THIS WEEKEND IS a rare chance for the Irish provinces to enjoy an in-season rest given that there is no URC action.
Yet all four teams are still working hard this week as they look towards the resumption of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup pool stages next weekend.
Here, we take a look at what each of them face in the last two rounds of pool games.
Leinster
La Rochelle [A], Sunday 12 January
Bath [H], Saturday 18 January
Leo Cullen’s men are preparing for what should be the best Champions Cup game of this season so far as they visit La Rochelle on Sunday week.
Leinster suffered the pain of back-to-back defeats to the French side in the 2022 and 2023 finals of the competition, having also lost a semi-final in La Rochelle in 2021.
But last season felt like an important step in the rivalry as Leinster won at Stade Marcel Deflandre in a brutal group-stage battle in the rain before a resounding 40-13 battering of Ronan O’Gara’s team in the quarter-finals. Those wins didn’t lead to a title but Leinster certainly enjoyed turning the tide.
As with last season, La Rochelle’s form has been up-and-down in the Top 14, where they’re currently sixth, and they have a huge game at home against Toulouse this Saturday, a real contrast to Leinster’s weekend off.
O’Gara’s men have two wins from two in the Champions Cup so far, a good win away to Bath and a bonus-point victory at home against Bristol, so they clearly plan not to be left in the tricky spot they were last season when two pool-stage defeats meant they had to travel to South Africa in the Round of 16 just before facing Leinster.
It feels like next season will be the start of a new era in La Rochelle with Nolann le Garrec and Davit Niniashvili joining the club this summer and though the current crop covet a first Top 14 title most, the Champions Cup is still huge to the club.
Six days after battling with les Rochelais in France, Leinster will welcome Johann van Graan’s Bath to the Aviva Stadium. The Premiership leaders had a miserable start in the Champions Cup last month, losing at home to La Rochelle before they conceded a last-minute try to lose away in Benetton.
Two losing bonus points means Bath aren’t out of the knock-out mix yet and they will bid to boost their chances by beating Clermont at home next Sunday. A 68-10 hammering of Saracens last weekend was a big boost for their belief.
All in all, it should be a fun fortnight for Leinster in the Champions Cup as they bid for top seeding and home advantage for the knock-out stages.
Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Northampton all gained a maximum 10 match points from the opening rounds, so Leinster on nine points have a little ground to make up after missing out on a bonus point in their win over Clermont.
Munster
Saracens [H], Saturday 11 January
Northampton [A], Saturday 18 January
Advertisement
Next up for Munster is the visit of Saracens to Thomond Park on Saturday week.
Munster have a big fortnight ahead. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Mark McCall’s men had a chastening experience last weekend as they conceded 10 tries in their heavy Premiership defeat to Bath. A red card in the 14th minute didn’t help but the collapse against a ruthless Bath side would have been concerning.
It was a big aberration in an otherwise decent season for Sarries, who are in the post-Owen Farrell era. Kiwi out-half Fergus Burke has taken over in the number 10 shirt but there are plenty of familiar faces in the likes of Maro Itoje, captain Jamie George, Ben Earl, Liam Williams, and Alex Lozowski.
This Saracens team isn’t the force of old but they made a good start in the Champions Cup with wins over the Bulls and Stade Français last month, the former with a bonus point. McCall’s men are seen as the next strongest trophy contenders after the big quartet of Toulouse, Leinster, La Rochelle, and Bordeaux, so Munster know they’re heading into a tough tie.
There’s another of those a week later on Saturday 18 January as the Irish province visit Northampton, where their campaign was ended at the Round of 16 stage last season.
The defending Premiership champions haven’t been as consistent in the current domestic campaign, with four wins from nine games, but made a superb start in the Champions Cup with two bonus-point victories at home against Castres and away to the Bulls.
The return of England scrum-half Alex Mitchell from injury has been a major boost and though Courtney Lawes has been missed since his move to Brive, this is still a clever, well-coached, dangerous Northampton team.
So Munster are up against it this month. They have six match points at this stage and got into the Round of 16 with only nine last season, but that meant a tough away draw against the Saints.
If this month goes poorly, Munster could be dropping into the Challenge Cup so a home win against Sarries in two weekends would be vital.
Ulster
Leicester [A], Saturday 11 January
Exeter [H], Friday 17 January
The northern province have an even more uphill task after getting no match points from their first two pool games last month.
Ulster have lots of ground to make up. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
They were seriously tough fixtures against defending champions Toulouse and the ever-improving Bordeaux, but it was frustrating for Richie Murphy’s men not to pick up even a single bonus point in those two defeats given that they scored three tries in each.
