2018-2019 Champions Cup

Tigerandahalf

So is the semi going to be Racing v Leinster if all goes to plan? Saracens v Munster possibly in Twickenham? Where would Racing play?

Jump_In_Jack

Leinster and Toulouse will likely pick up 5 points tomorrow.

Top 8 are definite now, order should be:

1) Saracens, 28 points
2) Racing, 26 points
3) Leinster, 25 points
4) Edinburgh, 23 points
5) Munster, 21 points
6) Toulouse, 22 points
7) Ulster, 22 points
8) Glasgow, 19 points

4 remarkable pairings.
Three re-matches, would expect Home teams to win,
and Edinburgh v Munster will be 50/50, Munster have a great chance to reach another semi-final.

bilston

DGRulz wrote: »

Any win will see Leinster take 3rd seed, a BP win for Toulouse will see the following


Racing v Ulster

Leinster v Toulouse



A non BP win will see


Racing v Toulouse

Leinster v Ulster


The other two quarter-finals aren't effected.

Would a BP win for Toulouse not take them above Ulster?

Therefore meaning they would travel to Racing and Ulster would go to Dublin.

Just realised the weekend that the Quarter Finals are in! If Ulster have to go to Paris they may have to go via Dublin!

Jump_In_Jack

bilston wrote: »

Would a BP win for Toulouse not take them above Ulster?

Therefore meaning they would travel to Racing and Ulster would go to Dublin.

Just realised the weekend that the Quarter Finals are in! If Ulster have to go to Paris they may have to go via Dublin!

If Toulouse get a bonus point win they will go above Ulster to 6th,
We all expect Leinster to win and get to 3rd.
3rd will play 6th.

troyzer

Waited for my dad to come home from work to watch the Munster match with him so I'm a bit behind time.

They've done absolutely nothing to dispell my belief that they're an awful attacking team. They are absolutely incapable of moving the ball other than one out runners when playing decent opposition.

Can't see them getting past the semis and they'll be doing well to beat Edinburgh as well.

Jump_In_Jack

Ireland providing 3 teams to the last 8.

Synode

I think Edinburgh will beat Munster at home. Pretty handily

troyzer

Synode wrote: »

I think Edinburgh will beat Munster at home. Pretty handily

If they play like they have the last few weeks, probably

c.p.w.g.w

Synode wrote: »

I think Edinburgh will beat Munster at home. Pretty handily

Agreed, Munster need a big improvement on tonight's showing. If they wish to progress

Quint2010

If Munster beat Edinburgh would they have a home semi?

Synode

No, not unless Glasgow also beat Saracens

Eod100

Quint2010 wrote: »

If Munster beat Edinburgh would they have a home semi?

No.

munsterlegend

Synode wrote: »

I think Edinburgh will beat Munster at home. Pretty handily

Define handily?! Edinburgh would struggle big time and failed in my view to have topped a group with Exeter in it. Probably be more Munster fans at it than Edinburgh so home advantage not that big a deal.

Eod100

KNOCKOUT STAGE
2.4 The clubs ranked 1 to 4 will have home advantage for the quarter-finals as follows:
Club 1 v Club 8 (QF1)
Club 4 v Club 5 (QF2)
Club 3 v Club 6 (QF3)
Club 2 v Club 7 (QF4)

The winner of QF1 will play the winner of QF2 in one semi-final, and the winner of QF3 will play the winner of QF4 in the other semi-final as follows:

Semi-final 1: winner QF1 v winner QF2
Semi-final 2: winner QF3 v winner QF4

The semi-final matches will be played at venues designated by EPCR, and the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home country advantage in their respective semi-final matches:

(a) For Semi-final 1

If the clubs ranked 1 and 4 win their QFs, the club ranked 1 will have home country

If the clubs ranked 1 and 5 win their QFs, the club ranked 1 will have home country advantage

If the clubs ranked 8 and 4 win their QFs, the club ranked 4 will have home country advantage

If the clubs ranked 8 and 5 win their QFs, the club ranked 5 will have home country advantage

(b) For Semi-final 2

If the clubs ranked 3 and 2 win their QFs, the club ranked 2 will have home country advantage

If the clubs ranked 3 and 7 win their QFs, the club ranked 3 will have home country advantage

If the clubs ranked 6 and 2 win their QFs, the club ranked 2 will have home country advantage

If the clubs ranked 6 and 7 win their QFs, the club ranked 6 will have home country advantage

Synode

munsterlegend wrote: »

Define handily?! Edinburgh would struggle big time and failed in my view to have topped a group with Exeter in it. Probably be more Munster fans at it than Edinburgh so home advantage not that big a deal.

