SA teams to take flight or get bounced?

With the back-end of the rugby season now in full swing, the European playoffs will take centre stage this weekend, while the Hong Kong Sevens festival will also be on show. 

The European playoffs — across the two premier competitions — will feature all five of the big South African franchise teams.

In the Champions Cup, the Stormers will host the defending champions La Rochelle at Cape Town Stadium in a rematch of their dramatic pool encounter last December at the same venue, after finishing second in the Pool 4 which was labelled the pool of death.

Meanwhile, the Bulls will welcome Lyon to Loftus Versfeld after as the second and third ranked qualifiers from Pool 1.

In the Challenge Cup, the Sharks and Cheetahs finished first and third respectively in Pool 1 to advance to the knockout phase of the tournament, while the Lions scraped through in fourth spot in Pool 2 to stay in the hunt.

The Cheetahs will take on French side Clermont away from home, as will the Lions when they face Benetton Treviso in Italy; the Sharks will host Italian club Zebre at Kings Park.

In the abbreviated form of the game, the Blitzboks and the Springbok Women’s Sevens side will look to get their series campaigns back on track. The women’s side have been grouped in Pool B alongside Australia, Fiji and Ireland, and the men’s team will come up against old foes Samoa and Ireland as well as Spain at the Hong Kong Sevens taking place from 5 to 7 April.

HERE IS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO NOTE AS YOU PLAN YOUR WEEKEND:

Champions Cup (European playoffs)

Bulls v Lyon

Date: Saturday, 6 April
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
SA Time: 13h30
TV: SuperSport

Stormers v La Rochelle

Date: Saturday, 6 April
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
SA Time: 16h00
TV: SuperSport

Challenge Cup (European playoffs)

Clermont v Cheetahs

Date: Saturday, 6 April
Venue: Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand
SA Time: 13h30
TV: SuperSport

Benetton v Lions

Date: Saturday, 6 April
Venue: Stadio di Monigo, Treviso 
SA Time: 16h30
TV: SuperSport

Sharks v Lions

Date: Sunday, 7 April
Venue: Kings Park, Durban 
SA Time: 16h00
TV: SuperSport

Hong Kong Sevens

Springbok Women’s Sevens team fixtures:

Game one: vs Ireland
Date: Friday, 5 April
SA Time: 6h02
TV: SuperSport

Game two: vs Fiji
Date: Friday, 5 April
SA Time: 9h12
TV: SuperSport

Game three: vs Australia
Date: Saturday, 6 April
SA Time: 5h25
TV: SuperSport

Blitzboks fixtures:

Game one: vs Ireland
Date: Friday, 5 April
SA Time: 5h39
TV: SuperSport

Game two: vs Spain
Date: Friday, 5 April
SA Time: 8h23
TV: SuperSport

Game two: vs Samoa
Date: Saturday, 6 April
SA Time: 4h16
TV: SuperSport