Will Greenwood

My essential guide to the Champions Cup clashes

Clermont are top seeds in the tournament they have never won, yet the draw for the quarter-finals has served up the totally unpredictable Toulon, who nicked a nail-biter of a final against Les Jaunards (Clermont) in Dublin in 2015.

This season Toulon scraped out of their group with a derisory 16 points after looking a shambles at times but they have the muscle memory of three trophies in a very short space of time recently to be able to stare down anyone in this tournament.

Toulon have a player roster that any world XV would be delighted with. Does Giteau, Habana, Mitchell, Nonu, Bastareaud and Halfpenny sound like a team that would ever walk out of a changing room thinking anything other than victory?

Clermont’s greatest problem, however, is believing they can win. They have produced rugby from heaven at times this year, though.

Nick Abendanon should absolutely be considered as a Lions wild-card selection; he does everything. Fritz Lee and Peceli Yato in the back row look like Olympic sprinters who are happy handling at full tilt, while Sébastien Vahaamahina in the second row was one of the star performers at lock during the Six Nations.

Camille Lopez will give a masterclass in game management for Clermont and is a man who continues to look increasingly comfortable on the international stage.

I am gutted, though, not to see Wesley Fofana out there after his serious injury but I am absolutely convinced that Clermont will not bottle it this year.

Intra-country knockout games can often serve up anomalous results – familiarity breeds contempt and all that – but I think Clermont are better than that this year.

Toulon, meanwhile, are living on vapours of mental strength. They are nowhere near the coherent and apparently invincible team of recent years.

Clermont are unlikely to have a better chance of winning the Cup than this year.