Champions Cup 1/4 Finals - 9th/10th April

First topic message reminder :

Top Half

Winers of these two 1/4 finals will meet at the Madjeski in Reading


Saturday 9th April 15:15 Wasps (4) v Exeter (5) BT Sport
Ref: Romain Poite

Recent Form (since Round 6)
Wasps - P10, W9, L1
Exeter - P10, W6, L4

Wasps have been in scintillating form including a massive win at Saracens. Exeter have been more patchy, with two defeats to Saracens since their win over Ospreys sealed the 1/4 final spot. Teams have met once in the AP so far, with Chiefs winning at the Ricoh.

Teams

Wasps
15. Charles Piutau; 14. Christian Wade, 13. Elliot Daly, 12. Siale Piutau, 11. Frank Halai; 10. Jimmy Gopperth, 9. Dan Robson; 1. Matt Mullan, 2. Carlo Festuccia, 3. Jake Cooper-Woolley, 4. Joe Launchbury, 5. Kearnan Myall, 6. James Haskell, 7. George Smith, 8. Nathan Hughes
16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Lorenzo Cittadini, 19. Bradley Davies, 20. Thomas Young, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Ruaridh Jackson, 23. Rob Miller

Exeter Chiefs
15. Lachlan Turner; 14. Jack Nowell, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ian Whitten, 11. Olly Woodburn; 10. Gareth Steenson, 9. Will Chudley; 1. Ben Moon, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Moray Low, 4. Mitch Lees, 5. Geoff Parling, 6. Don Armand, 7. Julian Salvi, 8. Tom Waldrom
16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Alec Hepburn, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Damian Welch, 20. Dave Ewers, 21. Dave Lewis, 22. Michele Campagnaro, 23. James Short


Saturday 9th April 17:45 Saracens (1) v Northampton (8) Sky Sports
Ref: Jerome Garces


Recent Form
Saracens - P10, W6, L3, D1
Northampton - P10, W6, L4

Both sides have beaten the other away from home in the AP.

Teams

Saracens
15. Alex Goode; 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Duncan Taylor, 12. Brad Barritt, 11. Chris Wyles; 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Richard Wigglesworth; 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Schalk Brits, 3. Petrus du Plessis, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. George Kruis, 6. Jackson Wray, 7. Will Fraser, 8. Billy Vunipola
16. Jared Saunders , 17. Richard Barrington, 18. Titi Lamositele, 19. Alistair Hargreaves, 20. Michael Rhodes, 21. Neil de Kock, 22. Marcelo Bosch, 23. Ben Ransom


Northampton Saints
15. Ben Foden; 14. Ken Pisi, 13. George Pisi, 12. Luther Burrell, 11. Jamie Elliott; 10. Steve Myler, 9. Kahn Fotuali'i; 1. Alex Waller, 2. Mikey Haywood, 3. Paul Hill, 4. James Craig, 5. Christian Day, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. Ben Nutley, 8. Teimana Harrison
16. Reece Marshall, 17. Campese Ma'afu, 18. Gareth Denman, 19. Victor Matfield, 20. Michael Paterson, 21. Tom Kessell, 22. JJ Hanrahan, 23. Harry Mallinde



Bottom Half

The location of the semi final for winners in the bottom half is much more complicated. Easiest thing to say is a Leicester/Racing semi would be held at the City Ground, Nottingham - otherwise the semi will be in France.


Sunday 10th April 13:45 Leicester (2) v Stade Francais (7) BT Sport
Ref: Nigel Owens

Recent Form:
Leicester - P10, W5, L5
Stade - P8 W2, L6

Each side won at home when these two met in the Pool Stages

Teams

Leicester Tigers
15. Matthew Tait; 14. Telusa Veainu, 13. Peter Betham, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Vereniki Goneva; 10. Freddie Burns, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Marcos Ayerza, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Dom Barrow, 5. Graham Kitchener, 6. Michael Fitzgerald, 7. Brendon O'Connor, 8. Lachlan McCaffrey
16. Greg Bateman, 17. Logovii Mulipola, 18. Fraser Balmain, 19. Ed Slater, 20. Tom Croft, 21. Sam Harrison, 22. Owen Williams, 23. Adam Thompstone


Stade Francais Paris
15. Djibril Camara; 14. Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 13. Geoffrey Doumayrou, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Jérémy Sinzelle; 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Julien Dupuy; 1. Zurabi Zhvania, 2. Remi Bonfils, 3. Rabah Slimani, 4. Hugh Pyle, 5. Alexandre Flanquart, 6. Jonathan Ross, 7. Raphael Lakafia, 8. Sergio Parisse
16. Craig Burden, 17. Dany Priso, 18. Paul Alo Emile, 19. Paul Gabrillagues, 20. Willem Alberts, 21. Julien Tomas, 22. Jules Plisson, 23. Hugo Bonneval


Sunday 10th April 16:15 Racing 92 (3) v Toulon (6) Sky Sports
Ref: Wayne Barnes

Recent Form:
Racing - P8, W5, L3
Toulon - P8, W5, L3

Both teams have beaten the other away from home, most recently being Toulon's win in Paris 8 days ago.

