No nerves as Glasgow power through

Not much of a fortress, is it? Welford Road, I am talking about. Glasgow made it look like a training ground run out from the get-go against Leicester. It was meant to be a tough, nervous game against opponents with history and playing for pride. Any pre-match permutations about what Glasgow needed to do were made redundant by the end of the first half.

They romped into a commanding lead, sealing a bonus point well before the half-time whistle. Tries from Tommy Seymour, Mark Bennett, Jonny Gray and a penalty one (all players with Lions credentials, minus the penalty try, obviously) allowed them to go into the dressing rooms 31-0, with Finn Russell adding four conversions and a penalty. The objective then changed to keeping the calamitous Tigers scoreless. They managed that easily enough. Nothing the hosts did troubled the defence in the slightest, and Ryan Wilson and Tim Swinson crossed to see Glasgow through to the quarters for the first time with a 43-0 victory.

Embarrassing for Leicester, glorious for Glasgow. Questions remain about whether they have the mental capacity for an arm-wrestle, but if they can impose their attacking nature on the opposition, that shouldn’t matter.

Munster made sure of a Thomond Park quarter for the first time in many a year, beating Racing 22-10. It wasn’t a vintage performance, but they won’t care. Simon Zebo got a converted score to give a slight advantage at the turnaround over Maxime Machenaud’s penalty. They put some daylight in between soon after and gave the fans that all-important reason to get excited for April.

Connacht battle in vain

It was a heartbreaking defeat for Connacht. They needed only to lose with a bonus point, whilst stopping Toulouse getting a try-scoring extra point. They came agonisingly close, going down 19-10, a mere penalty off qualification. In the most important fixture of the weekend, the French side were the ones that progress.

It was clear that the 4-time champions were not going to be frustrated again this week, after their galling loss to Wasps last weekend. They were dominant and built a seemingly comfortable 19-3 advantage, owing to tries from Gael Fickou, Arthur Bonneval and Joe Tekori. Job done. Not quite. A mark of the Pro12 champions is their desire to prove themselves, and they tried their best. John Muldoon went over the white line for a converted score, meaning all they needed was any kind of score to go through. They battled, made errors, and came up against a stiff defence. No matter what they tried, they just couldn’t do it. It was gutting for them, and jubilation for Toulouse. It was, and may well be, their best opportunity to put themselves in Europe’s real elite. What ifs? are aplenty. Toulouse, meanwhile, shall be (optimistically) hoping they can recover some of their glory days, but their next opponents (see below) will be desiring the exact same thing.

Zebre are normally the whipping boys, but Wasps made tough work of their trip to Parma. They won 41-27, and they did get a bonus point in the process, however it took them a very long time to get into their stride. The Italians were the better team for most of the opening half. It took a sin-binning for Oliviero Fabiani on the half hour mark for the visitors to cross the line, but they did so three times in that ten minute spell. After the break, they pulled away enough to ensure they won the group. Their biggest regret will be not winning against Toulouse or Connacht away, as they now have to travel for their quarter.

A result that fits for both Saracens and Toulon

It was a hell of a physical encounter, and both teams will have come away feeling very happy. Saracens 10-3 victory over Toulon signified that the Londoners would be at home for the quarters, and the Frenchmen’s bonus point gave them qualification too. Chris Ashton got the crucial try against his future employers. Sarries now welcome Glasgow, a fascinating fixture pitting the ferocious defence of Europe’s champions against the most care-free attack on the continent.

In the group’s other game, Sale halted a terrible run of 10 straight losses. They beat Scarlets 25-23 in a dead-rubber. It was a fun game, but Scarlets were obviously rueing not having a shot of the quarters.

Leinster at home with draw

It turns out that all Leinster needed was a draw to play their quarter final in Dublin. Their entertaining 24-all draw with Castres, combined with Connacht losing, was enough. Robbie Henshaw grabbed a brace for the visitors. They play Wasps in the last eight, and with five titles between the sides and both looking the best they have looked for years, it is sure to be a classic.

Montpellier very very nearly went through as well, just being pushed out by fellow French outfit Toulon’s bonus point. They did everything they could by getting a bonus point victory over Northampton, 26-17.

Number one seeds trounce Exeter

Exeter had a minuscule chance of making it into the next round as well, but that never came close to fruition. They were beaten by the interval, as Clermont (arguably the favourites) raced into a 34-0 lead. Exeter got a try scoring bonus after the break, but lost 48-26.

Ulster’s dismal campaign ended in defeat, therefore finishing bottom of the group. They lost to Bordeaux 26-22 and must now rediscover their early season form and focus on the Pro12.

Quins crash out

Harlequins diabolical away form cost them a place in the last eight. They lost to Stade Francais 27-17, letting the French outfit leapfrog them into one of the best runner-up spots. The group winners, Edinburgh, confirmed a home quarter by beating Timisoara 49-3.

Ospreys were the only team in either competition to complete a perfect group stage. They secured their sixth bonus point win over Newcastle, 26-21. If I could afford to gamble my funds away, they would certainly be where I put my money. Lyon thrashed Grenoble 57-14, but missed out on a quarter spot.

Gloucester edged out La Rochelle in terms of winning the group. The former destroyed Bayonne 64-19, whilst the latter beat Treviso 31-8. Both team qualify.

Bath just about managed a home quarter, smashing Pau 69-10 to have a slightly better points difference than Brive. Cardiff also progressed with a 37-21 win over Bristol.

Brive needed to do a bit better than the 36-19 they managed against Dragons, they must now travel to the West Country. Worcester crushed Enisei-STM 57-14.

Quarter Final Matches

Just so you know what they look like, here are the match-ups for the quarters of both competitions.

Clermont v Toulon
Munster v Toulouse
Saracens v Glasgow
Leinster v Wasps

Ospreys v Stade Francais
Gloucester v Cardiff Blues
Edinburgh v La Rochelle
Bath v Brive

Try of the weekend

It owed a hell of a lot to some (very) poor tackling from Northampton, but what a show of raw power from Montpellier’s Nemani Nadolo. Reminiscent of a fly-swat.

Hero of the weekend

For the first time since the initiation of the Champions Cup, we have an influx of teams represented in the quarters from outside England and France. All of Glasgow, Munster and Leinster have the capability to be champions and the competition is all the better for it. A joint hero goes to all those teams, plus the other quarter finalists, who really battled to make it through in the most competitive year yet.

Villain of the weekend

At the other end of the spectrum, we are at the end of the group stages of the Challenge Cup. Kudos to the teams that are taking it seriously, but is anybody really excited about the quarter finals? I am sure that every team will be striving to win it, but without that Champions Cup carrot, it lacks any real meaning.

By Joe Large

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images