The 18th season of the Heineken® Cup was launched at Aviva Stadium yesterday with captains and coaches from Connacht, Ulster, Leinster and Munster out in force to state their intent for the season ahead.
Once again, the best teams in Europe will battle for a place in the Heineken® Cup Final. There will be 79 matches played over the course of this season’s competition culminating with a pulsating Heineken® Cup Final in front of 50,000 fans in Dublin, May 2013.
The recent success of Irish teams, winning four of the last five finals, brings added expectation of an Irish side featuring at the Aviva Stadium in May 2013.
The first round of the Heineken® Cup kicks off with a bruising encounter between last year’s finalists Ulster and French side Castres Olympique at Ravenhill on October 12th. The following day Connacht, Munster and Leinster do battle against Italian, French and English teams respectively.
Below is a ‘behind the scenes’ video of the launch featuring interviews with captains from Leinster, Connacht, Ulster and Munster and the head coaches.
All Black legend and Munster captain Doug Howlett made it clear who he feels are his sides main threat:Â “Leinster, they will be watched closely by all the teams.”
Ulster captain Johann Muller spoke about the excitement of the Heineken® Cup: “there is something about people enjoying it and seeing a great brand of rugby which just makes it a really special tournament.”
Gavin Duffy of Connacht is looking forward to a second season in the tournament: “we feel that we have learnt a hell of a lot since last year. Right across the province there is a greater awareness of Heineken Cup rugby.”
Aiming for a third consecutive Heineken® Cup crown Leinster captain, Leo Cullen, was careful to state that each game is critical: “it’s one of those tournaments when you don’t have many second chances.”
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