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

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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

Hazel Sapling we've seen with Bath in the AP that fortunes can plummet in one season.

Stade Francais seem to have got worse than Bath.


Tigers fans have been worried about their porous defence but at least they've shown an ability to cut teams open. Manu looked back to his best on the weekend, I thought he was very unlucky not to get MOTM, Betham was good but Manu scored 2 tries and assisted in 2.

I don't think this year's ERCC is going to be won with just the boot, tries will need to be scored.

The tri nations in the RWC showed that attacking is the way to go.

Yes you are probably right about the backline. The only positions I think Saints definitely have the upperhand is North vs Wyles if Wyles is indeed on the wing.

I think Saints best chance of a win is target the front five, easier said than done when Sarries have 3 England internationals in the front five but Saints have a strong front five - Waller,Lawes and Matfield all very good players indeed.

Discipline wise Saracens are not one of the best in the AP so Saints have a potential to exploit that.

Saracens' attacking game has evolved since the departure of Farrell Sr, have become a more complete team, mixing up forwards and backs in attack. Taylor's influence cannot be underestimated either.

The amount of times I got frustated when Farrell was shunted to 13, for Saracens, now in Taylor, Saracens have a player strong at 12 and 13.

Wasps vs Exeter should be the game of the round definitely. Hughes vs Waldrom - being the highlight IMO.

Wasps do have a very strong backrow. Will be interesting to see if a fit again Ewers can do his England prospects some good.

Waldrom isn't at all the player that Hughes is.

Hazel Sapling wrote:Stade won the Top 14 last season and can't be that bad unless they have done a Castres of 2014-2015.

Going to go with Sarries vs Wasps at the Madejski (hoping to go) and Leicester vs Racing.

Sarries will win. Can see anything from a surprisingly closely fought victory to a beating of Northampton. Sarries have a far superior backline IMO so will see if that tells (I do not watch much Aviva). Expect Wasps to win by more than 10 after a late try although I like what Exeter have built. For me, this is the game of the round with 2 teams that like to spread the ball and have several playmakers.

Leicester will make hard work of Stade but will ultimately prevail. Racing, when firing, are dangerous and Toulon have looked more fragile than in the past this year (when I watched them in the ERCC early in the season anyway). Carter seems to have done a Wilkinson for Racing so far and will see if that continues here.

Whocares, what happened to Oyonnax? I thought they were alright last season

Oyonnax lost their coach and best players to Castres, got an average coach instead (who was sacked in November) and some deadwood like Piri Weepu (who's now training in an amateur club here enjoying life). So what happened was very predictable.

Stade Français on paper is the same team as last year + willem alberts + genia so are clearly underperforming. their scrum in particular who used to dominate the T14 last year is now a bit of a joke. their defense is very suspect but they can still score tries. one thing though is that were really hurt by injuries: at some point this year all first 3 hookers were either injured or suspended (which might also explains the Sempere decision), Papé and Alberts were out for a long time etc and a few others were playing 6N rugby as well. now it seems almost everyone is back (except Genia) but am still concerned by the lack of game time of some players returning from injuries.

Anyone who signed Weepu obviously could not have seen him play even a minute last season.

yeah he certainly must have a very good agent - took me around 15 minutes of a LW challenge cup game last season to know that his form was at best shaky...

Genia has been overrated for the past couple of years in my view but Alberts should thrive in the French league. Injuries seem all too common in rugby at the moment and the loss of form after reaching the mountain top happens to any team.

Fair enough. Seems to be that Castres feeds Toulouse and the other big clubs so needs to refill from somewhere. Hoping that a team like Bordeaux can rise up the table and stay there. I think that Oyonnax signed De Klerk and Clegg. The Clegg move did not work out as he is now back at Glasgow but how has De Klerk got on? He got kicked out of Glasgow after certain legal difficulties.

