Red Kite in the Ruck
Created | Updated Feb 4, 2004
A Happy and Prosperous New Year to everyone, particularly rugby supporters1.
The holidays are over, the World Cup won, the Zurich Premiership just about half way through and the weather in England absolutely atrocious, welcome to 2004! If you supported your team the first weekend of the New Year in the Heineken tournament the chances are you got soaked to the skin and if you are a Wasp or a Tiger follower it wasn't just the rain that made you wet - the tears probably helped!
The Premiership league games played at the end of 2003 and the first few days of January saw some really exciting play and closed the scores for some. Rotherham received their first score of the series when they gained a bonus point for being within five points of their opponents. Each time they play you cannot help but hope they win - well unless it's against Wasps in my case, who they have yet to face. Funny - don't you just know what will happen??? My charitable feelings may take a dive that week if I am proved right! The latest results in the Heineken Cup are listed below. A report on the return matches will feature soon.
The Heineken Cup
League Table - Heineken Cup - Tables as of: 11/01/2004
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pool 1 | ||||||||
| Ulster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 44 | 9 | 26 |
| Gwent Dragons | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 61 | 8 | -14 |
| Stade Francais | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 57 | 5 | 1 |
| Leicester | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 62 | 5 | -13 |
| Pool 2 | ||||||||
| Edinburgh | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 41 | 13 | 33 |
| Toulouse | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 32 | 10 | 32 |
| Leeds | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 58 | 4 | -17 |
| Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 90 | 0 | -48 |
| Pool 3 | ||||||||
| Leinster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 78 | 48 | 10 | 30 |
| Biarritz | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 55 | 9 | 17 |
| Sale | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 77 | 8 | -25 |
| Cardiff Blues | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 63 | 85 | 2 | -22 |
| Pool 4 | ||||||||
| Llanelli Scarlets | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 34 | 13 | 40 |
| Northampton | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 27 | 92 | 7 |
| Agen | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 52 | 6 | 0 |
| Borders | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 88 | 0 | -67 |
| Pool 5 | ||||||||
| Gloucester | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 36 | 14 | 68 |
| Munster | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 39 | 9 | 41 |
| Treviso | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 54 | 11 | 75 | -63 |
| Bourgoin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 63 | 10 | 92 | -46 |
| Pool 6 | ||||||||
| Wasps | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 89 | 54 | 10 | 35 |
| Perpignan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 81 | 54 | 10 | 27 |
| Celtic Warriors | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 60 | 10 | 7 |
| Ghial Amatori & Calvisano | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 13 | 41 | -69 |
The Zurich action will not resume until February whilst the European games are taking place. The current standings are shown below with Bath still at the top, a clear ten points away from Wasps in second place. However great it is to come top of the league, Bath will know from Gloucester's loss last year that it doesn't mean that you destined to become the league winners. Their consistent scoring over the season so far and the bonus points they have managed to add to the wins, has given them a good lead but they will need to maintain their game right to the very end if they are to carry away the trophy.
Zurich Premiership Team Standings
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
| Bath | 56 |
| Wasps | 46 |
| Northampton | 40 |
| Gloucester | 36 |
| London Irish | 36 |
| Harlequins | 36 |
| Sale | 36 |
| Newcastle | 32 |
| Leicester | 24 |
| Leeds | 24 |
| Saracens | 22 |
| Rotherham | 1 |
Well that's the news for this week, next week we will look at some of the individual return games in the Heineken pools. I for one am hoping that the Wasps trip to Wales will prove to be a complete
turn around from this week. It would be churlish not to congratulate.
