Quantcast
Channel: Gloucester Citizen Latest Stories Feed
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10556

Biarritz clash will show how far we have come – Mike Tindall

$
0
0

BIARRITZ will provide Gloucester with a Heineken Cup yardstick, believes Mike Tindall.

Player/backs coach Tindall is disappointed not to square up to old friend Iain Balshaw in Thursday night's keenly-anticipated Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final at Kingsholm (kick-off 8pm).

Tindall's ex-Gloucester and Bath team-mate Balshaw will miss out through a knee injury, but former Kingsholm favourite Dimitri Yachvili is expected to marshal the men from the Basque country.

Gearing up for a classic European tussle, Tindall reckons Thursday's last-eight tie will show Nigel Davies' men just how far they have developed this term.

After Friday night's hugely-impressive 17-15 Premiership victory over league champions Harlequins, Tindall believes the Cherry and Whites are ready to jump straight back to top form.

The 34-year-old has admitted Gloucester will invoke the spirit of last term's tub-thumping 34-24 victory over Toulouse at Kingsholm on Friday, January 20, 2012 this week.

Tindall expects the Kingsholm atmosphere to rival the 16-3 Heineken Cup quarter-final home defeat to Munster back in April 2008.

He explained: "Thinking about Biarritz coming back here gets me thinking about that quarter-final against Munster in the Heineken Cup.

"Kingsholm was bouncing that day, and it will be the same again on Thursday.

"We've had some great games against Biarritz in the past – then you throw in the return of the likes of Balsh and Yach who are loved by the fans, and you know there will be a warm welcome for them.

"But at the same time you know it's going to be fierce and ferocious.

"And it's a Heineken Cup-standard quarter-final.

"It's a great barometer of our progress, and a great challenge for us.

"Toulouse last year was fantastic, and we'll look back at that a little this week – that's a great example of how you want to approach and play big games like this.

"If we could put on a similar display to that on Thursday, then I think we'll have a pretty good night."

Calling on Gloucester to repeat their 23-8 victory over Biarritz at Kingsholm in January 2010, Tindall admitted he would have relished taking on good pal Balshaw.

French half-back stalwart Yachvili enjoyed a year at Kingsholm in 2001, and Tindall expects the 32-year-old to be a big threat this week.

He continued: "I'm gutted that Balsh won't be involved, I was seriously looking forward to locking horns with him out on the field.

"He'll be here in any case and it will be good to catch up, but I think we'll both miss not having that head-to-head battle.

"It definitely brings something different when you line up against friends, it's always an intriguing dynamic.

"Biarritz play that typical French style that's that little bit less structured than the English way.

"But it is very dangerous if you let it get the better of you.

"Yach is a great player, he's their leader in many senses on the attacking front, he's very dangerous and someone who can really cause you problems."

■ GLOUCESTER have extended the early-bird ticket discount for Thursday's Biarritz clash by 24 hours.

Cherry and Whites supporters can take advantage of a £4 ticket discount until tomorrow night at 6.30pm.

Season ticket holders are entitled to a £5 discount, as long as they beat tomorrow evening's deadline.

For tickets log on to www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk or call 0871 871 8781.

Biarritz clash will show how far we have come – Mike Tindall


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10556

Trending Articles