Leinster to face Edinburgh as Champions Cup last-16 ties confirmed

by · The42

LEINSTER WILL FACE  Edinburgh  at home in the last-16 knockout round in the Champions Cup, following the conclusion of the tournament pool stages. 

Leinster ultimately finished third in the overall standings, for which they have earned a crack against their URC rivals at home. Should they win that, they will be at home to Harlequins/Sale in the quarter final, and, should they progress, face going away from home in the semi-finals if Glasgow emerge from their bracket of Bulls, Toulon, and Stormers. 

The pool stages concluded on Sunday evening with Glasgow’s 28-3 win over Saracens, which secured second place in the overall standings for Franco Smith’s side. Defending champions Bordeaux topped the standings. 

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle were meanwhile eliminated from the tournament following a surprise 27-17 defeat to Harlequins, and condemned to a place in the Challenge Cup along with a trio of Irish sides. 

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Ulster will host Ospreys in the last-16 of the second-tier competition, with Connacht at home to Sharks. Munster must go away to Exeter. La Rochelle meanwhile face Newcastle away. 

Ulster and Munster are in the same half of the draw, meaning that they would meet in the semi-finals if both progressed that far, where Ulster would have home advantage. 

Ulster will play La Rochelle in the quarter-final if both win their respective ties, while Munster would face either Cardiff or Benetton in the last-eight. Connacht are on the opposite side, and would play Montpellier or USAP in the last-eight should they see off Sharks. 

Earlier, La Rochelle needed only a losing bonus point to book their place in the last 16 at fellow two-time winners Leicester’s expense but were undone by a late Quins flourish. The 2022 and 2023 winners were pushing for a clinching score in the final 10 minutes when level at 17-17, only for Quins to burst upfield and break their hearts.

Tom Lawday scored in the corner with eight minutes left and after Smith converted, La Rochelle trailed by seven points. That would have been enough to earn the losing bonus point but Marcus Smith’s last-gasp penalty denied them that and sent them into the Challenge Cup knock-outs.

Meanwhile, Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored an opportunistic late try to complete his hat-trick and secure a 27-15 victory for Bordeaux-Begles at Bristol that earned them top seeding. 

Last season’s beaten finalists Northampton leapfrogged Bristol into second place in the group as Italian wing Edoardo Todaro scored a hat-trick of first-half tries in an entertaining 43-28 victory over Scarlets, who were eliminated at the expense of the Bulls. 

The last-16 ties in both competitions will be played on the weekend commencing 3 April.  

2025/26 Champions Cup last-16 fixtures 

  • Bordeaux Bègles v Leicester
  • Glasgow v Bulls
  • Leinster v Edinburgh
  • Bath v Saracens
  • Northampton v Castres
  • Harlequins v Sale
  • Toulon v Stormers
  • Toulouse v Bristol

2025/26 Challenge Cup last-16 fixtures 

  • Montpellier v Perpignan
  • Benetton v Cardiff
  • Ulster v Ospreys
  • Stade Francais v Dragons
  • Zebre v Pau
  • Newcastle v La Rochelle
  • Exeter v Munster
  • Connacht v Sharks

 This article was amended at 19.45 to correct an error regarding the venue for Leinster’s potential semi-final