Heineken Cup: Joe Ansbro bids final farewell

Published on Saturday 14 May 2011 13:37

Heineken showdown will be the Scot's last game for his club, as it will for countryman Nathan Hines

THE last time Northampton had a team in the final of the Heineken Cup at the turn of the millennium there were six Scots involved at the Midlands club, four in the starting line up and two on the bench. A gold star to anyone who gets all the six names right without first looking at the end of this article, where the answers can be found.

Next weekend in Cardiff there will be just one Scot in Saints colours - Joe Ansbro - and, while the team line-ups have yet to be announced, there is every chance that the Scotland centre will start the final on the substitutes' bench, just as he did yesterday's Aviva play-off semi-final against Leicester Tigers.

The Heineken final will be Ansbro's final outing for the club he joined while still a student at Cambridge University. The centre has enjoyed just six starts in the league in each of the last two seasons, when Northampton have preferred a muscular midfield in the form of Jon Clarke and James Downey. The lack of opportunities has persuaded the Scot to join London Irish in the summer, although, presumably, they won't see him until mid-October thanks to World Cup duties.

If Ansbro does make it on to the field he will have the unenviable task of keeping tabs on Brian O'Driscoll, who continues to defy age, injury and all known laws of nature to score crucial tries almost at will. The Irish skipper grabbed an important touchdown in the semi-final when Leinster saw off Toulouse, so forewarned does not always mean forearmed.

Scotland's only other representative in next weekend's European final is also upping sticks this summer. Leinster's big Aussie lock Nathan Hines will join Jason White and Mark Bennett at Clermont Auvergne after his World Cup shift. Hines has been something of a lucky mascot for teams over the years. Back in 2009 Perpignan won their first French domestic title since 1955 when Hines was at the club, albeit the big man missed the tail end of the season when he opted to tour South Africa with the Lions instead. Now Leinster are hoping for their second Heineken Cup in three years and the Dublin club will start as clear favourites given their recent form. If the bookies are wrong and Northampton lift the title for the second time, they will probably owe it to their formidable front row. Saints boast the most powerful front five in the Aviva Premiership. The two giant props, Brian Mujati and Soane Tonga'uiha, pack down on either side of England's favourite Kiwi Dylan Hartley and, together, they dismantled the feared Perpignan front row in the semi-final like a stroppy kid crushing a sandcastle. It was all too easy.The Springboks don't like picking players from abroad but coach Peter de Villiers would be well advised to take a second look at Zimbabwean-born Mujati, who is an infinitely better player now than he was when he made his 12 appearances for South Africa.

Anchoring Leinster's front row, Cian Healy and Mike Ross have their work cut out but pundits said much the same thing ahead of the Six Nations and the duo performed some sort of heroics there. Every blue-clad fan next Saturday will be hoping that the pair can find a repeat performance. Moreover, the club has unearthed something of a super-sub in the form of the one-cap Springbok Heinke Van Der Merwe. The South African was ushered into the semi-final as a blood replacement for Healy but he won a penalty at his very first scrum against the giant Toulouse tighthead Census Johnston and the Leinster coaches left well alone thereafter. Whether the big South African can tame his fellow Springbok Mujati quite so easily remains to be seen.