European Champions Cup round 1, 2 results

2016 – 2017 European Rugby Champions Cup Competition

The top-tier 2016-17 European Rugby Champions Cup is underway with some exciting matches taking place in Round 1 and 2 – see results and scores below. The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organized by European Professional Club Rugby for clubs whose countries' national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship.

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Munster and Irish legend Anthony Foley was honored at EPCR rugby matches during an emotional Round 2. Thomond Park remembered their former captain and coach in grand style as the team delivered a thundering bonus-point victory against Glasgow with supporters singing their hearts out in remembrance of Foley. After the victory, Foley’s two sons, Tony and Dan, joined the team circle on the pitch to sing a rendition of ‘Stand Up and Fight’. EPCR Round 2 featured European Champions Cup wins for Montpellier, Connacht and Leicester, while Toulouse and Wasps played out a dramatic 20-20 draw. In the Challenge Cup, Newcastle had a convincing victory over Grenoble. Guinness.

Twenty-five-year-old Stacey Ili was the key player as Connacht Rugby rewrote the record books by marking his first Champions Cup start with a hat-trick of tries. The in-form Aucklander became the first Connacht rugby player to score a hat-trick in the European Cup. The Galway side's eight tries, 52 points, 45 point winning margin and six conversions are Champions Cup club records, as are the three tries in a match by Ili and five conversions from Craig Ronaldson. Connacht are realistic contenders to qualify for the quarter-finals. After a slow start to the 2016-17 rugby union season, losing their first three PRO12 matches, Pat Lam's Connacht side are at the top of the table and back in the form that took them all the way to the title last season. Wins in Europe over Toulouse and Zebre set the groundwork for two upcoming head-to-heads with Wasps in December when the Champions Cup returns.

"We're top of the table now, but there's still a long way to go. It shows how tough our pool is," said Connacht head coach Pat Lam. "It's going to come down to two of us going through - that's the battle. The main thing for us is it's two from two, bonus point, nine points. We can now park these two games because we've got two big games in the Pro12, starting at the RDS against Leinster, before we head into a break. We'll pick back up the Champions Cup in December. We're sitting in a good place with a tough job to come away in Coventry."

"It was a professional performance in Parma because not many teams come here and score 50. But we're a bit disappointed because we had a team goal that we weren't going to concede any tries,” continued Lam. "That was a big focus for us and the try we conceded was sloppy because we started with a line-out down in their half and we lost that line-out. They kicked it and we kicked the ball away and we turned the ball over, we got penalized at the scrum and we let them in for a soft try.

"It wasn't just the scoring of the try, it was that whole period of play. Besides that, it had been good up to then, so we're pretty disappointed by that,” added Lam. “We're happy with the outcome, 50 points, but I just asked the question, 'Could there have been more?' Everyone replied, 'Of course it could have.' We weren't clinical at times, we were trying to rush it."

Lam is delighted to finally see his newcomers do so well. "There were some great performances and there are some serious selection issues now. We are starting to get back to where we were at last year, but the maturity of the group is key regardless of their age," added Lam speaking of Ili, Kelleher, and Conor Carey. "The competition is coming back and you only get competition if guys choose to play well and do the work."

The Challenge Cup began with a head-to-head between European stalwarts Harlequins and Stade Francais Paris at the Twickenham Stoop on October 13 followed by the Champions Cup opener on October 14 when Glasgow Warriors and Leicester Tigers clashed at Scotstoun Stadium. European Rugby Cup round one winners include the Glasgow Warriors, Wasps, Saracens, Leinster, Northampton Saints, Connacht, Scarlets, Bordeaux-Begles, and Clermont. Round two winners are Toulon, Munster, Castres Olympique, Clermont Auvergne, Saracens, Ulster, Montpellier Connacht, and Leicester.

Saracens FC are the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup winners in the second European Rugby Champions Cup championship, the annual rugby union club competition for 20 teams from the top six nations in European rugby that took place from November 13, 2015 – May 14, 2016. A total of 64 matches were played with a total attendance of 858,662 rugby fans. The final was player at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon.

Saracens, who are last season's champs of an historic Champions Cup and Aviva Premiership double, got their 2016-17 European campaign underway with a massive heavyweight clash against three-time champions, RC Toulon at Stade Félix Mayol on October 15, resulting in a 23 – 31 victory for Saracens.The Anglo-French Pool 3 match was one of the high-profile battles in the fixtures schedules for Rounds 1 - 4 of this season's Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. Connacht Rugby, who won the PRO12 title in grand style last season, drew a full house at The Sportsground for their Round 1 clash of four-time tournament winners, Toulouse on October 15.

