Leinster, Clermont, Tigers and Sharks to serve up Champions Cup delight
Set an alarm for 5:30pm on Saturday, settle in, pour yourself a brew or glass of wine, put on the dual screens and enjoy what will be the standout matches of the second weekend of Investec Champions Cup action.
Because Leicester – having been forced to rest a number of players for their huge clash out in Bordeaux – will face the Durban Sharks, who ripped apart Exeter Chiefs in round one despite being down to 12 men for the final 10 minutes. Meanwhile four-time winners Leinster, who are this year’s Galacticos, face French giants Clermont at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The two fixtures represent the new and old of the Champions Cup – where traditional powerhouses in Leinster, Clermont and Leicester entertain relative newbies the Sharks – while offering circumstances where the ties will be evenly matched.
There are so many good fixtures across round two but these are my ones to watch, and it is a shame they clash.
Bride versus the bridesmaid
In Leinster versus Clermont you get the bride versus the bridesmaid. While Leinster have history in reaching finals and losing them – four in total – they also have four victories to their name, making them the second most successful side in the tournament’s 30-year history.
But in Clermont you have a powerhouse side who have reached three finals and lost them all in agonising fashion – to Saracens and then Toulon, twice.
Both have hugely passionate fanbases and iconic stadiums – with Leinster this year operating out of Dublin’s national stadium – and their battle at the Aviva will be one of almighty proportions.
Champions Cup grit
In the other game you have a team in Leicester Tigers coached by Michael Cheika, who remains the only head coach to win both the Champions Cup (with Leinster) and the southern hemisphere Super Rugby (with Waratahs).
They’re gritty and a completely changed team compared to last season’s mismatched group, and while they were beaten convincingly by some Bordeaux magic on the Atlantic coast last weekend they will be a much more dogged test at home with their internationals back in action.
And they’ll need to be, because assuming the Sharks travel well it will feel like the East Midlands is hosting the Springboks.
Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Trevor Nyakane, Eben Etzebeth, Emile van Heerden, James Venter, Vincent Tshituka and Siya Kolisi: that’s how the Sharks’ pack lined up against Exeter Chiefs last week. Throw in scrum-half Grant Williams, centre Andre Esterhuizen and winger Makazole Mapimpi and the Durban franchise is effectively an operating Boks outfit.
They’re formidable and have a flow about them the other South African franchises are missing, and as winners of the Challenge Cup last year had to fight harder to get into this year’s pool stages of the upper competition.
South Africa inclusion
Many have criticised the inclusion of the Sharks, Stormers and Bulls in the Champions Cup but when they can field the quality of team that they did in the opening round they’re surely a credit to the rugby product.
That squad up at Leicester can have the ferocity of a match against the likes of Munster or Toulon, and with that the crowds will follow in the future.
But that’s where I will be this weekend, at 5:30pm on Saturday with two screens ready to watch two bruising encounters.
I hope we will see the excitement that we know the Sharks and Clermont can bring with the brute force of Leicester’s pack and Leinster’s all-stars.
There are games to entice across the board, but it’s Leicester and Dublin where I’ll be drawn to.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11