Henry sounds cautious note to Welsh jubilation

Graham Henry hailed the Welsh clubs' five-star showing on a magnificent Heineken Cup weekend, but then warned: "Don't get carried away."

Graham Henry hailed the Welsh clubs' five-star showing on a magnificent Heineken Cup weekend, but then warned: "Don't get carried away."

Swansea's victory in L'Aquila yesterday made it five wins out of five for the Welsh élite over the weekend and ensured they retained one of only two 100 per cent records after three rounds of the 24-team cup.

Pontypridd kicked-off proceedings on Friday by becoming the first Welsh club to beat the English champions, Leicester, in the competition.

Suitably inspired, Cardiff hammered the current Zurich Premiership leaders, Saracens, 32-23 at Vicarage Road the following day. Newport pipped Castres by a point at Rodney Parade and Llanelli ran in five tries in their 46-0 demolition of Roma.

That left Swansea to complete the clean sweep and they duly obliged in Italy as they held onto their top spot in Pool Two with a 70-6 victory.

"I think this is all very positive and gives Welsh rugby a lot of confidence," said Henry. "We've had a very positive opening three rounds to the Heineken Cup and 11 victories in 15 matches is a good return. But the important thing is to realise we are in this position after three rounds and not six.

"I was pleased to hear the Cardiff coach, Lynn Howells, say after the win at Saracens that it would mean little or nothing if they didn't improve and beat them again on Friday.

"Pontypridd had a great win over Leicester on Friday, but they now face a very tough trip to face them again away from home on Saturday. We are inclined to get carried away at times so it's vital that we finish stronger even than we have started in the tournament and get as many Welsh clubs as possible into the quarter-finals.

"The élite competitions like the Super 12 and the Heineken Cup are the best possible preparation for international rugby. The performances of the Welsh clubs and players in the Heineken Cup are giving us a nice problem with our selection for the national sides.

"We've got greater strength now than we've had for some time and in many positions we have a number of alternatives. Just look at the loose-head prop situation, where there are at least four candidates."

Henry will sit down with his selection panel today to pick a squad to prepare for the Wales XV game against New Zealand A on 10 November and a full international against Samoa the next day.

Elsewhere in the Heineken Cup yesterday, Glasgow Caledonians fell 46-24 to Pau. Caledonians looked to have set up victory when they nosed in front 17-13, but two quick Pau tries ended their resistance. Three Mark McKenzie penalties in the first nine minutes gave Caley a 9-3 lead, but Pau went in front when Eric Gouloumet powered through weak tackling.

The first half was prolonged following a 20th-minute neck injury to the Pau centre Charles Cistacq, who was carried off on a stretcher.

After the re-start Caledonians took the lead with a try by Alan Bulloch after lead-up work from Carlo Di Ciacca, but they were deflated by two tries from David Arrieta.

In the last five minutes they leaked three more scores through Damien Traille, Guillaume Combes and Aurillac, who finished with five conversions. Caley closed the game with a consolation try by Gordon Simpson, which was converted by McKenzie.

An injury-time try by James Topping salvaged a 35-35 draw against Toulouse for a brave Ulster side after they had trailed by 14 points at full-time. The Irish side struck back with two long-range tries from Topping, and David Humphreys held his nerve to convert the last score to earn a creditable draw.