Leinster, Stormers Headline Group | Investec Champions Cup Pool 3 Preview
Leinster, Stormers Headline Group | Investec Champions Cup Pool 3 Preview
Pool 3 features Leinster, La Rochelle, Stormers, Leicester, Harlequins and Bayonne in competitive Champions Cup group. Here’s how they stack up
Pool 3 of the Investec Champions Cup features the club with the second-most wins in the competition’s history and three of just eight clubs to have won the Champions Cup multiple times in the 30-year history.
Beyond those three, the pool features a South African side that was the first to win a European competition and won five South African Conference Championships in Super Rugby, a historic English club and a French side that already has scored a win over Toulouse.
“It’s a really tough group,” said FloRugby analyst Philip Bendon. “What I would say is the team that doesn’t come out of this group goes on to win the Challenge Cup.”
In most years, Pool 3 would be the ultimate Pool of Death of the Champions Cup, but in a strange club season filled with parity, the pool has vibes that any team could win it.
Leinster Rugby went to three straight Champions Cup finals this decade and was one of the heavy favorites to win it all in each of the last five seasons. But Leinster still is stuck on four Champions Cup titles.
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La Rochelle beat Leinster twice in the final, including in Dublin in 2023. Leinster and the new-age French powerhouse have developed one of the best modern rivalries in the game this decade.
The Leicester Tigers — one of two clubs in this pool that call the London area home — haven’t won the Cup in nearly a quarter century but have won two. Meanwhile, Harlequins is seeking its first appearance in the final in the club’s soon-to-be 160-year history.
Bayonne, which at one point led the Top 14 standings, enters with an impressive 7-0-4 Top 14 record and sits fifth on the table.
Finally, there’s the leaders of the URC, the DHL Stormers, who have the best chance, probably ever, for a South African side to win this competition. The Stormers are undefeated this season after stunning Munster in Ireland and are topping the URC standings.
“(The Stormers) have the benefit of not playing Leinster,” Bendon said. “And Leinster has the benefit of not playing the Stormers, which is huge.”
A Glance At Each Investec Champions Cup Club In Pool 3
DHL Stormers (6-0-0 in the URC, 1st)
The Stormers may not have the best odds to win the Champions Cup according to various betting sites, but with Damian Willemse (the No. 23-ranked player at FloRugby) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (the No. 40-ranked player who could leap into the top 10 this summer), the Stormers have as much talent as any team in the competition.
And they haven’t had that talent for most of the URC season, with the Springboks’ international schedule eating into the first two weeks of the season and again into Round 6.
Leinster Rugby (3-0-3 in the URC, 6th)
The record almost seems like an error, considering how dominant Leinster has been this decade, but the Irish powerhouse has felt the pain of national coach Andy Farrell selecting the bulk of the Leinster squad for his British and Irish Lions team this summer.
That kept many of Leinster’s stars out early, and it didn’t help that the club started the season in South Africa.
Tied for the best odds in the competition to win it at FanDuel, Leinster fans were likely thrilled with how captain Caelan Doris looked for Ireland in November.
Leicester Tigers (4-0-2 in Gallagher PREM, 4th)
Winners of three straight and leading the Bristol Bears by two points for the fourth, and final, playoff spot in the Gallagher PREM, Leicester is a sneaky, dangerous team in this pool.
Founded in 1880, Leicester has made the Champions Cup Round of 16 four straight seasons, with two quarterfinal appearances in that span.
Harlequins (2-0-4 in Gallagher PREM, 8th)
Marcus Smith leads the Quins as one of the most recognizable rugby stars in the world. The English rugby star was the No. 87-ranked player in the world.
Aviron Bayonnais (7-0-4 in Top 14, 5th)
Bayonne is having quite the club season, with wins over Toulouse and Toulon already.
Like most Top 14 clubs, winning on the road has somewhat eluded Bayonne against the better teams, but the squad certainly looked like a threat to win the Champions Cup in a 40-26 win over Toulouse in early October.
La Rochelle (5-0-6 in Top 14, 10th)
Winners of the Champions Cup in 2022 and 2023, La Rochelle lost in the Round of 16 to Munster a year ago (25-24) and then to rival Leinster in the quarterfinals (40-13) in Dublin in 2024.
Leinster and La Rochelle have played every year in the Champions Cup since 2021, including five times in the knockout stages.
They continue that streak this season when Leinster welcomes La Rochelle back to Aviva Stadium.
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Investec Champions Cup Pool 3
Round 1
- Friday, Dec. 5 – 3 p.m. ET: Bayonne vs. DHL Stormers, Stade Jean Dauger
- Saturday, Dec. 6 – 12:30 p.m. ET: La Rochelle vs. Leicester Tigers, Stade Marcel Deflandre
- Saturday, Dec. 6 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Leinster Rugby vs. Harlequins, Aviva Stadium
Round 2
- Friday, Dec. 12 – 3 p.m. ET: Leicester Tigers vs. Leinster Rugby, Mattioli Woods Welford Road
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 8 a.m. ET: DHL Stormers vs. La Rochelle, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
- Sunday, Dec. 14 – 8 a.m. ET: Harlequins vs. Bayonne, Twickenham Stoop
Round 3
- Saturday, Jan. 10 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Leinster Rugby vs. La Rochelle, TBD
- Saturday, Jan. 10 – 3 p.m. ET: Leicester Tigers vs. Bayonne, Mattioli Woods Welford Road
- Sunday, Jan. 11 – 8 a.m. ET: Harlequins vs. DHL Stormers, Twickenham Stoop
Round 4
- Saturday, Jan. 17 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Bayonne vs. Leinster Rugby, Stade Jean Dauger
- Saturday, Jan. 17 – 10:15 a.m. ET: DHL Stormers vs. Leicester Tigers, DHL Stadium
- Sunday, Jan. 18 – 10:15 a.m. ET: La Rochelle vs. Harlequins, Stade Marcel Deflandre
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