Investec Champions Cup round three recap | Last-16 places clinched

Round three of the Investec Champions Cup has been and gone! Once again delivering the goods from start to finish, club rugby’s biggest competition had it all, from blow-outs to last-minute thrillers.

Here is a full breakdown of all the action starting on Friday evening and ending on Sunday evening.

Getting underway on Friday evening, the reigning URC champions Glasgow Warriors built on their strong start to the competition with a 29 – 19 bonus point victory over Racing 92. Shredding their visitors with ball in hand, the Warriors looked mightily impressive with ball in hand. Starting the scoring was scrumhalf George Horne, who departed with an HIA following his try, but his replacement, Jamie Dobie, immediately scored a try of his own. Scoring their fourth try and probably the best effort of the evening on the stroke of half-time was skipper Sione Tuipulotu. This score allowed the Warriors to coast in the second half as outside of two late Racing tries, they rarely looked challenged.

On Saturday, the first clash of the day took place in the shadow of Table Mountain on a stunning Cape Town summer afternoon as the DHL Stormers hosted the Sale Sharks. Striking first through secondrow JD Schickerling on the occasion of his 50^th Stormers appearance, the home side dominated throughout to secure a 40 – 0 victory.  The pick of the scores came courtesy of Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok, who finished off a coast-to-coast score against the run of play. This score took the home side two converted tries clear and seemed to break the Sharks’ belief who struggled mightily with the change in conditions from Manchester winter to Cape Town summer.

Travelling up the South African east coast, the Hollywoodbets Sharks hosted Toulouse in what was billed as a heavyweight duel. What played out was nothing short of a heavyweight title fight, with the reigning champions showing their class to ease out a 20 – 8 win. Led by the indomitable Antoine Dupont, Toulouse struck first through a player of the match,h Emmanuel Meafou, who used all 150kg of his powerful frame to barge over. From here the two sides would settle into an arm wrestle until the second half when Blair Kinghorn plucked a beautiful flick pass from Thomas Ramos to take the score that would put Toulouse into a dominant position. The Sharks would score an incredible long-range try of their own through replacement Jurenzo ‘the boogeyman’ Julius, who injected immense energy when he entered the contest. In the end, the key difference between the two sides would be Thomas Ramos’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Crucially for the visitors, however, they failed to pick up a four-try bonus point, which has seen their Top 14 rivals, Bordeaux, leapfrog them for first place in pool one.

Speaking of Bordeaux, they put up the best part of 70 points en route to a 69 – 17 victory over the Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park. Stealing the show was winger Damian Penaud, who scored a hattrick of tries whilst scrumhalf Maxime Lucu and Louis Bielle-Biarrey each dotted down for two tries of their own. Overall, this was somewhat of a no-contest and served as a cruel reminder that Exeter are far from the Championship winning team of 2019/2020.

Kicking off the evening slate of fixtures was an all-time classic Champions Cup arm wrestle between old rivals Munster and Saracens at Thomond Park. Taking the early initiative through three penalty kicks, Saracens eased into a 9 – 3 lead with 50 minutes played. Seemingly unable to make their good play stick, Munster looked set for a tough defeat in front of their passionate home support. However, Munster can never be counted out at home, and when they introduced their bench players, the intensity went up another notch, which spurred them into action. Pouncing for two quick tries, the home crashed over first through prop Dian Bleuler, who picked and went following a huge burst by number eight Gavin Coombes. With their tails up, the home side would strike again moments later through replacement John Hodnett, who burst through the Saracens’ defence before tumbling over the line. To their credit, Saracens worked their way back into the contest with a fourth penalty but could never quite breach the stingy Munster defence as the Irish side held on to set up a blockbuster round four shootout between themselves, Saracens and the Northampton Saints for top spot in pool three.

Whilst this clash was underway, the second pool three matches was underway in Paris between Stade Francais and the unbeaten Northampton Saints. Racing into an early lead with three quick-fire tries inside twenty minutes, two of which were scored by young backrow sensation Henry Pollock, the Saints looked to be in cruise control. Showing a clinical edge that had been missing through the opening two rounds, Stade struck back to race into a commanding lead that they would never relinquish as they claimed a much-needed 45 – 35 win to keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive and well.

Rounding out the Saturday action were a pair of late window blowouts.

