The European Rugby Cup is not over yet.
Shutdown in January due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the competition will resume on April 2, 3 and 4 with some tempting posters.
The draw for the round of 16 took place on Tuesday.
Racing 92, finalist of the last edition of the Champions Cup (beaten by the English of Exeter), will welcome the Scots of Edinburgh, behind closed doors at La Défense Arena.
An opponent widely within the reach of Ile-de-France residents.
Racing will be one of the only two French clubs to receive with Union Bordeaux-Bègles, which will host the English club of Bristol where Semi Radradra, the Fijian former player of the UBB, shines.
For the five other French clubs in the running, the meetings promise to be even more difficult.
In particular for Toulouse, which has lifted the continental trophy four times (1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010), which will offer itself a classic at Thomond Park, in Ireland, against Munster, double winner of the European Cup ( 2006 and 2008).
Another shock between former winners: Leinster-Toulon.
Seven European crowns will be on the Dublin meadow between the Irish and the RCT, two teams which reigned supreme on the Old Continent in the first half of the 2010s. A very difficult trip also awaits Lyon on the lawn of Exeter, holding the title, while La Rochelle and Clermont will also travel to England, respectively Gloucester and Wasps.
New format with the final in Marseille on May 22
The appearance of the British variant of Covid-19 in January forced the organizing body of European competitions, the EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby), to stop the group stages after only two days.
In order to be able to complete them, she has changed from the format, with a direct round of 16 the first weekend in April, before moving on to the quarters the following week.
For the quarter-finals, the winners of the following matches will face off!
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🇫🇷 How many French clubs do you think will play in the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup this season?
🤔 pic.twitter.com/wWP9kZUIs3
- Champions Cup France (@ChampionsCup_FR) March 9, 2021
The finals will take place in Marseille on Friday May 21 for the European Challenge (Challenge Cup) and on Saturday May 22 for the European Cup (Champions Cup).
Five teams were guaranteed to play their eighth at home after winning their two group matches on the field (and not on the green carpet): Racing 92, Bordeaux-Bègles, Leinster, Munster and Wasps.
The draw for the quarter-finals, which will take place on April 9, 10 and 11, was also carried out on Tuesday at the EPCR headquarters in Lausanne (Switzerland).
If they were to qualify, the Racingmen would move to the winner of Bordeaux-Bristol.
Toulouse would go to the winner of the Wasps-Clermont match.
Agen and Montpellier in Challenge
Two French clubs are, for their part, still in contention in the “small” European Cup, the European Challenge.
Agen, who has lost all of their league games since the start of the season, may have the opportunity to taste victory on the continental stage with an affordable trip to Italians Benetton Treviso.
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Montpellier, also in difficulty in the Top 14, will have a more difficult task with the reception of the Scots from the Glasgow Warriors.
If successful, the two French representatives will face each other in the quarter-finals.
