Will Green says

[the_git]

Green says; "WE CAN DO IT"

Will Green is already one up on his new Leinster team-mates – as the proud owner of a Heineken Cup final winners’ medal thanks to his “best rugby memory.”
And on Saturday some of the Toulouse players may feel a certain sense of déjà vu and fret over any potential repeat because former England prop Green was in the London Wasps team who stung the then defending champions with a last-gasp Rob Howley try in a sensational Twickenham contest two years ago.
“I am sure none of the Toulouse players who played in the 2004 Heineken Cup final and are still in the side will be looking back to that day – and neither will I be doing that,” said Green, whose team will be cheered on by 5,000 travelling Leinster fans.
“This is a totally new scenario. For one thing Toulouse have won the Heineken Cup since then, beating Stade Français Paris last May, and for another I am in a new squad and a new environment.
“No-one can deny that Toulouse are a very good side, a real class act, but there are a number of teams in the quarter-finals who are capable of winning the tournament this season and that is what makes the Heineken Cup so very special.
“Just how special it is to me can be gauged by the fact that I have no hesitation in saying that that day at Twickenham provides my best rugby memory – bar none.
“I won four England caps but winning the Heineken Cup with Wasps supersedes anything I did at international level. Winning the Heineken Cup was done with my mates and that is what made it such a fantastic achievement.
“Now I want to do it all over again with Leinster and allow them to experience just what winning the trophy feels like. It is simply tremendous.”
Toulouse qualified for the quarter-finals as the No 1 seeds, Leinster going through into the last eight as the second best runners-up thanks to a superb 35-23 triumph at Bath Rugby in Round 6.
Leinster captain and centre Brian O’Driscoll was the runaway Heineken man-of-the-match that Sunday afternoon and is sure to be a key figure again – as long as the Leinster pack do the hard graft in scrum and line-out.
“Saturday is a massive game for our front five but, if we can perform, I really think we can go there and win because we have got the backs to do it,” said Green.
“The four centres likely to be on the pitch are probably in the top half dozen midfield players in the world so it should be some contest between them.
“The key is to do the basics right; not to give them any turnovers; look after our own ball and not present them with any loose ball to counter attack us with.
“I have played against Toulouse twice and never lost to them – on top of the 2004 Heineken Cup final Wasps beat them 77-17 in the 1996 / 1997 tournament. It is fair to say that from a Toulouse point of view it was carnage that day.
“But now it is all about Leinster, our Heineken Cup ambitions and getting stuck into Toulouse. After 13 years at Wasps coming to Leinster was a great move for me and my family and it is fantastic to be part of the new set-up under Michael Cheika and David Knox.
“There is certainly a lot of excitement at what we can achieve.”

JAUZION SET TO GIVE CHAMPIONS A LIFT

Yannick Jauzion is poised to give Toulouse a massive boost as their defence of the Heineken Cup goes into the quarter-final stage against Leinster in front of a full house at Le Stadium on Saturday.
Almost 150,000 fans will be at the four sell-out quarter-finals and those at Le Stadium could see star centre Jauzion back in action after injury kept him out of the 6 Nations.
Toulouse, lying second in the Top 14, will go into the showdown with Leinster – who will have 5,000 of their fans cheering them on in the 37,000-strong crowd – on the back of a 19-7 win over Agen.
“I’ve been lucky coming back from injury – I’ve been able to re-integrate well into the team and we have been working well together as a unit,” he said.
“Our game last weekend against Agen was a big test for us. It’s always difficult playing a derby game like that and really poor weather didn’t help. But we got the result we needed and now we can fully focus on the task ahead against Leinster.
“Our preparation for this game will be the same as for any other. We take things slowly and calmly but at the same time we all know how important the match is and how big a performance we are all going to have to put in to get victory over the Irish.
“It’s going to be a really tough game. Leinster have several players who are really hard to defend against – obviously that includes the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy, but also Felipe Contepomi who has had a fantastic Heineken cup so far and is a really dangerous player, both with his goal kicking and his in-field play.
“I was obviously disappointed to miss out on the 6 Nations and with the Irish centre pair at Leinster and me and Fritz playing for Toulouse, I suppose it is a bit like France v Ireland in the back line!
“Having said that, although we won the 6 Nations game in Paris, I don’t think that gives us any real advantage. Ireland had an amazing second half, particularly in the back-line.
“If anything, having seen that performance it is more worrying than re-assuring for us to know that so many members of the Irish team from that match will be playing here on Saturday.
“We won’t focus on individual players and try and concentrate on our own game, but we certainly know that, in order to win, our defence has to be completely solid so that’s a big focus for us this week.”

[Uncle Mort]

Will Green's a great man to have on the team for Saturday as he's been there, seen it, done it. The final which Rob Howley won must have been some match to play in - no wonder it's his best memory!!

Having seen Toulouse in a couple of finals we just have to remember ok, they're good but so can we be.

As Laurie Sanchez said to his Nordy players before they played England - "My career was made by scoring one goal to win an FA Cup final - tonight is the chance for one of you to make your name - for ever" and they did.

We're certainly not no-hopers and this is the chance for the players to stand up to the plate and to make a name for themselves. This could (and will) be the match that we talk about for years to come - in 10 years time it won't be 5000 people who were there are say they were it'll be 50,000 - but those of us with the programming and the yellowing ticket stub will be the ones who were really there and saw Leinster's greatest (to that point) win!!

[epaddy]

Isnt it more readdy black?

[Crash]

Isnt it more readdy black?

Quite.