Pool 4

European Form

Connacht

Connacht and Narbonne are the only teams to have appeared in the ECC in every season of the competition.  Is the fact that Connacht have played more games (65 - a record) than Narbonne (60) an indication of relative success?  Connacht have won 32 of these games, and lost 33, appearing in the semi-finals twice and the quarter-finals on three more occasions.  Ultimate success has, therefore, evaded them.

The first semi-final appearances came in 2003/4.  In that year, the competition had a “knock-out over two legs” format.  Having disposed of Beziers (29-23), Pau (35-17) and Narbonne (43-28), they succumbed to NEC Harlequins (49-45), who went on to win the Cup. 2004/5 was a repeat: Narbonne again (51-46), Montpellier (70-22) and Grenoble (45-24) were disposed of, before Sale Sharks blew them away (84-27) on their way to winning the Cup.

There has also been three quarter-final appearances in 1997/8 (a vintage year with 5 wins in 7 games, unfortunately this included losing 40-27 at Agen in the quarter-final), 2002/3 (lost 47-39 over two legs against Pontypridd) and 2005/6 (hammered 23-3 at Newcastle Falcons).

Montpellier

This is Montpellier’s 5^th season in the ECC.  They have played 25 games and won 11.  Overall, a poor record, but with some silverware to show for their efforts.

In 2003/4, they went out in the first round to Glasgow (68-24 over two legs).  Relegated to the Shield competition, over two legs they went through Roma (68-20), Padova (43-24) and Leonessa (71-35) before defeating Viadana 25-19 in the final.  Hmm.  All Italian opposition.

Otherwise, it has not been very inspiring.  In 1997/8 they won just one pool game (30-12 at home to Sale Sharks).  In 2004/5 they beat Italians Rovigo 110-10 over two legs before Connacht disposed of them 70-22 in the second round.  In 2005/6, they won just one game in their pool (74-12 at home to Italian team Catania).

Bath

Bath have a very good pedigree in European competitions, being, of course, HC winners in 1997/8.  Then, they beat Brive 19-18 (in France). They have appeared in the HC semi-final once when they lost 18-9 away to Biarritz last season.  They have also made it to the quarter-finals twice: in 1996/7 they lost 22-19 at Cardiff and in 2001/2 they lost 10-27 at home to Llanelli.  In all, Bath have won 34 of 47 games in the HC, a record which puts them up there with Toulouse, Stade Francais and Leicester Tigers.

This is only the third time that Bath have appeared in the ECC.  They pave played 17 games and won 11 of them.  In 2002/3 they beat GrAN Parma (97-22), Bridgend (64-38), and Montauban (48-45), all over two legs.  In the semi-final against Saracens, with the aggregate score over the two legs at 57-57, Bath went through to the final thanks to a 6-5 try count.  There they met Wasps, and lost 48-30.  Their other outing in the ECC was in 2003/4.  They beat L’Aquila (125-11), Colomiers (58-42) and Beziers (45-31) before going down 53-51 to Clermont (all over two legs).

NEC Harlequins

Without a doubt, the team with the best record in ECC. In three attempts, they have lifted the Cup twice.

Their first year 2000/1 they won 5 of 6 pool games and beat Brive (13-20), Newcastle Falcons (17-12) and Narbonne (42-33) to win the Cup.  In 2002/3, the competition became a two-legged knock out.  In the first round they beat Caerphilly (104-47), before capitulating to Stade Francais (55-12).  Their last appearance in 2003/4 saw them beating El Salvador (94-21), Montauban (89-25), Brive (61-44) and Connacht (49-45) before snatching the final from Clermont (27-26) with a last kick conversion.  They have won 17 of 22 games in this competition.

NEC Harlequins have appeared in the HC five times, winning just 10 of 30 games (plus 2 draws).  They reached the quarter-finals in 1996/7 (lost 23-13 at Leicester Tigers) and 1997/8 (lost 51-10 at Toulon).  Otherwise, they have not proceeded past the pool stages.

Head to Head

Connacht have met two of these teams before in the ECC.  In the second round of the 2004/5 competition, Connacht beat Montpellier 56-3 in the home game and lost 19-14 away (70-22 on aggregate).  They met again in the pool stages of last season’s competition where they won both legs: 13-19 in Montpellier and 43-10 at home (62-23 on aggregate).

The other team that Connacht have met is, of course, NEC Harlequins.  In the semi-final of the 2003/4 competition they lost 31-22 away and won 23-18 at home.  This left a 49-45 aggregate advantage to NEC Harlequins who went through to the final and won the Cup.

There have been no other meetings between these four teams in ERC competitions.

Summary

Conclusion

With two English teams with such good European form, Connacht will be doing well to get out of this group.  That said, both may have more pressing domestic problems to address.

Bath struggled last year in the Guinness Premiership, never getting above 8^th place.  They cannot afford to be relegated as their home, The Recreation Ground (more fondly The Rec or the Wreck), would not meet the criteria for re-entry into the top stream. 

Last season, of course, NEC Harlequins were enjoying a sojourn in National 1 (only losing one league game in 26, beating Manu Samoa and picking up the National Trophy as well).   However, relegation twice in three years would be disastrous.

Montpellier may also be tempted to de-emphasise this competition.  They finished 11^th in the Top14, perilously close to the relegation 13^th and 14^th spots.

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