Challenge Cup quarterfinals - teams and predictions

SATURDAY PREVIEW: It will be a battle of the Springboks when Glasgow Warriors host the Lions at Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday.

Franco Smith and Jaque Fourie were both well-respected internationals in their playing days, but this will be a very different arena.

Glasgow Warriors and Lions are both coming off big-scoring victories in their Challenge Cup clashes last week, setting up a delectable quarterfinal showdown.

However, with a semifinal place on the line and everything to play for, it could prove to be a tight tussle.

The Warrior are unbeaten in the Challenge Cup, but the Johannesburg-based outfit has run into some decent form of their own in recent weeks.

Also, the Lions know exactly what to expect from the Scottish team, having beaten them (35-24) in a United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park back in February.

“We aren’t going there just to compete, we want to win,” Fourie said ahead of the trip to Glasgow.

“We have two games left in the URC and we want to finish on a high.

“But, firstly, our focus is to win against Glasgow,” he said of the quarterfinal outing.

Smith’s revolution at the Scotstoun was on full display in their 73-33 demolition of Welsh side the Dragons in last week’s Round of 16 outing.

Despite just one loss in their last 14 matches – against the same Lions in Johannesburg – Glasgow are looking to raise the bar significantly against tricky opposition this week.

Smith challenged his side to be more clinical.

“There are a lot of things we can do much better,” he said ahead of the quarterfinal.

“It’s our objective to be as good as we can be on both sides of the ball – be the best we can be.

“We took some good strides but we can still be a lot more clinical.”

The Lions’ defence coach, Fourie said, despite the well-documented style implemented by the Warriors’ South African coach, the Lions are going to stick to their ‘structures’.

(Article continues below the Jaque Fourie interview …)

“We know Franco [Smith] is an interesting character,” Fourie said, adding: “He will come with a few trick plays.

“We will need discipline and put pressure on them.

“The stuff that has been working for us for the last four to five weeks, we need to continue doing that and execute that better.”

With defence being his primary role in the coaching panel, Fourie knows just how crucial that is going to be against a team that employs an expansive game.

“Defence wins matches, especially against a team that plays wide-to-wide like Glasgow,” he told @rugby365com.

“We need to get off the line and put their playmakers under pressure.

“It is important to stay in our defensive structures and not give away any penalties.

“Our discipline also needs to be very sharp.”

Before Smith arrived Glasgow lost their final five matches last season and was demolished by Leinster in the URC quarterfinals 76-14.

It was a loss that cost Danny Wilson his job and brought Smith to the helm.

* Cardiff’s attempt to win the Challenge Cup for the third time will undergo a tough examination when they visit Benetton on Saturday.

While the Italian club have reached this stage only once before and lost 25-31 at Montpellier two years ago, they crushed Connacht 41-19 in the Round of 16 last weekend at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo, after finishing second in Pool B.

Like Cardiff, they won three of their pool games, but the Welsh region came third in Pool A and that has cost them in the quarterfinal draw.

However, Cardiff is fresh from a dramatic 28-27 home victory last weekend over Premiership title challengers Sale Sharks, who had dropped down into the Challenge Cup from the Heineken Champions Cup.

“We have to have another performance like we had against Sale,” Cardiff Director of Rugby Dai Young said.

“We went out there last year and had our dinner fed to us if you remember.

“They’re a good team, a quality team and are very hard to beat at home.”

* Toulon have been handed a chance to avenge their comprehensive 12-30 Challenge Cup final loss to Lyon last season when they welcome their TOP 14 rivals to Stade Félix Mayol on Saturday.

The three-time Champions Cup winners were bidding to add a first Challenge Cup trophy to their cabinet, but for the fourth successive time they fell at the final hurdle.

All the Saturday teams, predictions and pre-match stats follow below…

Saturday, April 8

Toulon v Lyon
(Stade Félix Mayol, Toulon – Kick-off: 13.30; 11.30 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Toulon by eight points

The teams:

Toulon: 15 Marius Domon, 14 Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo, 13 Waisea Vuidravuwalu, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Aymeric Luc, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Charles Ollivon (captain), 6 Cornell Du Preez, 5 Brian Alainu’uese, 4 Swan Rebbadj, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Dany Priso.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Bruce Devaux, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Mathieu Tanguy, 20 Sergio Parisse, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Jérémy Sinzelle.

Lyon: 15 Toby Arnold, 14 Tavite Veredamu, 13 Josiah Maraku, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Mickael Guillard, 6 Liam Allen, 5 Loann Goujon, 4 Killian Geraci, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Jérôme Rey.
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Marchand, 17 Feao Fotuaika, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Joel Kpoku, 21 Baptiste Couilloud, 22 Leo Berdeu, 23 Thibaut Regard.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White (Scotland), Ian Kenny (Scotland)
TMO: Ben Blain (Scotland)

Benetton v Cardiff
(Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso – Kick-off: 16.00; 15.00 Uk time; 14.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Benetton by seven points

Teams

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (captain), 8 Henry Stowers, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Siua Maile, 17 Thomas Augustin Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Lorenzo Cannone, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Tomas Albornoz.

Cardiff: 15 Ben Thomas, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Botham, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh Turnbull (captain), 3 Kieron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Corey Domachowski.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Will Davies-King, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 James Ratti, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Jason Harries.

Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe (England), Jack Makepeace (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Glasgow Warriors v Lions
(Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow – Kick-off: 20.00; 21.00 SA time’ 19.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Glasgow by 12 points

Teams

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Oliver Smith, 14 Kyle Steyn (captain), 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jean-Pierre du Preez, 20 Lewis Bean, 21 Tom Gordon, 22 Ali Price, 23 Tom Jordan.

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Sibahle Maxwane, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Marius Louw (captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Gianni Lombard, 9 Sanele Nohamba, 8 Francke Horn, 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jacobus Kriel, 5 Ruben Schoeman, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Jean-Pierre Smith.
Replacements: 16 Morné Brandon, 17 Rhynardt Rijnsburger, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Travis Gordon, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Andries Coetzee.

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales (England), Dan Jones (England)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

@king365ed
@rugby365com

* Additional reporting by @ChallengeCup_