There’s plenty of South African interest in the Champions Cup with the Bulls taking on Lyon while the Stormers face La Rochelle. Darry Worthington previews these and more.
The Heineken Cup moves into its Round of 16 stage this coming weekend and there are some absolutely cracking fixtures in store with the highlights seeing the Stormers taking on reigning champions La Rochelle in Cape Town while Toulouse squaring off with Racing 92 in an all-French affair.
Friday 5 April
Harlequins 39/100 | Draw 22/1 | Glasgow 43/20 (21:00)
We kick things off in London where the Harlequins will welcome Scottish URC outfit, the Glasgow Warriors, to the Twickenham Stoop. The hosts enjoyed a solid time of it in the pool phase finishing second in Pool 2 which also featured a stacked Toulouse outfit that topped the table.
Glasgow found the going tougher in their pool phase campaign with the Scots finishing third in Pool 3 behind ‘Quins fellow Gallagher Premiership peers the Northampton Saints and the Exeter Chiefs.
With the Heineken Cup pool phase ending in January, it’s pretty prudent to have a look at both teams’ recent domestic form. The Warriors are on a hot streak winning their last four domestic fixtures, with their most recent win being last weekend’s 3-45 victory over the Scarlets.
The hosts for Saturday’s encounter are on a far more patchy run of form with their last four games seeing them register two wins and suffer two heavy defeats. They were involved in an absolute thriller this past weekend, beating a top-class Bath outfit 40-36.
Verdict: Harlequins 39/100
Their form may be rather patchy but I’m backing the hosts to get the job done here. Marcus Smith is in good form and when he’s at his best, ‘Quins are an almighty prospect to face.
Saturday 6 April
Bulls 1/11 | Draw 28/1 | Lyon 13/2 (13:30)
We make the long trip from London to Pretoria for our next encounter which will see the Bulls play host to Lyon at Loftus.
Jake White’s side were decent enough in the pool phase finishing second in Pool 1 with three wins from their four games. They were struggling in the URC at this point as well so it was pretty impressive to see them turn things around in Europe.
They were on something of a hot streak in the URC up until last weekend beating the Lions (twice), the Stormers and the Scarlets before going down 47-14 to Irish juggernauts Leinster this past weekend.
Lyon were also involved in Pool 1 and came through as one of the third-placed teams in the pool phase with a narrow 28-29 home win over the Bulls being one of their two victories.
The visitors for Saturday’s encounter have also given a decent account of themselves on the domestic front of late winning four of their last six games. All these wins did come at home, however.
Verdict: Blue Bulls
Lyon travel poorly and Loftus is always a difficult venue. I can see the Bulls making short work of their French opponents.
Exeter 12/10 | Draw 20/1 | Bath 71/100 (16:00)
The first of this weekend’s two derby encounters sees Exeter and Bath square off at Sandy Park. Both sides are battling it out for semi-finals on the domestic front so there’s going to be a bit of added spice to this one for sure.
Exeter had a decent enough pool phase campaign finishing second behind domestic foes Northampton in Pool 3. Exeter did register some impressive wins in a tough pool beating Toulon 18-19 in France and Munter 32-14.
Bath didn’t have as easy a time when it came to qualifying for the knock-out phase as they advanced as one of the third-placed sides finishing behind Toulouse and Harlequins in a very competitive Pool 2.
In terms of the the sides’ recent form, Bath are scoring freely but also conceding a load at the minute and have lost two of their last three domestic fixtures going down 57-44 to Bristol and 40-36 to ‘Quins while beating Sale 42-24.
Exeter have also endured two defeats in their last three fixtures going down 40-22 to Saracens and 41-5 to Sale while beating Newcastle 25-16.
Verdict: Exeter 12/10
While I reckon the home side will get the win, I think it will be a super-tight fixture as both sides will look to tighten up their defences having conceded a boatload of points on the domestic front in recent weeks.
Stormers 23/20 | Draw 20/1 | La Rochelle 74/100 (16:00)
Back to South Africa for our next clash which should be an absolute cracker with a very strong Stormers team playing host to defending Heineken Champions Cup champions, La Rochelle.
The Stormers were in arguably the toughest pool as they were paired up with last year’s finalists La Rochelle and Leinster as well as a very handy Leicester outfit. They managed to come through it finishing second in the pool while registering wins over Stade 20-24 and 31-24 over Sale.
The men from South Africa’s Western Cape have enjoyed some decent recent form beating the Sharks (21-25), Edinburgh (43-21) and Ulster (13-7). They did suffer a defeat during this run going down 40-22 to the Bulls at the start of March.
