[0:24]We have finally reached the knockouts. The pressure is on. The big dogs are here: Toulouse, Bordeaux, Saints, Glasgow, Bath, you name them. And with that comes a serious amount of star power. This is one of the special European nights. With knockout rugby, there is always a surprise. Last year Bordeaux created their own history. The Union has its trophy. And it's the big one. This year, could Glasgow do the same? Tonight, the Galacticals of Glasgow region. Toulon know the road. They've done it. Three times, three in a row. And Toulon go into a very exclusive club. For Northampton are hunting, led by Henry Pollock, generational talent. Check your pulses, you've just been pulled. Certainly, not short of confidence. One big moment can change everything. Heavyweights, history makers, new challengers. The Road to Bilbao is wide open. The knockout stages start now. And what a lineup we have, Benjamin, as we reach the Round of 16. So, here is a reminder of how the Investec Champions Cup knockouts work. The top four teams from each pool made it through to the Round of 16, with the top two securing home advantage. The 16 sides are then seeded based on their pool finish and points won. Raining champions, Bordeaux, finished the pool stages as the top seeds, so they face the lowest ranked qualifier, Leicester. Among the other standout ties, surprise package Glasgow are the second seed and host the Bulls. Four-time champions Leinster face Edinburgh, and Bath meet Saracens. From here, the path is set, and every result shapes the road to Bilbao. Hello, bonjour, and welcome to sunny, sunny Toulon. This is the Investec Champions Cup Highlight Show, and it's about knockout rugby. In a few moments, we will go to Stade Mayol to see Toulon host Stormers. But first, here is Robbie with what's coming up. Benjamin catches up with some Champions Cup legends who have made Toulon their home. You know, when we won the first Champions Cup, I know. You didn't have to bring it up. I know. I saw you kissed somebody there on the cheeks, one on each. So I think you've become French too. I have, yeah, I'm more French than you now. I'll take it. Benjamin samples one of Club Rugby's most unique atmospheres.
[2:46]And we have the best of the action from the pulsating Round of 16 in the Champions Cup. Oh, what a try! Whether you're French or international, there is just something unique about Toulon. Ici, tout est différent. And it's not just about the harbor, just about the sea. It's also about, and still unmatched to this day, European history that they created just over a decade ago.
[3:15]And Geni Lomax, he looks around. Made it to the line! He's glad. Toulon score and what a final is brewing here. And it's in! Toulon, the European champions! Wilkinson has reached the summit of the game.
[4:29]The 2015 Champions Cup final. Clermont for the first time or Toulon for the hat trick. And Fofana, he's up against Marc. And Fofana will win the race. And the underdogs, Clermont, are ahead against the champions. Du Plessis flicked it wide. And the try will be scored by Bastareaud. And Habanna traces his own kick, but it didn't get any further than Abandanon, who has some space to run into. Oh, Abandanon, brilliant! Oh, yes! Oh, Nick Abandanon! They needed Stardust and Clermont have Stardust. And he's still going, Drew Mitchell. That is a try of real quality. And Mitchell might just have taken this final beyond the grasp of Clermont. And the sports fantasy league team have done it again.
[5:33]Toulon have three stars on the jersey. Leinster have only got four. They're hosting Edinburgh. Let's see with Robbie how they got on.
[5:46]Leinster were heavy favorites heading into this one, and Tommy O'Brien scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes to set the tone. Leinster, of course, 100% in the group stages, four from four, and they look to start with a flourish. Away goes Jimmy O'Brien. Nice little show and go. O'Connor gets to him. Leinster arrive in numbers. Here's Harry Byrne. And now it goes to Sheehan, and Tommy O'Brien, what a start for Leinster. 70 seconds on the clock. They burst into life. Gibson-Park free play for Leinster. Here's Yoan. They have numbers. Tommy O'Brien. He's a long way to the line. O'Brien, what a finish! And opportunistic effort from Edinburgh's Charlie Shiel kept them interested. But Shiel will latch on to the dropped ball, and Charlie Shiel will get in for Edinburgh. Ross Thompson then sided through the Leinster defense. Thompson ran the narrow side and he's away, and off he goes. Now, has he got the support? Does he need it? No, he doesn't! All the way on his own! Try scored! Ross Thompson! It was back and forth in the Irish capital. And Sheehan rolls his way up and Leinster roll their way over. Jimmy O'Brien. Edinburgh's aggressive defense came with huge reward. Brennan minding the ball, but Leinster don't mind it either. And believe it or not, Edinburgh are going to get in for their third try, second one for Ross Thompson. And an end-to-end first half ended with four tries a piece. Osborn called in possession. Thompson part of the tackling party. Yoani. And then Hugo Keenan and Keenan is in for Leinster's fourth try. Here's Gibson-Park. Harry Byrne gives and Park is picked off again.
