The Heineken Cup top tryscorer is a market with a litany of
options, subject to even more confusion due to the nuances of pool draws,
serious recruitment of Southern Hemisphere players, team playing style,
halfback pairings and weather conditions to name a few, but there is method
that has been coming up trumps since 2006/07; The winner either coming from the
finalists, or playing the lowest ranked side in the pool stages.
With Connacht and Zebre in their group, this brings us
straight towards Toulouse and Saracens for options and with French speedsters
Maxime Medard and Yoann Hughet (left) getting the wing spots for their opener against
Zebre, the deadly duo are worth backing at a very generous 25/1 each. Hughet
has been one of few bright spots for France in a drab and bleak campaign for
them on the international scene both in the 6 Nations and their tour of New
Zealand, where they only threatened in the first half of the first test, deeply
impressive at fullback and also an effective and versatile winger, well able to
cut into the centres and often used to finish wide moves. Medard has much the
same quality, and while he hasn’t played at international level for a while, he’s
been in fine form so far this season in the Top 14 and should have plenty of
chances at home against Zebre and Connacht – whom he scored against in 2012 –
and the potential for a home quarter final means that he could go into the
semis and have plenty of opportunities.
From Saracens, Chris Ashton will be popular with many but
David Strettle has taken the most encouragement from the move to Adams Park’s plastic
pitch and should go well at 18’s facing the same opposition.
Clermont’s backline has any amount of talent to choose from
and while Nalanga needed up well clear on his own in not only this competition but
the Top 14, it’s hard to be confident about any single one of them going
forward – Wesley Fofana does make appeal given his aggressive tryscoring nature
in a style where all are happy to offload and keep moves alive from one end of
the pitch to the other. Toulon’s pool doesn’t present them much challenge but a
wealth of options there, including the arrival of Baryan Habana, is likely to dilute
tallies.
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