La Rochelle were the team to finish third in Pool 1 with wins over Leicester and Sale seeing them through. They’ve been in decent nick in the Top 14 winning three of their last five fixtures. They do tend to struggle on the road, however, losing their last four domestic away games.
Verdict: Stormers 23/20
I fancy the hosts to take this one comfortably. They are a good side who tend to excel on home soil while La Rochelle tend to struggle on the road.
Bordeaux 2/7 | Draw 22/1 | Saracens 29/10 (18:30)
Back to mainland Europe for our next instalment which sees French Top 14 outfit Bordeaux play host to North London side, Saracens.
Bordeaux had a very tidy pool phase campaign topping Pool 1 and registering wins over Connacht (5-41), Bristol (36-17) and this weekend’s opponents (55-15). Their only defeat came at the hands of the Bulls who they lost to 46-40 at Loftus.
Saracens had a bit of a harder run of it in the pool phase finishing fourth in Pool 1 with only two wins from four outings with their victories coming over Connacht (55-36) and Lyon (39-24). They also went down 7-16 away to the Bulls.
The visitors had been in decent touch in the Gallagher Premiership up until this weekend where they went down 41-30 away to Northampton. Before that, they had registered wins over Harlequins (52-7) and Exeter (40-22).
Bordeaux also head into this one off of a domestic defeat having gone down 27-10 to Lyon this past weekend.
Verdict: Bordeaux 2/7
While I can’t see the North Londoners winning, I can see them making it a proper fight.
Leinster 1/16 | Draw 33/1 | Leicester 8/1 (21:00)
Saturday’s final fixture sees last year’s runners-up Leinster take on Gallagher Premiership side Leicester. The hosts, who are enjoying a great season, are hot favourites with the bookmakers to take this clash and rightly so considering how they breezed through the pool phase of the tournament.
As touched on above, Leinster went four from four in the pool phase beating Leicester, Stade Francais, Sale and La Rochelle with their narrowest winning margin being by seven points against the reigning Heineken Cup champs.
Leicester had a more complex path to the play-offs finishing fourth in a very competitive Pool 4 with just two wins from their four fixtures with those victories coming over the Stormers (35-26) and Stade Francais (24-27).
The hosts have been in good touch of late as well winning their last four URC games with their latest win being last Saturday’s 47-14 drubbing of the Bulls. Leicester also come into this one off a domestic win beating Newcastle 13-19.
Verdict: Leinster 1/16
The hosts will be far too good at the Aviva for the Tigers to contend with. Money on a big home win this Saturday.
Sunday 7 April
Northampton 37/100 | Draw 22/1 | Munster 9/4 (13:30)
Moving to the first of Sunday’s two fixtures and we have Munster making the short trip to England to tackle Gallagher Premiership leaders, the Northampton Saints.
The hosts are enjoying a brilliant season across all competitions winning ten of their domestic fixtures and topping Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup with four wins from four starts including impressive away victories over Munster (23-26) and Glasgow (19-28).
While Northampton walked the pool phase, Munter just snuck through courtesy of an 18-29 win over Toulon and a 17-17 home draw with Bayonne. While it was far from an impressive pool run, Munster have picked up some decent form since winning their last four URC games with their latest victory coming against Cardiff (20-15) this past weekend.
Northampton have produced a bit more of a mixed bag of late on the domestic front beating Newcastle 38-15 and Saracens 41-30 while going down 52-21 away to Bristol. They do tend to produce the goods on home soil though.
Verdict: Northampton 37/10
I reckon it will be another tight old affair here and while I expect the hosts to advance to the next round, I reckon Munster will keep them very honest.
Toulouse 2/15 | Draw 28/1 | Racing 5/1 (16:00)
The curtain will close on the first set of knock-out fixtures with arguably the game of the weekend as Top 14 rivals Toulouse and Racing 92 lock horns.
Toulouse were their usual no-nonsense selves in the pool phase winning all their fixtures on the way to topping Pool 2 registering wins over Bath, Ulster, Cardiff and Harlequins. Their dominance was evident with their points differential being the best in the pool phase with +109.
Racing did it the hard way in Pool 2 finishing fourth with only one victory and three losses. Their win came against a poor Cardiff side whom they beat 38-26.
Toulouse have been a bit hit-and-miss on the domestic front of late winning only two of their last four fixtures. They do head into this one off a 31-29 win against Pau.
Racing have been in better touch of late losing one of their four fixtures. They head into Sunday’s encounter having beaten Clermont 26-10.
Verdict: Toulouse 2/15
Home soil usually seals it in the Top 14 and I reckon it’ll be the same in the Heineken Cup. I’ll be backing the straight win here as the handicap seems well set.
