Investec Champions Cup: Leicester's hopes ended by Leinster, Saracens suffer heavy defeat to Bordeaux-Begles

Leicester saw their Investec Champions Cup hopes ended by four-time winners Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night.

Tigers caught Leinster napping as Handre Pollard powered over the line just a few minutes into the game, before Jamison Gibson-Park replied with the first of his hat-trick of tries.

The scrum-half added his second roughly 10 minutes later, and then shortly added a third, completing a hat-trick of tries in just under 30 minutes.

Irishman James Cronin scored Leicester’s second to drag them back into the tie, but almost immediately Robbie Henshaw intercepted a pass to race under the posts unchallenged, stretching the lead to 29-15.

The Premiership side were unable to get a foothold back in the game, and when Jack Conan scored in the 73rd minute it all but confirmed Leinster’s place in the last eight.

The visitors refused to give up, finding another try when hooker Charlie Clare caught a wayward Leinster lineout on their own 5m line, but the damage had already been done by the Dubliners.

Leo Cullen's side will play reigning champions La Rochelle in the last eight, in a repeat of the last two finals and another chapter in what is becoming a storied rivalry.

After beating them 55-15 in January, Bordeaux-Begles sent a Saracens side without Owen Farrell packing once again in dominant fashion to set up a clash with Harlequins in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.

It took 36 minutes for Mateo Garcia to score Bordeaux’s first try, but it opened the floodgates for five second-half tries as the hosts carved up the three-time Champions Cup winners in a statement win.

Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Nicolas Depoortere, and Garcia all scored twice in Bordeaux's rampant win, racking up 100 points over two games against Saracens.

Saracens fired back but the game was already over. Alex Lewington crossed unopposed, but it was immediately cancelled out by Bordeaux scoring their sixth try.

Tom Willis came off the bench and powered over for a late consolation try, but defeat was already certain, marking what feels like the end of an era for Saracens with the departure of Farrell and other key players.

Exeter Chiefs fought back for a hard-earned victory over fellow Gallagher Premiership Rugby side Bath, with Chiefs’ Ethan Roots scoring the decisive try late in the second half.

Bath suffered what may have been the pivotal blow just 15 minutes in as Finn Russell limped off the pitch, with young fly-half Orlando Bailey taking his place.

Despite the loss of the Scotsman, the visitors worked their way to a 15-7 lead with a try from Thomas du Toit and a galloping run from Ted Hill, in which the lock raced past Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

With around 20 minutes left and Bath eyeing up a European knockout run, The Chiefs stepped up and a try from Greg Fisilau cut the lead to one point.

Roots’ crucial try saw them finally retake the lead, including a nifty conversion from Henry Slade in which the centre aimed his conversion well outside the right post and allowed the wind to carry the ball through the sticks.

Exeter will face either Toulouse or Racing 92 in the quarters, with the two French sides facing off on Sunday, April 7.

Bulls inflicted a heavy 59-19 defeat on Lyon, clinching their last-eight place against either Munster or Northampton Saints.

The French outfit ultimately struggled in the South African sun at the Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, missing out on a chance to play in the quarter-finals for the first time.

They had secured a dramatic 29-28 victory when the two teams last met in the tournament’s pool stage, but it will instead be the Bulls who make their debut in the last eight.

The hosts crossed the line for four tries in the first half through Sebastian de Klerk, Embrose Papier, Marcell Coetzee, and Ruan Vermaak, with Lyon’s Martin Page-Relo scoring his side’s sole try in the opening 40.

A yellow card to Canan Moodie early in the second half allowed the visitors to cut the lead down to 14 points with a penalty try and a score from Thaakir Abrahams as they chased the South Africans.

But five more second-half tries from the Bulls meant the French side left Pretoria with their heads hanging low.

The reigning champions survived by the skin of their teeth after Manie Libbok’s conversion sailed wide of the posts, giving Ronan O’Gara’s side a one-point win at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town.

The South Africans raced to a 13-0 lead in the first half with two penalties from Libbok and then a beautiful team try started by the fly-half and finished by Herschel Jantjies.

A third penalty from Libbok extended their lead before 20-year-old Louis Penverne finally got his side’s first try just under 10 minutes into the second 40.

The visitors then scored 15 unanswered points as tries from Gregory Alldrit and Joel Sclavi produced a 22-16 lead.

With seconds left on the clock, a late try from Suleiman Hartzenberg in the corner set up Libbok for a last-gasp conversion.

The South Africa fly-half had been flawless throughout the match but pulled his kick wide of the left post.

La Rochelle live to fight another day and a third straight Champions Cup is still on, with Leinster or Leicester Tigers awaiting them in the quarter-finals.

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