RUMOURS OF THE English clubs’ demise, perpetuated by this writer among others, were perhaps exaggerated.
When it comes down to it, they have three Champions Cup quarter-finalists to Ireland’s one.
Leinster are the sole Irish representative in the final eight of the competition, with Ulster and Connacht not making it past the pool stages, while Munster came up short in the Round of 16 for the second season running.
It’s dangerous to read too much into a single season but it’s an unsatisfying return for Irish rugby. Munster, Connacht, and Ulster won just three of their combined 13 games in the Champions Cup this season, one win apiece.
To their credit, Leinster won four from four in the pool and then saw off Leicester on Saturday evening to earn a home quarter-final against bitter rivals La Rochelle. That promises to deliver fireworks in the prime time slot this Saturday evening.
Ulster and Connacht bounced back with wins away to Montpellier and Pau, respectively, after dropping into the Challenge Cup. Richie Murphy’s men face a trip to Clermont on Saturday afternoon in the quarter-finals, while Connacht will visit Benetton on Sunday afternoon. Tough ties again but both Irish provinces will be eyeing the trophy. They could even meet in the final.
Munster fans travelled more in hope than expectation yesterday in the Champions Cup and the scale of their challenge became even clearer post-match when they revealed that their squad had been hit by illness in the build-up to facing Northampton.
But even had they been fresher and had a few fewer injuries, they’d have still been well up against it. The truth is that a poor pool campaign cost Munster. They blew a winning position away to Exeter and followed that up with a dire draw at home against Bayonne.
There was a strong win away to Toulon but Munster then lost at home when Northampton came to Limerick. So despite having been top seeds after last season’s URC success, Munster scraped into the knock-out stages and faced a tough away fixture.
“Hindsight’s wonderful,” said head coach Graham Rowntree when asked if the pool was where the campaign got away from Munster.
“No, I’m not one for reflecting too much like that. There’s too much in front of you. There’s another big game around the corner.
“We got ourselves into a Round of 16 against a team who are top of the Premiership and we played some good rugby. You saw a lot of Munster at our best tonight. It wasn’t good enough.
“I’m not one for beating myself up about what did or didn’t happen in the pool stages, which included, by the way, a very famous victory in Toulon, then we lost our way against Saints in the last game. I’m not one for looking back too much.”
Munster have to be better in the pool stages. They won two from four last season, leaving them with a tough trip to play the Sharks. This visit to Northampton proved a step too far and the worry is that their squad will be weaker next season.
On the whole, it goes down as a poor Champions Cup season for the Irish sides. For the second season in a row, Leinster are the sole quarter-finalists from these shores.
Northampton look the best-placed English side to advance into the semi-finals given that they’re at home to the Bulls. Harlequins have a tough challenge away in Bordeaux this weekend, while Exeter will need something special to pull off a shock in Toulouse.
Bordeaux were perhaps the most impressive side in the Round of 16, with their beautiful brand of attacking rugby shredding Saracens on Saturday. They had five possible tries chalked off in the first half and still scored six tries in the end. Out-half Matthieu Jalibert was missing but 21-year-old Mateo Garcia stepped up superbly and they unleashed more of their freewheeling attack, as well as bringing impressive physicality.
Bordeaux have never won a trophy so they’re unproven when the real pressure comes on but Yannick Bru and Irish attack coach Noel McNamara are working with an excellent squad that has depth.
Toulouse racked up a fine win at home against Racing, with Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack back in the halfbacks, and they will fancy their route to the final now. If they beat Exeter, they’ll have home country advantage against Bordeaux or Quins.
La Rochelle were 16-0 down in the second half away to the Stormers but showed their grit again to claw back a win. Manie Libbok’s last-gasp missed conversion was a let-off but Ronan O’Gara’s men showed in the second half that their well-established power game remains difficult to stop when they’re accurate.
The Bulls will fly the flag for South Africa, having had a relatively smooth Round of 16 win at home against a much-changed Lyon team. The likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse are lethal and they have some physical might but it will be interesting to see if Jake White’s men go all-out with selection for the trip to Northampton.
Leinster have a score to settle with La Rochelle, Ulster and Connacht are now eyeing the Challenge Cup trophy, but Munster have only the URC to focus on now.
“I don’t have an issue or a worry about anybody’s focus for the rest of the season,” said Rowntree. “We’ve got heaps to play for.
“We’ve got a driven group. We’ve got guys back from internationals. There’s heaps to go for. Last year, April ’22, we limped into the play-offs, May 27 we won it. We’re bang on schedule!”
