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Five English clubs have made it beyond base camp in the Champions Cup this season, but scaling the distant summit already feels like an impossible dream. While Northampton, Saracens, Leicester, Sale and Harlequins have all secured qualification for the last 16, they will need something truly special if they are to make any kind of impact at the sharp end of the competition.
The sight of Leicester, one of the Premiership’s handful of pool survivors, enduring a record annihilation in Toulouse was just another stark reminder that the bigger French and Irish sides continue to be the tournament’s dominant forces. The last English club to win the title was Exeter in 2020 and there are few obvious signs of the gap closing.
Saints are the only ones to have earned a home draw in the last 16, and will host Clermont Auvergne. Leicester, thrashed 80-12 in their final pool fixture, will be away at Glasgow Warriors, the United Rugby Championship holders. Saracens must go to Toulon, while Sale and Quins will visit the defending champions, Toulouse, and Leinster respectively – two of the toughest tasks in the club game.
“Scary” was the verdict on Antoine Dupont’s Toulouse side from the former England captain Chris Robshaw on Premier Sports and watching Sarries’ England contingent succumb at home against an understrength Castres side was also to wonder what might lie ahead in the looming Six Nations championship.
In that context Damian Penaud’s record‑breaking six tries for Bordeaux in their 66-12 thrashing of the Sharks was a further illustration of French strength as his side secured the top seeding and, potentially, home-city advantage all the way to the last four if they can keep winning.
Champions Cup roundup
ShowToulouse score 80 points against Leicester
Leicester suffered their heaviest Champions Cup defeat as holders Toulouse thrashed them 80-12 at Stade Ernest-Wallon. The French team ran in 12 tries to deny the Tigers a home draw in the competition’s last 16, with a trip to Glasgow now facing Leicester in the next round. Toulouse scored six tries in the first half, with the captain, Antoine Dupont, beginning the rout and Emmanuel Meafou going over twice. Ange Capuozzo, Dimitri Delibes and Julien Marchand continued the blitz as Toulouse scored 42 points without reply before the break. There was slight improvement from the Tigers after the interval as Jack van Poortvliet and Will Hurd crossed. But Toulouse refused to show mercy as another six tries underlined their intent to retain the trophy. Capuozzo and Dupont scored again and Thibaud Flament went over twice. Thomas Ramos and Matthis Lebel completed the scoring as Leicester settled for third place in pool one.
Toulouse will host Sale in the last 16 after the England wing Tom Roebuck scored twice as the Premiership side beat Toulon 33-7 to qualify in style from pool four. Alex Sanderson’s men needed a bonus-point victory in their final pool game to reach the knockouts. Under pressure, they put in a dominant performance, with Ben Curry, Bevan Rodd and Tom O’Flaherty adding tries.
The France wing Damian Penaud set a new tournament record of six tries as Bordeaux thrashed Sharks 66-12 to secure top spot in pool one and home advantage in the next round. The heavy defeat for Sharks meant Ulster leapfrogged them into fourth place and secured qualification for the last 16 on points difference. PA Media
The draw, however, may yet mean Bordeaux and Toulouse collide in the semi-finals rather than the final, due reward to Leinster for qualifying as second seeds. They will not have to travel too far as a result, even with the Aviva Stadium unavailable temporarily for their last-16 tie against Racing 92 in early April. The game will instead be played across town at the 82,000‑capacity Croke Park.
Northampton, if they get that far, could yet find themselves in Leinster’s path in the semi-finals. An intense weekend of rugby, though, did yield some flickers of encouragement for the England head coach, Steve Borthwick, ahead of the Six Nations in the shape of Northampton’s 34-32 win against Munster and Quins’ dismissal of a Glasgow side containing plenty of Scotland squad members. Both wins were achieved at home, however, and one or two injuries will now need monitoring, including the hamstring strain sustained by England’s erstwhile captain Jamie George.
The battered knee which forced Alex Mitchell to limp off against Munster at Franklin’s Gardens is not understood to involve any structural damage but even the slightest uncertainty over Mitchell, who was much missed during the autumn, would be a worry for England before their opening fixture against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday week.
England’s medical staff will also need to assess Alex Coles, who has an injured wrist which could affect his involvement in the national side’s warm-weather training camp in Spain this week. Coles is a less likely starter at the Aviva Stadium but his versatility at both lock and flanker makes him a more than useful squad member.
The good news is that Northampton are starting to develop a happy knack of winning big knockout games which can only boost the confidence of their England squad contingent. The attacking threat of Ollie Lawrence, albeit in a heavy 47-21 defeat for Bath at Leinster, was also a bonus on the same stretch of Irish grass that England will soon revisit.
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That said, Bath have now crashed out of the top-tier event and will drop into the Challenge Cup, having looked doomed to defeat from the moment Beno Obano was sent off for a second yellow card after a collapsed scrum. Instead the Italian tricolore will be represented in the knockout stages of the main tournament for the first time, courtesy of Benetton’s breathless 32-25 victory against La Rochelle which backed up their stirring pool win against Bath before Christmas.
Exeter and Bristol, however, have finished rock bottom of their respective pools and will play no further part in this season’s tournaments, while South Africa’s leading sides are also conspicuous absentees from the Champions Cup last 16. None have made it through, with Ulster grabbing the last place courtesy of a big home win against the Chiefs on Friday.
Scotland, meanwhile, are awaiting further updates regarding the Six Nations availability of their captain, Sione Tuipulotu, who is said to have sustained a pectoral injury in training last week. It is a potential hammer blow for Scotland which may be exacerbated by fresh injury concerns in the second row after Scott Cummings left the Stoop with his arm in a sling.
Champions Cup last 16 Bordeaux-Bègles v Ulster; Leinster v Harlequins; Toulon v Saracens; Northampton v Clermont Auvergne; Toulouse v Sale Sharks; Castres v Benetton; Glasgow v Leicester; La Rochelle v Munster.
Challenge Cup last 16 Connacht v Sharks; Montpellier v Bulls; Edinburgh v Bath; Ospreys v Racing 92; Lyon v Cardiff; Bayonne v Gloucester; Pau v Lions; Perpignan v Scarlets.
Ties to be played 4-6 April.
