To some degree, O’Gara and La Rochelle have perhaps become a victim of their own successes. Having won a breakthrough Champions Cup and retained their title, as well as reaching semi-finals and two finals in the French Championship, the bar has been raised like never before in the club’s history.

Leinster recorded their 12th successive win in all competitions as they edge a physical Champions Cup encounter with La Rochelle 16-14 to move top of Pool 2.

With Teddy Thomas leaving for Stade Toulousain in the next season, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle has finally found and signed a suitable replacement with Davit Niniashvili set to join them in June, as RugbyPass had previously reported.

France face their trickier biennial Six Nations itinerary in oddly numbered years, with England in Twickenham and Ireland in the Aviva Stadium. Of their six titles since the expansion to the Six Nations, France have won only one championship in odd years.

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou were both included in France's matchday squad on Wednesday to face Wales in the first game of the Six Nations tournament next week. Last month an Argentine court dropped aggravated sexual assault charges against the 21-year-old rugby players.

Russell converted and after the Bath blitz stymied a Leinster strike move off lineout ball at the front, Russell was only denied a scooped finish by Sam Prendergast’s boot. But that was at the expense of a five-metre scrum, from which Ben Spencer passed behind Ollie Lawrence to Russell who fed de Glanville to break Jamie Osborne’s tackle and score.

The EPCR have confirmed the Investec Champions Cup round of 16 fixtures with kick-off times and venues which take place on the weekend of April 4,5,6,.

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Ulster qualify for the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup on points difference after Bordeaux claimed a 66-12 victory against Sharks on Sunday.

A huge amount to play for still in Pool 2, despite Leinster's four-point lead at the top heading into the final round. A bonus point victory should be enough to earn a top two seeding going into the play-offs,

Leinster 47; Bath 21 This was an occasion where the final score told less than half the real story of this classic encounter between high-flying

The Stormers have made nine changes to their starting line-up for their match against French club Racing 92 in round four of the Champions Cup in Paris on Saturday. Evan Roos will start at No 8 as Joseph Dweba returns from a hamstring injury against a French outfit that hasn't managed a win in five matches and who are ninth in the Top 14.