This weekend EPCR Challenge Cup playoffs resume and two of South Africa’s franchises face against French opposition in a quest to make it to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The Toyota Cheetahs travel to the fortress of Stade Mayol to face Toulon in a historic first for a South African side while the Emirates Lions host Racing 92 and hope to do the French double after beating their Parisian rivals Stade Francais late last year at the same venue.
So here we bring a comprehensive guide to the South African EPCR Challenge playoffs to help you gear up for the big games.
RC Toulon v Toyota Cheetahs
1 April 2022
Kick off: 1:30pm
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)
Assistant referees: Alex Frasson (Ita), Manuel Bottino (Ita)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Ita)
RC Toulon
Current position in Top 14: Sixth
Last three results: Beat Lyon 27-24, Beat Stade Francais 37-9, lost to Clermont-Auvergne 36-21 EPCR finish last season: Runner’s Up (lost to Lyon in final) Players to watch: Dan Biggar (Wales), Mathieu Bastareaud, Charles Ollivon, Cornell du Preez (RSA), Waisea Nayacalevu (Fiji)
Key facts:
In Round 4, Cheslin Kolbe and Ducan Paia’aua beat more defenders than any other players: nine and six respectively. Toulon have beaten the most defenders in the league (107).
Dan Biggar has made the most metres from penalty kicks to touch in the competition (822).
Toulon have won more scrum penalties on their own feed than any other team (16).
Toyota Cheetahs
Current position in Currie Cup: 1st
Last three results: Beat The Windhoek Draught Griquas 42-19, Beat Novavit Griffons 52-12, Beat Vodacom Blue Bulls 32-7 EPCR finish last season: First appearance
Players to watch: Ruan Pienaar, Friedle Olivier, Munier Hartzenberg, Victor Sekekete.
Emirates Lions v Racing 92
Venue Emirates Airline Park
Kick off: 6:30pm
Referee Karl Dickson (Eng)
Assistant Referee lan Tempest (Eng),Jon Healy (Eng)
TMO: Dean Richards (Eng)
Match Facts
Emirates Lions
Current position in URC: 11th
Last three results: Beat Vodacom Bulls 29-25, Beat Glasgow Warriors 35-24, Lost to Cell C Sharks 29-7 EPCR finish last season: First appearance Players to watch: Emmanuel Tshituka, Gianni Lombard, JP Smith, Quan Horn.
Key stats:
Jordan Hendrikse scored more points than any other player in Round 4 (20).
Missing just one shot at goal, his Kick success rate was 88 per cent. Hendrikse is out for the season with a shoulder injury.
Jean Pierre-Smith is the only player in the competition to have conceded two yellow cards.
Marius Louw has missed the most tackles in the EPCR Challenge Cup (nine).Emmanuel Tshituka has made more dominant carries than any other player (17) — 43 per cent of his total tackles.
Racing 92
Current position in Top 14: Seventh
Last three results: Beat Stade Francais 17-13, Lost to Toulouse 39-35, Lost to Lyon 45-11 EPCR finish last season: Losing semifinalists in Champions’ Cup.
Players to watch: Finn Russell (Scotland), Juan Imhoff (Argentina), Warrick Gelant (RSA), Trevor Nyakane (RSA), Gael Fickou (France)
* Finn Russell conceded the most turnovers in the Heineken Champions Cup pool stage (12). However, he also kicked the most retained restarts (six) and made more offloads than any other player in Round 4 (five).
* Gael Fickou won six turnovers in the Heineken Champions Cup — the highest total achieved by a back (= Antoine Dupont, Stade Toulousain).
* In Round 4, Janick Tarrit threw into more successful lineouts than any other player (19).
*These statistics relate to the Heineken Champions Cup.