Bring it on!
By Griff
May 23 2011
Despite this season's disappointments the team did achieve a significant goal - Heineken Cup qualification. With our entry into the 2011/12 HC now confirmed we can celebrate our longest ever tenure in the Euro top-flight.
Now, recent supporters are undoubtedly (and quite rightly) disappointed by the early-season promise proving to be rather an over-statement this year but I know as someone who's sat biting my nails for match-after-match worrying about our part in the relegation battle year-after-year that this is quite a massive achievement. Those who've supported Irish since before the start of professionalism will still be having nose-bleeds from these heights.
Our resident statto, no, the other one - Jon_R43 has crunched the numbers and analyzed the remarkably difficult ERC ranking rules and we're fairly confident that the following are the qualifying teams in ranked groups.
Toulouse
Leinster
Munster
Cardiff
Biarritz
Saints
Tigers
Clermont
Ospreys
Bath
Quins
Irish
Ulster
Sarries
Gloucester
Glasgow
Scarlets
Edinburgh
Treviso
Castre
Connacht
Aironi
Montpellier
Racing Metro
This is, remarkably, an improvement on last season - Irish were in the third qualifying group (resulting in their being in the "Pool of Death" last year). So, now you can pick your dream pool for next year. Who do we want to play? Where do we want to visit? Most importantly, who'll throw us the biggest party?
Congratulations to the team, I know you're as frustrated with this season as we were, it really is a massive step-up, though. We can't go from relegaton candidates to champions overnight. Here looking forward to the next one.
London Irish - Heineken Cup Champions 2011/12... that's got a certain ring to it!
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Ulster
Aironi
would be my choice
Saints and Tigers the wrong way round I think, there is some reasoning on the Tigers board, they seem to accept they are pool 2 with Saints in pool 1.
We should add our thanks to Wasps, Perpignain and Stade who despite being higher than us in the rankings didn't qualify and allowed us to move from 15th to 12th!
Last year only 2 team above us missed out so we got stuck in 13th.
Anyone know when the draw is?
note to Editors: Let me know (as i suspect this is the first of a number of keeping the site alive stories for the summer) and I can produce a couple more stories related to this years Fantasy Rugby before deciding if i'm going to try and do it again next year.
ME
RUGBY PLAYERS DO IT WITH LEATHER BALLS
Glasgow/Edinburgh
Connaght/Aironi
Ulster
Biarritz
Laighean ag éirí leat an diabhal
Scarlets (We are due to beat this lot)
Connaght (another chance to go to Ireland and see the cousins)
Can't have two irish sides and you need to put a French one in!
Edinburgh
Connacht
Would be 3 great cities to visit.
I had a brill holiday there about 30 years ago and would love to go back.
Munster, Ulster, Metro for financial reasons.
Ulster – Now the only province of the four left for me to visit in a social context. Looking back, we had a special time in all three of the other cities; either in terms of result or craic or both!
Treviso – A nice place to visit, nice town, nice ground; lovely memories of the pre-game event outside the ground when the bar keeper had to send out for reinforcements/replenishment.
Edinburgh - I have never been and would love to visit them.
Racing Metro - the wife loves Paris, and it is nice and close.