Who from Toulouse, La Rochelle, Montpellier or Racing 92 will continue the adventure in the semi-finals of the European Rugby Cup? One certainty: at the end of the quarters this weekend, France will send in the last four at worst one club, as in 2019, at best three, like last year.
Toulouse, the mountain before a mountain
To prepare for his match against Munster as well as possible, the five-time European champion completed a mini-training course in the Hautes-Pyrénées, under a “a bit rainy” opportune, says young winger Dimitri Delibes, who will have a hard time facing him with Irish internationals Simon Zebo, Andrew Conway or Keith Earls.
Last season, Toulouse won, in the round of 16, for the first time in its history in Limerick (40-33), in an enclosure emptied by the Covid-19. In the Irish capital, hooker Julien Marchand is expecting different music this time: “They have a very large audience, perhaps one of the best. It’s going to be complicated with all these fan chants, but we have to try to take them for ourselves.”
La Rochelle-Montpellier, inevitably a disappointment
The quarter scheduled for Saturday (6.30 p.m.) at the Marcel-Deflandre stadium, if it logically reserves a place in the last four for a French club, will inevitably make one disappointed. And very clever who can predict who it will be between Stade Rochelais, unfortunate finalist of the competition last year, and the MHR, leader of the Top 14, but which remains on three consecutive defeats.
Aware of the current difficulties of the Hérault club, deprived of its Blues Paul Willemse and Mohamed Haouas, its manager Philippe Saint-André plays it modest: _”We are going to La Rochelle without pressure, we are the outsiders.” In the Maritimes, qualified for their third quarter in four European campaigns, impatience dominates, underlines their manager Ronan O’Gara: “Last year, we came across the last hurdle. The players who are competitors, we see them in May. It’s now that it starts and our objective is to continue.”_
Racing 92 in troubled waters
What face will Racing 92 present on Sunday (4:00 p.m.) in its Arena against Sale? The exciting one, capable of putting four tries in forty minutes in Biarritz? Or the one in stammering rugby, systematically stumbling on the biarrot lock?
On the Sale side, however, we are advancing on tiptoe. “I know the guys and their character pretty well. They’re going to relish this moment. We know our collective is our strength. There’s a real sense of excitement and enthusiasm.”thus assured the opener of the Sharks AJ MacGinty.
Anyway, for their sixth quarter of the European Cup since the 2014-2015 season, the Sky and White seem armed to join the last four. Especially since they have not lost at the Arena since November 2021.
The last quarter will oppose Saturday (6:30 p.m.) two of the favorites of the competition: the English of Leicester and the Irish of Leinster.
The French club program
Saturday May 7
- Munster Rugby – Toulouse Stadium: 4:00 p.m.
- La Rochelle stadium – Montpellier Hérault Rugby: 6:30 p.m.
Sunday May 8
- Racing 92 – Sale Sharks: 4:00 p.m.
The Challenge Cup program
In the small European Cup, two other French clubs are involved this weekend.
Saturday May 7
- Lyon-Glasgow Warriors: 9:00 p.m.
Sunday May 8
- RC Toulon – London Irish: 1:30 p.m.