POOL TWO
Clermont have been quite brilliant, winning four from four. How the travelling hordes must have loved winning against Saracens at Allianz Park, considering how much pain Saracens have inflicted on them over the years. With Fritz Lee and Peceli Yato in the back row and incredible firepower up front they look insanely good and will surely top it.
When this crazy group was drawn I advised Northampton and Ospreys to take the ticket money and enjoy selling burgers. The Saints could not even sell the tickets, but Ospreys have clung in there and have a real sniff of second place. Their match with Saracens tomorrow is arguably the tie of the round, and defeat for the back-to-back champions would almost certainly see them evicted from the competition.
But we have seen the Ospreys stumble at the last too many times, and Saracens are still – despite their indifferent end to 2017 – ruthless enough to nail down “must-win” games. With that in mind I have to go with a Saracens win in South Wales, followed by a romp at home against the Saints to finish second behind Clermont.