Teams

Racing 92
15. Brice Dulin; 14. Joe Rokocoko, 13. Johannes Goosen, 12. Alexandre Dumoulin, 11. Juan Imhoff; 10. Dan Carter, 9. Maxime Machenaud; 1. Eddy Ben Arous, 2. Dimitri Szarzewski, 3. Luc Ducalcon, 4. Luke Charteris, 5. Francois van der Merwe, 6. Wenceslas Lauret, 7. Bernard Le Roux, 8. Chris Masoe
16. Camille Chat, 17. Khatchik Vartanov, 18. Martin Castrogiovanni, 19. Yannick Nyanga, 20. Manuel Carizza, 21. Mike Phillips, 22. Remi Tales, 23. Marc Andreu


RC Toulon
15. Delon Armitage; 14. Josua Tuisova, 13. Maxime Mermoz, 12. Ma'a Nonu, 11. James O'Connor; 10. Matt Giteau, 9. Jonathan Pelissie; 1. Florian Fresia, 2. Guilhem Guirado, 3. Manasa Saulo, 4. Mamuka Gorgodze, 5. Romain Taofifenua, 6. Juan Smith, 7. Charles Ollivon, 8. Duane Vermeulen
16. Jean-Charles Orioli, 17. Xavier Chiocci, 18. Levan Chilachava, 19. Steffon Armitage, 20. Mathieu Bastareaud, 21. Tom Taylor, 22. Eric Escande, 23. Thibault Lassale

Rugby Fan wrote:Exeter reminded me a lot of Leicester at their most resilient. Scoring tries from close range possession, and forcing the opposition to doubt their own ability.

Almost worked for them but they just couldn't get the extra a score to douse Wasps' hopes.

It does occur to me that not many of the English qualified players stood out today. Waldrom got tries, George Smith got steals, Piutau scored, and Gopperth got that key conversion at the end.

Launchbury did well but Nowell, Slade, Wade etc had few chances to shine.

Rob Baxter very magnanimous in defeat. No blame or complaints about the disallowed try.

what disallowed try?

Exeter's last try should never have been given as the guy clearly dropped it short and forward then regathered as it crossed the line,

Rugby Fan wrote:
It does occur to me that not many of the English qualified players stood out today. Waldrom got tries, George Smith got steals, Piutau scored, and Gopperth got that key conversion at the end.

That struck me as well. Daly featured well and Launchbury soldiered on through but Haskell, Mullen and Hughes all struggled.

Wade attempted to get into the game but a lack of Wasps fluency under tremendous Chiefs pressure and the fact that the back line has not been consistent meant he was not going to see much ball.

LondonTiger wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:Exeter reminded me a lot of Leicester at their most resilient. Scoring tries from close range possession, and forcing the opposition to doubt their own ability.

Almost worked for them but they just couldn't get the extra a score to douse Wasps' hopes.

It does occur to me that not many of the English qualified players stood out today. Waldrom got tries, George Smith got steals, Piutau scored, and Gopperth got that key conversion at the end.

Launchbury did well but Nowell, Slade, Wade etc had few chances to shine.

Rob Baxter very magnanimous in defeat. No blame or complaints about the disallowed try.

what disallowed try?

Exeter's last try should never have been given as the guy clearly dropped it short and forward then regathered as it crossed the line,

Parling went over in the corner but the pass was judged forward. I think that was the right decision.

Exeter's earlier try was good, but a close run thing. I think he lost his grip, but kept his hand on the ball long enough, that he had sufficient contact at the line for it to be a try.

Myler just missed a penalty to draw level with Saracens. If he's off target today, then it will be tough for Saints.

Fraser draws a yellow card after slow motion makes him look like a serial killer.

Myler makes a mess of the kick. Not good news for Saints.

What a muck up

Looked like a try for Saints but he dropped it over the try line. Three scoring opportunities for them gone begging.

Barnes making the point that George North would have scored that try.

Two pretty simple pens missed, and two guaranteed tries butchered.

Saints are hanging themselves here

So Saints have missed two kicks and dropped the ball over the line so far... hmmm.

It's weird sometimes to listen to commentary, they were praising Nutley for his break when his failure to give a simple offload cost them them a try under t1he posts in the first place. And then a winger messes up a try because he's carrying the ball in the wrong hand. Basics really

Saracens look good, everyone is running good lines in support and they're offloading the ball really, really well. Hard to imagine them being as forgiving as Saints when they get these chances.

Ken Pisi finally gets points for Saints. They are ahead now but you wonder how long Saracens will keep giving these chances.

3-7 to Saints

Harrison having a stormer

Time to sit back and be smug as I talked up Harrison last week, and he's proving me right here.

