A sickly Munster bade adieu at the Round of 16 stage for the second year running in what resembled, at least partially, the end of an era with their 24-14 defeat in Northampton. So Leinster again carry the Irish flag into the Champions Cup quarter-finals when they host La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).
After watching their team win 36-22 against Leicester on Saturday night, Leinster season-ticket holders were given first option at 10am on Sunday before match tickets go on general sale at 2pm on Monday. The pity is that there’s only a week to market the game, but if any Champions Cup quarter-final clash could be described as box office it must be the latest instalment in this tetchy rivalry.
This will be their fifth meeting in four seasons, following La Rochelle’s victories in the semi-finals three seasons ago and the last two finals, before Leinster’s 16-9 win in a rain-drenched Stade Marcel Deflandre last December.
Underlining some Munster presence in the week ahead, and perhaps playing some mind games, Ronan O’Gara declared he was taking his back-to-back champions straight from South Africa to Cork in readiness for this quarter-final. This follows their dramatic 22-21 win in Cape Town last Saturday over the Stormers.
Were Leinster to overcome La Rochelle they would earn a semi-final in potentially Croke Park against the winners of the Northampton-Bulls quarter-final. Toulouse beat Racing 31-7 to earn a home quarter-final against Exeter while Bordeaux-Bègles will entertain Harlequins.
Ulster won in Montpellier by 40-17 in the Challenge Cup Round of 16 after the French lock Paul Willemse was red-carded and two of his team-mates were sinbinned. Richie Murphy’s team will now face Clermont away next Saturday at 12.30pm Irish time. Connacht’s reward for a fine 40-30 win in Pau on Sunday night is a quarter-final in Benetton next Sunday (12.30pm Irish time).
As for the chances of avenging the last two final defeats, and particularly last May’s decider in the Aviva, Leo Cullen said: “If we manage things slightly differently maybe it is within our control. But you have to give it to the opposition as well; hugely resourced team and they recruit from all around the globe. You see the quality of players they have and we need to be focused on what that involves.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it? You want to be up against the top teams. That’s been the last couple of seasons and you can wind the clock back further, 10 years ago, when it was Toulon winning the European Cup as it was then.
“We’re at home in a big game against the reigning champions and it’s a massively exciting challenge – gets the juices flowing.”
Cullen intimated that Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O’Brein might both be back in contention, and also played down Hugo Keenan’s injury, but Ross Byrne looked in some discomfort after departing with an apparent shoulder injury against Leicester.
Munster went toe-to-toe in a vibrant Franklin’s Gardens before their mounting casualty list and a virus that afflicted the squad took its toll as the Premiership leaders unloaded a more impactful bench, not least 21-year-old double try-scorer George Hendy.
Ultimately, Munster in part paid the price for a pool campaign that yielded just one win – albeit a superb victory in Toulon, along with a defeat in Exeter, and a draw at home to Bayonne and defeat at home to Northampton – but Graham Rowntree was not inclined to look at it that way.
“Hindsight’s wonderful. No, I’m not one for reflecting too much like that. There’s too much in front of you. There’s another big game around the corner.
“We got ourselves into a Round of 16 against a team who are top of the Premiership and we played some good rugby. You saw a lot of Munster at our best tonight. It wasn’t good enough.
“I’m not one for beating myself up about what did or didn’t happen in the pool stages, which included by the way a very famous victory in Toulon. Then we lost our way against Saints in the last game. I’m not one for looking back too much.”
Munster will have a week’s respite before their two-game trek to South Africa for URC games against the Bulls and Kings.
Asked how he expects his team to respond, Rowntree said: “As Munster players do, as we showed last year. We drive on now. We focus solely on the URC. We’ll regroup ready for our flight down to Pretoria, I don’t have an issue or a worry about anybody’s focus for the rest of the season. We’ve got heaps to play for.
“We’ve got a driven group. We’ve got guys back from internationals. There’s heaps to go for. Last year, April 22nd, we limped into the playoffs, May 27th we won it. We’re bang on schedule!”
It seemed pointed that Peter O’Mahony was not only replaced in the 56th minute but went straight down the tunnel and did not seem to reappear after the game as the team thanked the estimated 3,500 travelling supporters. Simon Zebo may also have played his last match in a competition that he has adorned with 35 tries, while the Bordeaux-Bègles-bound Joey Carbery also made a poignant farewell, as most probably is true for Antoine Frisch after he declared for France this week.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it’s ongoing,” said Rowntree, intimating that Frisch could leave this summer despite having another year on his contract. “We’ll see how that plays out but his game’s not changed, his focus has not moved away from the job in hand. We’ll just see how that plays out.”
Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals (all times Irish)
Saturday, April 13th: QF4 Union Bordeaux-Bègles (4) v Harlequins (5), Stade Chaban-Delmas, 3.0; QF2 Leinster (2) v La Rochelle (10), Aviva Stadium, 5.30 (RTÉ/TNT); QF3 Northampton (3) v Bulls (6), Franklin’s Gardens, 8.0. Sunday, April 14th: QF1 Toulouse (1) v Exeter Chiefs (8), Stade Ernest-Wallon, 3.0.
Semi-finals (May 3rd-5th): SF1 Winner QF1 v Winner QF4; SF2 Winner QF2 v Winner QF3. Matches will be played in Europe and the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home country advantage.
Final: Saturday, May 25th: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, 2.45.
Challenge Cup quarter-finals (all times Irish)
Friday, April 12th: QF 2: Gloucester (2) v Ospreys (7), Kingsholm, 8.0. Saturday, April 13th: QF 1: Sharks (1) v Edinburgh Rugby (8), Kings Park, 12.30; QF4: Clermont Auvergne (4) v Ulster (12), Stade Marcel-Michelin, 12.30 (TNT). Sunday, April 14th: QF3 Benetton (3) v Connacht, Stadio di Monigo (12.30).
Semi-finals (May 3rd-5th): SF1 winner QF1 v winner QF4; SF2 winner QF2 v winner QF3. Matches will be played in Europe and the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage will have home venue advantage.
Final: Friday, May 24th: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, 8.0.
Ends.
