Crunch Time in the Champions Cup

The Champions Cup reaches a critical juncture with the traditional pre-Christmas head-to-head pool matches. How will the Irish provinces fare against seasoned Premiership and Top 14 opposition as they look to secure a place in the knock-out stages?

The pre-Christmas head-to-head games are usually where we see a definitive separation of the wheat from the chaff in Europe’s premier club rugby competition. Lose both and you are almost certainly out of the tournament for another year. With five, maybe even six points the minimum requirement from the two games, the Irish provinces face a daunting task against some very tough opposition from the Aviva Premiership and Top 14.

The autumn internationals proved a great success for Ireland as we beat the All Blacks for the first time in our history and recorded good wins over Canada and Australia, but four very physical contests have taken their toll and the provinces have been left to count their wounded as we head into a crucial phase of the season. The only consolation for them is that the situation is basically the same for their rivals.

Leinster

Leinster get proceedings under way on Friday night against Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens (BT Sport 2 19.00). Leo Cullen could be without several key players for the clash, with Jonathan Sexton and Jordi Murphy both definitely ruled out following injuries sustained on international duty. However, Sean O’Brien (hip flexor), Robbie Henshaw and Rob Kearney (both head) have all recovered from their respective injuries and will start.

Pool 4 is proving a tight affair with all four sides having won one and lost one of their opening two fixtures, with the Irish province securing a crucial late losing bonus point in Montpellier to give themselves the slenderest of advantages over their rivals at this stage. Cullen will see a losing bonus point as a minimum target for this game, but is likely to have much grander ambitions as Northampton are in indifferent form on the back of two defeats in succession which has seen them drop to tenth in the Aviva Premiership table.

The absence of playmaker Sexton will be keenly felt, although they have a ready-made replacement in Joey Carbery ready to step into the breach. The 21-year-old has been a revelation since his first Leinster start in September and already has two Ireland caps to his name in what has been a dream season so far. He has proven himself to be well able to cope with the pressure of big match situations and everyone associated with the province will be hoping that this continues over the next few weeks.

There is plenty of history between these two sides. They met at this stage in the 2013-14 tournament where Leinster put in a superb performance to win at Franklin’s Gardens. However, any hopes of a favourable draw in the quarter-final were dashed in the return at the Aviva when, with Leinster pressing late on, Northampton took advantage of a handling error to go the length of the pitch for Jamie Elliott to touch down and deny the Irish side so much as a losing bonus point. It proved crucial and, despite putting in a decent performance, they were duly despatched 29-14 by holders Toulon at Stade Mayol.

Northampton will probably be without winger George North who was taken from the field of play in the game against Leicester at Welford Road last weekend after appearing to lose consciousness after falling awkwardly. He was allowed to return following a mandatory Head Injury Assessment (HIA), but director of rugby Jim Mallinder says he will not be selected again until he has been fully assessed by an independent head injury expert. The Saints are currently bottom of the pool, but could rise to second place if results go their way. Montpellier host Castres in an all-French clash in the other game.

Munster

Munster are currently top of Pool 1 despite only having played one game so far. Their first scheduled match, away to Racing 92 in Paris, was postponed due to the sudden passing of head coach Anthony Foley, so they opened their campaign a week later with a comprehensive victory 38-17 over Glasgow Warriors at an emotional Thomond Park. The occasion served as a fitting tribute to the former Ireland lock and began a run of five games unbeaten which has taken them to the top of the PRO12 table. They have played like a team reborn, producing some of their best rugby in years in securing superb away wins against Ulster and Glasgow Warriors and beating both the Maori All Blacks and Ospreys at home.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has proven hugely influential since his arrival last summer and he will be hoping they can continue their good form against Leicester Tigers at Thomond Park on Saturday afternoon in the first leg of their head-to-head adventure (BT Sport 2, Sat, Dec 10th 15.00). The South African finds himself in the rare position of having a fully fit squad to choose from. Peter O’Mahony and Donncha Ryan both featured in the PRO12 win over Glasgow at Scotstoun last weekend, while Conor Murray, Simon Zebo, CJ Stander and Keith Earls are all available for selection this time out. With such an embarrassment of riches at his disposal, his only dilemma appears to be who to leave out after Ronan O’Mahony, Darren Sweetnam, Andrew Conway and others acquitted themselves so admirably in their absence.

