BRIAN O’DRISCOLL is expecting French sides Toulon and Clermont Auvergne to advance to the final of the inaugural Champions Cup at Twickenham.
Both semi-finals were meant to be played at “neutral” venues. Unfortunately for Leinster and Saracens, the French cities of Marseille and Saint Etienne have been selected to play host to the games and O’Driscoll believes this puts the two teams at a major disadvantage.
“It’s a big ask for Sarries and Leinster, but teams have gone to France and won before, but they’ll be tightish games. I don’t see one team running away with it, but I just fancy the two French teams to go through.”
He also believes the European club game is in danger of being dominated by French teams as long as the salary cap remains in England and that money is a crucial factor in continental competition.
It [the cap] is a big factor, it’s a big factor because money is going to attract the best players. I’d love to see the breakdown of how many Sanzar [South Africa, New Zealand and Australia] team players after the World Cup come to the UK and Ireland and how many go to France. You’d have to imagine the majority will go to France.
O’Driscoll thinks the only way English clubs can deter their players from going abroad is to offer them more money. He said players are thinking about their futures and at the end of the day, they will go where the money is.
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“This is a career, it’s no different to any other career. If you’re offered another £100,000 or £200,000 playing somewhere else the likelihood is you’re going to take it”.
Quizzed on who he is picking to be outright champions this season, O’Driscoll said that he believes Clermont are the strongest side remaining in the competition and that they have the desire to push them all the way.
“They have been to one final, multiple semis now. Teams that tend to continually knock on the door eventually do win it. I’m not a total believer that you have to feel the pain to feel the upside, but I think it helps for driving desire when it really comes to crunch time in the last 10 minutes, how much you really want it and how much you felt the disappointment before and don’t want that feeling again”.
No prizes for guessing who BOD thinks will reach the Champions Cup final
BRIAN O’DRISCOLL is expecting French sides Toulon and Clermont Auvergne to advance to the final of the inaugural Champions Cup at Twickenham.
Both semi-finals were meant to be played at “neutral” venues. Unfortunately for Leinster and Saracens, the French cities of Marseille and Saint Etienne have been selected to play host to the games and O’Driscoll believes this puts the two teams at a major disadvantage.
He also believes the European club game is in danger of being dominated by French teams as long as the salary cap remains in England and that money is a crucial factor in continental competition.
O’Driscoll thinks the only way English clubs can deter their players from going abroad is to offer them more money. He said players are thinking about their futures and at the end of the day, they will go where the money is.
“This is a career, it’s no different to any other career. If you’re offered another £100,000 or £200,000 playing somewhere else the likelihood is you’re going to take it”.
Quizzed on who he is picking to be outright champions this season, O’Driscoll said that he believes Clermont are the strongest side remaining in the competition and that they have the desire to push them all the way.
Read: If you are an easily frightened Leinster fan, best not to look at Toulon’s team for Sunday
Read: Is this Leinster team good enough to slay Europe’s most formidable giant?
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BOD Clermont Auvergne European Champions Cup Leinster Rugby Saracens Toulon