The Champions Cup finals begin on Friday with a first meeting between Harlequins and Glasgow Warriors, but it will not be the most attractive poster of the weekend.
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Who will succeed Stade Rochelais, double reigning European champion? At the start of the Champions Cup final stages, Friday April 5, only 16 teams can still claim the trophy, including five French clubs. La Rochelle is obviously present to defend its crown, just like Stade Toulouse and UBB, two favorites in the Top 14. Double finalist in title, Leinster will try to reconquer the European throne which escaped it to everyone’s surprise. last year. Overview of the five matches not to be missed in these round of 16 matches.
Stormers-La Rochelle: the champion on a South African mission
• Saturday April 6 at 4 p.m. (live on France 2 and france.tv)
A revenge to take. Having fallen into the pool of death, with the Stormers, Leinster and Leicester, La Rochelle came close to not getting out of the pools. But a success in Sale on the final day allowed Ronan O’Gara’s men to reach the round of 16, where they will return to challenge the Stormers in South Africa. Grégory Alldritt’s teammates lost by a small point (21-20) during their first trip to the group stage, conceding the try for victory in the final seconds of the match.
The road to defending their title will therefore resume where it got stuck on the second day, on this same lawn of the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, facing established players like world champion prop Frans Malherbe, or the unpredictable fly-half Mannie Libbock.
Toulouse-Racing 92: the All-Star Game of European rugby
• Sunday April 7 at 4 p.m. (live on France 2 and france.tv)
Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Blair Kinghorn, François Cros, Siya Kolisi, Henry Arundell, Cameron Woki… The ratio of stars per square meter will be extraordinary at the Toulouse Stadium, even in the absence of the new international, Nolann Le Garrec, victim of a concussion and forfeited with Ciel et Blanc. Between a Stade Toulouse second in the Top 14 and which benefits from the return of Antoine Dupont to XV before the Paris 2024 Games, and a Racing 92 in search of its first trophy since 2016, the duel promises to be explosive.
Rugby: Siya Kolisi, a perfect blend of relaxation and professionalism (France TV)
Since last November, it is at Racing 92 that South African World Champion Siya Kolisi has decided to settle down.
The last time the two clubs crossed swords, two months ago, Toulouse came to win strongly at Nanterre (20-27), resisting the return of Ciel et Blanc at the end of the match. Undefeated against Racing since January 2022 (four wins in as many matches), Ugo Mola’s men are seeking a sixth consecutive quarter-final in the Champions Cup against a team which missed this step last season for the first time in six years.
UBB-Saracens: the Sarries to cleanse their honor
• Saturday April 6 at 6:30 p.m.
January 14, 2024. Chris Busby whistles the end of the meeting between Bordeaux-Bègles and Saracens, in the Champions Cup group stage. The score is clear: the Girondins win 55-15, the biggest defeat in the history of the Sarries in the European Cup. On Saturday, Bordeaux finds the three-time Champions Cup winner (2016, 2017 and 2019) in the round of 16, still at Chaban-Delmas.
But this time, the English arrive in Gironde with the knife between their teeth. Reigning English champions, Saracens are only third in the Premiership, and their hopes of a “back to back” are quite slim with four games remaining. The European Cup is therefore their last hope of making 2024 a reality with a trophy for the gang of Jamie George, Ben Earl (one of the revelations of the Six Nations Tournament) or Owen Farrell, who will join Racing 92 at the end of the season. Has the trauma of Chaban-Delmas already been overcome?
Leinster-Leicester: the Irish must hold their place
• Saturday April 6 at 9 p.m.
This year, Leinster will not cross paths with La Rochelle in the Champions Cup final as was the case in 2022 and 2023. Indeed, the two clubs find themselves in the same part of the table and could cross swords from the quarter-finals. The Irish must first clear Leicester. A meeting which looks like a formality for James Lowe’s teammates, but which could represent a trap. Led by Argentinian international hooker Julian Montoya and world champion fly-half Handré Pollard, the Leicester players are having a great season, still in the race for the top 4 in the championship.
When these two teams met in the group stage, Leinster had to fight to the end in England to secure a victory with a flattering score (10-27). The Tigers will have nothing to lose in Ireland, having not won the competition since 2002.