Mick Cleary: Anything is possible in drama of quarters

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.

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?