SA franchises prepare for European battles this weekend

The Sharks, Stormers and Bulls will be looking to make an early statement in the Champions Cup against teams from France and England, while the Cheetahs and Lions kick off their EPCR Challenge Cup campaigns away from home.

The 2023/24 EPCR Challenge Cup winners, the Sharks, will play in the Champions Cup this season and will get the action underway on Saturday when they host last season's quarter-finalists, the Exeter Chiefs in Durban.

That match will be followed by clashes between the Stormers and French giants Toulon in Nelson Mandela Bay, and the Bulls - who also advanced to the top eight in the competition last season - against Saracens in London.

Both EPCR Challenge Cup matches involving SA teams will play out on Sunday, with the Toyota Cheetahs going up against Perpignan in Amsterdam, while Ospreys welcome the Lions to Swansea in the closing match of the weekend.

Investec Champions Cup

The Sharks will be keen to continue their recent United Rugby Championship form when they meet Exeter Chiefs at Kings Park on Saturday, and build on their morale boosting 21-15 victory against the Stormers in round seven of the URC last weekend when they take the field against the English club.

In stark contrast to the Durbanites, who have won four of their six URC matches to date to occupy sixth place on the table, Exeter have been struggling in the Gallagher Premiership. They prop up the table after suffering defeats in all seven of their matches - although they have amassed a few bonus points - which will fuel their motivation to get a fresh start to the European showpiece.

They will, however, have to deliver their best performance yet this season to create an upset in Durban, especially with the Sharks boasting a full house of home wins in the Vodacom URC to date, while Exeter have yet to win a game away from home.

The Stormers, meanwhile, face a challenging encounter against Toulon at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium due to the HSBC SVNS Cape Town taking place at the DHL Stadium, in a match they will target to turn their season around and gain some winning momentum after a disappointing run in the Vodacom URC where they have only won two of their six matches.

Toulon, in turn, have been one of the pacesetters in the French Top 14 with seven victories in their 11 matches - where they are currently in fourth place on the table, behind Clermont on points' difference, on 32 log points.

The Capetonians, however, will want to make the most of the vastly different weather conditions in South Africa and an expected big crowd in the Eastern Cape to give them a mental boost going into the clash, and will draw inspiration from the fact that Toulon have only won two of their six games away from home so far this season.

The clash between Saracens and the Bulls is expected to be a humdinger with both sides being in decent form this season, with the men from Pretoria winning five of their six URC matches, while Saracens have won four of their seven Gallagher Premiership games, which has seen them occupy third and fourth place on their respective logs.

Saracens have had a good run at home with two wins in three matches, but they will be wary of the threat the Bulls pose as they have been in solid form on tour this season, where they won their matches against Benetton and Connacht and went down to the Scarlets by only one point.

EPCR Challenge Cup

The Cheetahs will have all the motivation they need to launch their EPCR Challenge Cup campaign on a positive note when they line up against Perpignan at the NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam after advancing to the semi-final of the Carling Currie Cup Premier Division in September, and winning two of their four matches in the European competition last season for a fair ninth-place finish.

Based on the teams' results this season, however, it could be a close encounter as the French outfit have won four of their 11 outings in the Top 14, while the Free Stater's won five of their 10 pool matches in the Carling Currie Cup, but they will enter the match with confidence after earning a top four finish for a semi-final berth.

With a completely new challenge awaiting the Cheetahs in the Netherlands, however, they will want to grab the opportunity to face the northern hemisphere teams with both hands in their only international competition.

The Lions, meanwhile, will be determined to bounce back from their back-to-back defeats in the URC against Munster and Leinster after a strong start on tour where they defeated the Dragons and Zebre Parma away, and get their EPCR Challenge Cup campaign off to a strong start when they take on the Ospreys in Swansea.

With four wins in six matches in the URC and the Johannesburgers currently in fifth place on the table, they will back themselves to give Ospreys - who have only won two of their seven matches for a disappointing 14th place on the standings - a proper go in Wales.

The visitors, however, will be wary of Ospreys as both of their victories were at home, while the teams are also not far apart in terms of points scored with the Lions holding only an 11-point advantage in that area.

The Gauteng side, however, have been far more effective on defence, conceding 58 points fewer than their rivals in the URC - a department they will place a heavy emphasis on this week to return to the winning ways that saw them start the URC with four victories in a row.

Investec Champions Cup Round 1

Sharks v Exeter Chiefs
Date: Saturday, 7 December
Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban
SA Time: 15h00
Referee: Jeremy Rozier

Stormers v Toulon
Date: Saturday, 7 December
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
SA Time: 17h15
Referee: Karl Dickson

Saracens v Bulls
Date: Saturday, 7 December
Venue: StoneX Stadium, London
SA Time: 19h30
Referee: Craig Evans

EPCR Challenge Cup Round 1

Cheetahs v Perpignan
Date: Sunday, 8 December
Venue: NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
SA Time: 15h00
Referee: Federico Vedovelli

Ospreys v Lions
Date: Sunday, 8 December
Venue: Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
SA Time: 17h15
Referee: Kevin Bralley

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