The first of these two clashes saw the Leicester Tigers overcome an early deficit to all but end Ulster’s campaign with a 38 – 10 victory at Welford Road. Pouncing for an opportunistic try through backrow Nick Timoney to go with a penalty from Nathan Doak, Ulster looked poised to spring an upset. Three tries to Tigers winger Josh Bassett and two to his wing partner Ollie Hassell-Collins would bring Ulster’s hopes to a shuddering end.

Whilst the clash in the English midlands was one-way traffic, the clash between the Vodacom Bulls and Castres was firmly in the balance until the 57th, with the home side leading their South African visitors 16 – 10. Just as the URC side appeared to be putting doubts in the Top 14 side’s minds, they came unstuck as Castres sprang into action. Scoring five unanswered tries in the final twenty minutes, Castres all but punched their ticket to the knockout rounds to seal their greatest Champions Cup pool stage in recent memory.

Sunday dawned with four intriguing fixtures for fans to sink their teeth into, with the latest instalment of the La Rochelle vs Leinster grudge match being the headline fixture of the day.

Getting things underway before that clash was an entertaining clash with RC Toulonnais and Harlequins at the Stade Mayol on the Cote d’Azur. Taking the early imitative, the home side came out hot with a try to Italian international Gianmarco Luchasi, which was quickly followed by a superb effort by captain Baptiste Serin, who is playing the best rugby of his career and, if not for Antoine Dupont, would almost certainly be the first choice for France heading into the Six Nations. In the end, the home side would run out 33 – 21 victors, with Harlequins scoring a try as time expired to add some blush to the scoreline.

Next up were two brilliantly close fixtures, starting with the La Rochelle vs Leinster clash, which went right down to the wire. In the end, the difference between the two sides would be Leinster’s relentless defence, with the two sides each scoring a lone try. Leinster would strike first, having weathered a La Rochelle storm for the opening twenty minutes as Joe McCarthy crashed over. La Rochelle would score a brilliant try of their own through Springbok winger Dillyn Leyds with ten minutes to play to set up a grandstand finish. Antoine Hastoy’s conversion would fall inches short of keeping Leinster in front. As the clock ticked over into the red, La Rochelle had multiple opportunities to take the lead and nearly did so through a Hastoy drop goal, only for Josh van der Flier to get a hand to the ball and stop the kick. From here, Leinster knuckled down and held on to the lead.

Across the channel, the action would be equally tight, with the Bristol Bears claiming a 35 – 29 victory over a highly impressive Benetton side who kept their play-off hopes alive with two losing bonus points ahead of their round four clash with La Rochelle. For Bristol, the pick of the tries came through their Irish international scrumhalf Kieran Marmion, whilst for Benetton, the pick of their scores was finished off by Italian international star Tommasso Menecello, who dotted down from a long-range strike play.

Rounding out the action half an hour down the road, Bath Rugby claimed their first win of the campaign as they downed Clermont’s 40 – 21 win. The visitors arrived hopeful of securing a second win in the pool rounds and, with it, a place in the knockout stages. Unfortunately for them, they would be reduced to 14 men when their Georgian international prop  Giorgi Akhaladze, was shown a red card in the 24^th minute. This would limit their chances of pulling off the upset, and so it proved as the home team locked in a key win ahead of their major challenge against Leinster Rugby at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Teams Securing Round of 16 Spots

Several teams confirmed their spots in the knockout stages following Round 3:

Pool 1: Union Bordeaux-Bègles maintained their unbeaten run, topping the group with 15 points. Stade Toulousain followed closely in second place with 14 points, ensuring their progression.

Pool 2: Leinster Rugby secured their Round of 16 berth after a hard-fought win over La Rochelle, finishing the round with 13 points. Despite a narrow loss, La Rochelle remains a strong contender with 10 points.

Pool 3: Northampton Saints lead the group with 11 points, while Munster Rugby and Saracens, both on 10 points, have also booked their places in the next stage after a thrilling round of matches.

Pool 4: RC Toulon and Glasgow Warriors advanced comfortably. Toulon leads with 13 points, while Glasgow’s 12 points, aided by bonus points, ensured their qualification.

Teams Out of Contention

Some teams have been eliminated from playoff contention:

Pool 1: Exeter Chiefs and Ulster Rugby remain winless after three rounds and are out of the running.

Pool 3: Vodacom Bulls sit at the bottom with zero points and have been eliminated.

Pool 4: Racing 92’s 4-point tally after a loss to Glasgow leaves them unable to advance. Harlequins, Sale Sharks, and DHL Stormers are still mathematically in contention but face uphill battles in Round 4.