Several of South Africa’s leading coaching minds will be in the spotlight when the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals take place in early May, writes LINDIZ VAN ZILLA.
On Friday night, Bath staged a spectacular comeback to see off English Premiership rivals the Northampton Saints in the first quarter-final.
They were joined in the final four on Saturday by Toulon, victors over the Glasgow Warriors, and Leinster who saw off the challenge of the Sale Sharks.
The last semi-finalists were confirmed on Sunday when defending champions Bordeaux Bègles defeated six-time winners Toulouse in an epic encounter.
Semi-finals:
Saturday, 2 May: Leinster vs Toulon, Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Sunday 3 May: Bordeaux Bègles vs Bath, Stade Atlantique, Bordeaux
Leading the charge for South Africa in Europe’s premier club competition are Bath head coach Johann van Graan and Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber. Van Graan also counts long-standing ally and defence coach JP Ferreira among his coaching staff.
Reigning champions Bordeaux can also count on former Springboks Shaun Sowerby and Heinie Adams, who form an integral part of the coaching staff at the French outfit.
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Bath
Van Graan has led a remarkable revival at Bath, who have reached the Champions Cup semi-finals for the first time in two decades.
The 46-year-old brought success last season as Bath won an historic treble, including the Premiership Cup (their first silverware in 17 years), the English Premiership and the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Bath were the first British club to win the European title back in 1997-98 – beating Brive in the final in Bordeaux.
However, next month’s semi-final will not be played at Bordeaux’s Stade Chaban-Delmas home, but the bigger Stade Atlantique.
Ferreira wouldn’t have been pleased with Bath’s defensive display in the quarter-final when conceding five first-half tries and 41 points.
In six matches in this season’s Champions Cup, Bath have conceded a total of 152 points at an average of 25 a game as they put together a 5-1 win-loss record.
The lone loss was a 45-34 defeat to fellow semi-finalists Toulon.
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Leinster
Irish giants Leinster are four-time winners of European rugby’s top-tier competition, second only to French powerhouse Toulouse.
Leinster won the Vodacom URC title last season, but the Irish side measures success by European titles.
The Irish outfit has fallen agonisingly short of glory in recent seasons. Between 2020 and 2024, Leinster lost three consecutive finals – two to La Rochelle and most recently to Toulouse.
Leinster brought in Nienaber post the 2023 World Cup triumph to help them get over the line in the competition they desire the most and last won in 2017-18.
However, first they will have to overcome three-time winners Toulon who won an unprecedented hat-trick of titles between 2012 and 2015.
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Bordeaux Bègles
Bordeaux Bègles won Europe’s top prize for the first time in their history last season when defeating Northampton at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The reigning champions are not about to give up their title as they showed with a rousing victory over Top 14 rivals Toulouse at their Chaban-Delmas fortress.
Bordeaux are unbeaten in this season’s competition, dispatching the likes of the Vodacom Bulls, Saints, Leicester Tigers and finally Antoine Dupont and Co en route to a semi-final showdown with Bath.
Sowerby, a former No 8, and scrumhalf Adams played out the final years of their careers in France, before turning to coaching.
Sowerby is the forwards coach and Adams the skills coach under Bordeaux head coach Yannick Bru.
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Photo: Billy Stickland/Tom Maher/INPHO
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