European Pro Club Rugby Champions Cup – Round 4 Pre End the of the upcoming weekend of action, two-thirds of clubs in the tournament will have earned places in the initial knockout round of European Professional Club Rugby Champions Cup; the remaining eight XVs will need to find another way to spend the first weekend of April. AS thing stand right now, Top 14 XVs will be the least-represented in the knockouts yet that is more than likely to change after the fun and frolic of the last battles of open play. Round 4 Pre
Pool 1 Clubs (league pos.) Bordeaux (2) Lyon (13) Bulls (6) Saracens (6) Bristol (8) Connacht (9)
w 3 2 2 1 1 0
l 0 1 1 2 2 2
d 0 0 0 0 0 0
+/105 13 24 -42 -31 -69
table points 15 12 10 5 5 1
Bordeaux Bègles, though frontrunning now, can lose topspot, yet are unlikely to forsake a home tie as a point will do it for the Frenchmen, and any case, their points-differential is too great to be surpassed.
Friday, January 19: Connacht (1) v (5) Bristol at Galway Sportsground, 1pm MST: the Irish are out already and will look to take Bears on vacation with them in April; Saturday, January 20: Bulls (10) v (15) Bordeaux at Loftus Versfeld, 6am MST: maybe not for all the marbles, but certainly for a heap; win for Bulls can mean a home game first knockout if Sarries take Lyon later this day; Saracens (5) v (12) Lyon at StoneX, 1pm MST: win and in for homeboys, while the French, underperforming in the league just now, can claim a home fixture first round of playoffs with a win; Pool 2 Clubs (league pos.) Toulouse (5) Bath (2) Harlequins (3) Ulster (4) Racing 92 (1) Cardiff (12)
w 3 3 2 1 0 0
l 0 0 1 2 3 3
d 0 0 0 0 0 0
+/97 34 14 -31 -23 -91
table points 15 15 10 5 3 2
Racing 92, tops in the French 14 right now, will drop out of the Champions Cup with a loss, while the derby between the two leaders may not mean sfa.
Saturday, January 20: Harlequins (10) v (5) Ulster at the Stoop, 6am: potential for a home knockout for Quins, but they’ll have to throttle an Irish XV who’ve won their last two league meets by a point apiece; Racing 92 (3) v (2) Cardiff at La Defense Arena, 8am: hosts can still earn extra time, but it’ll take a mighty effort; Sunday, January 21: Toulouse (15) v (15) Bath at Ernest Wallon, 8am MST: both are in the knockouts and both need a single table point to ensure a home fixture first round of k-os;
“Together we are better; united we are strong”