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Everything at stake, pool by pool, in this weekend's Heineken Champions Cup

By Online Editors
Leinster Rugby made Heineken Champions Cup history by qualifying for the knockout stage with two rounds of pool matches remaining

As the Heineken Champions Cup takes centre stage again this weekend, we look at what’s at stake in each pool.

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Leinster, Exeter Chiefs, Ulster Rugby and Toulouse all have four wins to date. Racing 92, who top a highly-competitive Pool 4, are unbeaten with three wins and a draw.

Watch all the European Champions Cup action live on RugbyPass in Asia and Australia.

POOL 1

Leinster Rugby made Heineken Champions Cup history by qualifying for the knockout stage with two rounds of pool matches remaining, and the four-time champions are now on track to secure a home quarter-final.

Northampton Saints on nine points still have a chance to join them despite having just two wins from four in Pool 1.

Northampton Saints’ Dan Biggar, this season’s top scorer with 57 points, has a 95% place kicking success rate with 20 kicks on target (12 penalties, 8 conversions) from 21 attempts.

Josh van der Flier of Leinster is the top tackler to date with 73 from his four matches, and only one missed attempt. Leinster’s Garry Ringrose is the leading try scorer with 6 following his hat-trick against Northampton Saints in Round 4, to add to his treble against Benetton Rugby in Round 1.

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POOL 2

Exeter are one of four clubs with a 100% win rate in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, along with Leinster, Ulster and Toulouse. The Chiefs’ current four-game winning run is their best in Europe’s top flight.

Exeter Heineken Champions Cup
Exeter are on the brink of a QF spot.

If Exeter manage to continue that run, they will be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals for the second time in their history. The Chiefs have won their last two away games and are aiming to win three in a row on the road for the first time in European competition.

This will be the sixth meeting between Glasgow and Exeter Chiefs in the Heineken Champions Cup. The Warriors have won three of the previous five clashes, including both home games.

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Glasgow have won nine of their last 11 home games against Gallagher Premiership opposition, with only Saracens and Northampton Saints managing to win at Scotstoun in that spell.

POOL 3

Both Ulster and ASM Clermont Auvergne remain in contention to qualify as winners of Pool 3, on 17 points and 16 points respectively, although neither can officially do it this weekend.

Clermont and Ulster have met five times previously in the Heineken Champions Cup, with each game won by the home side on the day (Clermont W2, Ulster W3).

Heineken Champions Cup
John Cooney in action for Ulster against Clermont. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Clermont have won 30 of their last 31 home pool games in the Heineken Champions Cup (L1 v Bordeaux-Bègles). Meanwhile the Ulstermen have won four of their last five away games in the tournament, more than they’d won in their previous 13 games on the road (W3, L10).

The French side are the top points scorers (152) this season, with the joint most tries (20, level with Leinster).

Ulster are the only side yet to concede a try in the opening 20 minutes this season, however, no one has scored more than Clermont in the opening quarter of their fixtures (6, level with Leinster).

Clermont and Ulster are two of just four clubs yet to be shown a card of any colour to date, along with Lyon and Toulouse.

POOL 4

Racing 92 who host Munster Rugby are guaranteed to join Leinster Rugby in the quarter-finals if they win their match in Round 5.

Munster lie in second with 11, with Saracens just one point behind them in third.

Zebo running
Simon Zebo pounced for Racing’s try bonus point in their win over Ospreys (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

The Racing 92 pair of Teddy Thomas and Juan Imhoff lead the clean breaks category with 12 and 11 respectively.

Saracens’ Richard Wigglesworth will make his 90th tournament appearance if selected for Saturday’s match against the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium. The three-time Heineken Champions Cup winner has made 65 appearances for Saracens and 24 for Sale Sharks.

POOL 5

Toulouse who travel to Connacht Rugby, are guaranteed to join Leinster Rugby in the quarter-finals if they win their Round 5 match against the men from the west.

Ntamack try scorer
Romain Ntamack got the Toulouse show on the road going versus Montpellier (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Remarkably Gloucester Rugby, who are still in the hunt for qualification from Pool 5 despite registering just one win, have the most bonus points to date with 5.

Gloucester are in second in the pool on 9 points, with Connacht third on 8.

Ellis Genge spoke to the Rugby Pod over the festive period in a brilliantly candid call. He spoke to Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode about his contract negotiations at Leicester Tigers, and the way that he deals with scrutiny on Twitter.

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Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

36 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

36 Go to comments
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FEATURE Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby? Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?
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