We head into round 3 of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup with the pools beginning to take shape and teams eyeing top spot and a guaranteed home round of 16 fixture.
We head into round 3 of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup with the pools beginning to take shape and teams eyeing top spot and a guaranteed home round of 16 fixture.
There are some thrilling contests across the weekend, notably two repeats of recent finals, while a number of pretenders to Bordeaux-Begles’ crown have the chance to demonstrate their credentials.
There are also some huge matches for the teams trying to stay in contention at the top of the pools, while for two sides, there is likely to be a first win (drawing aside) in this year’s campaign.
Here’s what ATR thinks you should keep an eye on this weekend.
Ding, Ding! Round 2
We have a real box office clash in Pool 4 when Bordeaux-Begles host Northampton Saints in a repeat of last season’s final. Remember that? An absolute classic at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
There was no love lost with the Bordeaux-Begles players citing Saints’ young gun Henry Pollock and his pulse check celebration as some sort of incentive to win their first major trophy of the professional era. Many a photo emerged of their players copying it, while Jefferson Poirot later copped a two-week ban after grabbing the number eight around the neck during a scuffle on the final whistle.
In reality, there is more than pride and revenge at stake this week. The teams share top spot with two wins from two, and victory would leave the winner in a great position to top the pool and guarantee home advantage in the round of 16 and quarterfinals.
Northampton have juggled their resources very well over Christmas and are currently first in Gallagher PREM Rugby. Bordeaux-Begles have endured wobbles on the road, but remain strong at home, as Toulon and Racing 92 can attest to in recent weeks. Plus, they have Mathieu Jalibert in raging form, and tournament leading scorer with 28 points.
Friends Reunited
Leinster and La Rochelle have enjoyed a brief, but red-hot history, based on two dramatic finals – a late smash and grab in Marseille and a comeback from 17-0 down in Dublin - and Ronan O’Gara. Of course, the final victories went La Rochelle’s way, but right now it is the Dubliners who look the most likely to reach the final this year.
Leo Cullen’s side have partly scratched the Champions Cup itch that has irked them since winning in Bilbao in 2018, with victory in the United Rugby Championship (URC) grand final last season, but Champions Cup glory is the ultimate aim.
Leinster have won their last five URC matches, that along with their two Champions Cup wins mean they are on a run of seven wins. LA Rochelle are just outside the Top 14 playoff places but have not hit the heights of 2022 and 2023 for a while. They beat Bayonne and Toulon over the festive period but were also on the end of a walloping from Toulouse.
It all depends on how Munster legend and now La Rochelle head coach O’Gara rallies his troops. He knows and has admitted that he will kop some earache from the Dublin crowd, but he knows the more he receives, the better his team is playing.
On The Road To Glory?
A good result from a tricky away fixture can have a dazzling effect on a team’s performance. Just ask Northampton Saints, who rode their win away to the Bulls in Pretoria to a place in the final last season.
Glasgow Warriors have looked very good this season and top Pool 1. Their fans still talk about their win at home to Toulouse in the last round of matches and they now travel to Clermont Auvergne. While the team isn’t as powerful as it once was, the Stade Marcel Michelin (he of the tyre dynasty) is still a bear pit when the crowd get going. A win there will be a real test of their credentials.
In Pool 3 the Stormers face Harlequins in southwest London, and it is likely to attract a few of the South African diaspora. The Stormers top the URC and are riding a crest of a wave with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu extending his contract and Siya Kolisi returning to the Western Cape.
Harlequins are in disarray and their top brass have been doing the rounds to explain their troubles. They have lost all six matches since the end of the November internationals with the 66 points they shipped to Northampton Saints the worst yet. It will be long odds on a Quins win, and with good reason.
For Bath, the tournament has been curious. A win at home to Munster was followed by a pummelling from Toulon. Yet they are top of Pool 2, and a win over Castres, who lost to Glocester, but beat Edinburgh, could set their season going. It won’t be easy, but Bath’s squad should have enough to dampen the Castres crowd and come home victorious. It is time to start showing why they are the English champions.
Cheetahs Lair
It is fair to say that the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs haven’t yet set the Challenge Cup alight, but on Sunday they will produce one of the best backdrops to the weekend’s action. They host Ulster at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam and have sold out all 5,000 tickets.
Part of the Challenge Cup’s remit is to give smaller teams and less heralded rugby areas the chance to experience some of the action, and in selling out they have played their part. Alas, they can’t control their opposition, with Ulster in strong form as their win over Munster in the URC last Friday shows.
On Saturday Stade Francais welcome Exeter Chiefs to Stade Jean Bouin in a clash of teams reborn this season. Stade are third in the Top 14, just as Exeter are in the PREM. They both have previously unheralded flyhalves in Lionel Carbonel, and Harvey Skinner who have grabbed this season to show what they can do behind beefed up packs.
Up in England’s northeast there is another Anglo-French clash between two teams that have struggled this season, but who may be using the tournament to turn their form around. After winning two from two in the Challenge Cup Newcastle Red Bulls earned their first PREM bonus point, and then their first victory (with a bonus point). Heady days indeed. They have also announced a notable pair of signings in Josh Hodge, and Rusi Tuima.
For Perpignan, their win over Clermont got them off the mark in the Top 14, and they are now looking up after defeating Toulouse at home. Argentine flyhalf Benjamín Urdapilleta came out of retirement to help Perpignan, and he is the type of wise old head the Red Bulls could have used this season. Will he work his magic at Kingston Park?