Gloucester
Glaws favourites for Euro double over Calvisano
By Cherry Tree
December 3 2008
Gloucester will be clear favourites for two wins in their Heineken Cup double-header against Italian side Calvisano over the next two weekends. Coach Dean Ryan will make changes for both games as he tries to get the best out of his squad, but he and his players will need to be aware that giant-killings are just as possible in knock-out rugby as they are in the FA Cup.
The first game is in Italy on Saturday, and after returning to his club from international duty last weekend, Marco Bortolami (right) is confident his latest trip home will earn his team a 50- or 60-point win.
Making predictions in sport is a dangeroius business for punters, but even more dangerous for those taking part, so big Marco must be very confident.
He told the Citizen: "If we play this way I would be very surprised if we don't score 50 or 60 points.
"They are not too bad. They have a lot of Italian internationals so they are not a bad side.
"But if we play like we have been there are not a lot of sides who can stay with us for 80 minutes so we have to stay confident, go there with the right intensity and be very positive."
Still smarting from the defeat against Cardiff, Glaws will be keen on picking up five points in both games and Ryan said: "We are going to make changes over the coming period and one of the challenges is for those guys to come in and look as solid as what has been here already.
"We've always said you can't rely on 15 players to get you through a season.
"The same XV won't play every week. They haven't done for the last couple of weeks and they won't continue to, but at the same time we can't afford to lose momentum.
"We've got a bit of momentum rolling and I would like to see it roll into Christmas, back into the Premiership and hopefully still full of confidence."
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Discussion started by Shedloads (IP Logged), 03/12/2008 15:49
I expect the Italians will be full of fire for half a hour then fade away. Two bonus point wins are an absolute necessity. Not sure if the group couple potentially all come down to points difference or not but if it can then Glaws should be looking to rack them up, particularly at home.
