Italian clubs braced for more punishment from England in Amlin Challenge Cup

 
11 October 2013

London Irish and London Wasps can inflict more European pain on Italian rugby in the Amlin Challenge Cup tournament.

Irish taken on I Cavalieri Prato at Reading tomorrow night having won all 10 previous matches against Italian clubs averaging 46 points a game while Wasps travel to Stadio Luigi Zaffanella on Saturday to face Rugby Viadana, who have never beaten English opposition.

These statistics highlight the weaknesses in the European system that allows clubs with very little chance of making an impact to feature in the pool stages.

I Cavalieri Prato have been defeated in all four of their matches against English opponents in this tournament and are yet to win a game in the Amlin Challenge Cup, having lost 12 in a row.

Irish will rest some of their key players and Brian Smith, the Irish director of rugby, said: “We have a very skinny squad, a lot of injuries and have played some tough teams. Going off to the Amlin we have a feel-good factor, we can rotate the squad a bit, have a couple of those blokes play well and put pressure back on the starters for when we come back to the Premiership, ready to go to war again.”

Rugby Viadana have lost all 10 of their matches against English sides. Wasps have won all eight of their clashes against Italian opposition in the Amlin, averaging 49 points per game. Their biggest victory in this tournament came against another Italian side, Rugby Mogliano, in January when they triumphed 71-7.

The man who brought down Lance Armstrong believes the war on drugs in cycling is being won.

Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, led the fight to expose the doping cheat, who was eventually stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year.

Tygart said: “Clean athletes have more chance in cycling to be successful than they ever have.”

Brought to you by Amlin, proud sponsors of European rugby, in their fifth season as Title Partner of the Amlin Challenge Cup and Premium Partner of the Heineken Cup.

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