Leinster Rugby will travel to Sandy Park this Saturday evening to face Exeter Chiefs in the quarter-finals of this year’s Heineken Champions Cup.
We’ll be carrying the game live in full on KCLR from 5.30 pm with KCLR & Scoreline’s Brendan Hennessy calling the action.
Ahead of Saturday’s must-win clash for Leinster, here’s 10 things fans of statistics will love.
1. Heads-up to Leinster
Exeter Chiefs and Leinster Rugby have faced each other four times already in the Heineken Champions Cup, with the Irish side winning all those games(pool stages 2012/13 and 2017/18).
2. Exeter Unbeaten
Exeter Chiefs are unbeaten in their last 11 completed games in the Heineken Champions Cup (W10 D1), only four other teams had longer unbeaten runs in the competition (Leinster, Munster, Saracens and Toulouse).
3. Home advantage counts
Exeter have won their last eight home games in the Heineken Champions Cup, their longest winning run at home in European competitions (across both the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup).
4. English thorns
Leinster have won 14of their last 16 completed games in the Heineken Champions Cup (L2), the two defeats in that span coming against teams from the Premiershiphowever(both Saracens).
5. Seventh heaven
Leinster have won each of their last six away games in the Heineken Champions Cup, but no team has ever won seven games on the road in a row in the competition; they have won each of their last five away games to Premiership teams, last losing there against Wasps in January 2016 (10–51), their heaviest defeat in the competition.
6. Ruck-tastic
Exeter have the best ruck success rate (98%) of any side in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, winning 184/187 attacking rucks so far.
7. More ball, more scores
Defending champions, Exeter, have averaged more points (45) and tries (6.5) per game than any other side in the Heineken Champions Cup this season; also averaging the most time in possession per match (20m 8s).
8. Kearney Key
Dave Kearney has averaged three clean breaks per 80 minutes in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, of players still in the competition only Kurtley Beale (3.7) has a better rate.
9. Sexton close
Johnny Sexton needs three more points to reach 700 in the Heineken Champions Cup, he’d be the fourth player to reach this milestone (Ronan O’Gara 1,365, Stephen Jones 869, Owen Farrell 794).
10. Turnovers vital
Exeter’s Sam Simmonds has won more turnovers (6) than anyone else in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, he has also completed 18/18 tackles and averaged six metres gained per carry, the fourth-best rate by a forward (14+ carries).
Exeter Chiefs saw off Lyon at home 47-25, racking up 7 tries in the process in their round of 16 clash on Saturday last. Leinster advanced unscathed to the quarter-final stage when their game with Toulon was scrapped over Covid-19-related issues in the French camp.
Our live commentary gets underway just after 5.25 pm on KCLR this Saturday. You can listen here online. We’ll also be previewing Exeter v Leinster on this week’s edition of The Knock On, streaming on your favourite podcast platform.
