Investec Champions Cup: Leinster, Glasgow and Toulon secure home ties
There may be a round of Champions Cup matches to go but for some clubs their future has already been decided.
For South African side the Bulls, it’s done and dusted with the Pretoria-based outfit unable to reach the round of 16 in April, no matter how good or bad their result against Stade Francais is this weekend.
But for other teams spread across the three major domestic leagues, seven clubs have guaranteed their places in the knockout stages.
French on top
Pool 1 has three of its four qualifiers confirmed already – four from each pool progress through to the last 16, while the fifth-placed team drops down into the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Top 14 duo Bordeaux Begles and Toulouse have qualified – Bordeaux are the only side yet to drop a point – alongside Premiership outfit Leicester Tigers.
But in Pool 1 no team has secured a home Champions Cup knockout tie, with the three sides able to jump one another into the top two spots.
The Sharks occupy the final qualifying place but can be caught by Ulster and Exeter Chiefs.
In Pool 2 Leinster have qualified for the next stage of the tournament with the other three spots all up for grabs.
La Rochelle, Bath, Benetton, Clermont and Bristol Bears are within a win of qualifying while Irish giants Leinster are guaranteed a home Champions Cup tie in the next round.
Marching Saints
Reigning Premiership champions Northampton Saints are through from Pool 3, but their heavy loss to Stade Francais means they’ll need to beat Munster to secure a home tie in the round of 16.
Munster, Saracens and Castres – as well as Stade – can all reach the knockouts, with the winners of the Northampton-Munster and Saracens-Castres ties set to earn home spots in the round of 16.
In the final pool it is Toulon and Glasgow Warriors who have qualified for the round of 16 – and both have confirmed a home Champions Cup tie with a week to spare.
Harlequins, the Stormers, Sale Sharks and Racing 92 can all, however, still reach the knockouts.
There has been much criticism across recent seasons surrounding changes to the pool format, whereby teams used to play three teams home and away but now play four – two home, two away.
Champions Cup showtime
But the reality is that, with one week to go, all but one team can still force themselves into the knockout conversation and that is a hugely attractive selling point for the Champions Cup.
And even for the likes of Leinster, who are unbeaten and set for a home round of 16 tie, a win this weekend can be the difference between a home quarter-final and an away one.
Because the top two seeds, based on points gathered in the pool stages, will earn the right to host a home Champions Cup round of 16 tie as well as a quarter-final and semi-final – where they’ll get home country advantage rather than home stadium advantage – assuming they win their knockouts.
Likewise, qualifying 16th out of 16 ensures you have the highest seed away from home in the round of 16 as well as guaranteed away matches until the final, should you manage to win.
So the system works, and the Champions Cup competition is alive. And for the four teams who finish fifth in the respective pools, a spot in the round of 16 in the Challenge Cup awaits.
There are huge opportunities this weekend for teams to ensure they can earn the right to make extra revenue from home knockout matches, while some teams can ensure a run to the final in Cardiff in May can keep the coffers stocked into next season.