Champions Cup Semi-Final Preview

With the semi-finals of this year’s Investec Champions Cup taking place this weekend, here we take a look ahead at the matches to come with a place in the Final at stake.

In club rugby, there is arguably no trophy or competition that holds as much prestige as the Investec Champions Cup. This bank holiday weekend, four of the finest teams in Europe will be going toe to toe and battle each other for the two currently vacant spots in the showpiece final that will be taking place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 25th May 2024.

The four teams that are still very much in the running for Champions Cup glory are Leinster Rugby, the Northampton Saints, Stade Toulousain, and Harlequins.

Collectively, these clubs have a tremendous history in this famous competition with no less than 10 titles between them over the years as of the time of writing. Leinster have been runners-up three times (2018/19, 2021/22 & 2022/23), Northampton Saints once (2010/11), whilst Stade Toulousain have been runners-up on 2 occasions to date (2003/04 & 2007/08).

Harlequins are yet to win this trophy, but they of course still have the chance to make history this season.

With their 5 wins to date, the aforementioned Stade Toulousain, from the French City of Toulouse, are currently the most successful team to have ever participated in the Investec Champions Cup. They enjoyed title wins in 1995/96 (21 – 18 vs. Cardiff – After Extra Time), 2002/03 (22 – 17 vs. Perpignan), 2004/05 (18 – 12 vs. Stade Français – After Extra Time), 2009/10 (21 – 19 vs. Biarritz) and most recently in 2020/21 (22 – 17 vs. La Rochelle).

As for Leinster, they are second in the all-time standings for Champions Cup wins with a total of four to their name so far. Their triumphs have come in 2008/09 (19 – 16 vs. Leicester Tigers), 2010/11 (33 – 22 vs. Northampton Saints), 2011/12 (42 – 14 vs. Ulster), and in the 2017/18 season, where they were 15-12 winners against Racing 92.

Moving on to the Northampton Saints, their sole triumph in this competition so far came back in the 1999/00 campaign, where they were 9 – 8 winners against Munster at the iconic Twickenham Stadium in front of a 68,441 strong crowd. As mentioned before, Harlequins are looking to win the trophy for the first time this year.

All four of these clubs had difficult opponents to successfully get to this stage of this prestigious competition.

Starting with Stade Toulousain, they came face to face with the Exeter Chiefs at the Stade Ernest Wallon. In the end, it turned out to be a very comfortable – and indeed emphatic – 64 – 26 victory for the French outfit against their English counterparts.

The Cinch Stadium @ Franklin’s Gardens hosted the Quarter Final tie between the Northampton Saints and the Vodacom Bulls. It was a 59 – 22 win for Northampton in the end, who booked their place in the last four with ease.

Leinster Rugby were the hosts in their match against Stade Rochelais in the last round, with the game played at the Aviva Stadium. It was a comfortable 40 – 13 victory for Leinster in Dublin.

Harlequins’ game against Union Bordeaux-Begles in the Quarter Finals was not so comfortable, and in the end, it was a very tight and tense game that resulted in Harlequins edging the contest with a 41 – 42 win at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Now, we are going to look ahead at the two games that are set to take place in the 2023/24 Investec Champions Cup Semi-Finals this bank holiday weekend. Leinster Rugby will be taking on the Northampton Saints at Croke Park on Saturday 4th May (17:30), whilst Stade Toulousain and Harlequins will be going toe to toe at the Stadium de Toulouse on Sunday 5th May 2024 (15:00).

Leinster Rugby vs. Northampton Saints

We start with the Semi Final tie at Dublin’s Croke Park on Saturday between two teams who have both won their last three games in a row – Leinster and the Northampton Saints. These two clubs have met on a number of occasions in this very competition – 10 to be exact.

History is in favour of Leinster, who have won all but one of their previous Champions Cup encounters – this includes Leinster Rugby’s 33 – 22 Final win in the 2010/11 campaign. The only win for Northampton in this competition against Leinster came in 2013 when they were 18 – 9 winners at the Aviva Stadium in a Pool Match.

All eyes will be on their latest Investec Champions Cup encounter on Saturday 4th May 2024 when one of two possible outcomes will be taking place. Either historical dominance is retained by a Leinster win, or with the Northampton Saints earning a historic second win against Leinster as well as a place in the final.

Stade Toulousain vs. Harlequins

We now move on to the second and final Semi-Final fixture taking place this bank holiday weekend in the 2023/24 Investec Champions Cup. This game is set to be played between Stade Toulousain and Harlequins at the Stade de Toulouse in a 15:00 kick-off on the afternoon of Sunday 5th May 2024.

In the five most recent encounters in all competitions between these two teams, Stade Toulousain has been dominant, with no less than 4 wins compared to 1 for their English counterparts. These wins came on 17th October 2009 (19 – 23), 17th January 2010 (33 – 21), 9th December 2011 (10 – 21), and most recently on 17th December 2023, which saw Stade Toulousain emerge as emphatic 19 – 47 winners.

Harlequins’ only win in the last five matches against their French opponents came on 18th December 2011, when they were 24 – 31 winners.

For this latest encounter, this Champions Cup match could follow recent history with a win for Stade Toulousain, or Harlequins could shock the world of club rugby with a win on Sunday afternoon.

All eyes will now be on the two matches this weekend as we are set to see which two of these four teams will be going toe to toe for glory in the Champions Cup Final later on in May 2024.

Excitement and anticipation are now building for the 2023/24 Investec Champions Cup Final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 25th May, with this showpiece occasion getting underway at 14:45 that afternoon.

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