Report from Gerry Thornley ...
The pandemic and some of the French and English power brokers have seemingly been intent on diminishing what was once a great tournament, but despite off-field coups, unfulfilled promises and bemusing formats the Champions Cup’s capacity for generating deliciously mouth-watering scripts remains undimmed.
So it is that Ronan O’Gara will renew acquaintances with Munster in the Round of 16 on the first weekend of April. Results in the final fourth round of pool games ensured La Rochelle will entertain Munster while Leinster will host Harlequins in a tie they will look to move to Croke Park. But Rog v Munster. Rog and Munster centre stage. Somehow you sensed it might come to this.
Ulster’s reward, as such, for squeezing through the back door courtesy of Friday’s 52-24 bonus pint win over Exeter into the Round of 16 is a tie away to Bordeaux Bègles, who beat Richie Murphy’s team 40-19 in Belfast in round two last month.
Connacht secured top seeding in the Challenge Cup with their 28-19 bonus-point win in Cardiff on Friday night, so earning potential home ties all the way through to the final. They will host Gloucester in the Round of 16, with the possibility of a quarter-final at home to Perpignan or Bath.
After discussions with broadcasters and teams, the organisers, EPCR, will confirm dates and kick-off times on Wednesday.
On a wild and wacky weekend of landslide wins, taut thrillers and eye-catching surprises, Diarmaid Kilgallen’s second try in the 79th minute of Munster’s 34-32 loss earned two bonus points in Northampton left the Irish best of the third-placed sides and so ranked ninth and consigned to an away tie.
Glasgow would have been their likely destination but for La Rochelle’s surprise 32-25 loss to Benetton in Treviso, which ultimately ensured they finished as the worst of the pool runners-up, ie seeded eighth, and so O’Gara will host his former province.
During his one-team career, the one-time Munster legend scored an all-time record haul of 2,625 points for his native province, playing in four Heineken Cup finals and having a key role in the 2006 and 2008 triumphs.
Leinster’s 47-21 win over Bath at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday ensured they topped Pool 2. It was always likely that Bordeaux Bègles would overtake them and so they did, responding to an early 12-0 deficit at home to the Sharks with 66 unanswered points and 10 tries; Damian Penaud sauntering in for six of them.
Toulon would have needed a bonus-point win by an unlikely 37 points or more away to Sale in the concluding pool game on Sunday evening to move ahead of Leinster in the seedings. In the event, Sale’s 26-7 bonus point win over Toulon earned them qualification at the expense of Racing 92, so denying Stuart Lancaster a clash against Leinster, and meaning Harlequins will travel to Croke Park instead.
In securing a coveted top two seeding for the third season in a row, Leinster thus earned the prospect of potential home ties all the way through to the final again.
Significantly too, Leinster are now in the opposite half of the draw from the free-scoring French duo of Bordeaux Bègles and Toulouse, who eviscerated Michael Cheika’s Leicester on Sunday 80-12 to set up a home Round of 16 tie against Ulster.
La Rochelle and Munster are also in that half of the draw, with the winners of that tie away to Bordeaux or Ulster, with the winners of Toulon and Saracens meeting Toulouse or Sale.
For their part, Leinster supporters can start plotting another hoped-for home route to the final, with the Harlequins tie followed possibly by Glasgow or Leicester in the quarter-finals and any of Northampton, Clermont, Castres or Benetton in the semi-finals.
END OF LIVE BLOG
The final Champions Cup last 16 draw:
- Bordeaux Begles v Ulster – Stade Chaban-Delmas
- La Rochelle v Munster, Stade Marcel-Deflandre
- Toulon v Saracens – Stade Mayol
- Toulouse v Sale Sharks – TBA
- Leinster v Harlequins – TBA
- Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers – Scotstoun Stadium
- Northampton Saints v Clermont – Franklin’s Gardens
- Castres v Benetton – Stade Pierre-Fabre
Ties played April 4th to 6th.
