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The bookies' four favourites for the Champions Cup and other talking points
The Heineken Champions Cup will see teams from three leagues – Gallagher Premiership, Guinness PRO14 and French Top 14 – battle it out to be crowned kings of Europe this season.
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Here, the PA news agency looks at how the competition might pan out and who are the players to watch as the tournament swings into action.
The format
The Champions Cup has increased to 24 teams this season, comprising two seeded pools of 12. Each side plays four group games – against two opponents home and away – in December and January. The top four teams in each pool will secure quarter-final places, with those matches being played over two legs in April. Sides that finish fifth to eighth in each group will form the European Challenge Cup round of 16 alongside eight Challenge Cup qualifiers. The finals of both competitions take place at Stade Velodrome in Marseille on May 21 and 22.
The contenders
European title holders Exeter could again be the team to beat. Their memorable victory over French challengers Racing 92 in last season’s final saw them become England’s sixth different European Cup-winning club, and they have made a blistering start to the current Premiership campaign, posting three successive bonus point victories. Paris-based Racing again look well-equipped, along with record four-time European champions Leinster and Toulouse, but with just four group fixtures, the margin for error is tiny.
The dark horses
Rugby union’s European Cup has been contested for 25 seasons, but the fact that only 12 teams have won it underlines an acute degree of difficulty. Of those former winners, nine are among the title hopefuls this time around, and the bookmakers’ odds strongly suggest the champions will come from Leinster, Exeter, Racing or Toulouse. But a host of challengers are lining up behind them, including twice winners Wasps, who were Premiership finalists last season, another double European champion in Irish heavyweights Munster, and perhaps the strongest dark horse of all – Bristol – on their European Cup return after a 12-year absence.
Vive la France!
France boasted the inaugural European Cup winners when Toulouse, inspired by Thomas Castaignede, triumphed at Cardiff Arms Park in 1996. Just two other French clubs – Brive (1997) and Toulon (2013-2015) – have won the tournament since then, but it would be no surprise if they featured strongly this time. The French national team has been revitalised under head coach Fabien Galthie, finishing second in last season’s Six Nations and then being beaten by England during extra-time in the Autumn Nations Cup final five days ago. If clubs like Toulouse, Racing, Bordeaux-Begles and current Top 14 leaders La Rochelle can thrive against the back-drop of that feelgood factor, then a first French winner since 2015 could easily materialise.
The players to watch
European Cup rugby has always been a stage for many of the world’s leading players to showcase their ability, and this season will be no exception. Fresh from helping England win the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup, stars like Jonny May, Henry Slade, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill now prepare for the Champions Cup arena, with Scotland captain Stuart Hogg, Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton, France’s Six Nations player of the tournament Antoine Dupont and South African World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Cheslin Kolbe also among those aiming to make an impression. It promises to be pure box-office.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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 …
29 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
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 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.
29 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
29 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments