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Varndell & Crane celebrate

Two weeks ago Loffreda may have thought he was on his way out - now he is on his way to Twickenham; the margins are fine.

Stuart Barnes
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And so the West Country uprising was quelled as Wasps and Leicester muscled to yet another Twickenham grudge final.

Last season Wasps defied the odds and smashed the Tigers in the Heineken Cup final while Leicester memories will be fresh of Martin Johnson and Neil Back's farewell final when Lawrence Dallaglio and his team didn't so much rain as monsoon on their parade.

A few years on and it is Wasps who want to send their great man off with a trophy and Martin Corry, his perennial foe, determined to wreck the celebrations.

These sporting cycles come around quickly. One man who will be missing from the scene is Danny Cipriani whose awful ankle injury is the first setback of what looks set to be as dazzling a career as Dallaglio's has been iron willed. It is a blow to the man, the team (especially with Dave Walder injured) and country.

The Tigers, only a fortnight ago were tearing themselves to pieces as they failed to recognise the difference between a crisis and a cyclical downturn.

Under the much maligned Marcelo Loffreda the Tigers managed five points less in the regular Premiership season from his time of joining to the conclusion of the season than did Pat Howard.

One more win than Howard achieved and he is a champion coach. Two weeks ago he may have thought he was on his way out - now he is on his way to Twickenham; the margins are fine.

This weekend could be another rugby tightrope journey between those equally magnificent but contrasting rugby cultures of Munster and Toulouse.

Watching the Premiership semi finals reminded me just how important the club's winning culture and experience is. In the Heineken semi finals both Saracens and London Irish had chances to win but like the West Country pair at the weekend, neither did as the hardened (almost serial) winners sneaked victory at one venue and defended their lead with massive determination and savvy at the other.

Toulouse have the edge in terms of winning finals but Munster have the mighty memories of beating another French team, Biarritz, last time the final was in Cardiff.

I suspect the Irishmen will have to be better than they were that day to win - the opponents are certainly tougher - but Munster thrives on challenges. Who will win? I have no idea, as a neutral I intend to savour the occasion, I hope you can do the same.

Email Stuart here

UNDER THE POSTS
STUART BARNES ANSWERS YOUR EMAIL...

WAITING IN THE WINGS
Hi Stuart, Tom Varndell... is it a case of love him or hate him? I tend to be a big fan of the Leicester wing and believe him to be the best wing in the Premiership at the moment, although both Topsy Ojo and Paul Sackey are excellent themselves. Why oh why then has he been overlooked for the senior squad for the NZ tour? I firmly believe he should have gone instead of Topsy and that Topsy should be going to North America. What are your thoughts on this and how do you rate Tom? Tony Davies

STUART REPLIES: Tony, I do not think it is a case of love or hate Tom Varndell but a matter of assessing his relative strengths and weaknesses. Martin Johnson has done exactly this and come to the opinion that Ojo has a better case for New Zealand; I agree with Johnson, Ojo's big match performance against Toulouse was stunning and backs up a superb six months where he has created more than he has scored whereas Varndell is a fine finisher but lacks in other important areas. I think the wing selection is right and I neither love or hate either wing. It is not personal.

GLOST IT?
Stuart. Is it fair to say that, rather than Leicester winning the Premiership semi-final, it was Gloucester who lost it through the odd moment of madness? Unfair as it may be to single out individuals (both of whom, as a whole, made very positive contributions to a thoroughly enjoyable spectacle), I'd refer specifically to (a) Marco Bortolami - who needlessly infringed in the second half, allowing Leicester back into the game (you referred - perhaps somewhat generously - to the penalty which led to Tuilagi's try as "sloppy"), and (b) Ryan Lamb - who, with four minutes to go before the final whistle, and Gloucester two points ahead following Walker's drop goal, chose to run from just outside his 22 rather than kicking it deep; not to talk, of course, about Ian Balshaw... Gabe Fadu

STUART REPLIES: Gabe, All true what you say but hand it to Leicester who knew how to win in the tightest of corners. Georden Murphy was phenomenal and Andy Goode was ice cool. Knock-out games are about managing tension; the Tigers achieved it and therefore won it for themselves as much as Gloucester failed and ultimately lost. Sport is not about one or other side winning it or losing it, its the whole exciting package. I have touched further on this subject in the column.

LOOPY LOOP-HOLES?
Stuart, I have no idea of a solution but did Wasps not get /could have got a theoretical double advantage from uncontested scrums. With Lipman off they would be able to put out a more mobile pack. Does this mean that it is in weaker scrummaging sides or teams packed with back row forwards interest to have the fewest allowable front row replacements? I guess whilst there is no evidence of anyone exploiting this deliberately it is OK. However as we have seen with Martin Pipe in jump racing sooner or later someone will exploit all loop holes. Of course in Rugby itself back row play generally is about finding out what the referee will allow in terms of light grey areas. Jonathan da Silva

STUART REPLIES: Hold on Jonathon, Martin Pipe is a personal friend; but thinking about it I guess your comments are a double edged comment; the smart guys find the loop holes. Wasps have been smarter than most in recent years but in this instance the injury was a real one. Having said that, only last night after the game, I was chatting with Miles Harrison and the pair of us were shaking our heads at the fact that the IRB have introduced 23 new laws without addressing this loop hole. I like your description of `light grey areas'. Too many people see sport and life in purely Manichean black and white terms.

Thanks, again for the mail

Onwards to the Heineken Cup final for what I hope will be an epic,

Stuart Barnes

Email Stuart here