Munster and Leinster well placed in both competitions

By Frank Quinn
INVESTEC Cup after two Rounds in December 2025.
Munster and Leinster well placed; by Frank Quinn
There are two more rounds to come in Jan 2026 – 9th – 11th and followed by 16th – 18th Jan . The next two rounds are followed by the six nations test match series until mid March.
However the Investec is picked up again on the 3rd – 5th April with the infamous round of 16 – which is set for the 16 qualifiers, who progress to the final eight to finish off the tournament
Right now though with two rounds over, there is movement amongst the four pools of six clubs each. The 24 Clubs in the competition are now engaged in qualifying for the round of 16 & the finals, and it will be difficult in this level of competition.
Both Leinster and Munster are our two clubs in contention and are well placed 2nd (Leinster and third (Munster) in the pools three and two respectively .
Glasgow top pool one ahead of Saracens, Bath is leading pool 2 ahead of Castres, Cape Town Stormers are heading Pool 3 ahead of Leinster, and the final Pool leader is Northampton with Bordeaux trailing them with Pretoria Bulls
Two rounds is not sufficient to sort out 24 team so the two rounds scheduled for Jan will be the clincher.
We can look at the leaders of the pools now – Glasgow, Bath and Northampton are three of the leaders from the northern hemisphere and Stormers are keeping the South end up by matching Leinster with a equal nine points and a better difference. The top performance of Round 2 was Glasgow beating multiple winner Toulouse – who had all the stars back and included Josh Brennan.
The Clubs with no points appear to be in trouble: Clermont, Leicester, Bayonne & Pau – but remember two rounds to be run yet, Former winners in Toulouse, Leinster, Munster, la Rochelle. Northampton, Bath are all well placed in the mix.
The future 2026:
Investec Cup : Rounds 3 & 4 in January : (9-11 &16-18) There are 12 games each weekend – Leinster play La Rochelle at the Aviva Sat 10th (Ronan O’Gara ) and the following week are away to Bayonne. While Munster will be engaged first with Toulon away at Stade Felix Mayol on Sunday 11th Jan and return to Thomond Park to take on Castres on the 17.

It is difficult to take the pool stages of the Investec Cup too  seriously with two thirds  (16 Clubs ) of the 24 clubs qualifying for the next round of 16. This has resulted in poorer team selections competing, without fan base knowledge,  without penalty.

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