How things stand in Pool 3 of the Investec Champions Cup ahead of the final round of pool fixtures.
The top four in each six-team pool progress to the last 16 of Europe’s premier club competition, with the fifth-placed team dropping down to the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Pool 3 delivered the surprise of round three when struggling Harlequins smashed the previously unbeaten Stormers 61-10 at The Stoop in London. The visitors fielded a B team, but were still expected to compete, if not win.
It not only brought an end to the Stormers’ 10-game winning start to the season across competitions, but turned an unfettered parade into the playoffs into a bit of a turkey shoot.
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A bitterly disappointed John Dobson said the Stormers’ final pool match against the Leicester Tigers in Cape Town on Saturday has, for all intents and purposes, become a knockout game – a scenario they would not have envisaged after stylish wins over Bayonne and La Rochelle.
DHL Stormers head coach John Dobson pulls no punches after his side’s loss to Harlequins
“Humiliating…It’s a poor performance and a little bit embarrassing from us.”
#InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/ATmzyjIyix
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) January 11, 2026
Leinster (14 log points) and Harlequins (11) have already qualified for the playoffs from Pool 3. The Stormers sit third on nine points, followed by La Rochelle (six) and Leicester (five).
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The Stormers will face a Tigers team that recorded their first win in the competition with a 57-14 mauling of Bayonne at Welford Road on Saturday and will have everything to play for in Cape Town.
To complicate matters further, the Stormers’ points difference is now significantly worse than La Rochelle and Leicester. In the event of teams finishing on the same number of points, points difference will determine who progresses to the round of 16.
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If Leicester win and deny the Stormers any bonus points on Saturday, they will leapfrog the Cape side.
La Rochelle host Harlequins on Sunday, so will have a clear idea of what is needed to qualify for the playoffs.
Photo: EJ Langner/INPHO
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