The dates and times of the round of 16 fixtures for the Champions and Challenge cup competitions have been confirmed.
The Vodacom Bulls will host Lyon in Pretoria and the DHL Stormers will welcome defending champions, La Rochelle, to Cape Town in the two domestic Champions Cup round of 16 playoff matches on Saturday, 6 April.
The match at Loftus Versfeld will commence at 1:30pm, while the Cape Town Stadium clash will kick off at 4pm.
In the EPCR Challenge Cup playoffs, the Sharks will host Zebre Parma in Durban on Sunday, 7 April, at 4pm in the other home game for SA’s teams in the European competitions, while the two away matches – both on Saturday, 6 April – will see the Cheetahs take on Clermont Auvergne in France (1:30pm), and the Lions will meet Benetton in Italy (6:30pm).
The Stormers’ playoff match will mark their second consecutive last 16 home match in the Mother City – the same venue where they defeated Harlequins 32-28 last season to progress to the quarter-finals.
The Bulls will also feature in the playoff round for the second successive season, but this time they will have the luxury of home ground advantage after travelling to France to face Toulouse last season where their hopes of advancing to the top eight were dashed.
The Sharks, in turn, will make their first appearance in the Challenge Cup playoffs after participating in the Champions Cup last season, while the Cheetahs and Lions will both have their second run in the first playoff round.
The finals of both competitions will be hosted at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Friday, 24 May (Challenge Cup) and Saturday, 25 May (Champions Cup), with the quarter-finals scheduled for the weekend of 12/13/14 April, and the semi-finals on the weekend of 3/4/5 May.
Champions Cup round of 16 fixtures:
Friday, 5 April
9pm: Harlequins v Glasgow Warriors, Twickenham Stoop, London
Saturday, 6 April
1:30pm: Bulls v Lyon, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
4pm: Exeter Chiefs v Bath, Sandy Park, Exeter
4pm: Stormers v La Rochelle, Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
6:30pm: Bordeaux-Begles v Saracens, Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
9pm: Leinster v Leicester Tigers, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Sunday, 7 April
1:30pm: Northampton v Munster, Cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton
4pm: Toulouse v Racing 92, Le Stadium, Toulouse
Challenge Cup round of 16 fixtures:
Friday, 5 April
9pm: Gloucester v Castres, Kingsholm, Gloucester
Saturday, 6 April
1:30pm: Clermont v Cheetahs, Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand
6:30pm: Benetton v Lions, Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso
9pm: Ospreys v Sale Sharks, Brewery Field, Bridgend
9pm: Edinburgh Rugby v Bayonnais, Hive Stadium, Edinburgh
Sunday, 7 April
1:30pm: Montpellier v Ulster, GGL Stadium, Montpellier
4pm: Sharks v Zebre, Kings Park, Durban
6:30pm: Pau v Connacht, Stade du Hameau, Pau
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix