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The marksman, the strike runner and the hot favourites: 14 Champions Cup factoids
Be it the tournaments leading strike runner or the most accurate boot in comp, the return of the Champions Cup provides a much-needed dose of normality in an increasingly unpredictable sporting world.
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Leinster enter the quarter-finals fresh from securing the PRO14 title, defeating Ulster in what was largely a bloodless coup in Dublin on Saturday night. They face European nemesis, Saracens, who are keen on what head coach Mark McCall has described as the first ‘meaningful’ match for some time. For their troubles, Ulster face a tough assignment away to Toulouse, while Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints face off in an all-English showdown at Sandy Park on Sunday. Clermont and Racing, just a handful of weeks after returning to competitive rugby, will duke it out at the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin.
Ahead of the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals, the ECPR have published their previews statistics and facts, 14 in total.
14 CHAMPIONS CUP FACTOIDS
Five tournament winners with 13 Heineken Champions Cup titles between them remain in contention for silverware this season.
On the only other occasion in 2017/18 that Leinster qualified as the No 1-ranked club from the pool stage they went on to lift the trophy, defeating Racing 92 in the final in Bilbao.
Exeter and Northampton are going head-to-head for the first time in the tournament. Sunday’s all-Premiership showdown at Sandy Park will be the Chiefs’ second quarter-final appearance and their first at home.
Ulster, who travel to Toulouse, have won one of their four away quarter-finals when they famously defeated Munster 22-16 at Thomond Park in 2012.
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Exeter’s Joe Simmonds has a 93% goalkicking success rate from 27 attempts during his six pool stage appearances.
Toulouse have qualified for the knockout stage for the 18th time, equalling Munster’s tournament record.
The Leinster-Saracens clash is a repeat of the 2018 quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium won 30-19 by Leinster, however, Saracens exacted revenge with a victory in last season’s final in Newcastle.
Virimi Vakatawa of Racing 92 has the highest total of defenders beaten from the pool stage with 39.
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The only time ASM Clermont Auvergne lost a home quarter-final match was in 2018 against Racing 92 who are back at Stade Marcel-Michelin on Saturday looking for a repeat of that impressive 28-17 success.
The only previous meeting in the knockout stage between Toulouse and Ulster was in Belfast in the 1998/99 season when Ulster pulled off a famous 15-13 quarter-final victory before going on to win the competition. Current Toulouse president, Didier Lacroix, and High Performance Manager, Jerome Cazalbou, played in the match.
Home clubs have a 76% success rate in the 92 tournament quarter-finals played to date.
If selected, Courtney Lawes of Northampton Saints and Exeter’s Ian Whitten will make their 50th tournament appearances on Sunday.
Leinster’s quarter-final will be the club’s 175th tournament match.
Racing’s Teddy Thomas, Sam Simmonds of Exeter and Leinster’s Garry Ringrose are this season’s joint top try scorers with six apiece.
CHAMPIONS CUP MATCH KICK OFF TIMES:
Leinster v Saracens (Saturday, 16.00)
Clermont Auvergne v Racing 92 (Saturday, 18.30)
Toulouse v Ulster (Sunday, 13.30)
Exeter v Northampton (Sunday, 18.30)
Comments on RugbyPass
I hope Leinster’s proud of themselves fielding a poor team. They should decide if they’re all in or not.
1 Go to commentsJordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
24 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
6 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
6 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to comments