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Bath Seal Top Seed as Bulls Rally and Sharks Surge in Champions Cup Shake-Up

Bonus points and selection calls are reshaping the scramble for the remaining last-16 places.

Overview

  • Bath ran in nine tries to beat depleted Edinburgh 63-10, taking a bonus-point win that clinches top spot in Pool 2 and home advantage in the knockouts.
  • The Bulls overturned a second-half deficit to edge Pau 26-24, ending a seven-match skid and rising to fourth in Pool 3, with qualification resting on Scarlets needing a bonus-point win at Northampton to deny them; Pau are out.
  • The Sharks crushed a largely second-string Clermont 50-12 in Durban to move up to fourth in Pool 1 on 10 points with a try bonus, leaving progression dependent on later results in Toulouse v Sale and Glasgow v Saracens.
  • Team selection shaped contests across the round, with Edinburgh missing 21 players through injury and workload management and Clermont prioritising the Top 14 by sending reserves to Kings Park.
  • Several sides had already secured last-16 berths before the final round, including Glasgow, Sale, Leinster, Harlequins, Bordeaux, Bristol and Northampton, with remaining qualifiers and seedings to be settled by the weekend’s closing fixtures.