World Russell's Racing 'flying' ahead of Champions Cup quarter-final

© FRANCK FIFE Finn Russell has set up three Racing 92 tries so far this season

Scotland fly-half Finn Russell said Top 14 league leaders Racing 92 are on top of their game form before heading to Clermont in Saturday's European Champions Cup quarter-final.

The Parisians have won their two opening domestic fixtures of the new campaign which included last Friday's convincing 41-17 victory over Montpellier.

"Hopefully we'll go into this game flying and come out with a win," Russell told AFP on Monday.

The Block's Jess and Norm reveal how they spent their $209,000 prize

Jess Eva and Norm Hogan have spent their entire $209,000 prize they earned on The Block two years ago.Speaking on Triple M's Moonman In The Morning on Friday, Jess revealed the couple blew the cash on swimming pools, gambling and 'helping out their friends'.

Johnny Sexton backs Scotland' s Finn Russell to be a success with Racing 92, despite the Ireland Schmidt said the fly -half' s spell in France had left a permanent negative impact on his "resilience" in "They made it to the quarter - final last year and pushed Munster unbelievably hard in that so they're a

The 2020–21 EFL Cup is the 61st season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons), the competition is open to all clubs Manchester City are the three-time defending champions , having retained the trophy in 2020, defeating Aston Villa in the final at Wembley Stadium

"Even though we played pretty well the first two games, it was in the back of my mind subconsciously. It's hard not to when it's such a big game," he added.

The hosts, without a home defeat in Europe since April 2018, have been given a local exemption to allow 10,000 people into the Stade Marcel-Michelin despite national coronavirus guidelines capping public gatherings at 5,000.

© FRANCK FIFE Simon Zebo or Louis Dupichot could replace the banned Kurtley Beale at full-back on Saturday

Russell is yet to experience the 'Yellow Army' environment and said he planned to talk to former Scotland team-mate Greig Laidlaw, who left Clermont at the end of last season, ahead of the fixture.

"It'll be great to have more fans there. It's also going to make it harder for us, it's a great challenge for us to go to Clermont and win in front of their home support," Russell said.

Inspired Iribaren kicks Racing into Saracens semi-final

Scrum-half Teddy Iribaren slotted 20 points to send Racing 92 into the European Champions Cup semi-finals with a 36-27 victory at Clermont on Saturday. The Parisians will host Saracens in seven days' time after the relegated English champions stunned four-time winners Leinster 25-17 in Dublin earlier. Japan's Kotaro Matsushima started at full-back for the hosts after missing last weekend's late defeat at Bayonne with a thigh issue. Racing'sThe Parisians will host Saracens in seven days' time after the relegated English champions stunned four-time winners Leinster 25-17 in Dublin earlier.

Saracens' place in the Champions Cup quarter - finals was secured after a tense 27-24 win over Racing 92, less than 24 hours The tables turned as Racing 92 got on the board when Elliot Daly missed a high ball from Finn Russell and Virimi Vakatawa grabbed hold of it to sprint across the tryline.

Racing 92 have been dealt a huge blow ahead of next month' s Champions Cup Final against Leinster. It has been confirmed that their captain Maxime Machenaud will miss the Bilbao decider after suffering knee ligament damage in their weekend win over Bordeaux. The scrum-half will be sidelined

"I'd imagine it's one of the best, they always sell out and it's a great place to play," he added.

- Beale ban 'shame' -

The visitors will be without close-season signing in Australia full-back Kurtley Beale who has been suspended for three weeks for a dangerous tackle in last weekend's league win.

Russell, who will make his Test return later this year, said he expected Ireland's Simon Zebo to make his injury comeback to replace the 92-time Wallaby.

"A big shame for us. He's started pretty well here, apart from the red card. It was just an incident. He's still learning the players and how they play," Russell said.

"We have other great players to fill in for him. Zebo is fit and ready to go. Louis Dupichot is a great full-back too, we have great depth in the squad at Racing," he added.

Fleet-footed Zebo and France centre Virimi Vakatawa's contracts at the Paris La Defense Arena are up at the end of the season.

Rugby Union: Sale edge Quins in Premiership final to win first trophy since 2006

Rugby Union: Sale edge Quins in Premiership final to win first trophy since 2006South African brothers Dan du Preez and Robert du Preez concocted a fine finale to deny Harlequins in the final stages of a competition which took more than a year to finish because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Stuart Lancaster provides an update on injuries ahead of Sunday' s Champions Cup Quarter - Final against Saracens at Aviva Stadium. Tickets for Leinster

Check out the best moments from Munster’ s Champions Cup campaign ahead of Saturday' s quarter - final against Edinburgh in Murrayfield.

Media in France and elsewhere claim Zebo could leave and various high-spending English clubs are interested in Vakatawa.

"Hopefully they sign on again. We play some great rugby here," Russell said.

"With these boys we're building a great team and a great backline. Hopefully we can keep them all on and keep building for the next few years."

Elsewhere this weekend, Pro14 champions Leinster host title holders Saracens in a re-run of last year's final.

Record four-time winners Toulouse welcome Ulster and there's an all-English tie on Sunday as Northampton Saints head to Exeter.

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Saturday

Leinster (IRL) v Saracens (ENG) (1400), Clermont (FRA) v Racing 92 (FRA) (1645)

Sunday

Toulouse (FRA) v Ulster (IRL) (1130), Exeter Chiefs (ENG) v Northampton Saints (ENG) (1630)

iwd/mw