Champions Cup

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s Champions Cup news, interviews, reports, opinion and other content.

Stade Francais’ two reds clear the way for Munster to take control

8 December 2024 0 comments

By Kevin Fallon Munster ………….33pts Tries: Abrahams 16, Daly 30, Kendellen 50, Farrell 55, Coombes 79 Conversions: Crowley 16, 30, 51, 56 Stade Francais .. […]

George Horne hat-trick seals it for Glasgow Warriors

8 December 2024 0 comments

By Bryn Palmer Glasgow Warriors …. 38pts Tries: Horne 2, 12, 39; Rowe 16, Jones 23, Cummings 64 Conversions: Horne 3, 13, 17; Jordan 24 […]

It felt like a Test match-Ewels

8 December 2024 0 comments

BATH skipper Charlie Ewels believed they had enough chances to win. The England second row said: “I liked how we stayed calm and also that […]

Joe Heyes hoping to put on a magic show in Bordeaux

8 December 2024 0 comments

Match Preview By Jon Newcombe Bordeaux v Leicester Tigers Today. Kick-off 1pm, Stade Chaban-Delmas Joe Heyes is hoping that Leicester can rekindle a bit of […]

Sharks vs Exeter Chiefs – Champions Cup Preview

7 December 2024 0 comments

By Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports We have an action-packed rugby weekend to look forward to over the coming days as the Champions Cup gets underway. […]

Champions Cup potential breakout stars

6 December 2024 0 comments

Every year, an unexpected player rises to perform on the European stage, with it being a great place for both young and fringe talent to get a bit […]

Best Champions Cup matchups of the weekend

6 December 2024 0 comments

The Investec Champions Cup kicks off this weekend, with the best of the Premiership, Top 14 and URC battling it out to be crowned the […]

Bath vs La Rochelle – Champions Cup Preview

6 December 2024 0 comments

By Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports Under the lights this Friday, we will see two European giants, Bath and La Rochelle, clash in a sensational contest. […]

Will this be the year a South African club lifts the Champions Cup trophy?

5 December 2024 0 comments

By Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports The most significant competition in club rugby kicks off this weekend as the Champions Cup gets underway. Teams from the […]

Jacques Vermeulen excited to visit old friends

1 December 2024 0 comments

By Paul Rees Exeter start their Champions Cup campaign away in South Africa on Saturday, but Jacques Vermeulen will feel very much at home. The […]

European Cup must only be for elite

14 July 2024 0 comments

Nick Cain Column When an elite competition like the European Cup comes up with a dullard draw which has deposed two-time champions La Rochelle playing […]

Champions Cup to stick with format

7 July 2024 0 comments

By JON NEWCOMBE CEO: Jacques Raynaud Fans hoping for a return to the old four-team, six pools Champions Cup format in the halcyon Heineken days […]

Plumtree: We must sort out the logistics

2 June 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Sharks head coach John Plumtree believes the Champions Cup is the greatest club competition out there but has called for increased alignment […]

Sorry, but that’s not all right, Jacques

2 June 2024 0 comments

A great European Cup final last weekend had only one blemish, when the limp attempt to tighten the rules around water-carriers made by World Rugby […]

Awesome! Toulouse make it a super six

26 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Champions Cup final player of the match and European rugby’s biggest star Antoine Dupont revelled in captaining Toulouse […]

Toulouse provide a lesson in brilliance

26 May 2024 0 comments

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Leinster……………………….. 22pts Tries: van der Flier 93 Conversions: Frawley 94 Penalties: Byrne 18, 43, 46, 65; Frawley 77 Toulouse ……………………… 31pts Tries: […]

Champions Cup Final Preview – Europe’s best set to provide fireworks

24 May 2024 0 comments

European rugby’s two most successful sides battle it out for Champions Cup glory as Leinster face Toulouse in the final on Saturday afternoon at Tottenham […]

Ex-Wasps buzzing for European glory

19 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Thibaud Flament has risen from Loughborough University’s fifth team to become a French international with the intention of next weekend becoming a […]

‘Play big matches at neutral venues’

12 May 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Danny Wilson’s has backed calls to play Champions Cup semi-finals at a neutral venue after Toulouse and Leinster enjoyed home city advantage […]

Graham: Guys were in tears after that defeat but we’ll fight back

12 May 2024 0 comments

Sam Graham believes Northampton can turn the heartache of losing last weekend’s Champions Cup semi-final to their advantage as they set their sights on the […]

Power of the four musketeers

12 May 2024 0 comments

A common theme of last weekend’s Champions Cup semi-finals was the influence of the four scrum-halves, the catalysts of teams that look to get the […]

Toulouse overcome Quins to join Leinster in eighth final

5 May 2024 0 comments

By NICK POWELL Toulouse………………………………………….38 Tries: Lebel 4, Mauvaka 19, Flament 27, Dupont 33, 37; Mallía 68 Conversions: Kinghorn 21, 35, 38; Ramos 70 Harlequins………………………………………..26 Tries: […]

Saints so close to stunning Leinster

5 May 2024 0 comments

From ADAM HATHAWAY at Croke Park Northampton boss Phil Dowson was left to rue the one that got away after Saints went down 20-17 to […]

Quins have to climb very steep mountain

5 May 2024 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK WHEN Harlequins face Toulouse this afternoon in their first European Cup semi-final in south-west France, it will be […]

Leinster made to fight all the way

5 May 2024 0 comments

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Leinster…………………………20pts Tries: Lowe 10, 15, 43 Conversion: Byrne 11 Penalty: Byrne 29 Northampton Saints…… 17pts Tries: Hendy 58, Seabrook 73 Conversions: Smith […]

