Champions Cup, Round of 16 - Teams and Predictions

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY SECOND LEGS: Toulouse coach Ugo Mola makes no bones about it: his players made up the backbone of France’s Six Nations Grand Slam-winning squad and his team is now paying a heavy price for that success.

The European champions saw their bid to defend their title take a nosedive last week when Ulster beat them 26-20 in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup.

Pressure will be high when Toulouse make the trip to Belfast for the second leg on Saturday.

CLICK HERE For Friday’s teams and predictions

“Of the 10 internationals who finished the Grand Slam adventure, seven were affected by direct or indirect post-championship injuries,” Mola said.

The coach had already overseen a rocky patch for the club, which lost a string of Top 14 matches in the absence of their internationals including skipper Antoine Dupont and playmaker Romain Ntamack.

The pair, along with other stars of France’s first Grand Slam in 12 years, has been brought straight back into action at club level.

However, Dupont missed training on Tuesday due to being ‘sick’ according to the club and France hooker Julien Marchand is out due to a calf injury.

“It’s true that we didn’t have too much of a break in the wake of the Six Nations,” admitted Ntamack.

“But we wanted to get back playing with our friends at the club as quickly as possible. Physically it’s fine, psychologically too, we feel pretty good.

“We’ll just try to recuperate as much as possible as soon as we have the opportunity.”

That chance of a few days off will come after the trip to Belfast.

“Honestly, I don’t have much choice,” Mola said. “It gets to the point where it can’t be so unrelenting, I don’t want to take risks with their health.”

Ulster boast a positive home record against the five-time European champions, with four wins and two losses in the continental competition.

‘Touching distance’

Ulster’s Springbok No.8 Duane Vermeulen said a second title [after a first in 1999] was within his side’s reach.

“We are in touching distance but not there yet,” the South African said.

“This weekend is another big game for us and hopefully we can turn up and get our double on Toulouse.”

Toulouse, Vermuelen told BBC, have “a big squad and they have done it in the past – they are defending champions and it is going to be a difficult task for us, but we are happy to be playing at home and in front of our fans”.

There will also be a third installment of La Rochelle versus Bordeaux-Begles, the former having come out winners in the Top 14 (16-15) and European first leg (31-13) on consecutive weekends.

La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara and Bordeaux counterpart Christophe Urios were sanctioned Thursday after a bad-tempered touchline spat during the league game.

After the pair exchanged insults, Urios aimed a slap at the former Ireland international, later dubbing him an “insufferable” trouble maker.

The body running professional rugby in France, the LNR, found both coaches guilty of “ill-discipline and agitation”, but handed them a reprimand rather than a suspension.

O’Gara will still be absent from the dugout, currently into the second and final week of an unrelated touchline ban for having previously criticised refereeing standards in another La Rochelle league match.

Four-time champions Leinster host Irish rivals Connacht and Sale travel to Bristol in Friday’s action – with the latter holding just a one point advantage from the first leg.

Saturday also sees Harlequins hosting Montpellier, Munster welcoming Exeter and Leicester taking on Clermont, while Easter Sunday features the Parisian derby, Racing 92 clashing with cross-city rivals Stade Francais.

Se below for Saturday’s teams and predictions!

Saturday, April 16:

Harlequins v Montpellier
(Twickenham Stoop, London – Kick-off: 12.30; 11.30 GMT; 13.30 France time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Harlequins by 10 points.

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Huw Jones, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (captain), 7 Will Evans, 6 George Hammond, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Matas Jurevicius, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Nick David.

Montpellier: 15 Julien Tisseron, 14 Gabriel N’gandebe, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12. Handré Pollard, 11 Pierre Lucas, 10 Louis Foursans, 9 Aubin Eymeri, 8 Alexandre Becognee, 7 Yacouba Camara (captain), 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements: 16 Jeremie Maurouard, 17 Robert Rodgers, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Zach Mercer, 20 Martin Doan, 21 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 22 Anthony Bouthier, 23 Bastien Chalureau.

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)

Munster v Exeter Chiefs
(Thomond Park, Limerick – Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Munster by six points.

Teams:

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony (captain), 5 Fineen Wycherley, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Josh Wycherley.
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Thomas Ahern, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Alex Kendellen.

Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Alec Hepburnbr.
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Richard Capstick, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Tom Gilbert-Hendrickson, 23 Josh Hodge.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Jonathan Dufort (France)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)

Stade Rochelais v Bordeaux-Bègles
(Stade Marcel Deflandre, La Rochelle – Kick-off: 16.00; 14.00 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Stade Rochelais by eight points.

Teams:

La Rochelle:15 Brice Dulin, 14 Martin Alonso Munoz, 13 Eneriko Buliruarua, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Tawera Kerr Barlow, 8 Grégory Alldritt (captain), 7 Matthias Haddad, 6 Victor Vito, 5 Rémi Picquette, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Facundo Bosch, 1 Dany Priso.
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Guram Papidze, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Remi Bourdeau, 21 Thomas Berjon, 22 Jules Plisson, 23 Levani Botia.

Bordeaux: 15 Nans Ducuing, 14 Federico Mori, 13 Yoram Falatea-Moefana, 12 Gatien Masse, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Matéo Garcia, 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Maama Vaipulu, 7 Mahamadou Diaby (captain), 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Alban Roussel, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Lekso Kaulashvili, 2 Clement Maynadier, 1 Thierry Paiva.
Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Enzo Baggiani, 18 Lasha Tabidze, 19 Thomas Jolmes, 20 Alexandre Roumat, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Ulupano Seuteni, 23 Geoffrey Cros.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Jamie Leahy (England)
TMO: Christophe Ridley (England)

Leicester Tigers v Clermont Auvergne
(Welford Road, Leicester – Kick-off: 17.30; 16.30 GMT; 18.30 France time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Leicester by 12 points.

Teams:

Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Harry Potter, 10 George Ford, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Nic Dolly, 1 Ellis Genge (captain).
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Calum Green, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Matt Scott.

Clermont: 15 Cheikh Tiberghien, 14 Marvin O’Connor, 13 George Moala, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Jauneau, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Lucas Dessaigne, 6 Clement Lanen, 5 Miles Amatosero, 4 Thibaud Lanen, 3 Christian Ojovan, 2 Yohan Beheregaray (captain), 1 Giorgi Beria.
Replacements: 16 Etienne Fourcade, 17 Daniel Bibi Biziwu, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Judicaël Cancoriet, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 John Joseph Hanrahan, 23 Samuel Ezeala.

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

Ulster v Toulouse
(Kingspan Stadium, Belfast – Kick-off: 20.00; 19.00 GMT; 21.00 France time)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Toulouse by five points.

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Ethan McIlroy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Marcus Rea, 5 Iain Henderson (captain), 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick.
Replacements: 16 Brad Roberts, 17 Eric O’Sullivan, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Rob Lyttle.

Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Dimitri Delibes, 13 Tim Nanai-Williams, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Anthony Jelonch, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Richie Arnold, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Rodrigue Neti.
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Cramont, 17 David Ainu’u, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Emmanuel Meafou, 20 Thibaud Flament, 21 Antoine Miquel, 22 Baptiste Germain, 23 Lucas Tauzin.

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson (England), Phil Watters (England)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

Sunday, April 17:

Racing 92 v Stade Francais Paris
(Paris La Defense Arena, Paris – Kick-off: 16.30; 14.30 GMT)

Prediction

@rugby365com: Racing by 10 points.

Teams:

Racing 92: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Henry Chavancy (captain), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Anthime Hemery, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Boris Palu, 4 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Guram Gogichashvili.
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Baptiste Pesenti, 20 Ibrahim Diallo, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Antoine Gibert, 23 Olivier Klemenczak.

Stade Francais: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Sefa Naivalu, 13 Harry Glover, 12 Alex Arrate, 11 Adrien Lapegue, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 James Hall, 8 Tala Gray (captain), 7 Romain Briatte, 6 Loic Godener, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Juan Johan Van der Mescht, 3 Nemo Roelofse, 2 Lucas Da Silva, 1 Clément Castets.
Replacements: 16 Laurent Panis, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Giorgi Melikidze, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Charlie Francoz, 21 William Percillier, 22 Joris Segonds, 23 Léo Barre.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Dean Richards (England)

AFP & @rugby365com