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| - A Toulouse team powered by France international halfbacks Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack are capable of outwitting rival French giants Clermont in a mouth-watering European Champions Cup quarter-final on Sunday, according to ex-coach Guy Noves. Toulouse and Clermont are two of five Top 14 clubs in the Cup last-eight, with La Rochelle playing Sale on Saturday and Bordeaux-Begles taking on Racing 92 in a second all-French showdown. Reigning champions Exeter host Leinster on Saturday to round out the fixtures. Noves, a one-club player for Toulouse between 1975-88, went on to coach the side for 22 years, winning the French championship nine times and the European Cup four times. "What's sure is that Toulouse can harbour great ambition, and why not win the European Cup?" Noves told AFP when asked about the French side's 40-33 victory at Munster last week. Turning to Sunday's quarter-final, Noves downplayed any potential home advantage, saying playing in empty stadiums made for a level playing field. "Clermont are unfortunately a team which has lost five Top 14 finals against Toulouse and which finds it tough to get through knock-out games. "I see Toulouse winning it even if it won't be simple because Clermont remain a great team. Toulouse, however, have players capable of making a massive difference in knock-out stages." Noves, who was sacked as France coach in December 2017 after just seven victories in 21 Tests, added: "Toulouse are like chameleons, capable of changing their skin come knock-out rounds." Clermont scraped past Wasps, 27-25, to make the quarters, and Dupont (24 years old) and Ntamack (21) will likely be up against the veteran former international pairing of Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez, both 32. "I don't know if it's a clash of generations: there's experience on one side and freshness on the other," Toulouse coach Ugo Mola said. "Experience is like entry to a nightclub: as long as you're not a regular, you don't get in. "Let's give Dupont and Ntamack time to give themselves this experience to become regulars in these matches. The Parra-Lopez combination has already proven itself by winning, our halfbacks not yet. This may be the time." Champions Exeter put their wavering domestic form behind them to outpower Lyon 47-25 last weekend, and coach Rob Baxter was quick to play down the prospect of taking on Leinster, who are chasing a fifth European title, their fourth having come in the 2017/18 season. "It's a very significant challenge, but is it any bigger than last season?" mused Baxter. "You've got to get perspective and move on from the history of seven, eight, nine or 10 years ago. "If we talked about history then Exeter would never be near the final of the Premiership or a European Cup. We've now won both. So it's about the here and now and the here and now is that we have an expectation to do well." European Champions Cup quarter-finals (times in GMT): Saturday La Rochelle (FRA) v Sale (ENG) (1400) Exeter (ENG) v Leinster (IRL) (1530) Sunday Bordeaux-Begles (FRA) v Racing 92 (FRA) (1130) Clermont (FRA) v Toulouse (FRA) (1400) Semi-finals: April 30-May 1/2 Final: May 22 lp/bsp
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