Mick Cleary: Anything is possible in drama of quarters

QUARTER-FINALS: It's Champions Cup quarter-final weekend and it's anyone's game.

1: The Business End 

No more complaints and misgivings. The revamped Champions Cup format, with its imbalanced pool stages and Round of 16, leaves a lot to be desired but there is simply no gainsaying the drama of a quarter-final stage. You might quibble about the various seedings that sends Munster to Bordeaux despite a quite splendid victory in La Rochelle or Leinster’s seemingly perennial knockout base in Dublin but all of these matches have jeopardy at their core. Leinster ought to prevail but who would bet against URC champions, Glasgow Warriors, emulating their against-the-odds victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria to take that URC title? 

Likewise, Munster in Bordeaux. Of course, you’d fancy the home side with their bells-and-whistles attack. But try telling La Rochelle fans that Munster are not the force of old. Anything is possible. Castres have the capacity to give Northampton Saints a bloody nose while tournament favourites, Stade Toulousain, have the mother-and-father of battles at the Stade Mayol against Toulon, the toughest gig of all. It’s Showtime.

2 – Leinster: squeaky-bum time?

There are plenty of people quick to reach for the Nearly Men tag when it comes to aiming a cheap shot at Leinster. Three Champions Cup finals, three losses, all in succession over the last three years. A triptych of shame or one of achievement? The latter, of course. The fifth star on the Leinster shirt has proved elusive but to get to a final is a landmark in its own right. What will it take for Leinster to get across the line? They have been close, so close. Is it the head or the heart that is letting them down? Neither. It is the simple reality of sport at the highest level. You can rehearse scenarios, put in the hard yards, focus the mind but what you can never do is account for the quality of the opposition on the day.

In that regard, losses to La Rochelle twice, agonisingly so by a point at the Aviva two years ago, and in extra time last year to Toulouse at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, have seen Leinster denied by a good ‘un on each occasion. And so, yes, there will be chewed finger nails among their supporters if they once again make the final – and they would be favoured to do so given the draw – but there is no jinx to overcome. Leinster have lost only once all season. They have RG Synman, Jordie Barrett and Rabah Slimani to bolster their ranks. They smashed Harlequins, 62-0. There are no ghosts to exorcise. Just a high-end opponent.

3 – Who Can Stop The French?

While it is easy to write up Leinster’s chances of finally getting to lift the Champions Cup trophy again, there is a nagging rejoinder that is always there. What about the French? The refrain echoed across this year’s Six Nations Championship, and rightly so given France’s triumphant march to the title with only a dose of the wobbles at Twickenham denying them a Grand Slam. So many of those international players are to be found on the rosters of the French sides remaining in the Champions Cup, with two in particular, Stade Toulousain and Union Bordeaux-Begles, providing the real clout and class. 

Factor in, though, that Toulon, with a bevvy of Englishmen such as captain, Dave Ribbans and back-rower, Lewis Ludlam, have inspired a revival down on the Cote d’Azur and got the locals wondering if the glory days of a decade ago, when Toulon won three consecutive titles, can be replicated. They are tucked in behind Toulouse and Bordeaux in third place in the Top 14 but have yet to lose at the Mayol. Toulouse have it all to do as do Munster who have to find a way – somehow, anyhow – to disarm the strike power of Bordeaux wings, Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey.

4 – Last Call for the British and Irish Lions.

D-Day is fast approaching with the Lions squad to tour Australia to be announced on May 8th. There will be one last hurrah for the fringe candidates to make a claim by performing well in the Champions Cup semi-finals on the weekend before Andy Farrell’s Big Reveal but you sense that he will have very much made his mind up by then. However, there is little doubt that strong showings in certain crux positions in this coming high-profile weekend will do any number of candidates a power of good. Even the captaincy issue might see a tilt back in favour of the original front-runner, Leinster’s Caelan Doris. 

With Saracens on the sidelines, a storming run to the final in Cardiff could yet tip the balance. Jack Crowley’s drop-goal heroics for Munster in La Rochelle has done his cause no harm in the head-to-head with Sam Prendergast who is also very much in the race for the no.10 Lions shirt. Josh van der Flier looked to be back to his best against Harlequins while Garry Ringrose is primed to make up for his red-card absence. There are plenty of individuals looking to make their mark this weekend.