Harlequins v Grenoble, Challenge Cup semi-final
Twickenham Stoop, 7.45pm [BT Sport Europe]
A DEFEAT AT home to top-six rivals Castres last weekend dented Grenoble’s hopes of automatic Champions Cup qualification via the Top 14, but the Challenge Cup presents the French side with another route.
They are certainly not out of the race in the Top 14 yet, though two further wins in this European competition would see them facing the likes of Leinster, Connacht, Saracens, Wasps, Toulon and Clermont in the top-tier tournament next season.
Those two victories are not going to be straightforward by any means. Bernard Jackman’s side were rewarded for their dramatic victory over Connacht in the quarter-finals with tonight’s trip to face Harlequins in the last four.
If FCG can negotiate what will be a stern test of their quality in the Stoop this evening, they will take on the winner of the Montpellier v Dragons for that place in the Champions Cup.
Grenoble don’t have a huge history of trophy success. The club won its only French championship in 1954, while a team that finished second in 1993 remains revered in the city.
“I think for us everyone talks about the ‘Mammouths,’ the great team in Grenoble’s history that lost the Top 14 final to Castres in 1993 and for me it’s important that whenever I leave here or the players leave here that the city talks about this team,” says Jackman.
We won’t be the Mammouths because the Mammouths were mountain men, who were a massive, aggressive pack. We’re not that type of team, but we can create our own identity. We want to create our own legacy and push this club up as high as we can, and there’s nothing like a Cup run to galvanise the support.
“We’re not that type of team, but we can create our own identity. We want to create our own legacy and push this club up as high as we can, and there’s nothing like a Cup run to galvanise the support.”
Those present in Stade des Alpes as Grenoble squeezed past Connacht thanks to Jonathan Wisniewski’s late drop goal won’t forget the atmosphere for some time, and Jackman hopes for many more nights like it.
Attendances have been down in Grenoble this season, though Jackman says that is the case everywhere in the Top 14. The difference is that Grenoble don’t have a mega-rich owner to cover the reduced revenue.
Jackman knows that a trophy would bring more people through the gates at Stade des Alpes in the future.
‘We don’t have a benefactor, so the only thing that can solve our revenue problems is results and a cup run, and to play the final in Lyon – the whole city would be gone,” says Jackman. “That event builds a fan base.
“It’s like Connacht. If Connacht are getting results the Sportsground can be sold out. You can do all the mad things you want but what really puts bums on seats is a team that fans respect and love. That’s what we have to do. It’s not easy, but the will is there, and with a good strategy we’ll get there.”
Certainly, the strategy on the pitch has looked good. Jackman has Grenoble playing an attractive brand of rugby that features the same 2-4-2 shape that Connacht use and a wide range of intelligent set-piece power plays.
The hugely in-form Chris Farrell starts at outside centre for Grenoble again this evening, while James Hart returns to the match-day squad on the bench.
It is Irishman O’Shea who is tasked with denying Grenoble their hope of trophy success, with the Premiership club coming into the game on the back of defeat too.
O’Shea will move on to Italy this summer for the latest chapter in this career, but we can be certain that the former Ireland fullback has equal ambitions of securing the trophy that would see his time with Quins end on a high.
HARLEQUINS: Mike Brown; Marland Yarde, George Lowe, Jamie Roberts, Tim Visser; Ben Botica, Danny Care (captain); Joe Marler, Joe Gray, Adam Jones, James Horwill, Sam Twomey; Chris Robshaw, Luke Wallace, Nick Easter.
Replacements: Dave Ward, Mark Lambert, Kyle Sinckler, Charlie Matthews, Jack Clifford, Karl Dickson, Nick Evans, Ross Chisholm.
GRENOBLE: Gio Aplon; Xavier Mignot, Chris Farrell, Nigel Hunt, Lucas Dupont; Jonathan Wisniewski, Charl McLeod; Sona Taumalolo, Arnaud Heguy, Dayna Edwards, Ben Hand (captain), James Percival; Mahamadou Diaby, Fabien Alexandre, Steven Setephano.
Replacements: Loick Jammes, Fabien Barcella, Walter Desmaison, Mathias Marie, Henry Vanderglas, James Hart, Fabien Gengenbacher, Fabrice Estebanez.
Referee: John Lacey [IRFU].
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