The Champions Cup pools were drawn today at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

The competition has changed format again, with 24 teams split into four pools of six. 

The takeaways from the Champions Cup pools draw are:

• Each pool contains two clubs from each of the leagues.
• Clubs from the same URC Shield cannot be in the same pool. So the Irish qualifiers – Munster Rugby, Leinster Rugby, Ulster Rugby and Connacht Rugby – will each be drawn or allocated into separate pools, and similarly, the Stormers and the Bulls from South Africa cannot be in the same pool.
• There will be no matches between clubs from the same league, so in order to create the fixtures, each club will play four matches against four different clubs who are not from the same league either home or away during the pool stage.

The first round of fixtures will begin on Friday, 8 December, six weeks after the final of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, which runs 8 September to 28 October.

The 2024 finals will take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 24-25 May.

The 2023-24 Champions Cup pools

Pool One

Saracens, Union Bordeaux-Begles, Bulls, Bristol Bears, Connacht, Lyon

Pool Two

Toulouse, Cardiff, Bath, Racing 92, Harlequins, Ulster

Pool Three

Munster, Bayonne, Glasgow Warriors, Exeter Chiefs, Toulon, Northampton Saints

Pool Four

La Rochelle, Leinster, Stade Français, Leicester Tigers, Stormers, Sale Sharks

The 2023-24 Challenge Cup pools

The Big takeaways for the Challenge Cup pools draw are:

• Each pool will contain two TOP 14 clubs.
• Clubs from the same URC Shield cannot be in the same pool. Therefore, the South African qualifiers – the Cell C Sharks and the Emirates Lions – will each be in a different pool, the Welsh clubs – Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons RFC – will be kept apart during the draw, and similarly, Edinburgh Rugby, Benetton Rugby and Zebre Parma cannot be in the same pool.
• The two Premiership clubs and the two invitees will also be drawn or allocated into different pools.
• Clubs will play four different opponents home or away during the pool stage with same-league matches being kept to a minimum, and only impacting clubs from the URC.

The pools drawn are:

Pool One

Invitee 1, Section Paloise, Dragons, Zebre, Oyannax, Sharks

Pool Two

Ospreys, Perpignan, Newcastle Falcons, Lions, Montpellier, Benetton Rugby

Pool Three

Edinburgh, Castres, Clermont, Invitee 2, Gloucester, Scarlets

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