Good morning and welcome to coverage of today’s Challenge and Champions Cup draws! All four Irish provinces finds out their pool opponents in European action today. The Challenge Cup draw is expected at 12pm with the Champions Cup teams coming out of the hat at 12.25pm.
There’s plenty of explaining to do though in terms of who the sides can play, so let’s get cracking before the draw. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter (@nathanrjohns) to let me know who you want to see your side play or to react to the draw as it happens.
Champions Cup draw for Irish provinces:
Leinster: Racing 92, Gloucester
Ulster: La Rochelle, Sale Sharks
Munster: Toulouse, Northampton Saints
Munster draw Toulouse and Northampton Saints
You’d have to think Leinster are happy to avoid La Rochelle once again. Best case scenario for them you feel. Brutal draw for Ulster against two sides with massive packs.
Leinster draw Gloucester
Ulster draw Sale Sharks
Leinster have drawn Racing 92
Ulster have drawn La Rochelle
Right then, time for tier two vs tier three which means Leinster, Ulster and Munster are soon out of the hat!
We have the match-ups for the first South African sides.
The URC champion Stormers will play London Irish and Clermont Auvergne.
The Bulls will play Exeter Chiefs and Lyon.
Those South African trips to France will be something else to watch.
A reminder:
Leinster prospective pool opponents: La Rochelle, Racing 92, Gloucester, Sale
Ulster prospective pool opponents: La Rochelle, Racing 92, Gloucester, Sale
Munster prospective pool opponents: Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Toulouse, Harlequins, Northampton Saints
Right then, after a lengthy break, the Champions Cup draw is about to get underway.
Now that Connacht and the rest of the Challenge Cup sides know their opponents, it’s the turn of Leinster, Munster and Ulster in the Champions Cup.
Pool A: Glasgow Warriors, Toulon, Bristol Bears, Zebre, Perpignan, Bath, Connacht, Cardiff, Brive, Newcastle
Pool B: Scarlets, Pau, Wasps, Dragons, Bayonne, Cheetahs, Lions, Benetton, Stade Francais, Worcester
Connacht will play Newcastle and Brive in the pool stages
Challenge Cup Pools
Pool A: Glasgow Warriors, Toulon, Bristol Bears, Zebre, Perpignan, Bath,
Pool B: Scarlets, Pau, Wasps, Dragons, Bayonne, Cheetahs
Bath and their new head coach Johann van Graan - formerly of Munster - will take on Glasgow and and Toulon.
First up it is the Challenge Cup draw. Connacht will find out their fate soon enough. The 20 sides will be put into two ten-team pools, then the two pool opponents will be much clearer.
The Challenge Cup draw is a little more complex. Here’s the line from EPCR:
“The tier one and the tier three clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league will play one another home and away over four pool stage rounds.
“The tier two clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not from the same league will play one another home and away during the pool stage. In order to adhere to the key principle of no same-league matches, tier two clubs from the Top14 will only play against opposition from the URC, and similarly, tier two clubs from the Premiership will also only play against opposition from the URC.”
Connacht are a tier two side. The tier two Premiership and Top14 sides, and therefore Connacht’s potential opponents, are:
Stade Francais, Brive, Worcester Warriors, Newcastle Falcons.
That leaves the potential match-ups for the Irish provinces as follows:
Leinster prospective pool opponents: La Rochelle, Racing 92, Gloucester, Sale
Ulster prospective pool opponents: La Rochelle, Racing 92, Gloucester, Sale
Munster prospective pool opponents: Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Toulouse, Harlequins, Northampton Saints
So who can the provinces play?
Tier two: Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Toulouse, Harlequins, Northampton Saints, Leinster, Ulster.
Tier three: La Rochelle, Racing 92, Gloucester, Sale Sharks, Sharks, Munster.
Despite the pool fixtures seeing tier two sides square off against tier three, teams from the same league in the same tier will not be drawn into the same pool, and clubs from the same league will not play against one another during the pool stage.
What does this mean for the Irish provinces?
As URC semi-finalists, Leinster and Ulster are in tier two. As quarter-finalists, Munster are in tier three. Sides from the same country will not be drawn against each other in the pool action, so there will be no all-Irish affair in the initial stages.
In terms of the Champions Cup, there are 24 qualified teams - including Leinster, Munster and Ulster - that will be drawn into two pools. The clubs are separated into four tiers based on where they finished in their respective leagues. Sides will play against two teams in their pool, home and away, in four rounds of pool action, as it was this year.
Tier one sides will be drawn against tier four - giving those that did well in their league an advantage - while tier two will square off against tier three. Lest we forget, this is the first year the South African franchises will be drawn into European competition since their introduction into the URC.