The quarter-finals:
Bordeaux/Ulster v La Rochelle/Munster
Toulon/Saracens v Toulouse/Sale Sharks
Leinster/Harlequins v Glasgow/Leicester
Northampton/Clermont v Castres/Benetton
Ties to be played April 11th to 13th
Munster now have the mammoth ask of probably having to beat La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Toulouse away to make the final, ouch! Ulster if they beat Bordeaux are in that nightmare part of the draw too.
Leinster meanwhile are on a softer side of the draw now, and will target a place in the final with all home games ahead.
That means Leinster will play Harlequins in the last 16.
Sale score two more tries and get the bonus point! Sale force the turnover inside their own half as Serin drops the ball. O’Flaherty is the fastest to react and races down the left-hand touchline and scores. That would knock Racing 92 out of the competition.
It’s 14-0 to Sale now after 54 minutes, becoming very unlikely that Toulon will overtake Leinster in the table, which means home games through to the final for the Irish province.
If Sale can win with two more tries, Racing 92 will go out and Sale will finish third in their group and play Toulouse in the next round. Leinster would play Harlequins then. Toulon would play Saracens.
At half-time it’s a low-scoring affair in England as Sale Sharks lead Toulon 7-0. They will be looking to get a bonus point to keep their hopes alive in the Champions Cup.
The permutations for Leinster from the final game between Toulon and Sale Sharks which is 0-0 at the moment.
If Toulon win with a bonus point, scoring 37 more points than Sale: Leinster will play Racing 92
If Toulon win without a bonus point or less than 37 points: Leinster will play Racing 92
If Sale Sharks win with bonus point: Leinster will play Harlequins
If Sale Sharks win without bonus point and by less than 25 points: Leinster will play Racing 92
Munster will play La Rochelle, it is confirmed, at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre in April. Ronan O’Gara going up against the province he had such a successful career with!
The confirmed games so far:
Bordeaux Begles v Ulster – Stade Chaban-Delmas
Castres v Benetton – Stade Pierre-Fabre
Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers – Scotstoun Stadium
La Rochelle v Munster, Stade Marcel-Deflandre
The final standings in the first three pools:
Pool 1:
- Bordeaux 20 points 141 PD
- Toulouse 19 points 163 PD
- Leicester 11 points -15 PD
- Ulster 5 points -61 PD
- Sharks 5 points -87 PD
- Exeter 1 point -141 PD
Pool 2:
- Leinster 18 points 59 PD
- La Rochelle 11 points 23 PD
- Benetton 11 points -26 PD
- Clermont 10 points 8 PD
- Bath 7 points -12 PD
- Bristol 7 points -52 PD
Pool 3:
- Northampton 16 points 31 PD
- Castres 14 points 19 PD
- Munster 12 points 27 PD
- Saracens 11 points 20 PD
- Bulls 5 points -29 PD
- Stade Francais 5 points -68 PD
A stunning result again for high-flying Toulouse as they put 80 points on Leicester Tiger, a 80-12 victory for Antoine Dupont’s team, but as they are in the same pool as Bordeaux they will go into the second group of seeds. Castres have beaten Saracens away from home, 32-24, so they will finish second behind Northampton in Munster’s group, with Munster finishing third.
Three Irish teams will be in the last 16 of the Champions Cup after Ulster’s surprise qualification despite being heavily beaten in three matches in the Pool stage. The Irish province’s progression seemed highly unlikely but an impressive 52-24 victory over Exeter in Belfast on Friday night gave them a chance to sneak into the last 16 mathematically if the Sharks lost by more than 28 points in France.
Bordeaux Bègles duly delivered and showed why they will be number one seed and are top of France’s Top 14 with 66-12 thrashing of the South African side, who bow out of the competition. That’s the good news. The bad news is they have to play Bordeaux Bègles away in the last 16, a team that beat them 40-19 in Belfast, and would go into that match as rank outsiders.
For the other two it depends on other results, but Munster could play La Rochelle when the dust settles. Leinster’s final position could be affected by the late match between Sale Sharks and Toulon. We will keep you posted on other results in the Champions Cup this evening.
The last 16 matches will take place from April 4th, after the conclusion of the Six Nations.
