There is much at stake in the Champions Cup this weekend, not least places on the Lions Tour to New Zealand.
Here are my predictions for the quarter-final matches.
Leinster v Wasps
Top of the Pro12 takes on top of the Premiership, and this is a great tie to kick off the quarter-final matches. I’m leaning towards Leinster, based on home advantage and with the Ireland v England match still fresh in the memory. Leinster by 7.
Munster v Toulouse
It would be great to see Munster in the semi-finals again, and on current form they should have too much for Toulouse at home. Munster by 13.
Saracens v Glasgow
People are talking up Glasgow’s chances here, echoing some of the sentiment ahead of the England v Scotland match a few weeks ago. I can’t see the Scots beating the reigning champions. Saracens by 16.
Clermont v Toulon
Two big French teams going head to head, and you have to pick the home side to make it a clean sweep of home teams into the semis. Clermont by 8.
Follow Hutch on Twitter: @Hutch_James
Munster and Clermont are nailed on wins for me, with Saracens and Leinster slightly closer, but still fairly heavy favourites too. I do expect the home clean sweep though.
Gone for a Wasps win on the logic that there is often an away win in the Euro QFs and that one seems the most likely!
With all the teams left, the team with the most chance of beating Sarries at the Allianz is Glasgow – the match could be a complete damp squib, but it could also see one of the big upsets. So while I expect a comfortable, controlled Sarries win, I feel that the chance of that upset is so much higher with a dangerous Glasgow side that has nothing to lose at this point (their best ever European season so far) than if they had been facing any other side.
Gut feelings aside, I would expect all four home sides to take it.
Completely agree. The “further than ever before” can have a major effect in my opinion, though in both directions. You can either succumb to the pressure and choke, or be liberated by the lack of external pressure.
I’d much prefer to have a French team travel to me than Glasgow (or Wasps).
Not bad at all, Hutch.
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