[7:46]You're not going to believe it, but for the third time in the first half, Leinster have been picked off. Curry in under the post. 11 minutes into the second half, Darcy Graham produced one of the moments of the round. Thompson's going to try and kick past this one. It bounces off kindly for Darcy Graham. He's got pace and the vision. And Darcy Graham has scored a Worldy! Absolute cracker from the Scottish winger. Leinster then flexed their muscles. First through Josh Van der Flier. Gibson-Park. Leinster are in. Van der Flier is in. Then through Tom Clarkson. Gibson-Park needs a runner. He's got Thomas Clarkson. He's a burrow for Leinster. And now Leinster have a little bit of daylight. Rico Ioane then turned on the style. Looking to kill this one right now. Ioane. Gibson-Park ran one of those trail lines. Ioane uses them as the dummy. And Ioane is in the corner. Leinster came out on top in a thrilling encounter.
[8:58]The list of rugby legends that docked into Toulon is absolutely mind-blowing. Johnny Wilkinson, Bryan Habana, Matt Giteau, Ma'a Nonu, Bakries Botha, you name them. But one of them actually docked in and never set sail. International Welsh rugby legend, you know who I'm talking about? Well, let's go and meet him. Not this way, let's go this way.
[9:21]Good to see you, buddy! Ça va mec? I thought you were gonna go, I thought you were gonna go for the double kiss then. I was on the receiving end and so were you, of that monstrous Toulon team. The Carl Haymans, the Matt Giteaus, the Ma'a Nonus still there, and the Bakries Botha. All those blokes, and Johnny Wilkinson, of course. And all those guys have come and gone. They've created a legacy, they've created something unbelievable. You've joined in a different area, yes, and decided to stay. Why? Explain to me. It's a hard choice, isn't it? Um, we fell in love with the place as soon as we arrived. I remember I came over and I did like the sign-in, the photos, the medical bits and my wife went off and did all the fun stuff, went for looked at all the houses and I got back and I messed up her in the car. I just said, 'Oh, well, I said to her that I could see us whenever we finished, this is where we're going to base ourselves'. And we love it here as well. Like we get to wake up in the morning, the sun's out, we can walk the kids to school, and we're in a really sort of amazing part of the world, so very, very lucky as well. I saw you kiss somebody there on the cheeks, one on each. So I think you've become French too. I have, yeah, I'm more French than you now. I'll take it. I'll take it. Here, they say it like nobody else. Ici, tout est différent. Here, everything is different. Just talk to us, why is it so different here? So you've got the Pilou-Pilou before the match, which is something different. It's like teams love coming here for experiencing that. Is it worth getting stuck in? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I don't think as a Clermont player they would allow me, but if I said, I'm making it with things, then it's, then it's all good. You may be struggling there, actually, as a Clermont player winning the top four. Did you beat you, did you beat in the final of that top 14? Hang on, let me think. Toulon. Yeah. So good to catch up with Dan. I can tell what he's a happy man here and his family is pretty settled. But also he made me actually pretty hot, you know, thinking about Mayol, the pressure, the intensity, how Stormers are coming to town. Makes me want to maybe recover with a bit of a dip in the Mediterranean, but before I do that, I'm going to leave you to Robbie, who's going to take you through to some more action. Here we go!