It’s a case of deja-vu for Munster as the sides met at the same stage of the tournament last season, with Leicester winning both games and ending Munster’s hopes of qualification for the knock-out stages. However, Erasmus is hoping for a much better return this time around. "Playing against Leicester, certainly everybody knows they beat us away and at home last year so they will be confident of beating us again,” he said. “After studying them, they are tactically really smart and physically they are always really up for it so it's a massive challenge.

"Every week there always seems to be a history with the opposition so I'm learning quickly about that. It's another big one with a lot of history and interesting results and one-on-one battles against each other so I will be learning again this weekend."

Leicester will be heading to Thomond Park full of confidence themselves. Like Munster, they too have won five in a row in all competitions since their drubbing against Glasgow Warriors in the opening round of the tournament. They now sit fourth in the Aviva Premiership after beating Northampton last weekend. The Tigers have reported no injury concerns as they welcome back their England contingent from international duty, including scrum-half Ben Youngs who was voted ‘Player of the Series’ for his performances which included a superb opportunist try against Australia last weekend.

Connacht

The main news emanating from west of the Shannon this week concerned the impending departure of Connacht head coach Pat Lam for Bristol at the end of the season. It came as a major shock to all, but the reigning PRO12 champions will have to pick themselves up quickly for their visit to in-form Wasps on Sunday. A daunting prospect at the best of times, Wasps are currently second in the Aviva Premiership table, lying just a point behind leaders Saracens and will be looking to secure head-to-head victories over Connacht to secure their place in the knock-out stages.

Although their PRO12 form has been patchy this term, Connacht are currently in prime position in Pool 2 with nine points from their opening two fixtures, two ahead of Wasps and six ahead of Toulouse. The French club will be looking for a ten-point return from their head-to-head against Italian side Zebre , so Connacht will need to get something from the next two weekends to keep themselves in the mix.

Lam will be without Craig Ronaldson and Marnitz Boshoff for the opening clash at least due to injury, with the former not slated to return until mid-January at the earliest. However, there is some good news as Ronan Loughney has returned to the squad after aggravating a knee injury in training last week, while Matt Healy could also feature after being withdrawn just before kick-off in last weekend’s 47-8 thumping of Treviso at The Sportsground.

Former Leinster tighthead Marty Moore is a likely starter for the English side, who might also include controversial full-back Kurtley Beale in their squad following his return from international duty with the Wallabies.

It’s a tough ask for Connacht but they have sprung more than a few surprises in their time.

Ulster

Ulster are currently in the worst position of the four provinces, sitting third in Pool 5 as they prepare to welcome French aristocrats Clermont Auvergne to the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday. A narrow home win over Exeter Chiefs followed by a comprehensive defeat away to Bordeaux Begles leaves Neil Doak’s side needing at least four points from this game before the trip to Stade Marcel Michelin next weekend. Clermont have maximum points from their two fixtures thus far and are five clear of Bordeaux in second place, with Ulster one further back in third. Exeter have endured a disappointing campaign so far with just a losing bonus point from their game against Ulster to show for their efforts.

Ulster, who have been boosted by the return to action of both Tommy Bowe and Stuart Olding in recent weeks, ran in five tries in a bonus-point victory over Cardiff Blues in Wales last weekend which has moved them up to fifth place in the PRO12 table following an indifferent run of form in October and early November. They will also be boosted by the knowledge that they have an excellent home record against Top 14 opposition, with just one defeat in their last eight Champions Cup games at the Kingspan.

However, they will be wary of Clermont who, unlike many Top 14 clubs, are very capable of getting results on the road. With quality in all departments, they have won 11 of their last 15 away games. They have also emerged victorious in their last five encounters with Irish opposition – three against Munster and two against Leinster. Saturday’s clash, like all the games involving Irish sides this weekend, promises to be something special.

Pictures: Getty/Andrew Readington

There is plenty of great Champions Cup rugby on the eir Sport pack over the next two weekends.