Ulster now head into an all-English second half of their pool campaign with serious ground to make up.
First, they travel to Leicester Tigers on Saturday 11 January before a six-day turnaround to their home clash with Exeter on Friday 17 January.
Leicester are enjoying something of a revival under Michael Cheika this season and they had a decent start to their Champions Cup campaign as they got a try-scoring bonus point in defeat away to Bordeaux before hammering a poor Sharks side at home.
Exeter are having a horrible season with just one win in nine Premiership games as well as heavy defeats to the Sharks and Toulouse in the Champions Cup. Like Ulster, they didn’t take a single match point from those back-to-back losses.
The Exeter attack has been very weak this season while their defence is porous, meaning Ulster will fancy their chances in that final Friday night pool game.
But if Ulster can’t do anything against Leicester next Saturday, they might just be facing off against Exeter for a spot in the Challenge Cup Round of 16. Murphy’s men need to do something notable at Welford Road to keep their Champions Cup campaign alive.
Connacht
Lyon [H], Saturday 12 January
Cardiff [A] Friday 17 January
While Pete Wilkins’ side ended their year in disappointing fashion as they fell at home to Ulster last weekend, their Challenge Cup campaign is in healthy condition ahead of a home tie against Lyon on Saturday week.
Connacht had a fine win in Perpignan. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Connacht enjoyed bonus-point wins over Zebre and Perpignan last month to leave themselves as the only club with a maximum 10 match bonus points from the opening two rounds.
That means they’re ideally positioned to kick on and earn home advantage for the knock-out stages of a competition their fans would love to enjoy a good run in.
Lyon are having a poor campaign in the Top 14, where just four wins in 13 games mean they’re 13th in the table, the spot that means a relegation play-off at the end of the season. This weekend, Lyon host Perpignan – just above them in the table – so they won’t be thinking about Connacht now.
Lyon did make a good start to the Challenge Cup with two wins from two in December, while Cardiff – Connacht’s second opponents this month – enjoyed a bonus-point win over the Cheetahs after losing away to Lyon.
Matt Sherratt’s Welshmen are also going well in the URC, sitting third in the table after five wins in nine games so far, although their fixture list for the second half of the campaign looks far more challenging.
Smarting from that defeat at home to Ulster, there’s no doubt Connacht should be viewing the next fortnight as a chance to inject momentum back into their season.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
5 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Rest weekend tees Irish provinces up for key Champions Cup battles
THIS WEEKEND IS a rare chance for the Irish provinces to enjoy an in-season rest given that there is no URC action.
Yet all four teams are still working hard this week as they look towards the resumption of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup pool stages next weekend.
Here, we take a look at what each of them face in the last two rounds of pool games.
Leinster
Leo Cullen’s men are preparing for what should be the best Champions Cup game of this season so far as they visit La Rochelle on Sunday week.
Leinster suffered the pain of back-to-back defeats to the French side in the 2022 and 2023 finals of the competition, having also lost a semi-final in La Rochelle in 2021.
But last season felt like an important step in the rivalry as Leinster won at Stade Marcel Deflandre in a brutal group-stage battle in the rain before a resounding 40-13 battering of Ronan O’Gara’s team in the quarter-finals. Those wins didn’t lead to a title but Leinster certainly enjoyed turning the tide.
As with last season, La Rochelle’s form has been up-and-down in the Top 14, where they’re currently sixth, and they have a huge game at home against Toulouse this Saturday, a real contrast to Leinster’s weekend off.
O’Gara’s men have two wins from two in the Champions Cup so far, a good win away to Bath and a bonus-point victory at home against Bristol, so they clearly plan not to be left in the tricky spot they were last season when two pool-stage defeats meant they had to travel to South Africa in the Round of 16 just before facing Leinster.
It feels like next season will be the start of a new era in La Rochelle with Nolann le Garrec and Davit Niniashvili joining the club this summer and though the current crop covet a first Top 14 title most, the Champions Cup is still huge to the club.
Six days after battling with les Rochelais in France, Leinster will welcome Johann van Graan’s Bath to the Aviva Stadium. The Premiership leaders had a miserable start in the Champions Cup last month, losing at home to La Rochelle before they conceded a last-minute try to lose away in Benetton.
Two losing bonus points means Bath aren’t out of the knock-out mix yet and they will bid to boost their chances by beating Clermont at home next Sunday. A 68-10 hammering of Saracens last weekend was a big boost for their belief.
