Former Heineken Cup winning captain Pat Lam could be forgiven for letting his heart rule his head when asked about who were the likely candidates for this season's semi-finals.
The first non-European to captain a winning team, the former Samoan skipper led Northampton Saints to glory at Twickenham Stadium in 2000 when they beat Munster. Lam was in Europe during the Autumn Test window working with Samoa and he gave his over-view of the current Heineken Cup campaign.
"The beauty over here is no teams are the same and every team has its own style. That's what makes the Heineken Cup such an awesome competition," said the former Auckland coach.
"You have to get through the Pool stages and, once you are in the top eight, anything can happen. Ulster are looking good at the moment and then you have the usual suspects like Toulouse and Leinster. I still support the Saints and I've been keeping an eye on them. It was a shame they lost to Castres Olympique, but they can still do it.
"Ulster have got two of my former Auckland players, John Afoa and Jarred Payne, and Leinster's key guy is another Aucklander in Isa Nacewa. He helped us win two championships and is an incredible player."
To see the full interview with Pat Lam
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