Still stinging from last season's gut-wrenching exit from the Investec Champions Cup, Toulouse's hooker Peato Mauvaka reveals the defeat continues to fuel their fire as they gear up for a grudge match in Sunday’s quarter-final showdown against Bordeaux-Bègles. Missing the crucial game last year due to injury, alongside scrumhalf phenomenon Antoine Dupont, Mauvaka witnessed Bordeaux topple the six-time champions, sparking their march to a first European title.
"We weren’t lucky enough to play that match. Seeing your mates losing that semi-final, it was heart-breaking for us. We can’t wait for this weekend."
This season, both teams have been in formidable form, bulldozing their way into the quarter-finals. Toulouse demolished Bristol Bears, while Bordeaux made short work of the Leicester Tigers. The escalating rivalry saw Bordeaux snatch the Champions Cup from Toulouse’s grasp last year, after Toulouse's triumph in 2024. Bordeaux also dominated the most recent domestic clash, thrashing Toulouse 44-20 in last month’s Top 14 encounter.
While star players like Dupont and Bordeaux’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey are expected to dazzle, Mauvaka points out that the real showdown will happen in the trenches.
"The game at their place three weeks ago, the score was heavy but if you watch the game in details, there was a battle up front. Especially in the first half. We blew up a bit in the second half. It’s part of the work we have to do, to stay in the game, it promises to be war."
Elsewhere in the Champions Cup, the Northampton Saints are set to face Johann van Graan’s Bath in the first all-English quarter-final since 2020. Phil Dowson, Saints’ director of rugby, relishes the challenge. "I think it’s good for the game," Dowson stated. "It’s good for the Saints to be in that position, to be mixing it on these stages. We know the power of Bath as a club and that’s something that we enjoy competing with."
As the quarter-finals heat up, Toulon will head to Glasgow without Ma’a Nonu, sidelined by a suspension, while Leinster aims for their sixth consecutive semi-final berth in a clash against Sale Sharks.
Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals schedule: Friday, 10 April - Bath vs Northampton Saints (9pm) Saturday, 11 April - Glasgow Warriors vs Toulon (4pm) Leinster vs Sale Sharks (6:30pm) Sunday, 12 April - Bordeaux Bègles vs Toulouse (4pm)
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Still stinging from last season's gut-wrenching exit from the Investec Champions Cup, Toulouse's hooker Peato Mauvaka reveals the defeat continues to fuel their fire as they gear up for a grudge match in Sunday’s quarter-final showdown against Bordeaux-Bègles. Missing the crucial game last year due to injury, alongside scrumhalf phenomenon Antoine Dupont, Mauvaka witnessed Bordeaux topple the six-time champions, sparking their march to a first European title.
"We weren’t lucky enough to play that match. Seeing your mates losing that semi-final, it was heart-breaking for us. We can’t wait for this weekend."
This season, both teams have been in formidable form, bulldozing their way into the quarter-finals. Toulouse demolished Bristol Bears, while Bordeaux made short work of the Leicester Tigers. The escalating rivalry saw Bordeaux snatch the Champions Cup from Toulouse’s grasp last year, after Toulouse's triumph in 2024. Bordeaux also dominated the most recent domestic clash, thrashing Toulouse 44-20 in last month’s Top 14 encounter.
While star players like Dupont and Bordeaux’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey are expected to dazzle, Mauvaka points out that the real showdown will happen in the trenches.
"The game at their place three weeks ago, the score was heavy but if you watch the game in details, there was a battle up front. Especially in the first half. We blew up a bit in the second half. It’s part of the work we have to do, to stay in the game, it promises to be war."
Elsewhere in the Champions Cup, the Northampton Saints are set to face Johann van Graan’s Bath in the first all-English quarter-final since 2020. Phil Dowson, Saints’ director of rugby, relishes the challenge. "I think it’s good for the game," Dowson stated. "It’s good for the Saints to be in that position, to be mixing it on these stages. We know the power of Bath as a club and that’s something that we enjoy competing with."
As the quarter-finals heat up, Toulon will head to Glasgow without Ma’a Nonu, sidelined by a suspension, while Leinster aims for their sixth consecutive semi-final berth in a clash against Sale Sharks.
Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals schedule:
Friday, 10 April - Bath vs Northampton Saints (9pm)
Saturday, 11 April - Glasgow Warriors vs Toulon (4pm)
Leinster vs Sale Sharks (6:30pm)
Sunday, 12 April - Bordeaux Bègles vs Toulouse (4pm)