Champions Cup, Semifinals - Teams and Predictions
PREVIEW: The Champions Cup has reached the semifinal stage and there are intriguing clashes in Ireland and France.
Probably the one with the most spotlight on it is the clash been Leinster and Toulouse at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
The other semifinal takes place in Bordeaux on Sunday with La Rochelle up against Exeter Chiefs.
Leinster and Toulouse have won nine European Cups between them with Toulouse getting five of those.
The Irish giants will have home-ground advantage but they will enter Saturday's match without several key players.
Leinster suffered another blow on Friday ahead with the news that centre Robbie Henshaw has been ruled out of the clash.
He joins Johnny Sexton, James Lowe and Ronan Kelleher who were already ruled out of action.
The good news for Leinster is that World Player of the Year Josh van der Flier has been passed fit and he has been included in the starting XV.
There is a welcome return from injury for Charlie Ngatai. The New Zealand international makes his first appearance since early January, and he joins Garry Ringrose in the centre.
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The Irish giants may have shown some sign of nerves at the prospect of being strong favourites when head coach Leo Cullen spoke out about the expectations at the start of the build-up week to Saturday’s big showdown.
Leinster also knocked Toulouse out at this stage of the competition last season with a 40-17 win.
"It’s just disrespectful to everyone we play against, isn’t it? I’m sure it’s just winding up the narrative in their minds," said Cullen.
"I said it about hype. It’s week on week, on week. We’re up against the best teams in Europe, Toulouse are the most successful team in the competition and lost at this stage last year.
"What do you think their motivation is? It’s through the roof.
"They rested their team last week, didn’t send their starting XV to Paris [to play Stade Francais], so what do you think their motivation is? That defeat last year stung them."
It did indeed, and the determination to avenge what happened 12 months ago came through in the words of Toulouse’s flank Jack Willis this week.
According to Willis, the key is going to be for the French team to blunt the momentum that Leinster could get up if they start strongly in front of their home fans.
Leinster indeed have a habit, in both the Champions Cup and the URC, of forcing the issue early and effectively making sure of the win early.
"We want to get the result in this more than anything, but I think we need to get our processes right throughout the game and make sure that we’re still in the game," said Willis.
"Because Leinster comes out the blocks quite hard in a lot of their games, the first 25 minutes you always see that. If we’re still in a position that we’re happy with after 25-30 minutes, we know we’ve got a game on our hands and can really go after it."
Willis knows though it is going to be a tough job for him and his teammates: "Their work rate and fitness, their mobile pack as well as the backline – they also have a lot of strength off the first phase. They clearly work very hard on their line-out plays and set plays, tap-and-goes, things like that. They’ve got a lot of detail that they layer in, which is pretty impressive."
Meanwhile, the reigning champions, La Rochelle, will start as strong favourites in their semifinal against Exeter Chiefs.
The Chiefs beat a jetlagged Stormers team in their quarterfinal but generally haven’t been that great this year.
La Rochelle, who have Boks Dillyn Leyds and Raymond Rhule in their backline, have enjoyed an imperious Champions Cup campaign, topping Pool B with four wins before seeing off Gloucester Rugby in the Round of 16 and Saracens in the quarterfinals.
"There is more energy than usual," said La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara.
"We have a lot of players available and we can’t wait until Sunday.
"The atmosphere in the room reminded me of the one I felt in my time at Munster."
Meanwhile, Exeter Chiefs No.8 Sam Simmonds said: “We know we won’t be favourites, but we are still confident.
"La Rochelle are a team who have evolved a lot in recent years, who have been well structured.
"The ruck will be an important area. They are a very physical team, with talented international players in the back line who score superb tries.
"La Rochelle are one of the two best teams in France. When you look at their squad, there are a lot of stars who are used to the top level.
"But they’re not just a beefy pack and a good back line. There is a good cohesion between all the players. They feed off each other. This is a team who will be difficult to stop.
"We face a big challenge, but we will be ready. We don’t want to have regrets and want to be proud of what we do on the pitch."
See below for this weekend's teams and predictions!
Saturday, April 29:
Leinster v Toulouse
(Lansdowne Road, Dublin - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT; 16.00 France time)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Leinster by three points.
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan (captain), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Ciaran Frawley.
Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Juan Cruz Mallía, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Francois Cros, 7 Thibaud Flament, 6 Jack Willis, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 Cyril Baille.
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 David Ainu’u, 19 Alexandre Roumat, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Alban Placines, 22 Paul Graou, 23 Arthur Retiere.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
Sunday, April 30:
La Rochelle v Exeter Chiefs
(Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux - Kick-off: 16.00; 15.00 UK & Ireland time; 14.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: La Rochelle by nine points.
Teams:
La Rochelle: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 UJ Seuteni, 12 Jules Favre, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Antoine Hastoy, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Grégory Alldritt (captain), 7 Levani Botia, 6 Ultan Dillane, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Reda Wardi.
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq Brettes, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Georges Henri Colombe, 19 Thomas Lavault, 20 Paul Boudehent, 21 Remi Bourdeau, 22 Thomas Berjon, 23 Teddy Thomas.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tom Wyatt, 14 Jack Nowell (captain), 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sean O’Brien, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Will Becconsall, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Aidon Davis, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Stuart Hogg.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Additional reporting: @ChampionsCup & @URCOfficial