Explosive Euro opener
CHAMPIONS CUP SPOTLIGHT: The start of the new campaign is later than usual, but what a way to herald the return of Europe’s elite club competition than with the visit of four-time winners Toulouse to Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium stronghold on Friday.
If their two previous meetings – in 2011/12 – are anything to go by, it should be a thriller, since both ended up in narrow wins for the home team after points bonanzas.
The other Pool Five tie sees Connacht host their first Champions Cup tie since 2016/17 on Sunday against Montpellier, whom they have met eight times in the European Challenge Cup, winning six and losing two.
Sunday also closes Round One of the Champions Cup – and what a finish that should be in Pool Four, with defending champions Saracens visiting Racing 92, whom they beat 21-9 in Lyon to win the first of their three European Cups in 2016.
Sunday’s third game marks the return of 2000 winners Northampton Saints to the Champions Cup after a one-season absence.
They entertain Lyon in a battle of the early English Premiership and TOP 14 leaders.
Saturday’s six games include some mouth-watering match-ups as well, none more so than Harlequins’ trip to ASM Clermont Auvergne in Pool Three, which is a rerun of their dramatic Challenge Cup semifinal last season, which the French team edged 32-27 at the same Stade Marcel-Michelin venue.
Four other teams return to Champions Cup action on Saturday – Sale Sharks at Glasgow Warriors and La Rochelle at home to Exeter Chiefs in Pool Two, Benetton at four-time winners Leinster in Pool One and Ospreys at home to Munster in Pool Four.
For all but 2019 Challenge Cup semifinalists Sale, whose last appearance in the Champions Cup was in 2016/17, it has only been a temporary absence of one season.
Saturday’s action kicks off with a meeting between 1998 champions Bath and 1999 winners Ulster at the Recreation Ground.
Bath have yet to beat the Irish province in the European Cup, losing home and away to them in both 2009/10 and 2010/11.
Source: @ChampionsCup
