It is that time of year where the European Cups take centre stage as the European Champions & Challenge Cups get underway this weekend with some huge clashes in both competitions as Northampton host Racing 92 on Friday evening in a game that could be a cracker.
Meanwhile for the Welsh regions, three out of the four sides will be competing this weekend as unfortunately the Scarlets have had to forfeit due to player welfare issues as the squad are still in quarantine in Ireland.
How will the tournaments work?
The structure for both competitions have changed since the pandemic and the Champions Cup will now see two pools of 12 teams and based on the previous season’s results sides have been put into tiers within that pool, for example if you win a league title like Toulouse did you will be in tier one.
Both Scarlets and Ospreys are in the third tier and Cardiff are in the fourth tier, so the sides that are in tier one & four will face each other and sides in tier two and three will face each other.
Also, there won’t be any games involving two sides that are in the same league.
There will be four games for each side in the Champions Cup & the top eight sides from each pool will progress to the knockout stages.
Meanwhile the Challenge Cup has a complete change as there will now be three pools of five sides from the top three league, with all five sides playing against each other.
The top three sides in each pool will qualify for the round of 16 and the highest scoring fourth place side also advance to the next stage, however, they will be joined by the clubs that finished 9th-11th from the Champions Cup.
Dean Ryan’s Dragons are the only Welsh region in the Challenge Cup this season as they have been drawn in a group with fellow URC side Benetton, Premiership side Gloucester and two Top 14 sides in the form of Lyon and Perpignan.
So, can any of the Welsh regions start their European campaigns with a bang?
Saturday 11th of December: Cardiff vs Toulouse – 13:00 Uk time | BT Sport & Channel 4
Despite their late arrival back in the Uk after a torrid time in South Africa due to Covid, Cardiff have managed to get a squad together for their opening European Cup game as they welcome the Champions Cup holders and Top 14 winners Toulouse to the Cardiff Arms Park.
There will be some proven internationals in this side alongside some academy graduates and semi-professional players that have been plying their trade in the Welsh Premiership this season.
The likes of Ellis Jenkins, Josh Adams, Tomos Williams & Willis Halaholo will all be available and there will be an opportunity for academy players with Iestyn Harris & Theo Cabango looking likely to start – they will be under the guidance of caretaker coach Gruff Rees.
Also in the Cardiff squad will be Dan Fish who will be competing with Shane Williams with the number of retirements he has had this year.
Toulouse on the other hand will have the likes of Antonie Dupont, Romain Ntamack and Thomas Ramos in their side which will be filled with international talent.
English referee Karl Dickson will be the man in the middle for this game as it will be a full English officiating team.
Due to the trip to South Africa and so many different players in the Cardiff squad since their win over the Dragons in October, we don’t really know how they will play, meanwhile Toulouse have started the Top 14 brilliantly although they did pick up their first defeat of the season against Bordeaux-Begles last time out.
It will be a very interesting game for sure, I think Cardiff will give a good account for themselves for an hour before the visitors run away with it – Toulouse by 21.
Perpignan vs Dragons – 17:30 Uk time | S4C
After back to back defeats to Edinburgh & Glasgow in the URC, the Dragons turn their attentions to the Challenge Cup as they head to France to face Perpignan who sit 13th in the Top 14.
Perpignan come into this game after a heavy defeat against Montpellier in their last game and have won four out of their 12 games this season.
The norm with French sides in the Challenge Cup is that you don’t know what to expect, although director of rugby Dean Ryan stated in his press conference this week that they have been looking at themselves as he said “I don’t think we’ve been particularly pleased with any of our performances over the past two weeks”.
Christophe Ridley of the RFU will oversee this fixture as yet again it will be an all English officiating team.
Argentine international winger Bautista Delguy and French fullback Melvyn Jaminet could feature for the hosts this weekend, meanwhile the Dragons could see a return for Taine Basham in the backrow.
This is a very interesting game to predict as absolutely anything could happen out in France, but I believe the hosts will come out on top – Perpignan by 5.
Sunday 12th of December: Ospreys vs Sale Sharks – 13:00 Uk time |BT Sport
The final Welsh region in action this weekend will be the Ospreys who will be looking for their third consecutive home win as they welcome Sale to the Swansea.com Stadium.
After a defeat at home to the Sharks, the Swansea based region picked up big wins against Munster and Ulster as they currently sit 4th in the URC.
Sale on the other hand have struggled during the start of the Premiership season and are down in 11th with three wins in nine games after their recent defeat away at Saracens, although they will have fond memories of their last visit to Wales when they hammered the Scarlets in last season’s round of 16 clash at Parc Y Scarlets.
Although they will be missing the likes of Faf De Klerk and Manu Tuilagi who are both out injured and Tom Curry who is a doubt.
Toby Booth’s side on the other hand will be without four British & Irish Lions with Adam Beard & Kieran Williams looking to return from HIA protocols.
Italian Andrea Piardi will be in charge of this Anglo-Welsh clash, he made his URC debut in 2019 before featuring in this year’s Six Nations as an assistant referee.
In the summer he was the main man in Uruguay’s World Cup qualifying matches against Chile and Brazil in July.
If they Ospreys can play like they did against Ulster then I think they can win, on the other hand if they play like they did away in Galway then it could get ugly – Ospreys by 6.
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