Investec Champions Cup Barometer: Saints marching ahead of the pack
In the lead up to the 2023-24 Investec Champions Cup Round of 16, Morning Wire has put together a barometer in partnership with to assess which teams are hot – and which are not – ahead of April’s knockouts.
Team of the week: Northampton Saints, England
Northampton Saints beat Newcastle Falcons at the weekend to extend their winning run, in all competitions, to 10 matches.
The East Midlands outfit are top of the Premiership and are unbeaten since November.
They have also enjoyed an unbeaten run in the Investec Champions Cup, where they have beaten Toulon and Bayonne at home and toppled Munster and Glasgow on the road.
They have secured a home tie in the Round of 16 and a home quarter-final should they beat Munster in April. Northampton are on a roll.
Who’s hot
Having struggled in Europe, Saracens returned to Premiership action with a fine win over Exeter Chiefs. They’ll face Bordeaux in the Round of 16 in April.
The Bulls won a South African derby against the Lions at the weekend and their home tie will see them take on the might of Lyon, who also won at the weekend.
Who’s not
Champions Cup winners in the last two seasons, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle snuck into the round of 16 – where they face the Stormers – but lost to Toulon on Saturday.
Harlequins may be playing some of the most attractive rugby in England at the moment but they struggled against Leicester at the weekend in a shock loss.
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