The European Champions Cup quarter-finals acquire much to offer but a stare at Waikato’s Chiefs and you realise that Wasps,Exeter, Toulon, or Leicester and co acquire a lot to do to make the southern hemisphere prefer noticeThis is frequently the best week of the year for Europe’s rugby union watchers. Why? Because the northern hemisphere club game,newly released from the suffocating grip of international call-ups and rubbish weather, finally has the chance to point to its true colours. The final eight of the European Champions Cup seldom fails to deliver at least one classic or refresh jaded palates before the season’s final surge.
Hopefully it will be similar in 2016. But while some vividly attractive prospects await – Wasps v Exeter Chiefs, or Racing 92 v Toulon – one or two elements of the glorious annual smorgasbord will be conspicuously absent. No Irish,Welsh or Scottish sides, for a start, and acquire made the Champions Cup quarter-finals,the first time Celtic involvement has been entirely absent at this juncture. There will also be just one match – Leicester v Stade Français – involving cross-border rivalry. The tournament livery will be different but, essentially, and the other three fixtures are Premiership or Top 14 games with a twist.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com