Saturday, May 23, 2009

Live text - Heineken Cup final

LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)

606: DEBATE
Your thoughts on the action

To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111. (Not all contributions can be used)

By Mark Orlovac

Anon via text on 81111: "At work missing the game. Tigers have to stop Elsom at the breakdown, the man is a machine. Tigers by 10. I hope."

blakjak010 on 606: "Martin Corry deserves this trophy. It's that simple. What a servant he's been to club and country, and I can think of no more fitting way for him to sign off his Tigers career."

Where's Robinho? on 606: "Would be great to see Leinster win the HC...I hope they can do it and after the performance against Munster they will have the belief which they may not have had 3-4 years before!"

1635: Plenty of blue flags are being waved at Murrayfield as the Leinster team form a huddle before breaking and starting their pre-match warm-up. Not long now. Here's a quick reminder of the teams. Leicester have made two changes - with wing Alex Tuilagi and prop Martin Castrogiovanni starting while Lewis Moody has to settle for a place on the bench. Leinster make one alteration from the semi-final - Jonathan Sexton starting at fly-half for the injured Felipe Contepomi.

Leicester: G Murphy (capt); Hamilton, Erinle, Hipkiss, Tuilagi; Vesty, Dupuy; Ayerza, Chuter, Castrogiovanni, Croft, Kay, Newby, Woods, Crane.
Replacements: Kayser, White, L Deacon, Moody, Ellis, Smith, J Murphy.

Leinster: Nacewa; Horgan, B O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Fitzgerald; Sexton, Whitaker; Healy, Jackman, Wright, Cullen (capt), O'Kelly, Elsom, Jennings, Heaslip.
Replacements: Fogarty, McCormack, Toner, O'Brien, Keogh, R Kearney, Dempsey.

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU).

1627: Now those of you who have been paying attention will have worked out that the rugby union section has stepped into the brave new world of auto refresh. That's right people, you can rip your F5 button off your computer as my prose will magically appear without you having to do a thing. (I was only joking about the F5 button thing by the way, please don't as I'll get in trouble.)

Knowsit17 on 606: "This is the closest Leinster have come yet to living up to the standards set by Irish rugby in recent years. One might even go as far as to call this the biggest game in the province's history. Can they emerge from the shadow of rivals Munster? I say yes. Leinster to cap a historic dream year for Irish rugby, three major trophies out of three."

1619: And so to Leinster. The Irish province are taking part in their maiden Heineken Cup final and they reached it with a superb display against 2008 champions Munster at Croke Park. A victory which will give them real belief that they can overcome Leicester today. In flanker Rocky Elsom they have one of the players of the season and coach Michael Cheika will be delighted that the Australian was available for selection after being involved in a car crash this week.

chazmaster30 on 606: "Tigers to scrape it with less than five the difference. Geordan Murphy to have an absolute stormer."

1611: So then, the two teams. First up we have resilient and stubborn Leicester. The Tigers are taking part in their fifth final - 2007, 2002, 2001 and 1997 being the others - and are looking to join Toulouse as the only side to have won this event three times. They are also chasing their third Heineken Cup and Premiership double, having beaten London Irish to win the league last weekend. This is the fourth massive game in as many weeks for the Tigers, following the Heineken Cup semi-final, Premiership semi and then final. Is there anything left in the tank?

TigersFan_BehindEnemyLines on 606: "Ciders in the fridge, sandwiches being made, an afternoon of rugby beckoning. What more could you want?

1604: Hello you, hope you are well. So here we are then, after seven months, 78 games and 329 tries, we have the climax to the European club season - and I can't wait. Now, I'm a pretty friendly kind of guy and I want you to feel the love today. Big time. Let me know all your predictions, tactical opinions and general banter and I will include as many of your comments as I can. Promise. Post your thoughts on 606 or text me on 81111. Nothing naughty now, it's a family show.
Join the debate on 606

1600: During the week I gave a lot of thought to how I was going to start this text commentary. I was going to type a lengthy poetic preamble, showing all the skills that gave me an A in GCSE English Lit back in 1989, but I soon realised that this kind of game does not need a long-winded introduction.

So here it is - the cream of England and Ireland, Leicester v Leinster, in the biggest club game in the northern hemisphere. At Murrayfield. Bosh.

ะพ 6:00 AM

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