Tigers team has been announced

Leicester Tigers (v Stade Francais Paris, Welford Road, Sunday 1.45pm)
15 Mathew Tait (c)
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 Mike Fitzgerald
7 Brendon O'Connor
8 Lachlan McCaffrey

Replacements
16 Greg Bateman
17 Logovi'i Mulipola
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Ed Slater
20 Tom Croft
21 Sam Harrison
22 Owen Williams
23 Adam Thompstone

OP updated with all the teams. Could Saints have chosen a worse game to have a back row injury crisis for?

It's been a while since I've seen Nutley play...surely Lawes 4 Craig 6 makes more sense.

I really like the look of the Tigers team. With Slater's fitness a little iffy, the only significant absence from the starting lineup is OTY. Williams probably a better 6 than Fitz, but not all that much in it.

Scottrf wrote:It's been a while since I've seen Nutley play...surely Lawes 4 Craig 6 makes more sense.

I was really impressed with Nuttley when I first saw him, but then he seemed to disappear off the radar. Saints going in with 5 second rows in the 23?

Nutley is just a crazy head first type. He gets stuck in but I'm not sure his ability is at the level needed. And yes, we're not the most balanced in the forwards! Other than Harrison and the front row, not many there that have been great this season.

That's a very strong Saracens XV.

Difficult to not be confident, have to be wary though as Saints have nothing to lose.

No North? Are Saints not targetting this match?


Two monster French teams there! Racing and Toulon - I am referring to.

Look at those two French teams. Ridiculous

D Hartley, K Brookes, E. Waller, T Wood, J Gibson, C, Clark, S. Bennett, J, Fisher, S. Dickinson, L. Dickson, G. North, J. Wilson, P. Howard, T. Stephenson, A. Tuala

All not available. Ouch.

Tigers game it is then.

LondonTiger wrote:I really like the look of the Tigers team. With Slater's fitness a little iffy, the only significant absence from the starting lineup is OTY. Williams probably a better 6 than Fitz, but not all that much in it.

OTY, the two Williams and a fit Slater then that would pretty much be our first team. I'm worried over Burns at 10 but otherwise we look pretty good and I like that backrow balance. Stade don't travel well so hopefully we can see this one off with the minimum number of blunders and some home support.

Well, I am a Burns fan, which is odd as usually I prefer the more pragmatic 10.

Yeh, was a shame Mike Williams got injured because he was playing so well up until that point. Burns can be hit or miss but if he plays like he did against Sarries then I think we will be ok

LondonTiger wrote:Well, I am a Burns fan, which is odd as usually I prefer the more pragmatic 10.

I like Burns but his insistence of attacking optimistically in our own half annoys me. He's gotten better and if he could just play a little more tactically he could become an incredible 10. It's the only aspect of his play I dislike. I think it'll be a little easy for him next season when there's a second playmaker alongside him as at the minute he has Manu and Betham who I would imagine are saying "let's play" as opposed to "there's some space up the pitch, let's take territory".

Williams seems a more rounded 10 who can still get the attack firing just as well. He's not quite so fancy but he's efficient and he controls the game more effectively though he wasn't on his best form last weekend.

Scottrf wrote:D Hartley, K Brookes, E. Waller, T Wood, J Gibson, C, Clark, S. Bennett, J, Fisher, S. Dickinson, L. Dickson, G. North, J. Wilson, P. Howard, T. Stephenson, A. Tuala

All not available. Ouch.

Tigers game it is then.

They still have a good 23 out though. That's some impressive strength in depth.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:

Fanster wrote:wow, looking at the 1/4 final spots of this amazing compe there is 1 interesting game worthy of watching (Leicester v Stade).

Hope this european comp (represented by 2 nations, of which only one game is cross border) engages the entirity of europe with it's wide and diverse reach

I'm still not sure this lineup is a practical joke btw

If you don't believe that Exeter vs Wasps is worth watching it says more about you as a rugby fan than the tournament.

Well not only that but I think he's highlighted the worst game of the KO stages...

How does the challenge cup line up guys, I don't see a thread for that. Quins are the ones in pole position for that one I assume.

Seriously?

