Pool placing

Four wins, coupled with three bonus points, helped Scarlets secure their path to the knockout stage as the No.8 seed. Paired in Pool 2 with Toulon, Bayonne and London Irish, the Welsh side were unable to overcome the two-time runners-up Toulon, losing by the narrowest of margins in a 17-16 reverse in round 2 before another defeat in round 5, this time 27-15.

Lockdown news

Scarlets have made some notable additions on and off the pitch during the enforced break. Tongan international back-row Sione Kalamafoni has joined the Welsh region from Leicester Tigers whilst centre Johnny Williams has made the move from Newcastle Falcons. Former All Black great Sean Fitzpatrick has joined the Scarlets board as a non-executive director and global ambassador.

Quarter-final record

Scarlets are two-time quarter-finalists in the Challenge Cup, with one of those games against their last-8 opponents RC Toulon, back in 2009-10. The French side romped to a 38-12 victory in a five-try performance, right wing Clement Marienval notching a brace of tries and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson kicking 13 points.

Two years later they faced Brive for a place in the semis in a tight affair. It could have been different had Scarlets fly-half Stephen Jones not missed three kicks as his counterpart Riaan Swanepoel booted five penalties for Brive in a 15-11 victory for the French side.

European history

Scarlets are searching for their first European final appearance of any kind, having never made it past the last-8 of the Challenge Cup. On their two previous quarter-final appearances they have fallen to French opposition, 2009-10’s aforementioned defeat to Toulon and a much closer affair against Brive in 2011-12. They have, however, twice reached the semi-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup in 2006-07 and 2017-18, and will be hoping 2019-20 brings them their first European triumph.

With the European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-finals just around the corner, we’ve taken an in-depth look into all eight sides who will be competing for a spot in the final in October