All in all, it should be a fun fortnight for Leinster in the Champions Cup as they bid for top seeding and home advantage for the knock-out stages.
Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Northampton all gained a maximum 10 match points from the opening rounds, so Leinster on nine points have a little ground to make up after missing out on a bonus point in their win over Clermont.
Munster
Next up for Munster is the visit of Saracens to Thomond Park on Saturday week.
Mark McCall’s men had a chastening experience last weekend as they conceded 10 tries in their heavy Premiership defeat to Bath. A red card in the 14th minute didn’t help but the collapse against a ruthless Bath side would have been concerning.
It was a big aberration in an otherwise decent season for Sarries, who are in the post-Owen Farrell era. Kiwi out-half Fergus Burke has taken over in the number 10 shirt but there are plenty of familiar faces in the likes of Maro Itoje, captain Jamie George, Ben Earl, Liam Williams, and Alex Lozowski.
This Saracens team isn’t the force of old but they made a good start in the Champions Cup with wins over the Bulls and Stade Français last month, the former with a bonus point. McCall’s men are seen as the next strongest trophy contenders after the big quartet of Toulouse, Leinster, La Rochelle, and Bordeaux, so Munster know they’re heading into a tough tie.
There’s another of those a week later on Saturday 18 January as the Irish province visit Northampton, where their campaign was ended at the Round of 16 stage last season.
The defending Premiership champions haven’t been as consistent in the current domestic campaign, with four wins from nine games, but made a superb start in the Champions Cup with two bonus-point victories at home against Castres and away to the Bulls.
The return of England scrum-half Alex Mitchell from injury has been a major boost and though Courtney Lawes has been missed since his move to Brive, this is still a clever, well-coached, dangerous Northampton team.
So Munster are up against it this month. They have six match points at this stage and got into the Round of 16 with only nine last season, but that meant a tough away draw against the Saints.
If this month goes poorly, Munster could be dropping into the Challenge Cup so a home win against Sarries in two weekends would be vital.
Ulster
The northern province have an even more uphill task after getting no match points from their first two pool games last month.
They were seriously tough fixtures against defending champions Toulouse and the ever-improving Bordeaux, but it was frustrating for Richie Murphy’s men not to pick up even a single bonus point in those two defeats given that they scored three tries in each.
Ulster now head into an all-English second half of their pool campaign with serious ground to make up.
First, they travel to Leicester Tigers on Saturday 11 January before a six-day turnaround to their home clash with Exeter on Friday 17 January.
Leicester are enjoying something of a revival under Michael Cheika this season and they had a decent start to their Champions Cup campaign as they got a try-scoring bonus point in defeat away to Bordeaux before hammering a poor Sharks side at home.
Exeter are having a horrible season with just one win in nine Premiership games as well as heavy defeats to the Sharks and Toulouse in the Champions Cup. Like Ulster, they didn’t take a single match point from those back-to-back losses.
The Exeter attack has been very weak this season while their defence is porous, meaning Ulster will fancy their chances in that final Friday night pool game.
But if Ulster can’t do anything against Leicester next Saturday, they might just be facing off against Exeter for a spot in the Challenge Cup Round of 16. Murphy’s men need to do something notable at Welford Road to keep their Champions Cup campaign alive.
Connacht
While Pete Wilkins’ side ended their year in disappointing fashion as they fell at home to Ulster last weekend, their Challenge Cup campaign is in healthy condition ahead of a home tie against Lyon on Saturday week.
Connacht enjoyed bonus-point wins over Zebre and Perpignan last month to leave themselves as the only club with a maximum 10 match bonus points from the opening two rounds.
That means they’re ideally positioned to kick on and earn home advantage for the knock-out stages of a competition their fans would love to enjoy a good run in.
Lyon are having a poor campaign in the Top 14, where just four wins in 13 games mean they’re 13th in the table, the spot that means a relegation play-off at the end of the season. This weekend, Lyon host Perpignan – just above them in the table – so they won’t be thinking about Connacht now.
Lyon did make a good start to the Challenge Cup with two wins from two in December, while Cardiff – Connacht’s second opponents this month – enjoyed a bonus-point win over the Cheetahs after losing away to Lyon.
Matt Sherratt’s Welshmen are also going well in the URC, sitting third in the table after five wins in nine games so far, although their fixture list for the second half of the campaign looks far more challenging.
Smarting from that defeat at home to Ulster, there’s no doubt Connacht should be viewing the next fortnight as a chance to inject momentum back into their season.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Champions Cup Connacht Leinster Munster schedule Ulster