Challenge Cup

[Scott1]

KNOCKOUT STAGE – Round of 16
2.10 The ranking of the clubs which qualify for the Round of 16 will be as follows:
(i) the top four Challenge Cup clubs will be ranked 1 to 4
(ii) the eight Heineken Champions Cup clubs will be ranked 5 to 12 based on the usual criteria of match points, aggregate points difference, tries scored etc
(iii) the four remaining Challenge Cup clubs will be ranked 13 to 16

2.11 The four highest-ranked Challenge Cup qualifiers and the four highest-ranked Heineken Champions Cup qualifiers will have home advantage in the Round of 16 as follows:

CC 1 (ranked 1) v HCC 8 (ranked 12)
CC 2 (ranked 2) v HCC 7 (ranked 11)
CC 3 (ranked 3) v HCC 6 (ranked 10)
CC 4 (ranked 4) v HCC 5 (ranked 9)

HCC 4 (ranked 8) v CC 5 (ranked 13)
HCC 3 (ranked 7) v CC 6 (ranked 14)
HCC 2 (ranked 6) v CC 7 (ranked 15)
HCC 1 (ranked 5) v CC 8 (ranked 16)

Isn’t fair at all imo! The top 4 challenge cup teams should be getting plum home ties vs the bottom seeded challenge cup sides. Smacks to me of trying to get two champions cup quality end stages in both competitions!

[Scott1]

More like
CC 1 v CC 8
CC 2 v CC 7
CC 3 v CC 6
CC 4 v CC 5
RCC A5 v RCC B8
RCC A6 v RCC B7
RCC B5 v RCC A8
RCC B6 v RCC A7

[Tigerbeat]

HCC clubs are seeded 1-8 and CC clubs 9-16 if you look at it in another way......seems logical that HCC clubs get a higher rank
HCC 1-4 and CC 9-12 get home ties

[Scott1]

HCC clubs are seeded 1-8 and CC clubs 9-16 if you look at it in another way......seems logical that HCC clubs get a higher rank
HCC 1-4 and CC 9-12 get home ties

If we finished top or second though we could end up playing Chiefs,Clermont or Toulon for example over say Zebre or Treviso. That’s doesn’t sit right by me,the RCC teams are already getting another chance,they should play each other.

[fentiger]

Chris Egerton Tweeted earlier that he thinks we could get Edinburgh in last 16 game!

[Crofty]

Chris Egerton Tweeted earlier that he thinks we could get Edinburgh in last 16 game!

Ooooooh, that's gonna be spicy...

[Scott1]

I’m gonna guess at Toulon or Bristol

[LE18]

We are 4th in the pool at moment. 3 tied on 10 points, we have 9.

[OakhamTiger32]

We are 4th in the pool at moment. 3 tied on 10 points, we have 9.

But with Brive and Bayonne effectively out of the running and almost certainly going to focus on the Top 14 we could pick up 10 points from last 2 matches albeit I’d expect us to rest our England players during one of these 2 matches. Still, 19 points out of 20 would surely put us right near the top.. long way to go but I’m optimistic

[LE18]

We are 4th in the pool at moment. 3 tied on 10 points, we have 9.

But with Brive and Bayonne effectively out of the running and almost certainly going to focus on the Top 14 we could pick up 10 points from last 2 matches albeit I’d expect us to rest our England players during one of these 2 matches. Still, 19 points out of 20 would surely put us right near the top.. long way to go but I’m optimistic

[Robespierre]

Due to cases of the new "English" strain of coronavirus, Bayonne have announced that they won't be fulfilling their remaining Challenge Cup fixtures against Leicester and Zebre, so that means an automatic 5 points in the bag for Leicester.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Due to cases of the new "English" strain of coronavirus, Bayonne have announced that they won't be fulfilling their remaining Challenge Cup fixtures against Leicester and Zebre, so that means an automatic 5 points in the bag for Leicester.

But should we travel to France for the Brive game, the answer really should be no.

[Robespierre]

Due to cases of the new "English" strain of coronavirus, Bayonne have announced that they won't be fulfilling their remaining Challenge Cup fixtures against Leicester and Zebre, so that means an automatic 5 points in the bag for Leicester.

But should we travel to France for the Brive game, the answer really should be no.

Good question. I suppose it depends on if there are cases of covid in the Brive club.