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Saracens celebrate after defeating Leinster Rugby in the 2019 Heineken Champions Cup final in Newcastle
2016 Champions Cup winners Saracens and runners-up Racing 92 will clash again on Sunday in what looks to be the match of the weekend in Pool 4, widely acknowledged as the ‘Pool of Death’.
Saracens have since lifted the trophy a further two times, including last season in Newcastle, while Racing 92 were again denied in 2018 as they fell narrowly short against Leinster Rugby. You can watch this clash live on Sunday from 15:15 GMT with coverage on BT Sport, FR2 and beIN SPORTS.
Key quotes
Laurent Travers (Racing 92): “We’re going to keep our feet on the ground and remain realistic. It’s a really top pool, with the reigning champions, a team that almost always features in the final or semi-final in the shape of Munster, and the Ospreys, who are one of the major provinces in Wales.”
Mark McCall (Saracens): “Well, it’s a different kind of ground to go to. It’s under a roof and [it’s] the plastic pitch, which we’re a bit more used to. They’ve got a phenomenal side; we saw their game against Stade Français – they had a great win against them. They’ve got some real danger in their backline. You’ve got [Maxime] Machenaud and Finn Russell, two outstanding half-backs, and they’ve got a three-quarter line who can cause you real problems.“
Pool 4️⃣ is interesting to say the least!
A tough one to call, but who do you see winning the pool? 👊@Munsterrugby, @ospreys, @Saracens or @racing92? #HeinekenChampionsCup
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) November 14, 2019
Key facts
- Saracens won each of their nine matches on their way to lifting the Heineken Champions Cup last season, just as they did in 2015/16. Leinster are the only other side to manage the feat (2017/18).
- Racing 92 have won 13 of their last 15 home games in the pool stage of the Heineken Champions Cup (L2), both defeats in that period coming in 2016/17 against Glasgow Warriors and Munster Rugby.
- Saracens have won five of their last six Heineken Champions Cup games away against TOP 14 opposition (L1). They had won just three of 10 such games in the competition before that run (L7).
- Racing have lost just one of their last 10 pool games against Premiership opposition in the Heineken Champions Cup (W8, D1), although, each of those 10 games have come against either Northampton Saints (4) or Leicester Tigers (6).
- Saracens scored five tries after winning a turnover in the Heineken Champions Cup last seaso. No club scored more tries in this fashion (level with Toulouse).
- Saracens recorded a 95% lineout success rate in the Heineken Champions Cup last season, the best of any side, while Racing had the fourth best rate (90%).
Racing 92 players celebrate Finn Russell's try
Racing 92 picked up all five points to move top of Heineken Champions Cup Pool 4 after a 30-10 victory over defending champions Saracens in Paris.
Racing scrum-half Maxime Machenaud missed an early penalty kick but got another chance two minutes later, slotting over to put the hosts three ahead after seven minutes.
It was a blistering start for Racing who would then steal at the line-out and exploit a hole in the Saracens defence, with Virimi Vakatawa powering his way through and over the try line at the posts.
The two sides traded successful penalty kicks from Ben Spencer and Machenaud before Racing broke away for their second try of the match.
That line by Vakatawa 😍
Racing 92 catch Saracens cold with an early score off the back of a stolen lineout!#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/cM25yyx1Xp
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) November 17, 2019
Advantage was being played and it went all the way out to wing Teddy Thomas who just did enough to get over the try line in the corner with a delightful composed finish.
Racing dominated the start of the second half but conceded first after a poor pass from Machenaud to Donnacha Ryan who knocked on, allowing Nick Tompkins to rip the ball out and sprint for the line before a pass to Lozowski who did the rest.
That was as good as it got for the defending champions as Finn Russell then exploded into life with a stunning try of his own.
Finn Russell just went full 'Maverick' mode 🔥
Sensational fly-half play as he weaved Racing 92 down the pitch before finishing in style 🙌
Outstanding.#HeinekenChampions pic.twitter.com/udjmjNV64a
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) November 17, 2019
A dummy kick from the Scottish fly-half started the move and released some space for Thomas who was brought down inside the 22. The ball would find Russell again and he jinked inside and out before charging through a gap in the line and scoring, to the delight of the replacements behind the posts.
Racing would then bring up the bonus point with just under 15 minutes left to play when the driving maul did the damage as Wenceslas Lauret broke away to score with relative ease.
Saracens host Ospreys in their Round 2 clash next week while Racing 92 take on Munster Rugby in Limerick for what is a mouth-watering tie at Thomond Park.
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