Yellow card takes Saracens from 3-0 up to 6-7 behind.

yappysnap wrote:Time to sit back and be smug as I talked up Harrison last week, and he's proving me right here.

Never heard of him before. He looks classy.

Saints should be out of site after 20 minutes, schoolboy errors and naivety have cost them dear

Saints turndown the penalty kick in favour of an attacking lineout but blow it.

Feel like Saints will be made to pay for their profligacy in the second half.

should that have been yellow, deliberately taking a man out?

Notch wrote:Feel like Saints will be made to pay for their profligacy in the second half.

I know what you mean. Saints have just gone 6-10 ahead but it still feels like I'm watching a morality play.

Fantastic end to the Wasps v Exeter game. You could have heard a pin drop in the stadium as that last conversion was taken.

I thought Exeter looked the best team for most of it and probably should have made more of their possession. A great last 10 minutes for Wasps though.

I hadn't thought about it, but this is a good match to compare Fraser and Harrison, Harrison may be playing 8, but he is really a 7 and plays very much in the Aussie mould.

Nutley seems to have woken up to be the player we always hoped he would be.

Well so far at least.

Long way to go yet.

Can't help but think 4 points isn't enough to hold Sarries off and they'll come out firing. Myler may rue those missed penalties and saints might regret that lineout balls up.

Rugby Fan wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:
what disallowed try?

Parling went over in the corner but the pass was judged forward. I think that was the right decision.

Exeter's earlier try was good, but a close run thing. I think he lost his grip, but kept his hand on the ball long enough, that he had sufficient contact at the line for it to be a try.

Ah that one. As Poite blew well before Parling crossed the line not technically a disallowed try I guess. That was about the point I thought Poite switched from favouring Exeter to favouring Wasps though (even if that call was correct)

Rugby Fan wrote:

Notch wrote:Feel like Saints will be made to pay for their profligacy in the second half.

I know what you mean. Saints have just gone 6-10 ahead but it still feels like I'm watching a morality play.

I just can't see Saracens letting this game pass them by without firing a shot. They've been so muted, but they're sitting in the changing room thinking about everything they stand to lose and everything they stand to gain- I believe they will have a purple patch at some point. 4 points isn't enough.

I am streaming so picture quality is poor, but is Myler putting on weight, he looks more like a 7.

Saints lucky there

I can't remember Sarries making so many errors, is it the pressure that Saints are putting on or an off day?

To be fair I think it's a bit of both. They do seem to be having an off day but saints are brilliant at the breakdown

That Saints 9 is sooooo slow!!

He's putting Northampton under all kinds of pressure as he gets his set square out and makes sure his forwards are at right angles.

Get Khan off, and up the speed Saints or you'll lose this.

You're making Micky Young look like a lighting quick no9!

Unfortunately Dickson is injured, so we have no one to put pace on the game

Silly by the ref not to stop that earlier. Could be clearly seen someone had a possible head injury

Saints with 4 locks on the field, can't say they are underpowered, just slow.

With only one proper backrow on the field I can see Saints getting slaughtered now

How can the ref allow the ball to be put into a moving scrum.

Having said that, with Denman on, the scrum is always moving. Although it is usually in a downward direction.

Brutal by Sarries

Just STUPID

The score won't reflect the game tbh.

Northampton missed too many points in that first half then the injuries took their toll. They should be proud of the fight they gave though.

Sarries, if they start that badly against wasps they'll be smashed.

Hanrahan needs to have a brain transplant, as well as hands and feet

Shock! Surprise! Itoje gets MoM, I wonder how many days before the game Barnes decided he'd be getting the award?

Good to see them get the try at the death.

Commiserations Saints.

Now for the big game of the weekend!!

Yappy, I thought we had had that this afternoon.

yappysnap wrote:Shock! Surprise! Itoje gets MoM, I wonder how many days before the game Barnes decided he'd be getting the award?

Thought he was very quiet bar one or two runs and a lineout steal. Bit of a bizarre call.

yappysnap wrote:Shock! Surprise! Itoje gets MoM, I wonder how many days before the game Barnes decided he'd be getting the award?

Surprise surprise. He was itching to do it.

I'm a bit slow, which game are you on about yappy

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Hanrahan needs to have a brain transplant, as well as hands and feet

You can take the man out of Munster, but you can't take Munster out of the man.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Hanrahan needs to have a brain transplant, as well as hands and feet

You can take the man out of Munster, but you can't take Munster out of the man.

Unfortunately!!!

Despite being on the losing team, Harrison absolutely deserved the MOTM award. He was quite literally the man of the match, but for some reason the award can only be given to the winning team, contrary to its original meaning.

I would much rather have Wilson at 10 or 21, he is capable at least. HH is at best a decent 12, we have a lot of them. Saints need to recruit a decent 10 to sub/rest Myler for next year.

I am really looking forward to next season mind you, a back row of Woods/Gibson, Harrison and Picamoles gets me salivating.