Danny Cipriani’s injury has hurt Gloucester with a crunch match to come while Saracens and Racing 92 meet in a game to savour
A sure sign of a good team is one that keeps winning convincingly even when not entirely striking its best form. Leinster currently fit that description, seeing off Lyon by a 28-point margin in the absence of Johnny Sexton, among others. This was their 15th win in 15 competitive fixtures this season – 10 of them in the Pro 14 – and they have a squad whose depth is steadily increasing. In Max Deegan they have another fine prospect at No 8 where Caelan Doris has already forced himself into the Six Nations reckoning and they will be a daunting prospect for any opponent heading to
Dublin in the quarter-finals. All that is now required to rubber-stamp a quarter-final in Dublin is a solid result in Treviso, although the Italian side are becoming increasingly hard to beat at home. They might also have beaten Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens but for untimely injuries to key men and the force of nature that is the massive Taqele Naiyaravoro.