Champions Cup: Dates and kick-off times confirmed for Round of 16 showdowns

Adam Kyriacou
Leicester Tigers and South Africa flyhalf Handre Pollard

The dates and kick off times for this season’s Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Round of 16 games have been confirmed by European Professional Club Rugby.

It was already known that the knockout ties would take place over the March 31-April 2 weekend but now the organising body has announced further details.

The flagship European tournament, the Champions Cup, will see one game take place on the Friday evening with four on Saturday and three set for Sunday.

Leicester v Edinburgh kicks off knockouts

Friday’s match pits the Premiership champions Leicester Tigers against Scottish side Edinburgh, with the meeting kicking off at 20:00 GMT at Welford Road.

Then on Saturday it’s a bumper day that unfortunately sees fixture clashes in the scheduling, as the two evening matches are set to kick off at the same time.

First up on Saturday at 12:30 GMT is the Sharks v Munster game at Kings Park in Durban before the Stormers host Harlequins in Cape Town at 15:00 GMT.

The clash then follows as Leinster v Ulster and La Rochelle v Gloucester are scheduled for 17:30 GMT, which won’t please fans keen to watch all the games.

Sunday’s knockout meetings get underway at Sandy Park at 12:30 GMT when Exeter Chiefs play host to Top 14 champions Montpellier in an intriguing tie.

Then unfortunately the Round of 16 concludes with another fixture clash as the Saracens v Ospreys and Toulouse v Bulls battles both kick off at 15:00 GMT.

Challenge Cup knockout details also out

In the Challenge Cup there are two games taking place on the Friday night at 20:00 GMT as Bristol Bears face off with Clermont and Scarlets take on Brive.

Saturday begins at 12:30 GMT with Toulon against South African outfit the Cheetahs, who shocked Pau in their final pool run-out to qualify for the last 16.

There’s then a clash at 15:00 GMT as Stade Francais v Lyon at Stade Jean Bouin and Benetton v Connacht at Stadio Comunale di Monigo run simultaneously.

Later it’s Glasgow Warriors against Dragons and the Lions against Racing 92 at 17:30 GMT before Cardiff and Sale Sharks round things off at 20:00 GMT.

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle outfit are the current holders of the coveted Champions Cup silverware while Lyon are the reigning Challenge Cup champions.

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