The Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup group stages reach a crescendo with the final round of pool stage matches over the coming weekend.
The Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup group stages reach a crescendo with the final round of pool stage matches over the coming weekend.
Each pool has teams who have already booked their place in the round of 16, but who will now be jostling for the top two positions, so as to guarantee home advantage when the tournament returns after the Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
Then there are those teams who are fighting for a place regardless of whether they will be at home or away.
It all adds up to a fascinating final round of pool matches, and this is what ATR will be keeping its eye on…
Pool 1 – Glasgow’s For The Taking
Glasgow Warriors have been imperious form and have secured three impressive victories from three to top the pool with a full 15 points to book their place. They’ve won away to Sale Sharks and Clermont Auvergne and pulled out a comeback for the ages to defeat Toulouse at home.
It means they will be in confident mood when Saracens comes to town, but such was the Londoners showing as they beat Toulouse in round 3 that the idea they could storm Scotstoun Stadium starts to grow. Add in that two of Glasgow’s players announced that they were off to France in the summer – Adam Hastings to Montpellier and Huw Jones to Toulon – and they may be feeling a little shaken.
That could mean the already qualified Sale could pounce, and if they do it could mean that, with the other (Natal) Sharks at home to a weak Clermont Auvergne, Toulouse might not reach the knockout rounds. At first glance it seems a long shot, and while Sale Sharks are returning to form, the home crowd will focus Toulousain minds to stop the remarkable comes to pass.
Pool 2 – Bath’s To Lose
It is tight at the top of Pool 2, with two points separating Bath in first place, Edinburgh in second, and Toulon in third. The English champions have the chance to wrap up first place when they take on Edinburgh at The Rec on Friday, with the other four teams facing off on Saturday evening.
A win for Edinburgh would shake up the standings and give Toulon the chance to drag Bath out of the top two. They are only a short jaunt up the M5 from Bath, against Gloucester, and while the Cherry and Whites are no fans of the Blue, Black and Whites, they are level with Munster on six points, so any win would at least guarantee they maintain their run in Europe this season.
Munster at home should have enough to see off Castres, especially as scrumhalf Craig Casey’s shoulder injury wasn’t as bad as first feared. Castres have seem nonplussed by the competition, so to expect them to pull off any surprise result is perhaps stretching the imagination too far, especially at Thomond Park.
Pool 3 – Stormers Seeking To Make Amends
Leinster and Harlequins may have booked their places, something which is likely to have caused a fair few double takes down at Twickenham Stoop, but while the Dubliners may feel secure at the top of the table and a single point needed to book a home match in the Round of 16, Harlequins will be looking over their shoulder at the team they flogged last time out.
Few would have predicted Quins would stick 61 points on United Rugby Championship (URC) leaders The Stormers, but that is what they did at Twickenham Stoop. La Rochelle away won’t be as accommodating, especially as they will be busting a gut to not let another result slip.
Bayonne haven’t enjoyed their first Champions Cup campaign, and plenty of eyebrows will head north if they turn over Leinster. That leaves Leicester, away to a, presumably, reinforced Stormers and not always the best travellers. Still, they have a chance with flyhalf Billy Searle in the form of his life, and the way they have grown under Geoff Parling mean that if they have a sniff, then they will chase it all day.
Pool 4 – Gunning For Top Spot
With the top three already booked into the round of 16, attention switches to who will finish top, where defending champions Bordeaux-Begles are currently sitting, one point ahead of Bristol Bears, who they take on at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
Both sides were rampant last weekend, Bordeaux-Begles at home to Northampton Saints, and the Bears away to the Bulls in Pretoria. So good was the Bears’ pack that Bordeaux-Begles are unlikely to run over them as they did Northampton. If the Bears need any more of a boost, then they will have Gabriel Ibitoye available after reregistering him this week.
While the winner will take top spot in England’s west country, fans of both sides will be keeping an eye on events in the East Midlands, where Northampton are ready to pounce and claim second place, and that much sought after home knockout fixture.
Phil Dowson’s team take on the demoralised Scarlets but are likely to be without three of their England internationals, Fin Smith, George Furbank, and Fraser Dingwall all likely to be sitting this one out.
That just leaves the Bulls, who travel to France to take on Pau on Friday night. They are bottom but victory, and the Saints likely win over Scarlets would give them a place in the round of 16. Don’t write off Pau mind, they will have a fervent crowd behind them, determined to extend their maiden Champions Cup run, and in Theo Attissogbe they possess a very strong running threat from fullback.
Lions Hunting Zebre
Like something out of a wildlife documentary, the Black Lions will be trying to pounce on a herd of Zebre in Pool 1. The sole Georgian side will be flush with confidence after their first win of the season a week ago, away to US Montauban, and are now chasing the Italian side who sit four points ahead of them.
Zebre, who have won twice this season will look to Italy flyhalf Giacomo De Re to keep them in contention against a side who faded in the last quarter but dug deep to win. For Black Lion, expect number eight Giorgi Sinauridze to make himself known and the main focal point for putting his side on the attack.
In Lyon, last year’s beaten finalists are in danger of missing out on the knockout rounds. They require a bonus point win over Benetton, who have already booked a home round of 16 match, all while requiring the losing side in the USA Perpignan and Lions clash to finish without a point.