Friday 18 November 2011

Edinburgh v Racing Metro live rugby, Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup, Pool 2


  • Venue: Murrayfield Stadium
  • Date: Friday, 18 November
  • Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
  • Coverage: Score updates on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Scotland 810MW & the BBC Sport website

Michael Bradley has made three changes to his Edinburgh side after the 20-19 opening win over London Irish.

Captain Greig Laidlaw starts at scrum-half, with Roddy Grant and Netani Talei replacing Ross Rennie and David Denton.

Edinburgh are also without replacement Sean Cox after a citing complaint against the back-row was upheld.

Racing Metro make eight changes from the side that lost 26-20 to Cardiff Blues, with France international Sebastien Chabal back at number eight.

He replaces captain Jacques Cronje, while France lock Lionel Nallet has also recovered from injury to replace Jone Qovu Nailiko.

But international colleague Fabrice Estabanez is missing with a knock and is replaced with Guillaume Bousses at centre.

Jonathan Wisniewski takes Gaetan Germain's place at full-back and Julien Saubade is on the wing ahead of Sereli Bobo.

Mikaele Tuugahala and Johannes Coetzee take the place of fellow props Andrea Lo Cicero and Juan Pablo Orlandi, while Bernard Le Roux is at flanker instead of Antoine Batut.

They'll be desperate to get their campaign up and running and we want to make the most of home advantage

Michael Bradley Edinburgh head coach

The French side are in only their second year of Heineken Cup rugby and have won only two of their seven games, but Edinburgh's coach was wary of the visitors.

"Obviously the boys are in good form because of the victory, but we're realistic," said Bradley.

"It's a good start, it's good for confidence, but we have a huge task in front of us in this group and it continues this Friday night.

"We've set our stall out to win our home matches and, while it's great that we've picked something up on the road, we have to do our business at Murrayfield this Friday night.

"Racing Metro will be disappointed with their result last weekend against Cardiff, so it's as critical a match for them as it is for us; they'll be desperate to get their campaign up and running and we want to make the most of home advantage."

Captain Laidlaw replaces fellow Scotland international Mike Blair at scrum-half, while Grant and Talei are on the flanks of the scrum in place of Rennie and the injured Denton, while Steven Turnbull replaces the Sean Cox on the bench.

Dutch winger Tim Visser was also keen that Edinburgh maintain momentum following their victory on Saturday.

"There are only six games in the Heineken Cup pool stages," he said.

"So if you win your home games and pick something up on the road then you're putting yourself in contention."

"We've managed to do one of the difficult elements, which is winning away from home, but we need to win our home games to really put ourselves up there and in a chance of progressing in European competition."

Cardiff Blues v London Irish live streaming rugby

CLICK HERE TO WATCH Warm up LIVE STREAMING LINK

Cardiff Blues and London Irish sides are going up against each other in the second round of matches during the Heineken Cup 2011-12 on Friday, November 18, at Cardiff City Stadium.

Cardiff Blues are coming off a tremendous victory against Racing Metro Paris in the first match of the event played on November 11. They carried the day with fine efforts of 26-20 and ultimately secured the top position at the point’s tables. London Irish is currently placed at third on the ladder with an opening defeat at the hands of Edinburgh.

Cardiff Blues’ is flying high after an impressive victory over the French team Racing Metro and they are well set to treat London Irish side in the same fashion. During their first clash of the event, Blues kep their French rivals in check to bkeep them from bouncing back in the match at any stage. No doubt they were struggling at the start when they trailed by 6-0 but once they decided to play on front foot things looked good for them.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH Warm up LIVE STREAMING LINK

Blues controlled the driving seat at the end of the first half with a good looking lead of 17-14 and later on they expanded it to 26-20. They performed equally well in their front and back bunches to make a good impression at the start of tournament.

However, for the forthcoming match against London Irish side they are down with two devastating injuries to their seasoned campaigners. Jamie Roberts and James Down will miss the clash due to various injuries they sustained during the last game. The duo has been replaced by Dafydd Hewitt and Paul Tito.

On the other hand, London Irish side has made wholesale changes after initial defeat in the event. Their coach, Toby Booth, featured six personal and two positional changes in his side. Among the new faces to be applied in Friday’s encounter, Clarke Dermody, David Paice, Faan Rautenbach, Declan Danaher and two others will be playing their first match in the tournament.

Wales’ skipper Sam Warburton, Rhys Thomas and Gethin Jenkins are supposed to play vital roles in the absence of the injured players. On the other hand London Irish side will be expecting Joe Ansbro, Tom Homer and Jebb Sinclair to help the side with elevated efforts.

Meanwhile, both sides have made big claims about their victories in upcoming battle. Sam Warburton of Blues, told the media that, “We secured a great win out in Paris last weekend, but know it means nothing unless we back it up with a win against London Irish tomorrow. The support from the Blues fans in the Racing Metro match was immense so we hope there will be a big crowd coming down on Friday and make as much noise.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH Warm up LIVE STREAMING LINK

London Irish head coach Toby Booth stated that, “Both sides play entertaining rugby so it should make for a great spectacle. We know what is required of us tomorrow evening. We will go there to be competitive and look to come away with a result.”