Rugby: Stade Lausanne aim to feast on Bern

It would take an outrageously rash or unbelievably thick punter to bet against a convincing Stade Lausanne victory at home to Bern on Saturday in the Swiss A League. Nonetheless, Lausanne coach Andy Whitlow remains cautious.

“We don’t know what to expect, they started the season off well and then faded away,” he said – a microcosm of the Bern game it seems. “They always come out strong in the first 15 minutes or so and then it’s up to us to break them down,” he told Swisster.

“We’re not being complacent; it's our first game at home for a long time and we’re looking to get that five points to create a cushion before we head into the winter break,” he added. Four points are awarded for wins, with a bonus for scoring four tries or more.

Meanwhile Bern coach, Eugene Edmondson, is having to make do with the available resources. "We have quite a few injuries at the moment and we can't put out our best team. However, we've seen a big improvement over last season and have a long-term project to build over the next two years," he told Swisster.

And the fitness issue? We're working it, and in the last couple of games we've been coming back and playing some of our best rugby in the final 20 minutes or so," he said.

Hermance welcome the uninspiring but effective Yverdon on Saturday, a match that could prove to be a spectator’s nightmare as Sporting director Carter Croft told Swisster. “They’re like a swarm of bloody locusts if you let them in.”

“At home we have a good chance of beating them, but their coach is a canny so-and-so and he’s got them doing the simple things well,” he said in reference to Yverdon’s Marcelo Gauna, whose streetfighter’s cunning has engineered the downfall of other favoured sides in the past.

One area of concern for Hermance: “We have to work on our goal-kicking which has been letting us down,” said Croft.

After losing by one point in Yverdon last weekend, CERN team manager Beren Evans is in a quandary about what to expect from the visiting Zurich Grasshoppers.

“We haven’t played them for three or four years, it is definitely going to be a challenge and we’re looking forward to it but we don’t know too much about them,” said Evans who says he’s found an answer to CERN’s goal-kicking headache, an issue which let Geneva PLO off the hook several weeks ago. “We’ve got a very reliable kicker now, so things are looking up on that side.”

It’s fair to say that Zurich’s 2009/10 campaign remains firmly etched on the drawing board. With just five points from four matches, they’ve desperately been missing influential skipper Josh Bjornson, who told Swisster he’s aiming to return from a knee injury and play the last 20 minutes of the match.

”I’ve been training for the last few weeks; I haven‘t felt anything bad and am very positive. It’s been hard to watch from the sidelines. Being up front and leading by example, you can have an influence on the way other people are playing as well,” he said – an ominous sign for CERN? We’ll see.

Meanwhile Sunday sees Swiss champs Geneva PLO at Nyon who’ve had their ups and downs this season as well – mostly downs. And although they took out some of their frustration on Bern last weekend with a 24-11 victory, Geneva will be itching to relieve their own disappointment after their recent and hard-fought defeat at home to Lausanne.