[11:20]Castres headed to Northampton looking to cause an upset, and two unanswered tries got them off to the perfect start. And Castres strike again. Ill-discipline from the visitors then led to a penalty try for Saints, and the home side made their numbers advantage pay. And here's what part there should be space. There is. And they've got it down. The second half brought more joy for Saints. Furbank. That's beautiful play. It's coming back inside. Then the backs showed their class. Dingwall looking for the offload. It really well. Furbank to Freeman. Castres fought back valiantly. It goes to the wing option and it's a great option. But more dynamic running from Northampton proved the difference. They should celebrate that one because that's a peach. Christian then added another try to his tally. But it's Northampton Saints who go through.
[12:29]This all-English tie had the makings of a classic, and Charlie Bracken opened the scoring for Saracens, with the only try for the first half. Good movement. Good movement as well. They all fought it. Bracken gone. Saracens get the first score. Bath flicked the switch after the break. First through Henry Arundell. Then through Joe Cokanasiga. Oh, Cokanasiga takes off now. The game was end to end and Bath took advantage. He's got it inside to Barbary. Barbary says, 'Who's got the pace?' Spencer has. Spencer for the corner. Oh, what a try! Saracens fought back as Max Malins cut the deficit. With nine minutes to go, Bath landed a hammer blow. The home side sealed the win and move on to the quarterfinals.
[14:27]Both sides had to deal with the driving rain in this one, and it was the home side who scored the first try. He was one stretch away. He gets the pass on to Max Williamson and Glasgow do score. Johan Grobler then powered through the Glasgow defense for the Bulls. It's Moody. It's the pass on to Creel and it gets that away. Oh, it's brilliant. Glasgow's driving maul then paid dividends. And going over, crushing over. It's Jack Dempsey. In a tight contest, Patrick Schickling powered over shortly before the hour. And from short range, looking to drive over. Oh, the tries awarded! And Glasgow capitalized on the momentum. Ollie Smith. Josh McKay. And Stafford McDowell for the score. Malco Van Stadon touched down to make the last few minutes nervy. But Glasgow hung on for the win.
[15:27]Raining champions, Bordeaux Begles hosted Leicester Tigers, and the home side hit their stride early on. Taken on by Waki. They've got the score, and it's Cameron Waki. Celesi Rasi capped off some beautiful running. The Alba Ray inside to Rasi. And that is Bordeaux Begles at their best. Bordeaux then produced a 20-minute spell of scintillating rugby as the floodgates opened. Louis Bielle-Biarrey was in typically sensational form. It's party time. Leicester showed spirit in the second half.
[16:15]Celesi Rasi completed a stunning hat trick late on. It was an emphatic win for the champions who move into the next round.
[16:28]Toulouse were heavy favorites coming into this one, but Bristol Bears took things to them early on. Toulouse then piled on the pressure. In a pulsating first half, the home side racked up six tries. Here we are now at full draw. A little show and go. And a cruise to the line for the brilliant Calan Dorel. In the second half, Toulouse continued to dominate. Pencho Mack in position, three to his outside. Antoine Dupont just ghost through drawing invisibly on that outside and it opens up the space in behind. Bristol managed to add a couple of consolation scores, but Toulouse advanced with a statement win.
[17:15]Right, we're gearing up for the big game. The superyachts are behind me, or sort of, but we need to walk a couple of steps, get ourselves to Stade Mayol. Donated in 1919 thanks to the generosity of Felix Mayol. The heartbeat of this rugby mad city is there. Let's go.
[17:35]Basta. Malou, for the intimates, for the intimates. Good to see you, my buddy. Talk to us about, yeah, the fire, the heat, the pressure, the, but also how different Mayol is. The Pilou-Pilou, you know, as soon as the boys will step out for this bus, there's going to be a whole crowd of people cheering them on to bring on that fire. Talk to us as a player, how did that add to your heart, to your passion, to your energy? I think since I, since I stopped my career, it's, this moment after the bus, you know, the walk to the, to the stadium, it miss me a lot. That's what you miss the most? Yeah, yeah, yeah, the most because, uh, you know, the fans have a lot of expectation since, uh, uh, you know, when we won the first Champions Cup, I know. You didn't have to bring it up. I know. So, you know, it's uh, the south of France, a lot of passion.
