AFTER ULSTER AND Munster drew the short straw last year, Leinster got handed with a nightmare draw for next season’s Champions Cup.
Whoever fills the void as Leinster’s head coach next season will have a daunting challenge straight away, after they were paired with holders Toulon, as well as Bath and Wasps for the pool stage of the competition.
And Leinster winger Fergus McFadden pretty much summed up task at hand when he took to Twitter after the draw.
After initially tweeting to his former teammate Jimmy Gopperth – now with Wasps – about facing each other next season, he then posted this picture, which pretty much captured the mood of the fans.
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Jamie Heaslip also spoke about the difficult draw his side face, although the Leinster captain didn’t quite go as far as McFadden.
Instead, Heaslip said he’d relish coming up against Toulon-bound Paul O’Connell, as well as former Leinster teammates Jimmy Gopperth and Brendan Macken.
“To come up against another two of last seasons’ opponents is unique I suppose but in the same way as with Castres last season, you have to take each game on its merits. Bath finished out the year very well and on another day could have been in Tier 1 as Premiership winners, while Wasps were the leading try scorers in the Premiership.
“We’ll also be coming up against Jimmy (Gopperth) and Brendan (Macken) so that’s another tie where there will be plenty of interest,” he said.
“Obviously there will be the hype around Paulie and his return to these shores to take on an Irish team but leaving Paul (O’Connell) aside, Toulon are a formidable outfit and have recruited really well once again,” Heaslip added.
