhill.
But that attendance could well be exceeded this weekend when the Northern
province visit Watford as the competition hots up for a place in the quarter-finals.
Ulster don’t have the best of records in the head-to-head between the
sides after Saracens recorded two wins over them when they last met but
recent form suggests that Celtic League-topping side will be no pushover.
Byrne said: “I’m really looking forward to this game and having watched
some of the Ulster players in the recent autumn internationals, I know we
are in for a tough game. I’ve known quite a number of them quite a while
and they are all good lads.”
But Byrne admitted he was disappointed with the overall results of Ireland’s
recent internationals.
“I was disappointed that we made so many mistakes against the All Blacks
and of course we didn’t take our chances against Australia,” he said.
“Nevertheless I’m quite confident we can build on those recent performances
and we should get it right by the time of the Six Nations.”
Byrne stressed that Saracens must continue to retain the initiative in
Pool 4.
He said: “We proved against Biarritz we can lift our performance against
any top opposition and we have some real quality in the team.”
However Ulster are also former Heineken Cup winners having lifted the
trophy in 1999 and have experience throughout the side with Irish international
David Humphreys pulling the strings at fly-half, Kieran Campbell at scrum-half
and former Australian international Justin Harrison at the heart of the
forward pack.
Their backs also include winger Tommy Bowe and new international sensation
Andrew Trimble.
But Byrne remains confident Saracens have the ability not only to score
a double over the in-form northern province but also make it to the Heineken
Cup quarter-finals next April.
He said: “I am confident there is enough ability in side to make it to
the quarter-finals. We just need to be more consistent and then qualification
shouldn’t be a problem.”
Verdict: Home win
Rugby results
Heineken Cup:
Castres 16-20 Sale
Ulster 19-10 Saracens
Bath 31-26 Glasgow
Calvisano 10-25 Cardiff Blues
Clermont Auvergne 12-16 Stade Francais
Edinburgh 13-20 Toulouse
Leinster 53-7 Bourgoin
Newport-Gwent D’gons 8-24 Munster
Biarritz 34-7 Treviso
Leeds 21-20 Perpignan
Leicester 30-12 Ospreys
Llanelli Scarlets 21-13 Wasps
European Challenge Cup:
Bucuresti 10-38 Bayonne
L’Aquila 0-86 Newcastle
Northampton 32-20 Narbonne
Section Paloise 29-3 Overmach Parma
Toulon 3-74 Gloucester
Worcester 30-20 Connacht
Montpellier 74-12 Catania
Viadana 23-39 Bristol
Borders 25-22 Brive
London Irish 29-21 Agen
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