[18:30]Mathieu Bastareaud. This is what he missed the most from his playing days. I think I can understand why now. The roar, the simple energy from the fans to bring the players all the way to the stadium. Welcome to Toulon. Welcome to Mayol.
[18:50]Especially the people here, he's live rugby. Uh, you can feel the passion when you're arriving to the stadium. The supporters are just cheering on the team. Uh, this is knockout rugby. This is not just another league game. What is going to be the most important thing in the head? When you play these kind of games, you know that you must have finished the game without no regret. So, whatever, whatever is the performance on the field, you just must become come back from the changeroom be empty, give everything. And you know, after that, every single match is his his own history. So today, we we have a massive game. The boys have a massive game as a staff. You feel as well the pressure, so, uh, I'm talking about the supporter, the pressure on the team, but the pressure on the staff. So all the players feel this pressure when you have this opportunity to play a big team at home. Sunny day, you have, you know, all the conditions to put and and deliver a great game. Marshall. Kensol. Olympic. Ah, it broke my nose. Pilou-Pilou! Pilou-Pilou! Pilou-Pilou! Pilou-Pilou! It's now time for the Pilou-Pilou. When the warrior's spirit is asked by the crowd to the players, bring it on the field. Bring the fire. The one and only Pilou-Pilou! That's why I'm here. Because that's what he misses the most for him playing days. I think I can understand why now. The roar, the simple energy from the fans to bring the players all the way to the stadium. Welcome to Toulon. Welcome to Mayol.
[20:17]Glorious sunshine bakes the Stade Felix Mayol in the south of France, and Ben White opened the scoring for Toulon inside nine minutes. Dreck so good for a to leave and now it's there for Dreck. And now it's there for Gail Dreck. And Toulon have got Stormers open. White will be in his fourth try of the Investec Champions Cup. Andre Smith then turned the tide in Stormers favor. And the Stormers are away. Can you believe it? It's Andre Smith from nothing.
[21:13]The visitors then clawed the lead back through Evan Roos. With just a few minutes to go, Stormers conjured up some magic.
[22:33]And now they're over the line, but have Toulon held them off? I think they have. Was the ball grounded? So, it's no try. Toulon are in the last eight. Those days where I absolutely do not want to be a referee, because fair play, this was unbelievable. A needle in a haystack. I don't know how shallow Leon was absolutely tremendous. The the the leader of the of this pack. I know Dave Ribbons is going to get the man of the match, but I think shallow Leon potentially deserves a statue for that one because he literally saved his team. Everybody was holding their breath, myself included. What a game! Man of the match, win, and it felt like there was like the good old days of back. I mean, hey, the the the tension in the stadium was there. I could barely breathe at the last second. I'm sure it was the same for you. Talk to us about the emotions. The last five minutes sitting on the bench was difficult. Um, look, I mean, everyone knows it's been a difficult season in the top 14. We've spoken all week about being in a different competition, being at home. We've been good in this competition in a row so far, sorry. Um, and just look, if you can't get in the enjoyment and pleasure of playing in a knockout game, you're never going to enjoy rugby. So look, it's hard to speak at the moment. I'm just I'm so glad. I'm so proud of everyone. We all we all put our hands up today. Everyone, especially the pack. I'm really really proud to be to be part of this pack today. And see what happens next week. Mate, well-deserved beers. I hope you enjoy them. Fair play on that ferocious performance. All the absolute best for our the next couple of weeks. So, with the Round of 16 in the books, there's a tantalizing slate of quarterfinals to look forward to. Sale's reward for an away win at Harlequins sees them travel to Dublin to take on Leinster. Bath will face their second Prem opponent in two weeks as they host Northampton Saints. Glasgow Warriors will welcome Toulon to the Scotstoun Stadium, and there's a mouthwatering clash between two French giants as Toulouse travel to Bordeaux Begles.
[25:11]What an absolute treat of a day! Investec Champions Cup knockout rugby, you simply do not disappoint. Toulon, you've been a beauty. You've been so welcoming and so beautiful. And we've been managed to enjoy it with a bit of family here. The Investec Champions Cup isn't over yet. We still have next week. But let's get moving, because we've been in Toulon too long. Oh, oh, oh!