Edinburgh are playing some great rugby at the minute. Munster aren't. Far too one dimensional. Maybe Munster will rise to the occasion but based on current form I think it will be an easy win for Edinburgh

Quint2010

Munster will find a way to beat Edinburgh

bilston

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

If Toulouse get a bonus point win they will go above Ulster to 6th,
We all expect Leinster to win and get to 3rd.
3rd will play 6th.

Ah...I didn't realise Leinster were 6 points behind Racing

Jump_In_Jack

Munster beat them 44-14 in Cork a few months ago, Edinburgh put out a B team though.
Edinburgh seemed to be lacking depth a few months ago and lost to some poor teams in the Pro14. They’ve really turned it around by beating Glasgow twice over Christmas.
Munster are still doing better than them in the Pro14, top of Conference A on 44 points, winning 9 from 13, while Edinburgh are joint second in Conference B on 35 points, winning 7 from 13.

Munster beat them in Thomond in the Pro14 playoff to qualify for the semi-final last season.
Edinburgh are playing well in the last month, but Munster are certainly capable of beating them.
Edinburgh having home advantage makes it a 50/50 in my opinion.
If Munster had home advantage I’d say it would probably be 60/40 for Munster.

The 1/4 finals will be end of March, a lot can change by then, injuries and form, but with Munster’s depth and overall quality in their squad I’d expect them to be in good shape and to be peaking by then.

DGRulz

I suppose it has to be remembered that there's a 6 Nations between now and the quarters. How teams come out the other side will play it's part. That I can think of, Embra doesn't contribute too many players to the national team, do they? Munster have 4 definite starters in the Ireland squad and a couple who have a good chance of benching.

Squidgy Black

DGRulz wrote: »

I suppose it has to be remembered that there's a 6 Nations between now and the quarters. How teams come out the other side will play it's part. That I can think of, Embra doesn't contribute too many players to the national team, do they? Munster have 4 definite starters in the Ireland squad and a couple who have a good chance of benching.

They've 12 players in the squad this year.

Eod100

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

So is the semi going to be Racing v Leinster if all goes to plan? Saracens v Munster possibly in Twickenham? Where would Racing play?

Yup. For a sf maybe Bordeaux again?

Quint2010

They should really play the last round of games at the same time. It'll never happen but would keep things in suspense for a while longer.

Eod100

Quint2010 wrote: »

They should really play the last round of games at the same time. It'll never happen but would keep things in suspense for a while longer.

As in all the games at exact same time? Could only watch 1 game live then so BT would miss out massively on viewers

Peregrine

Quint2010 wrote: »

They should really play the last round of games at the same time. It'll never happen but would keep things in suspense for a while longer.

Showing ten games live isn't really possible.

ScrubsfanChris

Interesting to note that last years Challenge Cup finalists (Cardiff/Gloucester) finished 3rd and 4th in their respective Champions Cup pools.

Quint2010

Peregrine wrote: »

Showing ten games live isn't really possible.

BT have nine channels. There's bound to be one dead rubber? Think it's unfair on some teams.

Boscoirl

Quint2010 wrote: »

BT have nine channels. There's bound to be one dead rubber? Think it's unfair on some teams.

Most of the games involving English sides

bilston

Quint2010 wrote: »

They should really play the last round of games at the same time. It'll never happen but would keep things in suspense for a while longer.

How would playing all the games over a 2 hour period keep things in suspense longer than playing games over three days?

Even today is fairly exciting in that while we know the teams in the last 8, we still don't know who is playing who. Maybe because as an Ulster fan this is the first time I've experienced this in 4/5 years I find it more exciting.

I don't think Leinster are going to get a gimmee today at all and there are no guarantees Toulouse will get a BP win over Bath.

bilston

bilston wrote: »

How would playing all the games over a 2 hour period keep things in suspense longer than playing games over three days?

Even today is fairly exciting in that while we know the teams in the last 8, we still don't know who is playing who. Maybe because as an Ulster fan this is the first time I've experienced this in 4/5 years I find it more exciting.

I don't think Leinster are going to get a gimmee today at all and there are no guarantees Toulouse will get a BP win over Bath.

Yeah the games today are funny ones but I expect Leinster and Toulouse to go about their business effectively enough.

molloyjh

Quint2010 wrote: »

BT have nine channels. There's bound to be one dead rubber? Think it's unfair on some teams.

Even if they could utilise all 9 channels, they’d reduce the audience for each individual game reducing the advertising revenue they could bring in. A good few people would watch multiple games this weekend. Having them all on at the same time means nobody could really do that.