Champions Cup quarterfinals confirmed
Saracens went through after fellow Premiership side Wasps trashed Ulster on Sunday.
Ulster came into the weekend as one of three Irish sides topping their groups but their crushing defeat at free-scoring Wasps meant they dropped to third in pool 1 and out of contention.
Had Ulster won, no English side would have made it into the quarter-finals – and that just two years after five Premiership sides made it into the last eight.
Twice, winners, Munster needed to beat Castres to ensure they would top pool 4 and they never looked in any danger, racking up six tries in a 48-3 thumping to qualify as third seeds, meaning they will face three-time winners Toulon in the last eight.
Playing in the Champions Cup for the first time, La Rochelle now face a trip to pool 5 winners Scarlets – the first Welsh side in six years to reach the knock-out stage.
Finalists two years ago, Racing earned their berth by hanging on to beat Leicester 23-20 in the snowy English Midlands.
The Parisians scored two tries in the first 12 minutes against a team who were already eliminated.
Meanwhile, Racing will play away to French champions and last season's finalists Clermont in the quarters.
Agence France-Presse
