Irish Provinces’ Champions Cup & Challenge Cup Round 4 Highlights

The last round of the pool stages in the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup kicked off on Friday night, with Ulster entertaining Exeter Chiefs, and Connacht chasing their fourth win away to Cardiff.

The action continued on Saturday with two heavyweight Anglo-Irish ties, as Munster made the trip to reigning English champions Northampton Saints, and Leinster were back at the Aviva Stadium to play Bath, the current Gallagher Premiership leaders.

Top seedings, home knockout places and final qualification spots were all up for grabs across the weekend. Click here to find out the round of 16 fixtures.

Ulster ended their Pool 1 run in front of their home support, determined to post an elusive victory in order to prolong their European season. Out-half Jack Murphy made his first Champions Cup start, and Ireland hooker Rob Herring returned from injury to feature in the front row.

A top seeding for the remainder of their Challenge Cup campaign was the prize on offer for Connacht in the Welsh capital. Head coach Pete Wilkins made four changes, along with welcoming back JJ Hanrahan – fully recovered from his ACL injury from last April – as a replacement.

Buoyed by last week’s win over Saracens, Munster ventured to Franklin’s Gardens for a shot at finishing top of Pool 3. Peter O’Mahony started after recovering from a calf contusion, and there was a competitive debut for fit-again winger Diarmuid Kilgallen.

Ireland full-back Hugo Keenan was back in Leinster colours for the first time since October, as they rounded off their pool campaign against Bath who fielded two former Leinster players, Ross Molony and Quinn Roux, in their second row.