According to the executive chef of the English league, the remaining group matches to be played in the Champions Cup will be canceled, as there is no place in the calendar to reschedule them.
These next two weekends would be marked by the third and fourth day (the last two) of the group stage of the Champions Cup. These matches have been postponed by the EPCR due to health conditions and the increasing number of cases of the English variant of the coronavirus. But Darren Childs, executive chef of the English Championship, told Planet Rugby that these meetings will be purely and simply canceled.
” The decision was made fairly quickly at the EPCR not to try to reschedule these matches. We have a big season. There is no place at the end of the season due to the Lions Tour (British and Irish, in South Africa, note) and we do not have free weekends during the season. Playing the European Cup during the Lions Tour would have been very damaging to the European Cup. So it was decided very quickly to finish the competition during the four weekends planned. Everyone tries to manage the domestic and European calendars as best as possible. “
Five French teams in quarterfinals?
The competition should therefore continue in April and May with a knockout phase, details of which will be made public later. This season, the Champions Cup, in a different format from previous years, was to see the first four teams from the two pools qualify for the quarter-finals, and the next four reach the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup. Following the results of the first two days, Leinster, Wasps, Bordeaux-Bègles, La Rochelle, Lyon, Racing 92, Toulouse and Munster were virtually qualified for the quarterfinals, ie five French teams, two Irish and one English. Remember that the final will be held at the Orange Vélodrome on May 22. Regarding the Challenge Cup, Clermont, Toulon and Agen would qualify for the eighth.
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