EDF Energy Cup - : Leeds to emulate Saints in EDF Energy National Trophy?

Northampton Saints

Leeds to emulate Saints in EDF Energy National Trophy?

2 October 2008, 12:00 am

By Kam Cheung

Leeds to emulate Saints in EDF Energy National Trophy?
Northampton Saints romped to a promotion and cup double last season but can Leeds Carnegie do the same this year?

Leeds will have to win every league and cup game if they are to equal the Saints’ remarkable feat. They have already won five out of five games in National League One but only just beat rivals Exeter Chiefs, by a single point, in that crucial early season game on September 14.

Chiefs, of course, are no strangers to finishing a close second, having done so in the league in the last two seasons, when they also finished runners-up in the EDF Energy National Trophy, losing to Saints in 2008 and Cornish Pirates in 2007.

They will be eager to shake off the ‘second place’ tag but will it happen in the league or the EDF Energy National Trophy? The competition kicks off on October 18 but the big boys from National League One don’t join the fray until January.

And October 18 is also when the next rounds of the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup, Senior and Junior Vase are played.

All eyes will be on Hartpury College to see if they can achieve an incredible treble.

They ran riot to beat Wheatley Hills 84-5 in last season’s EDF Energy Senior Vase, scoring 13 tries in the process. That victory came just a year after they triumphed 72-11 against Billericay in the EDF Energy Junior Vase. Now in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup, what chance a hat-trick of cup victories in three different competitions in just three seasons?

They start their campaign with a home tie against Cheltenham on October 18, two of 70 teams involved in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup at this stage of the season. Other hopefuls include Blackburn, Derby, Dover, Liverpool St Helens, Maidenhead and Stevenage Town.

In round two of the EDF Energy Senior Vase, 256 teams will be going for cup glory, not least Bicester, Bury, Hove, Lincoln, Shrewsbury, Truro, Twickenham and York.

And in round two of the EDF Energy Junior Vase, 150 sides battle it out. Take your pick for potential champions from the likes of Bristol Telephones, Coventry Saracens, Honourable Artillery Company, Minchinhampton, Old Cryptians, Old Haileyburians, Pegasus Palmerians, Port Sunlight and Thornesians.

Check out all the news, fixtures and results for your competition on the EDF Energy rugby website.

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