Challenge Cup – Round 6 review

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Round 6 notes

  • Three tournament winners, Gloucester Rugby, Bath Rugby and Cardiff Blues, have made the quarter-finals, along with two previous losing finalists – Edinburgh Rugby and Stade Français Paris.
  • All three of Europe’s top professional leagues are represented in the last eight with three clubs apiece from the Guinness PRO12 and the TOP 14, and two from the Aviva Premiership.
  • An impressive total of 396,170 fans attended the 59 pool matches – up 20% on last season. Meanwhile, 414 tries were scored at an average of seven per game – up 24% on last season.
  • No 1 seeds, Ospreys, made history at the weekend when they became the first club from either the Champions Cup or the Challenge Cup to record a maximum 30 points from six pool matches.
  • Brive have reached the knockout stage for a record 12th time while La Rochelle are back in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2011.
  • It’s not often that a player scores a hat-trick of tries and ends up on the losing side, but Bayonne’s Martin Laveau had the dubious privilege as his side were overpowered 64-19 by Gloucester at Kingsholm.
  • Cardiff Blues’ Matthew Morgan, who scored a superb individual try against Bristol Rugby last weekend, tops the statistics categories in metres made with 564 and defenders beaten with 30.
  • Waisea Vuidarvuwalu’s try for Stade Français in the vital win over Harlequins at Stade Jean Bouin brought his club past 2,000 points for the tournament.
  • Ben Toolis leads the way in line-out takes with 44 and the Edinburgh second row is also statistically the best tackler at the conclusion of the pool stage with 73.
  • Ospreys are the top try scorers going into the knockout stage with 42, and Keelan Giles is the leading individual with seven while Dan Biggar is the top points scorer on 67.

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