Investec Champions Cup: Northampton, Stormers & Munster visit most formidable venues and the importance of winning on the road
Northampton Saints fly-half Fin Smith and Stormers' Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Ahead of the opening weekend of the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup season, we take a look at the importance of winning on the road in the pool stages.
Since its inaugural season in 1995, the tournament has been the elite club rugby competition in the northern hemisphere, but the introduction of the South African teams ahead of the 2022/23 competition has added a fresh twist and challenge.
However, one thing that has remained the same, if not emphasised, is the need to pick up victories away from home, particularly during the pool stages.
Last season, Stade Toulousain were the only club to win both of their away games; they failed to top their group only because Bordeaux collected try bonus points in each of their pool-stage matches.
While several clubs made it to the round of 16 last season despite failing to win a game on the road, they did not fare well in the knockout stages, with Glasgow Warriors the only such team to progress to the quarter-finals.
Before the opening weekend of the new season, we take a look at who the best travellers are in the respective domestic competitions, as well as clubs that are strongest at home.
Unbeaten Stormers tackle Aviron Bayonnais
The Stormers continued their fantastic start to the 2025/26 United Rugby Championship season on Saturday by claiming a stunning come-from-behind victory over Munster. Thomond Park is one of the most imposing venues in European rugby, and the Capetonians were certainly under the pump as John Dobson’s side found themselves trailing 21-6 at half-time.
However, they scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to become the only unbeaten team left in the URC, collecting their fourth successive victory on the road this season.
The Stormers’ other away victories came in Italy, beating both Benetton and Zebre, as well as in Wales, as Dobson’s men defeated the Scarlets.
They face another daunting task on the opening weekend of the Investec Champions Cup as they tackle an Aviron Bayonnais team that has yet to lose at home in the Top 14. This is despite them hosting Toulon and Toulouse in back-to-back weekends.
Dobson’s squad is set to be bolstered by the return of several Springboks who were absent from the win over Munster, and they will certainly be needed if they are to end the Top 14 club’s impressive run of results at home. The Bulls were the last team to pick up a victory at the Stade Jean Dauger, doing so during the Challenge Cup last year.
The last time they lost at home in the Top 14? Last June! In fact, they went the entire 2024/25 Top 14 season without losing a home game.
URC standings sorted by away form
Munster’s trip to the Rec
Munster were unbeaten in the URC until they met with the Stormers at Thomond Park last week and will now turn their attentions to replicating their form on the road when they tackle Bath at the Recreation Ground.
The Irish club have a rich history of success in the Investec Champions Cup but face a daunting task first up with a clash against their former head coach Johann van Graan and his mighty Bath.
The West Country club lost just once at home last season and have continued in that vein this campaign, winning their opening three home games, beating Sale Sharks, Gloucester and Bristol Bears.
Meanwhile, Clayton McMillan’s charges have won their opening two away games, beating the Scarlets in Llanelli but more impressively hammering Leinster 31-14 at Croke Park – ending a run of four straight losses to the Dubliners.
PREM Rugby standings, sorted by home form
Top 14 risers hosts the Saints
Section Paloise snuck into the Champions Cup courtesy of finishing eighth overall on the Top 14 standings last season and have built on that momentum in 2025/26.
They sit in second place on the overall standings, only trailing Toulouse, and much of that success has been due to their incredible form at home. Pau are one of only four French clubs yet to lose at home this Top 14 season, collecting 28 of a possible 30 league points.
The Top 14 club end their 25-year Investec Champions Cup hiatus by hosting last season’s finalist, Northampton Saints, who have been quite successful on the road recently. Along with Bath, Phil Dowson’s men are the only PREM Rugby club to have notched up more than one win away from home so far this campaign, beating Gloucester and Newcastle Red Bulls.
Last season, the Saints showed that they are capable of kicking it up a gear or two for the Investec Champions Cup, notably clinching a stunning victory over the Bulls in Pretoria during the pool stages and then Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in the semi-finals.
Top 14 standings, sorted by home form
Lowly Sharks visit the tournament’s most successful club
It’s been a torrid start to the new season for the star-studded Sharks, who have won just one of their first six games in the URC, and it doesn’t get any easier in the Investec Champions Cup as they front up against the tournament’s most successful club, Toulouse.
The French giants have clinched the title on a record six occasions, most recently in the 2023/24 season and have been boosted by the return of their inspirational captain, Antoine Dupont, ahead of next Sunday’s game.
Toulouse have collected 29 out of a possible 30 points at the Stade Ernest Wallon so far this Top 14 season and won both of their home pool games in the Investec Champions Cup during the 2024/25 campaign.
While the Durbanites have endured a poor start to the new season, they showed during the 2024/25 URC that they are capable of winning on the road, doing so on five occasions – the third highest tally of the season. Only Leinster and the Bulls posted better points tallies away from home than the Durbanites, who will be targeting a historic victory in the rugby-obsessed city of Toulouse to reignite their season.
John Plumtree will have all of his Springboks, minus Eben Etzebeth, back for the clash and following South Africa’s comprehensive victory over France in November, the Sharks will be feeling a little more confident.
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