Investec Champions Cup Barometer: Bath eye up West Country battle
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: Bath Rugby, England
Few expected English teams to feature in their droves in the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 but there are no fewer than six participants from the Premiership.
One of those is Bath. The West Country outfit have been on quite the upward trajectory in recent seasons and they’ve qualified from their Champions Cup group for the first time since 2015.
This year they face fellow West Country side Exeter Chiefs in the Round of 16 knowing a monumental battle against Toulouse or Racing 92 awaits the winners.
Bath beat Gloucester 59-19 at the weekend in an impressive performance that will surely give the Blue, Black and Whites confidence ahead of their crunch knockout tie.
Champions Cup who’s hot…
La Rochelle, double defending champions, got back to winning ways with a 23-3 victory over Stade Francais. They face the Stormers in the last 16.
Racing 92 prepared for their Round of 16 tie against Toulouse with a 20-6 win over Toulon in the Top 14. They’re underdogs for their knockout tie so this will be a key momentum win.
… and who’s not
Bordeaux, who take on Saracens in the next stage of the Champions Cup, were beaten 10-3 by struggling Montpellier at the weekend.
Though Toulouse have a lot of their players away with the French national team, a 27-17 loss to lowly Perpignan is no ideal scenario for a team chasing a sixth title.
Previous Investec Champions Cup Barometers
- 1: Northampton, Saracens, Bulls, La Rochelle, Harlequins
- 2: Munster, Toulouse, La Rochelle, Racing 92, Lyon
- 3: Exeter Chiefs, Harlequins, Northampton Saints, Leicester Tigers, Munster
- 4: Leicester Tigers, Bulls, Stormers, Exeter Chiefs, Bordeaux
- 5: Saracens, Munster, Lyon, La Rochelle, Racing 92
- 6: Leinster, Glasgow, Toulouse, Stormers, Lyon