Last season's TOP 14 champions, Racing 92, hosted Munster under new Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, at Stade Yves-Du-Manoir on October 16. 2016 Challenge Cup winners, Montpellier, began their European season with a tough Pool 4 clash with Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens on October 15. Scarlets went head-to-head in the ultra-competitive Pool 3 with Saracens. Toulon and Sale Sharks’ opening match was played at Parc y Scarlets on October 15. Toulouse competed in their mouthwatering Round 2 game against Wasps at Le Stadium on October 23. Leinster Rugby are expected to attract loyal supporters as they host Round 4 rivals Saints at the Aviva Stadium on December 17.

All 40 matches in Rounds 1 - 4 of the Champions Cup will be played in the UK, Ireland, and France. Bristol Rugby made their return to European competition for the first time since the 2008-09 season taking on old rivals, Cardiff Blues, in Round 1 of the Challenge Cup at Ashton Gate on October 14. Newcomers Timisoara Saracens of Romania featured in Pool 5 action against Edinburgh Rugby at the Dan Paltinisanu Stadium on October 15.

Here are the scores from Rounds 1 and 2:

Round 1 Results & Scores

October 14, 2016

Glasgow Warriors 42 – 13 Leicester Tigers, Scotstoun Stadium
Wasps 82 – 14 Zebre Rugby, Ricoh Arena
Leinster Rugby 33 – 15 Castres Olympique, RDS Arena
RC Toulon 23 – 31 Saracens, Stade Félix Mayol
Northampton Saints16 – 14 Montpellier, Franklin's Gardens
Connacht Rugby 23 – 21 Toulouse, The Sportsground
Scarlets 28 – 11 Sale Sharks, Parc y Scarlets
Bordeaux-Begles 28 – 13 Ulster Rugby, Stade Chaban-Delmas
Racing 92 P – P Munster Rugby, Stade Yves-Du-Manoir
Exeter Chiefs 8 – 35 ASM Clermont Auvergne, Sandy Park Stadium

Round 2 Results & Scores

October 22, 2016

Sale Sharks 5 – 15 RC Toulon, AJ Bell Stadium
Munster Rugby 38 – 17 Glasgow Warriors, Thomond Park
Castres Olympique 41 – 7 Northampton Saints, Stade Pierre Antoine
ASM Clermont Auvergne 49 – 33 Bordeaux-Begles, Stade Marcel-Michelin
Saracens 44 – 26 Scarlets, Allianz Park
Ulster Rugby 19 – 18 Exeter Chiefs, Kingspan Stadium
Montpellier 22 – 16 Leinster Rugby, Altrad Stadium
Toulouse 20 – 20 Wasps, Stade Ernest Wallon
Zebre Rugby 7 – 52 Connacht Rugby, Stadio Sergio Lanfranch
Leicester Tigers 27 – 17 Racing 92 Welford Road

Do not miss this exciting epic journey to the 2017 finals at Edinburgh's BT Murrayfield Stadium. The dates and kick-off times for the Round 5 and 6 fixtures in both tournaments will be announced in December following the completion of the Round 4 matches.

The Champions Cup and Challenge Cup each consist of five pools of four clubs with the five pool winners and the three best runners-up qualifying for the knockout stages. The 40 clubs from eight countries in both tournaments have qualified on merit from Europe's three main professional leagues - the Aviva Premiership, PRO12 and TOP 14 - and from the Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition.

Timisoara Saracens of Romania will be making their debut in the Challenge Cup while Bristol Rugby will be returning to European competition for the first time since the 2008-9 season. All four Irish provinces have qualified for Europe's top flight for the first time

2016-17 EPCR Schedule

Round 1: 13/14/15/16 October (played)
Round 2: 20/21/22/23 October (played)
Round 3: 8/9/10/11 December
Round 4: 15/16/17/18 December
Round 5: 12/13/14/15 January 2017
Round 6: 19/20/21/22 January 2017
Quarter-finals: 30/31 March - 1/2 April 2017
Semi-finals: 21/22/23 April 2017

2016-17 EPCR Finals schedule

The 2017 Challenge Cup and Champions Cup finals will be staged at BT Murrayfield in Edinburgh on May 12-13 2017.

European Rugby Challenge Cup: Friday 12 May, BT Murrayfield Stadium
European Rugby Champions Cup: Saturday 13 May, BT Murrayfield Stadium

Going into Champions Cup Round 3 and 4 action, here are some outstanding rugby players to watch: Simon Zebo (Munster), Christian Wade (Wasps), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Jonny May (Gloucester). Owen Farrell (Saracens), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Iain Henderson, Peter O'Mahony, Brendon O'Connor, and CJ Stander.

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