As we stated back in June, when the Heineken Cup draw was made, Group four in the Heineken Cup could well have been called the Group of Clubs in Turmoil.
With the season now kicked off here, and a few weeks ago in France, it appears that the turmoil is having an effect on three of the teams at least.
Number one Team in Turmoil must be French aristocrats Stade Francais where owner Max Guazzini had sacked head coach Ewen McKenzie and assistant Christophe Dominici after just five games of the new Top 14 season.
“Mad” Max has never been one to suffer defeats gladly and with Stade second from the bottom in the Top 14 it was only a matter of time before the extravagant owner made a move. The only surprise is that he has brought in relative unknowns of ex-Biarritz coach Jacques Delmas and Didier Faugeron, who has previous coaching experience with Brive and Agen and will oversee the backs.
Stade’s predicament is a timely reminder to grieving Ulster fans that money doesn’t buy you everything!
English giants Bath continue to go through their penance after their drug fuelled summer holidays. Though Harlequins did step up to take some pressure of the west country coke heads it seems that the enforced changes to their side have had a definite effect with a pretty poor capitulation to their west country rivals Gloucester.
There will be definite concern in the Rec after this performance and hopefully Bath will continue to suffer withdrawal symptoms when they visit Ravers next month.
However, things in the Fortress are not all rosy. Despite what appeared to be a hugely successful pre-season Ulster supporters were rocked in the opening week with the departure of CEO Mike Reid and a few day later by the departure of the team against Welsh perennial strugglers the Dragons.
Ulster’s abysmal performance may just be a red herring though in an effort to lull our group four rivals into a false sense of security before we romp through the season unbeaten from October on! A risky, but ingenious, plan from the new management team.
This leaves Edinburgh as the only team who appear unaffected from their summer break. The new management team has picked up pretty much where the departing Andy Robinson left off. They continue to play a structured, if unexciting game, and will be full of confidence after their win against Cardiff.
However will their stability be their downfall, for at the moment they are the only team in the group that everyone knows exactly how they are going to play!
You can keep up to date with our Group Four rivals by clicking here.
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