The pandemic and some of the French and English power brokers have seemingly been intent on diminishing what was once a great tournament but despite off-field coups, unfulfilled promises and bemusing formats the Champions Cup’s capacity for generating deliciously mouthwatering scripts remains undimmed.
So it is that Ronan O’Gara will renew acquaintances with Munster in the Round of 16 on the first weekend of April. Results in the final fourth round of pool games ensured La Rochelle will entertain Munster while Leinster will host Harlequins in a tie they will look to move to Croke Park. But Rog v Munster. Rog and Munster centre stage. Somehow you sensed it might come to this.
Ulster’s reward, as such, for squeezing through the back door into the Round of 16, courtesy of Friday’s 52-24 bonus point win over Exeter, is a tie away to Bordeaux-Begles, who beat Richie Murphy’s team 40-19 in Belfast in round two last month.
Connacht secured top seeding in the Challenge Cup with their 28-19 bonus point win in Cardiff on Friday night, so earning potential home ties all the way through to the final. They will host Gloucester in the Round of 16, with the possibility of a quarter-final at home to Perpignan or Bath.
After discussions with broadcasters and teams, the organisers, EPCR, will confirm dates and kick-off times on Wednesday.
On a wild and wacky weekend of landslide wins, taut thrillers and eye-catching surprises, Diarmaid Kilgallen’s second try in the 79th minute of Munster’s 34-32 loss earned two bonus points in Northampton that left the Irish side best of the third-placed sides and so ranked ninth and consigned to an away tie.
Glasgow would have been their likely destination but for La Rochelle’s surprise 32-25 loss to Benetton in Treviso, which ultimately ensured they finished as the worst of the pool runners-up, ie seeded eighth, and so O’Gara will host his former province.
During his one-team career, the one-time Munster legend scored an all-time record haul of 2,625 points for his native province, playing in four Heineken Cup finals and having a key role in the 2006 and 2008 triumphs.
Leinster’s 47-21 win over Bath at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday ensured they topped Pool 2. It was always likely that Bordeaux/Begles would overtake them and so they did, responding to an early 12-0 deficit at home to the Sharks with 66 unanswered points and 10 tries; Damian Penaud sauntering in for six of them.
Toulon would have needed a bonus point win by an unlikely 37 points or more away to Sale in the concluding pool game on Sunday evening to move ahead of Leinster in the seedings. In the event, Sale’s 26-7 bonus point win over Toulon earned them qualification at the expense of Racing 92, so denying Stuart Lancaster a clash against Leinster, and meaning Harlequins will travel to Croke Park instead.
In securing a coveted top two seeding for the third season in a row, Leinster thus earned the prospect of potential home ties all the way through to the final again.
Significantly too, Leinster are now in the opposite half of the draw from the free-scoring French duo of Bordeaux Begles and Toulouse, who eviscerated Michael Cheika’s Leicester on Sunday 80-12 to set up a home Round of 16 tie against Sale.
La Rochelle and Munster are also in that half of the draw. The winners of that tie will be away to Bordeaux or Ulster, with the winners of Toulon and Saracens meeting Toulouse or Sale.
For their part, Leinster supporters can start plotting another hoped-for home route to the final, with the Harlequins tie followed possibly by Glasgow or Leicester in the quarter-finals and any of Northampton, Clermont, Castres or Benetton in the semi-finals.
The biggest surprise of the weekend was Castres ending a 21-game losing streak away in the competition, dating back to 2012, by beating Saracens 32-24, so earning a home tie against Benetton instead of the three-time champions.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s always great,” said Cullen in the aftermath of Leinster’s win over Bath and in expectation of securing that top two seeding.
“Yes, as many things as you can control as possible is useful. It’s not the be-all and end-all but you need to make it count. But I’m sure our supporters are appreciative that the games will be at home, hopefully. So, we just need to worry about the next game which is Stormers, not the last 16,” he said with a hearty laugh, in reference to next Saturday’s URC game against the Cape Town-based side.
Targeting a top two seeding had been understood more than stated all along, the first step from the outset of last week being to simply win the game.
“It’s a step-by-step process,” said Cullen. “Play with the right attacking intent but get the balance right between being aggressive in carries but not just looking for the space too early and playing ourselves into trouble.
“Maybe we did that in the first half, [we were] much better in the second half and some opportunities start to come off the back of that. Then you can start to push on.
“We’d scored the fourth try and we were only five points clear at that stage. The message would have been on that if we won a penalty, kick another three points. We’re not looking to score another try and not get it.
“As it happened, we scored a fifth try, sixth try, and seventh try. So that’s pleasing that the bench have the right intent to understand what needs to be done at that stage.”
As they usually do, Leinster found a way, opening up their horizons and giving themselves the best chance possible once again.
Champions Cup last 16 draw:
Bordeaux Begles v Ulster - Stade Chaban-Delmas
La Rochelle v Munster, Stade Marcel-Deflandre
Toulon v Saracens - Stade Mayol
Toulouse v Sale Sharks - TBA
Leinster v Harlequins - TBA
Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers - Scotstoun Stadium
Northampton Saints v Clermont - Franklin’s Gardens
Castres v Benetton - Stade Pierre-Fabre
Ties played April 4th to 6th.
The quarter-finals:
Bordeaux/Ulster v La Rochelle/Munster
Toulon/Saracens v Toulouse/Sale Sharks
Leinster/Harlequins v Glasgow/Leicester
Northampton/Clermont v Castres/Benetton
Ties to be played April 11th to 13th
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