By Charlie Elliott
For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.
The Champions Cup is back and has reached crunch-time, with the round of 16 upon us.
There is no room for error now, and one defeat will spell the end of the competition for teams.
After an entertaining pool stage, the draw has been confirmed, and fans have their sights set on the next round of fixtures.
With the best in Europe set to battle it out, this weekend is not one to miss out on.
Here is a rundown of each game and some information about when they are, where to watch and some of the storylines surrounding them.
Northampton Saints v Clermont Auvergne
Northampton and Clermont battle it out in the first game of the weekend, with an 8pm kick off at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday as the first of three Premiership v Top 14 matchups takes place.
The game will be available to watch on Premier Sports 1 for those in the UK.
England fly-half Fin Smith will be back after being rested in Saints’ Prem loss against Sale Sharks to prepare him for this game.
Clermont come off the back of a win against La Rochelle, which ended a five-game losing streak in the league, with Tongan centre George Moala bagging a brace of tries.
Saints’ only win over Clermont came in January 2018, as Ben Foden scored a wonder try in a 34-21 home victory.
The winner of this tie will face either Castres or Benetton in the next round.
Toulon v Saracens
The first of the Saturday games, with a 12:30 kick off at the Stade Felix Mayol, Saracens head to Toulon with little hope of getting a result against the French giants.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall has already seemingly thrown in the towel and admitted that they will be focusing on league success, with all his England players out for this game on mandatory rest following the Six Nations.
That means that Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Tom Willis and Elliot Daly will all be unavailable for selection, which slims down their chances of a win to next to none.
Toulon are third in the Top 14 and have a very good squad who should breeze past a second-string Sarries side.
This game will be on Premier Sports 2 with the winner facing the winner of Toulouse and Sale Sharks.
Leinster v Harlequins
At 15:00 on Saturday, Quins will face Irish giants Leinster at Croke Park in Dublin, in a game which has the potential for being the biggest spectacle.
60,000 fans are expected in Dublin and the hosts will be heavy favourites after their brilliant URC season so far, where they find themselves top of the table.
It is usually a close game between these two, with the most notable coming in the 2009 Heineken Cup quarter final, with Leinster winning 6-5 at The Stoop to break Quins hearts on the way to lifting the trophy.
The game will be shown on Premier Sports 2 in the UK, with RTE 2 and RTE Player showing the game in Ireland.
Whoever wins will face either Glasgow Warriors or Leicester Tigers.
Castres v Benetton
The second Saturday 3pm kick-off is the game between the two dark horses of this competition at the Stade Pierre Fabre.
Not many would have predicted these two to have got through the pool stages and now that they are playing each other, at least one will reach the quarters.
With plenty of Italy internationals in their ranks, Benetton will be looking for players like Tommaso Menoncello to bring the goods, but he will face stern competition in the centre from Adrea Cocagi, who starred in Castres’ surprising win away against Saracens.
You can watch this game on Premier Sports 1, with the winner playing either Saints or Clermont.
La Rochelle v Munster
Possibly the biggest story of the weekend, Munster legend Ronan O’Gara faces his former side as head coach of La Rochelle.
The legendary former fly-half has been at the helm in the west of France since 2019, and despite some recent poor form, has done a good job at the club.
Munster will be relatively confident going into this one, given the fact that their hosts haven’t won a game since the start of January.
Currently fifth in the URC themselves, this could be a very close game in which anything could happen.
It will be shown on Premier Sports 1, with a 17:30 kick-off.
Whoever wins will have Bordeaux-Bègles or Munster in the next round.
Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers
Michael Cheika’s out-of-sorts Tigers team have a mountain to climb if they are to salvage a result at Scotstoun Stadium against URC high-flyers Glasgow in a 20:00 kick-off.
History doesn’t favour Cheika’s side, with the past two meetings resulting in a 43-0 and a 42-12 win for the Scottish side, albeit nearly ten years ago.
Stacked with Scotland internationals, with the Tigers having a few England internationals themselves, it should be a good game, but you’d expect the Scots to come out on top.
Still no head coach for next season, times are looking bleak for Tigers should they lose this and drop out of the top four race.
It will be shown on Premier Sports 1 and the winner will face either Leinster or Quins.
Bordeaux Begles v Ulster
One of only two games on the Sunday, both are expected to be pretty one sided in favour of the French hosts.
The Stade Chaban-Delmas has seen some unbelievable rugby from Damien Penaud and co so far this season, as Begles sit second in the Top 14.
Ulster are massive outsiders, and the fact that they are away makes it even more difficult for them.
Funnily enough, this will be the second time that they play each other this year after a battle at Kingspan Stadium in the pool stages.
Despite a clunky game from the French side, they still sauntered to a 40-19 away victory in Belfast.
As with most of the games, it will be on Premier Sports 1 with the winner facing either La Rochelle or Munster.
Toulouse v Sale Sharks
Finishing off the weekend’s action is a 15:00 kick-off at the Stade Ernst-Wallon, in what is another game that could be a blowout.
Sale have been in poor away form all season, with only two wins on the road all season in the Premiership and are up against arguably the best team in this competition here.
Toulouse have won every one of the four meetings between the two, with the last coming in 2023 and being a 27-5 scoreline at the Salford Community Stadium.
Antoine Dupont being injured will give a glimmer of hope to the Sharks, but the star-studded French team with internationals everywhere may just prove to be too strong.
Ange Capuozzo, Emmanuel Meafou, Thomas Ramos, Romain Ntamack and Blair Kinghorn are some of the world-class players playing here, and that leaves out a whole host of talent.
Alex Sanderson is known for his physical approach to the game, so he will be hoping that the Greater Manchester-based team will bully their opponents and take the chances that they get.
It will be on Premier Sports 1 with the winner playing either Toulon or Saracens.
READ MORE: Rugby’s social media moments of the week – Henry Pollock justifies the hype
