Munster lie in wait for defending champs, Toulouse

A thunderous clash awaits the Aviva Stadium as Munster and Toulouse face off in the first of this weekend’s Champions Cup quarter finals. 

The match-up promises some of the best that this league has to offer as the defending champs, littered with French internationals, look to weave their magic on the pitch and undo their tough Irish rivals.  

In the second leg of the recent Round of 16, Munster despatched Exeter Chiefs at Thomond Park: 

Meanwhile, Toulouse managed a hard-fought victory over Ulster at Kingspan Stadium: 

This from Munster boss Johann van Graan: 

“It's a massive challenge for us,” he said. “You play the reigning Champions Cup champions, the French Top 14 champions, they've got 10 guys in that Six Nations (Grand Slam-winning) team, (Antoine) Dupont has been the player of the Six Nations, and then if you look back in history Toulouse have won their last four games against Irish opposition in Ireland.  

“That tells you the task ahead. That's something we're embracing and looking forward to. It's our 10th successive game, and we worked for this one, and we're really looking forward to it on Saturday afternoon.  

“They've got a lot of power and weight and height in the forwards pack, with a proper set-piece. Nine and 10 are world class, and then their broken-field attack, you can never switch off.  

“They're a championship side, so our focus has mostly been on ourselves. They have so many threats that you do your preparation, but we want to keep improving on our side. We feel we've been playing some good rugby the last number of weeks, so the focus will be on ourselves. It's a massive challenge ahead.” 

Key facts: 

• Munster Rugby have won four of their previous seven Heineken Champions Cup encounters against Stade Toulousain, including a victory in the 2007/08 final (16-13). However, they lost their most recent clash with the five-time champions (33-40 in last season’s Round of 16). 
• Munster and Stade Toulousain will each be playing in their 19th quarter-final in the Heineken Champions Cup. No other club have played as many fixtures at this stage of the competition. 
• Stade Toulousain have won their last three quarter-final ties in the Heineken Champions Cup after losing their previous three in a row, two of those defeats coming against Munster. 
• Stade Toulousain have won their last four Heineken Champions Cup away games against Irish teams, this after losing their previous five such matches. Their last three wins in Ireland have each come by exactly seven points. 
• Munster are one of two teams remaining in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup not to have conceded a single try that originated from a scrum. Additionally, 20% of their own tries have originated from scrums, the highest percentage of any side remaining in this season’s competition. 
• No side have forced more opposition turnovers in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup than Munster (48). Additionally, no team left in the competition have conceded more turnovers this season than Stade Toulousain (70). 
• Stade Toulousain have beaten an average of 30 defenders per game in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup. Only Leinster (31) have averaged more in the competition in 2021/22. 
• No player has claimed more lineouts in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup than Munster’s Peter O’Mahony (36). O’Mahony has also stolen at least three more opposition lineouts than any other player this season (7). 
• Stade Toulousain’s Antoine Dupont has beaten 18 defenders in his three Heineken Champions Cup appearances this season. His average of six defenders beaten per game is the most of any player to feature more than once in the competition in 2021/22.