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Defending champions Exeter face possible Leinster/Toulon quarter-final as European draws are finally made
Reigning Heineken Cup champions Exeter face a round-of-16 date with Lyon and a potential heavyweight quarter-final clash against either Leinster or Toulon at Sandy Park. The Chiefs discovered their European opponents as the competition’s revised knockout phase saw two draws made in Lausanne.
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Leinster and Toulon have seven Champions Cup titles between them, with the Irish province having won four European crowns and the French club three. Two-time winners Wasps were the only English club guaranteed home advantage after winning both pool games on the field, with results not impacted by Covid-19.
Wasps, winners in 2004 and 2007, will host Clermont Auvergne with the winners playing Munster or four-time winners Toulouse at home in the last eight. Bristol will travel to Bordeaux-Begles in the last 16, the Bears having beat the French side on their way to win the Challenge Cup in 2020. The winners will be at home to Racing 92 or Edinburgh in the last eight.
Gloucester welcome La Rochelle to Kingsholm in the round of 16 and victory will secure a home tie against either Scarlets or Sale, who must head to west Wales for their knockout clash.
The pick of the Challenge Cup last-16 ties sees Ospreys host Newcastle and the Dragons entertain Northampton. Cardiff Blues, tournament winners in 2018, travel to London Irish and Bath visit Zebre in Italy.
? Watch the 2020/21 #HeinekenChampionsCup and #ChallengeCupRugby Knockout Draws LIVE from Lausanne as the teams find out their path towards the Final ?
Who are you hoping your side will draw??@premrugby @top14rugby @PRO14Official https://t.co/rqeDcdxBLN
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) March 9, 2021
The draw for the quarter-finals were also made in Lausanne and there are three potential all-Gallagher Premiership ties. Northampton-Harlequins, Bath-London Irish and Leicester-Newcastle are all possible last-eight clashes. The rounds of 16 will be staged from April 2-4 with the quarter-finals set for the following weekend on April 9-11.
FULL DRAW
Champions Cup round of 16: Munster v Toulouse, Gloucester v La Rochelle, Wasps v Clermont Auvergne, Exeter v Lyon, Leinster v Toulon, Bordeaux-Begles v Bristol, Racing 92 v Edinburgh, Scarlets v Sale.
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Champions Cup quarter-final: Exeter or Lyon v Leinster or Toulon, Wasps or Clermont Auvergne v Munster or Toulouse, Gloucester or La Rochelle v Scarlets or Sale, Bordeaux-Begles or Bristol v Racing 92 or Edinburgh.
Challenge Cup round of 16: Dragons v Northampton, Ospreys v Newcastle, London Irish v Cardiff, Harlequins v Ulster, Benetton v Agen, Zebre v Bath, Leicester v Connacht, Montpellier v Glasgow.
Challenge Cup quarter-final: Montpellier or Glasgow v Benetton or Agen, Dragons or Northampton v Harlequins or Ulster, Zebre or Bath v London Irish or Cardiff, Leicester or Connacht v Ospreys or Newcastle.
"He is going to come to training this week but it would be a big call. We’ll just see how he goes"
– Premiership leaders Bristol have turned to a school-going rookie to see if he can measure up this week #PremRugby #BRIvWAShttps://t.co/4jATYXa67i
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments