We will have an all-Irish quarter final! Following Leinster's convincing win over Wasps this afternoon, the Champions Cup quarter final lineup has been confirmed, and there are some absolutely cracking ties. All three Irish sides have booked their place in the knockout stages, with two of them set to meet in a mouthwatering quarter final.
The format for deciding this year's quarter final pairings has been changed from previous editions of the competition, and it could have resulted in some bizarre matchups. Essentially, the teams are all ranked based on how many points they earned in the pool stages, and paired off accordingly. The top five ranked teams are the pool winners, followed by the best runner ups.
So the team with the most points earned will face the team with the least, and so on. There are no restrictions to the pairings, so teams that were in the same pool could potentially play each other again in the quarter finals. Thankfully that scenario has been largely avoided, with one exception.
Champions Cup quarter final lineup
Saracens v Glasgow
Racing 92 v Toulouse
Leinster v Ulster
Edinburgh v Munster
The meeting of Leinster and Ulster will immediately catch the eye of Irish fans, and it is set to be a cracking tie. It is the first meeting of two Irish teams in the knockout stages of the competition since 2012.
Munster meanwhile will come up against a strong Edinburgh side, and will have to travel to Scotland for the match. While they will be the away side, they will be hoping to continue their strong recent form after we return from Six Nations action.
Prior to the games, it looked likely that three of the four matches would have been repeats of meetings from the pool stages, but that scenario has thankfully been avoided. Only Saracens and Glasgow have met in this year's competition, meaning there is plenty to look forward to for rugby fans.
