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gaffney
Saracens director of rugby Alan Gaffney
Saracens ready for double helping of Ospreys
22 January 2008, 4:52 pm
Saracens coach Alan Gaffney is looking forward to facing Ospreys twice in a fortnight with European and Anglo-Welsh honour at stake – with the tantalising possibility of facing his former team Munster in the Heineken Cup semi-finals.
The North London side qualified as the number one seeds for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, with a home tie against the Ospreys at the beginning of April as their reward. The winner will get a semi-final in their country against Gloucester or Munster.

That will come just a fortnight after Saracens and the Ospreys have faced each other in the semi-finals of the EDF Energy Cup at the Millennium Stadium.

No ALT tag specifiedListen to full interview with Alan Gaffney

“We could not rely on getting through our group, Biarritz were second favourites for the whole tournament at the start and are still running third in the French championship so it cannot be all wrong there,” said former Munster coach Gaffney.

“We have not got an easy quarter-final, but then again which game would be?

“The Ospreys will be very, very tough. I have a lot of knowledge from years gone by, knowing what a good side they were two to three years ago and the fact they have added a lot of depth since then.

“To go to Bourgoin and win, Bourgoin do not lie down at home, you would take because it is a very difficult place to play so they have done exceedingly well.

“To think we will be playing them a fortnight apart is interesting in itself. We will be playing them down here in the Millennium Stadium which will be a challenge.

“They will be coming off the Six Nations and will not have been together while we have no-one in the England team so we will have been together.

“In one sense that is good, but in another it is bad because we have to make sure our players will have enough rest to that come March and April they are in fine fettle.

“I am not trying to look beyond that, but somewhere at the back of my mind it says that if we do happen to beat the Ospreys and Munster do happen to beat Gloucester at Kingsholm, we will be up against each other.”

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