EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE

CLUB NEWS

THEN THERE WERE TWO…

European Rugby has had to think on its feet with the impact of Covic-19, but the club tournaments reach a climax with a Twickenham double-header and the chance for supporters to return in the stands.

Capacity has been set at 10,000 for the finals of both the European Challenge Cup, where Leicester Tigers face Montpellier, and the all-French Heineken Champions Cup Final between La Rochelle and Toulouse.

Tigers will run out for the club’s sixth European final while rivals Montpellier are previous Challenge Cup winners.

Wins over Brive at home and then away to Bayonne - a first victory in France since, coincidentally, a trip to Montpellier in 2014 - put Tigers in a strong position in the preliminary stages and they were rewarded with a home draw in the new Round of 16 when the tournament was further adjusted due to continuing issues with cross-border travel.

A first-ever European meeting with Connacht at the start of the knockout stages produced one of the most entertaining games of the tournament’s season as Tigers triumphed 48-32, scoring seven tries despite falling behind in the opening moments of the game.

The quarter-finals produced an encounter with a Newcastle Falcons side who had been beaten in a Gallagher Premiership encounter just two weeks earlier, and Tigers completed a double with a dominant set-piece providing the platform for the victory which secured a place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals for a second successive year.

The 1999 European champions Ulster Rugby headed to Mattioli Woods Welford Road in the semifinals on the back of good form,

which included knockout wins in England against Harlequins and Northampton Saints.

Tigers, though, made it five wins out of five in the tournament so far this season to make it to the Final (See page 40-41 for full report).

Just 24 hours later, Montpellier progressed from their semi-final with a 19-10 victory at Bath’s Recreation Ground.

Led by director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre, the French outfit started the season in the Champions Cup before moving into the Challenge Cup, beating Glasgow Warriors and then Benetton Rugby in the only quarter-final without Gallagher Premiership representation, before that trip to the West Country.

The tournament has taken a long and winding road to get this far over the course of the last six months, but now it comes down to the two teams to determine who takes home the trophy.

*The final of the Heineken Champions Cup - at Twickenham next Saturday - pits four-time winners Toulouse against firsttime finalists La Rochelle.

Tickets for both games are available via RFU.com.

Connacht were beaten in the Round of 16

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