As a neutral I want to see unknown matchups, it's not all about the 'who will win' because frankly, by the nature of being a neutral it doesn't matter to me.

The magic of the HC was always the knockouts when most games were x border and first meetings of the season, don't tell me Wales v England in the 6N wouldn't be devalued if they scheduled 2 friendlies in January!

Wasps v Exeter will be a decent game, but one I can see at minimum twice more this year, this is meeting number 2/3 or even 3/3. Northampton played Saracens around a month ago, and Wasps play Exeter in around 3 weeks, if I see the same fixtures over and over they become less interesting, especially as a neutral, and particularly in a comp that still has a bad taste in the mouth.

Leicester v Stade, is very interesting as it's the only time i'll see these teams play this season, historic giants Leiceser play last seasons T14 champs, French teams have a nack of throwing in the towel early doors, and I think that thats how Stade are playing in the league now.

Fanster, Tigers played Stade in the group stages. This will be the third meeting of the season. Your point stands though, it's the unusual match ups, the breaks from the norm that are most interesting.

Those Toulon and Racing teams are just crazy.

yappysnap wrote:Those Toulon and Racing teams are just crazy.

I am not as impressed with the Toulon lineup as I have been in seasons gone, but if they can win this game against a very impressive looking Racing side they have home advantage here on in.

Still think that, on form, Wasps could run them ragged as they did at the Ricoh earlier this season. Should Sarries make the final, I just hope they do not "choke" again.

Who has been playing fly half for Toulon most of the season? I thought Giteau was playing mostly back in the 12 shirt.

Gateau was injured during most of the season so Toulon had the likes of Cooper and Michalak at 10 which didn't go well at all!
Think it is Giteau first game after the injury so might seem a bit of gamble but he's so important to his team that they can't leave him out. He's Toulon most important player by miles I reckon and number 1 FH since JW left.

Who will be the goal kicker, Pelissie?

Think so with Delon for the long range ones.

Exeter doing what they do, Wasps not really clicking in attack.

I've seen people dismiss Waldrom's try count but it's rugby nouse, not luck, which gets them

It's a good game although it's now hammering down. Wasps need to cut the handling errors out of their game.

Good try by Wasps. Lovely dink through by Robson, which sat up nicely.

Wasps 11-14 Exeter after 45 mins

Long TMO review but probably the right decision to award it to Exeter. Momentum shifts back, and the Chiefs lead 11-21.

Slade lining up a long range penalty as I type...

He's missed.

Parling was in for a try but it was immediately called back for a forward pass.

11-24 to Exeter with 20 minutes left. Wasps have been rattled.

Wasps have been loose at the set piece a day wasteful ball in hand. I think it might be time for them to switch it up and go with Jackson at 10.

Chiefs are so well drilled. They weathered the early Wasps storm and are now just going for score after score. They look formidable.

Exeter almost score but Wasps steal it and break, then lose it, but run the ball back from a clearance kick for a try.

Wasps 18-24 Exeter

Wasps pressure near the line but Exeter hold firm, and steal the ball to clear.

A to-and-fro passage before Wasps get a penalty with five minutes to go.

Johnson missed his throw and Exeter cleared.

Another Wasps penalty with 77 minutes on the clock.

Wasps need a converted try to win. Unconverted loses.

Johnson's throwing really is terrible.

He's such a fantastic back row, why convert him...

And straight after I say that he hits one.

Illegal Chiefs as Wasp were heading for the try line. Another penalty.

Try Wasps!

Conversion good!

Wasps win.

Who on earth said this would be a dull fixture?

Bloody hell that went down to the wire. Both very impressive teams going at it, two teams that I've enjoyed following this year.

Mighty unlucky Chiefs who were the better team and put Wasps under so much pressure.

Wasps will count themselves very lucky.

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.

Anyone who says that the European Rugby is dead after that game needs a long hard look at themselves.

I thought the better team lost. Exeter inches from finishing off Wasps on a few occasions. They just gave away too many needless penalties near the end that put themselves under pressure.