The lads have it well within their capability to put their visitors to the sword and leave themselves with a realistic chance of qualifying from their group for the knockout stage of the competition.

Anyone looking at the French league table would spot the similarity  between Leeds and Dax’s  position in their respective leagues – bottom! The only discernible difference is that Dax are losing against the teams just above them in the league making survival look improbable. Dax may well take a different view of this game to that of Stuart Lancaster. The Basques have lost all four games in the group so far and are adrift at the bottom of the group with no chance of qualifying. Will they bring a full strength squad to Yorkshire and risk injuries to key players? I do not think so.

Last weekend the Carnegies gave what was arguably their best performance of the season away at the home of the European champions. SL will be looking for the team to build on that performance and win convincingly at home to Dax. Leeds already has the indian’s eye on their opponents after a sterling performance in the win in Dax back in December 2007. However spectators at that game will remember that the French side had plenty of attacking options  and threw the ball along the back line whenever the opportunity presented itself. With neither side very good at defending it is possible that we will see another high scoring game. It would be nice to see Leeds actually win a high scoring game for a change. Leeds currently has a number of injuries and it is unlikely that SL will risk players who are not 100% fit. That said he was very pleased with the contribution made by the subs at Adams Park so we may yet see Pablo Bouza and Danny Paul involved at some stage in the game.

With Castres traveling to Calvisano this weekend there are a number of possibilities depending on the results of the two games. However a five point victory for Leeds would leave the Yorkshiremen sitting pretty  irrespective of events in Italy. Recent improvements in the Carnegie performance  suggest that a home win is the most likely outcome on Friday. It is likely to be a wet and windy evening and hence a forwards game. The Leeds front five will have the biggest influence on the final score along with the boot of Alberto Di Bernado. I am taking Leeds to win by fifteen points and pick up a four try bonus point.

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