No joy for La Rochelle v Castres but Grenoble win over Paris will help the Rochelais cause and the Sale win over Harlequins makes them odds-on. Lyon and Racing losing tomorrow would help ....

Here's my projection, Sale should be ok, La Rochelle toe-to-toe to be among the 6 french qualified..
LaRochelle | UBB | Stade Fr
69 | 67 | 69 Sale | Wasps | Bath | North
54 | 50 | 50 | 52

Ok so if the Pro 14 gets the extra spot, the 4th placed side with more points gets it and then the other 4th placed side would play the 5th placed side in the other conference with home advantage determined via points over the season.

Our only interest left in this competition now is the possibility of an extra qualifying spot for the Pro 14 as a result of it (though actually who wins it is irrelevant in that context).

Pinky. How does this happen? Tx.

neill_m wrote: So in simple terms, if the Pro 14 get the 20th spot, there is no need for the playoff?

You would think so. 8 teams = 4 from each conference. But not based on the announcement they made from last season (which wasn't needed in the end): www.pro14rugby.org/2018/05/01/how-pro14-...-if-awarded-by-epcr/
I presume the logic is that they have to have a playoff because they've already sold the TV rights. Of course they might change it again this year. It doesn't actually say that will be the rule going forward and it doesn't appear in the official rules.

pinky wrote: So that is that then.
Our only interest left in this competition now is the possibility of an extra qualifying spot for the Pro 14 as a result of it (though actually who wins it is irrelevant in that context).
The other quarter final results worked out well, so there's a decent chance that all 4 semi-finalists will already be qualified via their leagues. Quins and Clermont are shoo-ins. Sale and La Rochelle are 6th and 7th respectively.
Of course we would also need Leinster or Munster to win the Champions Cup.
In that case, if we end up behind Cardiff, we would still qualify automatically without a playoff as long as we have more points than the fourth placed team in the other conference (we're currently 5 ahead of Edinburgh).
A lot of moving parts there and hopefully won't be needed, but good to have another route in.
If nothing else it gives some interest in the relevant Premiership and Top 14 games.
So Sale to beat Quins, Bristol to beat Bath (7th), La Rochelle to beat Castres, etc. this weekend ...

So in simple terms, if the Pro 14 get the 20th spot, there is no need for the playoff? In the draw the "playoff winner" and the 20th spot side would both be in Pot 4 of the draw.

So that is that then.
Our only interest left in this competition now is the possibility of an extra qualifying spot for the Pro 14 as a result of it (though actually who wins it is irrelevant in that context).
The other quarter final results worked out well, so there's a decent chance that all 4 semi-finalists will already be qualified via their leagues. Quins and Clermont are shoo-ins. Sale and La Rochelle are 6th and 7th respectively.
Of course we would also need Leinster or Munster to win the Champions Cup.
In that case, if we end up behind Cardiff, we would still qualify automatically without a playoff as long as we have more points than the fourth placed team in the other conference (we're currently 5 ahead of Edinburgh).
A lot of moving parts there and hopefully won't be needed, but good to have another route in.
If nothing else it gives some interest in the relevant Premiership and Top 14 games.
So Sale to beat Quins, Bristol to beat Bath (7th), La Rochelle to beat Castres, etc. this weekend ...

Sale/Connacht - Mathieu Raynal
Worcester/Quins - Alexandre Ruiz
La Rochelle/Bristol - John Lacey
Clermont/Saints - George Clancy

Good to see that none of the fixtures clash with the Champions Cup and they're all televised. So after dealing with Sale, we can spend the rest of the weekend watching rugby.
There's even a chance to get up to Murrayfield or across to Dublin in time for one or other of them (though Edinburgh probably involves too early a start).

Cheers Lads, interesting how we have to wait until Sunday afternoon (after our game on Friday night) to find out if we play Bristol Bears in the semi.

Friday 29 March
QF 3: Sale Sharks v Connacht Rugby, AJ Bell Stadium (19.45); BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Saturday 30 March
QF 2: Worcester Warriors v Harlequins, Sixways (20.15) BT Sport / beIN SPORTS

Sunday 31 March
QF 4: La Rochelle v Bristol Bears, Stade Marcel Deflandre (13.45) beIN SPORTS / BT Sport
QF 1: ASM Clermont Auvergne v Northampton Saints (19.00) FR 4 / beIN SPORTS / BT Sport

QF details expected to be confirmed on Friday morning.

"If the clubs ranked 6 and 7 win their QFs, the club ranked 6 will have home venue advantage"

www.epcrugby.com/challenge-cup/format/rules/

No, Bristol are definitely away either way as they're 7th seeds.
Under last season's rules, Connacht would have been guaranteed a home semi if they won. But for some reason they changed that perfectly sensible rule and now semi-final home advantage is decided purely on the basis of pool seeding, higher seed at home. So we'd be away to La Rochelle or home to Bristol.

Interesting. On the Bristol forum they say if both Connacht and they win then Bristol will be at home.

Edited to fix an error. Was working off old info