By Charlie Elliott
The teams playing their games on Sunday in the Champions and Challenge Cups had the advantage of knowing exactly what was required of them to progress to the next stage.
While some teams rose to the occasion, it was clear that a few couldn’t cope with the pressure, which led to some big scorelines and some up-and-down games that meant that the fixtures for the round of 16 kept changing drastically.
Now that the dust has settled, here is a roundup of Sunday’s action and what it means for those involved.
Bordeaux Begles 66-12 Sharks
One of the favourites for the competition, Bordeaux, showed their class and put their South African opposition to the sword with a mammoth victory which was helped by six tries from Damian Penaud.
Sharks came into the game knowing that they only needed to lose by less than 29 points to finish in the top four and they started the game well, with a couple of early tries with no reply to take a 12-0 lead after eight minutes.
The second try sparked some life into the hosts, who went up a gear and ended up scoring 19 unanswered points to take a decent lead into the end of the first half.
Still within their desired points target, the Sharks held back and focused on a defence-first game to try and stifle Begles.
As soon as the bonus point try was put down by Maxime Lucu just four minutes into the second half, the nerves were evident to see for the South Africans.
Eventually, the French pressure paid off, with the second half being won by a score of 47-0.
The result puts Sharks in the Challenge Cup and Bordeaux as the top seed, with the French side facing Ulster in the next round.
Saracens 24-32 Castres Olympique
It was a historic night for Top 14 side Castres as they recorded their first European away win in 12 years with a heavily rotated squad that many didn’t give a chance to before kick-off.
The result also gave them a top-two finish in their pool and a home tie against Benetton, someone who they will be fancying their chances against.
Saracens needed a win to get an elusive home tie but a mix of their own poor performance and some Castres brilliance resigned them to defeat.
It started off promising with a couple of trademark Ben Earl tries to finish the first half and put them in a narrow lead, but the replacements for their Top 14 opponents made a huge difference after the break and stole the game with a second-half burst of a couple of tries and penalties, which were only pegged back by Theo Dan’s second of the afternoon.
Saracens now have a tough test ahead of them, heading to the south of France to face Toulon.
Stade Toulousain 80-12 Leicester Tigers
It was always going to be tough for Tigers, but no one expected it to be that tough.
The Premiership side had hope of leapfrogging their opposition going into the game, as a win would have secured a top-two finish and a home draw, but the hopes were quickly extinguished.
A blend of Toulouse brilliance and some soft Leicester defending provided the recipe for an embarrassing day in France for the Premiership giants.
42-0 up at halftime after some of the finest rugby you will ever see from Antoine Dupont and the entire backs unit of Toulouse, with a couple of forwards also getting in on the action.
Men against boys is an understatement to describe the gulf in quality between the two and the sheer mentality to not let up in the second half was a sight to behold.
Most of the second-half tries involved some degree of ‘taking the mickey’ to them with the Top 14 players dancing around as many men as they could before dotting down.
Naming individual players who played well is so hard for this one because they were all unbelievably good.
Tigers still qualified, but head to Glasgow to face the Warriors while Toulouse hosts Sale Sharks.
Sale Sharks 33-7 Toulon
After a dull first half that had only one score in, Sale flew out of the blocks in the second and their dominance paid off with a big win to European giants Toulon.
To avoid being dumped out of the Champions Cup and falling into the Challenge Cup, Sale needed a bonus point win at home to their Top 14 opposition, who had already qualified in the top two of the pool and had a slightly rotated squad.
With the French side not having much to play for, they lacked some desire going forward, which caused the hosts to have most of the possession and territory, but were unable to break them down until a brilliant zig-zagged move that started well in their own half and went right to left and right again for Tom Roebuck to finish in the corner right at half time.
It hugely opened for the Sharks in the second, with Ben Curry showing some footballing skills to chip over the last defender and dot down, before Bevan Rodd dived over to get them within a try of the elusive bonus point.
Just minutes later, winger Tom O’Flaherty showed electric pace to send the Salford Community Stadium into raptures.
Toulon notched one back before Tom Curry assisted Roebuck in a similar footballing fashion to his brother to wrap the points up and give Sale an away tie in the round of 16 against Toulouse.
READ MORE: Champions Cup Team of the Week – Toulouse stars shine and Damian Penaud runs riot
Champions Cup Round of 16 fixtures:
La Rochelle v Munster
Bordeaux Begles v Ulster
Toulouse v Sale Sharks
Northampton Saints v Clermont Auvergne
Leinster v Harlequins
Toulon v Saracens
Glasgow Warriors v Leicester Tigers
Castres v Benetton
Challenge Cup
Bayonne 55-17 Gloucester
Gloucester may have started the day level on points with Bayonne, but by the end of the afternoon must have felt a long way away from their Top 14 opposition.
Despite a strong start from the Cherry and Whites which gave them a slender lead of 10-5 at the half-hour mark, the French team turned up the heat and never looked back.
It ended with a hugely comfortable scoreline that gives them a home draw against Bulls, while Gloucester head back to France to face Montpellier.
Edinburgh 36-15 Black Lion
Edinburgh confirmed their top-placed finish in the pool and Georgians Black Lion resigned themselves to bottom with a spirited performance in Scotland that lacked the quality that their hosts had.
It was simple for the Scots who even managed well after a 35th-minute red card for Magnus Bradbury.
They are rewarded with a home game against the Lions of South Africa in the next round.
Zebre 21-39 USA Perpignan
Capping off the Challenge Cup pool stage was a solid bonus-point away win for Perpignan away to URC’s Zebre.
Winning both halves without going out of second gear symbolised the superior talent that USAP had at their disposal and secured a third-placed finish and home advantage against compatriots Racing 92, who dropped down from the Champions Cup.
Challenge Cup Round of 16 fixtures:
Connacht v Cardiff
Montpellier v Gloucester
Edinburgh v Lions
Lyon v Sharks
Ospreys v Scarlets
Perpignan v Racing 92
Pau v Bath
Bayonne v Bulls