It’ll be tough for us but we’ll meet fire with fire, says Care

5 May 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES PREVIEW… Toulouse vs Harlequins Today. Kick-off 3pm, Stadium de Toulouse WHEN Harlequins went to Bordeaux last month they vowed to swing the […]

What’s in The Rugby Paper: 05/05/24

3 May 2024 0 comments

For only the second time in eight seasons there are two English teams in the Champions Cup semi-finals, and we’ll have action and reaction from Northampton’s trip […]

Leinster all-stars set for blockbuster battle

28 April 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Having finally toppled their Champions Cup bogey team La Rochelle, next up for Leinster is Premiership pacesetters Northampton Saints and flanker Will […]

Time for Saints to be true to themselves

28 April 2024 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK THE contest between the 9-10 pairings of Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne and Northampton’s Alex Mitchell and […]

Leinster’s workload merits little sympathy

28 April 2024 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK LEINSTER are worried about the pressure that could prevent them from winning a European Cup and URC […]

‘Ireland in blue’ will provide stiffest test

28 April 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Phil Dowson and Leo Cullen first crossed paths in European action 10 seasons ago when Northampton did […]

Be quick! McKellar’s lowdown on Leinster

21 April 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Northampton had the chance last night to quiz Dan McKellar about their Champions Cup semi-final opponents Leinster but, before the East Midlands […]

Sorrell pleased to see English clubs stand up

21 April 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Despite their fierce London rivalry with Harlequins, Saracens backs coach Kevin Sorrell is pleased two Premiership sides reached the last four of […]

Ban teams who pick reserves for knock-out stages

21 April 2024 0 comments

The Bulls are not the first outfit to undermine the European Cup by picking an understrength team, with some French clubs – Bourgoin in particular […]

Try-fest with big issues below the surface

21 April 2024 0 comments

The Paris Games, more formally known as the XXXIII Olympiad, are almost upon us and the Rugby Sevens schedule is full to overflowing. Yet there […]

Outsiders aiming for a place in the final

21 April 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees looks ahead to the Champions Cup semi-finals where Quins and Saints are facing an uphill battle BEFORE this season’s Champions Cup started, there […]

Nominees listed for top award

21 April 2024 0 comments

Northampton pair Courtney Lawes and Fin Smith, and Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith have been nominated for the Champions Cup player of the year award. Leinster […]

Toulouse hammer Exeter to set up semi-final against Quins

14 April 2024 0 comments

By NICK POWELL Toulouse……………64 Tries: Ntamack 8, Willis 32, Kinghorn 48, 56; Ahki 51, 75; Dupont 58, Malia 67, 79 Conversions: Kinghorn 9, 33, 49, […]

Quins and Saints on the march in Europe

14 April 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Two English clubs are through to the semi-finals of the Champions Cup after stunning victories against high class opposition yesterday. Harlequins fought […]

Hendy making most of having his legs on ‘back to front’ – Dowson

14 April 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Phil Dowson believes George Hendy is a wing unlike any other – because he has his legs on back to front. The […]

The pinball wizard who can fire Exeter

14 April 2024 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK IMMANUEL Feyi-Waboso was a pretty unknown factor before the Six Nations, but the 21-year-old winger’s rise from Cardiff […]

Green seizes day for dazzling Quins

14 April 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Bordeaux-Begles ………..41pts Tries: Lucu 19, Buros 24, Depoortere 42, Bielle-Biarrey 59, Tambwe 64, 75 Conversions: Lucu 25, 43, 60, 65 Penalties: Lucu […]

Millard: We knew we had to dig deep

14 April 2024 0 comments

Billy Millard said Harlequins knew they would have to dig deep to reach their first Champions Cup semi-final after travelling to a side that the […]

Sparkling Leinster get it right this time

14 April 2024 0 comments

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Leinster……………………….. 40pts Tries: Lowe 16, 60; Gibson-Park 37, Baird 42, Sheehan 56 Conversions: Byrne 18, 38, 43 Penalties: Byrne 7, 27, 31 […]

Doris: Croke will be massive

14 April 2024 0 comments

Leinster’s victorious squad are looking forward to their ‘home” semi-final at the 82,000 capacity Croke Park, two miles across Dublin from the Aviva Stadium. Skipper […]

Saints on rampage as Bulls fall apart

14 April 2024 0 comments

By GARY FITZGERALD Northampton Saints….. 59pts Tries: Ramm 10, 47; Lawes 15, Sleightholme 20, Mitchell 24, 67; Coles 40, Dingwall 50, Augustus 72 Conversions: Smith […]

Another barmy idea from the men in suits

14 April 2024 0 comments

The Ministry of Silly Walks was a Monty Python sketch which lampooned bureaucratic inefficiency. Rugby Union requires something similar to shame the unaccountable administrators turning […]

Pienaar heads the list for Europe’s golden oldies

14 April 2024 0 comments

In the course of wheeling their way into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last weekend against the Cheetahs, the Michelin Men of Clermont brought a somewhat […]

Investec Champions Cup quarter-final preview

12 April 2024 0 comments

La Rochelle head to Dublin looking to end Leinster’s hopes of a fifth Champions Cup title for the fourth consecutive season in a hugely exciting […]

Northampton Saints player ratings vs Munster

8 April 2024 0 comments

By TOM JEFFREYS Northampton Saints produced a memorable display to earn their first Champions Cup knockout victory in 13 years against tournament stalwarts Munster. Phil […]

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