EDF Energy Cup - : Ultimate showdown for place in EDF Energy Cup Final

Leicester triumph in last season's EDF Energy Cup Final

Ultimate showdown for place in EDF Energy Cup Final

29 January 2008, 11:54 am

By Dan Pritchard

Everything is up for grabs when Heineken Cup winners London Wasps take on Guinness Premiership and EDF Energy Cup holders Leicester Tigers in one of two mouth-watering semi-finals at the Millennium Stadium.

Leicester will be desperate to retain the EDF Energy after crashing out of the Heineken Cup at the pool stages, as did London Wasps, who will see the EDF Energy Cup as their chance for silverware this season.

The other semi-final sees Saracens take on last year’s beaten finalists Ospreys, who will be eager to go one better this year and become the first Welsh side to win since the competition became the EDF Energy Cup.

The EDF Energy Cup has a reputation for open games, with more tries scored than any other top competition, averaging over five per match. This season, 128 have already been scored in 24 games.

In the pool stages, 1072 points were scored in 24 games, an average of nearly 45 points per match. Saracens are top scorers with 123 points and 15 tries, then Ospreys, with 117 points and 15 tries.

Leicester Tigers managed 88 points and 10 tries in their three pool games, yet despite winning their group, London Wasps only racked up 56 points with six tries, putting them just 10th out of the 16 sides involved in the competition, when it comes to points scored.

In a typical fixture list moment, London Wasps and Leicester Tigers will go head-to-head twice in a week, with Wasps travelling to Leicester for their Guinness Premiership fixture a week after the EDF Energy Cup semi-final.

Rugby great Jonah Lomu, who played for Cardiff Blues, offered his unique perspective on the competition.

“The Welsh lads were always telling me about it, what it means to play the English and beat the English. The competitiveness that comes out in these games – it’s fantastic as a player and for the fans in the build up and of course in the game itself,” he said.

The New Zealander, who is still the youngest ever player to make his All Black’s test debut at just 19, believes this season’s EDF Energy Cup, as it enters the final stages, could turn out to be the best yet, because of England’s Rugby World Cup performance.

He said: “There’s no better satisfaction than knowing that you have beaten the best teams around. If you are looking for added spice, that extra energy which comes from wanting to beat players who made it to the World Cup Final, then you are going to get it in the EDF Energy Cup, because you’ve got the Welsh lining up against the English.”
EDF Energy Cup semi-finals, Millennium Stadium
2.30pm Leicester Tigers v London Wasps
5.15pm Saracens v Ospreys

EDF Energy Cup final – Saturday April 12, 2.30pm, Twickenham Stadium