Any old place I can hang my hat is home sweet home to me – William Jerome
The Heineken Cup quarter finals are finally upon us. It is without any doubt that this weekend is one of the most eagerly anticipated in the European rugby calendar.
It is three days of eight top quality outfits going head to head to further their prospects of glory. This year is no different as perennial powerhouses Leinster and Toulouse failed to make the final eight.
However one aspect of the quarter finals this blog wants to investigate is the importance of playing at home. We have gone back as far as the 2006 Heineken Cup to carry out our research.
Since that season’s tournament there have been 28 quarter finals encounters. Of those 28 games the home side has won on twenty occasions.
In 2006 Bath overcame Leicester at the Walker stadium. Leinster defeated Toulouse in France in an epic 41-35 encounter.
The following three seasons all had one away victory each. Northampton conquered Biarritz by a single point in the 2007 tournament.
In 2008 a Munster team at the peak of their powers out muscled Gloucster at Kingsholm 16-3. 2009 also saw Munster’s provincial rivals Leinster win a dogfight in the infamous “Bloodgate” match against Harlequins 6-5.
The scintillating 2010 quarter finals are the only year in the last seven where all the home teams came out on top. Leinster edged a cracker against Clermont at the RDS 29-28 whilst Biarritz did for the Ospreys on the same score line.
Munster had too much for Northampton on a sun drenched Thomond Park. Toulouse also put on a show as they devoured their fellow French opponents Stade Francais 42-16.
2011 followed the normal trait of three home wins and one away success which was carried out by Toulouse as they vanquished Biarritz.
2012 ended much like the first season we discussed, 2006, with a two-two split of home and away victories. Ulster ransacked fortress Thomond in their defeat of Munster whilst Clermont ground Saracens into submission.
Of the eight teams who managed to succeed in their away quarter final, just two have gone on to win the trophy. Munster went all the way in 2008 and were immediately followed by Leinster in 2009.
Furthermore only one other team has reached the final since winning their away encounter and that was Ulster last year.
This season’s last eight has a bit more of a traditional look about it. The English and French sides, it would seem, have reasserted their stranglehold on the tournament with three sides each. Ireland is the only other nation represented with Munster and Ulster.
Only once in the last six tournaments (2011) has a Welsh team not been represented in the final eight. What is more, it is clear that the Welsh teams certainly struggle if they are away from home.
Llanelli Scarlets and the Cardiff Blues are the only Welsh sides to have won in the quarter finals in that time. Llanelli defeated Munster at home in Stradey Park in 2007 whilst the Blues beat Toulouse in 2009 at the Millennium Stadium.
After that it is grim reading. The Ospreys have lost three consecutive away quarter finals. They were deservedly beaten by a Richard Hill led Saracens side in 2008 and were utterly pulverised by Munster in 2009.
The last hurrah of the Ospreys “Galacticos” in the Heineken Cup ended in a narrow defeat to Biarritz in France. The Welsh misery away from home was compounded last year when Leinster comprehensively crushed Cardiff 34-3.
The Welsh are also not alone when it comes to suffering away from home blues. There is a stereotype in rugby that French teams do not travel well.
Judging from the last number of quarter finals that stereotype would definitely be true! Ten French teams have played away from home in the Heineken Cup quarters since 2006 and only twice have they been victorious.
Those triumphs occurred courtesy of Toulouse in 2011 when they defeated Biarritz after extra time and Clermont’s win against Saracens at Vicarage Road last year.
All three of Toulouse, Perpignan and Stade Francais have all lost twice on the road in the last number of years. Furthermore Toulon and Clermont have also met defeat on their travels.
The English involvement in quarter finals is strange. Six English sides have been involved in trips away from home in the period researched.
Of those six encounters two English sides have won their away tie. Those wins include Bath’s success over Leicester in 2006 and Northampton’s triumph over Biarritz the following season.
It is all the more interesting as neither team would really have been a powerhouse of the English game at the time. The likes of Leicester and Wasps have had precious few away quarter finals since 2006.
The symmetry between both Northampton and Bath is highlighted in their away losses also. Bath was defeated by Leicester in 2009 at the Walker Stadium whilst again the following season Northampton fell at Thomond Park to Munster.
Sale and Leicester also had narrow losses in 2006 and 2011 respectively.
The quarter finals do reflect quite well on the Irish sides. Munster, Leinster and Ulster have lost one away quarter final since 2006.
Leinster though have triumphed twice away from Dublin over the last seven years whilst Munster and Ulster have both won away from Ireland once.
So after looking at all the results it will be intriguing to see if any team can win their away tie this weekend. Looking back on history if I had to put my money on one team succeeding in completing this tough task, it would be Ulster.
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