EPCR wrap: Stormers and Bulls progress in Champions Cup

The Stormers secured their place in the Champions Cup play-offs with an unconvincing win over Leicester Tigers in Cape Town, while the Bulls’ tight win over Section Paloise allowed them to reach the play-offs after Northampton Saints beat Scarlets on Sunday.

The Sharks’ strong win over ASM Clermont was most likely not enough to get them through and they dropped into the Challenge Cup last 16, while the Lions were dumped out of the EPCR after their draw with USA Perpignan in France.

Although it wasn’t the best of performances, the Stormers did their job by downing Leicester 39-26 at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening, to earn a bonus point win to seal their spot in the Champions Cup knockouts, after not qualifying last season.

Harlequins beat La Rochelle on Sunday to drop the Stormers to third place. This means they will not host a play-off.

Close first half

In the match, a very close first half saw both teams score two tries, but the Stormers took a 15-14 lead into the break thanks to a Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu penalty on the hooter.

The second half was then a back-and-forth affair, with Leicester continuing to stay in touch. When the clock went red the Stormers only led by six points before replacement scrumhalf Imad Khan scored a try to make the scoreline look more comfortable than it really was.

“It was a tough game, they were incredibly organised. Even though they were missing a few players I thought it was still a really good Leicester team,” said Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson after the match.

“In the first half I thought we were pretty flat in the back 20 (minutes) and we weren’t putting pressure on them anywhere. We showed much better fight in the second, but it was a stressful game and there was some great rugby all-round.”

The Bulls waited to see if they would make it to the Champions Cup knockouts, after their thrilling 26-24 win over Pau in France on Friday night lifted them up to fourth in their pool. Northampton’s win ensured they stayed there.

In the match, the Bulls, who were in on a seven-game losing run, had to show tremendous character to fight back from a 21-12 halftime deficit, which became 24-12 after 48 minutes, before inching ahead by two points with eight minutes remaining and held on for a big win which will hopefully reignite their season.

Sharks thrashing

The Sharks gave themselves a chance of reaching the Champions Cup play-offs thanks to a strong second half showing earned them a 50-12 thrashing of ASM Clermont in Durban on Saturday afternoon.

But Stade Toulousain’s 77-7 drubbing of Sale Sharks moved them up into third in the pool and pushed the Sharks down to fifth. They need Glasgow Warriors to smash Saracens by more than 48 points on Sunday night to lift them back into the play-offs on points difference.

In the match the Sharks were not at their best in the first half and took a tight 14-12 lead into the break, but absolutely turned it on in the second period, scoring 36 unanswered points to secure a very impressive win in the end.

For the Lions their 20-all draw with Perpignan in France on Saturday night meant they finished the pool stage level on points with the French side, but in fifth place in the group and out of the Challenge Cup due to an inferior points difference.

It is very disappointing for the Lions, as they should have been too strong for a number of teams in the pool, such as Newcastle Red Bulls, Welsh side Dragons and their French hosts Perpignan, but in the end finished below all of them to be unceremoniously dumped out.

In the match Perpignan were arguably the better team in the first half, but both sides were locked at 10-all at the break, before the Lions dominated the second half thanks to a firing scrum, but the teams again couldn’t be separated on the scoresheet.