Champions Cup Quarter-Finals: Fixtures, Where to Watch and Previews

By Charlie Elliott 

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The quarter finals of the Champions Cup are underway this weekend, with the competition reaching a crucial stage. 

Straight after the round of 16, which took place across the previous weekend, fans don’t have long to prepare for the next round. 

After a rollercoaster ride of the last round, in which lots of comebacks happened and some great rugby was played, we get to experience it all over again

Here are all of the fixtures and where to watch them. 

Leinster v Glasgow Warriors 

Ireland and Scotland’s best face off in an all-URC tie between two sides who will be fancying their chances in this competition. 

Reigning URC champions Glasgow will have a difficult test at the Aviva Stadium against a team that looks stronger on paper, with most of the Ireland team in their ranks. 

It is a Friday kick off at 8pm, with it being shown live on Premier Sports 1 in the UK, and RTE 2 for those in Ireland. 

The past five meetings have been pretty favourable for the Irish side, who have won four of them, but the last meeting in 2023 went to the Warriors. 

Aside from that, Leinster have been dominant in this fixture with a few batterings of Glasgow in the past few games. 

Both are coming off comfortable wins against Premiership teams, and it will undoubtedly be a great showcase. 

Bordeaux Begles v Munster 

Munster will be looking for another scalp on French soil as they head to Bordeaux to face the seemingly unstoppable Begles. 

Bordeaux will also be hoping for a repeat of their last round, with a home win against Irish side Ulster in the round of 16. 

Damian Penaud broke Chris Ashton‘s record as the all-time top try scorer in a single Champions Cup campaign and will be looking to extend his record even more. 

It will be played on Saturday at 3pm and will be shown on Premier Sports 1. 

This game marks the first time that these two will play against each other, so it will be interesting to see how they fare against a new opposition. 

Bordeaux will definitely consider themselves as favourites, but a bit of Irish grit and determination could see Munster over the line. 

Northampton Saints v Castres Olympique 

Arguably, the two most unfancied teams left, one of them will end up in the semis and the other will see it as a huge, missed opportunity. 

Saints have put their poor league season behind them and are flying the flag as the only Premiership side left, while Castres find themselves in an unexpected position after beating Benetton late on. 

The 5:30pm kickoff on Saturday will be shown on Premier Sports 1 as well. 

Saints convincingly beat their French opposition in the pool stage at Franklin Gardens, with a 38-8 scoreline in December last year. 

That may be misleading, as Castres didn’t necessarily put their best foot forward in that game, and are expected to go all out given the occasion. 

Having never reached the final of this competition before, this quarter-final could take the Occitanians within one game of making history. 

Toulon v Toulouse 

Two of the best teams in French rugby will play out what should be an absolute classic at the Stade Mayol. 

With it being the last game of the weekend, at 3pm on Sunday, the best is definitely being saved till last. 

As with the other games, it will be on Premier Sports 1. 

Both had similar stories in the last round, being behind unfancied Premiership teams at half time before turning on the heat and ending up with relatively convincing wins. 

Toulouse are currently top of the Top 14, with Toulon in third, but with the domestically lower ranked team having home advantage, anything could happen. 

In their last meeting in October, Toulouse stormed to a 57-5 win at home, but that could fuel the fire for a resurgent Toulon team.

An injury to Ange Capuozzo in the last round against Sale Sharks will hurt Toulouse almost as much as the preexisting one to Antoine Dupont, but they will have hope that the rest of their stars can do the job. 

READ MORE: Champions Cup Team of the Week – Munster trio shock Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle