2023-06-21 14:37:43
By Arnaud Coudry
Posted 21 minutes ago, Just Updated
Stade Rochelais will aim for the treble like Toulon between 2013 and 2015. Peter Fitzpatrick / Action Plus / Panoramic
The draw for the groups for the next Champions Cup took place on Wednesday.
The group draw for the next Champions Cup took place on Wednesday. The EPCR, the body which organizes the Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup, has adopted a new format for intercontinental competitions (now with the South African provinces) for the 2023-2024 season. Since the Covid crisis, the format of the competition is constantly evolving.
For the coming season, 24 clubs participating in the Champions Cup are divided into four pools of six, and the 18 teams entered in the Challenge Cup are divided into three pools of six. Each club will play four games against four different opponents who are not from their own league, either at home or away.
First for Bayonne
At the end of the group stage, the four highest ranked clubs in each group will qualify for the round of 16, and the clubs that finish in fifth place will be transferred to the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup.
After their titanic double confrontation in the final of the last two editions, La Rochelle and Leinster will meet next year, from the group stage. In this same group, we also find the English of Leicester and the Cape Stormers.
Toulouse, winner of the event in 2021 and fresh champion of France, will cross paths with the English of Bath and Harlequins but also Ulster. Bayonne, which will participate in its first Champions Cup, will have to come up against two big clients: Munster and Exeter.
Composition of hens
Hen 1
Saracens (ENG), Bordeaux-Begles, Bulls (AFS), Bristol (ENG), Connacht (IRL), Lyon
Hen 2
Toulouse, Cardiff (PDG), Bath (ANG), Racing 92, Harlequins (ANG), Ulster (IRL)
Hen 3
Munster (Earl), Bayonne, Glasgow (ECO), Exeter (ANG), Toulon, Northampton (ANG)
Hen 4
La Rochelle, Stade Français, Leicester (ENG), Stormers (AFS), Leinster (IRL), Sale (ENG)
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