Rugby union: talking points from the weekend’s Champions Cup action

Pool 1

Leinster secured top-seed status after a hard-earned victory at Treviso. They did not need a bonus point which was just as well as they scored only two tries and it took them an hour to manufacture the first one. At one point it seemed Leinster would repeat their 3-0 Pro14 victory at Zebre in October but tries from Caelan Doris, who had spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin in the first half, and James Tracy ensured a stress-free final 15 minutes. The game in Lyon was far more open, generating eight tries, five of them scored by Northampton who again overcame a poor start to finish with a flourish. The bonus point left them with one leg planted in the quarter‑finals with the other landing the following day after Saracens failed to sprinkle their victory against Racing 92 with a fifth point. PR

• Match report: Lyon 24-36 Northampton

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Pool 2

Exeter secured their first home tie in the European Champions Cup knock-out phase in timely fashion, the final whistle sounding on their ultimately decisive victory against La Rochelle as Premiership Rugby was putting out a statement that Saracens would be relegated at the end of the season. The Chiefs’ chairman, Tony Rowe, who has led the chorus for the English and European champions to face drastic action for persistent breaches of the salary cap, confined his reaction to an interview with a local radio station, savouring the achievement of a team that was in the Championship 10 years ago. The challenge now is to emulate the success of Saracens on two fronts and the Chiefs, armed with a ball-winning pack that spurns few opportunities close to an opponent’s line, will take some stopping. Glasgow scored six tries in their 45-7 demolition of Sale at the AJ Bell Stadium, but they were left to rue their home defeat against La Rochelle after Saracens overtook their 17 points. PR

• Match report: Exeter 33-14 La Rochelle

Pool 3

Bath and Harlequins had no chance of qualifying but they both made the top two teams, who were jockeying to finish first, battle hard for their victories. Bath endured a winless pool campaign in the Champions Cup for the first time but pushed Ulster all the way in Belfast, succumbing only after Ross Batty’s dismissal for a dangerous tackle eight minutes from time. Batty had not long before scored a try to put Bath within four points of their hosts and the Premiership side were left to ponder their fate had they played with such resolution from the start of the tournament. Clermont Auvergne needed to win at Harlequins to win the group and, while they were never behind, they failed to pull away from their hosts, who were some way below full strength and were pressing for a draw at the end. PR

Pool 4

Racing 92’s reward, if it can be called that, for topping the pool is a trip to Stade Marcel Michelin to meet Clermont. The Parisians look a good outside bet to win the Champions Cup. They gave Saracens an almighty scare in Barnet after their sleepy start and in Virimi Vakatawa have a centre who can cause any defence problems. Finn Russell is a class act behind their powerful pack that yielded nothing to Saracens. The champions themselves will be anxious to maintain some meaning to their season but it is difficult to see even them winning in Leinster. They looked weighed down on Sunday with the pressures off the pitch and the loss of Billy Vunipola is an enormous blow to them and England this spring. Munster rounded off their European season with a routine win over the Ospreys, whose demise must be a concern for Wales’s new head coach, Wayne Pivac. IM

• Match report: Saracens 27-24 Racing 92

Pool 5

Toulouse, like Leinster, are the other team to finish their campaign with a 100% record and are once more playing with their old flair after a couple of years in the doldrums. Toulouse look certainties to prevail against Ulster at home in the quarter-finals. They rounded off their pool campaign with a 35-14 win against Gloucester and in Romain Ntamack, scorer of two tries on Sunday, have a real match-winner. The sight of Louis Rees-Zammit, the 18-year-old wing picked by Pivac in his Wales squad last week, limping off in Toulouse was not a heartening one for Gloucester fans. The Cherry and Whites never really recovered from their opening home defeat by Toulouse and continue to be maddeningly inconsistent. IM