Leinster, his victim in the last two finals, but also the English of Leicester and the South Africans of the Stormers, recent quarter-finalists. La Rochelle did not have a change in the pool draw for the next Champions Cup. In this pool 4, the double defending team and the Stade Français will also rub shoulders with Sale, finalist of the last English championship.
This group is by far the strongest from the draw made this Wednesday in London. The next edition of the intercontinental competition, open since last year to South African franchises, will mark the return to a “multipool” format, in which teams from the same championship will not meet directly.
Toulouse, new champion of France, inherited a much more favorable draw in pool 2, along with Racing 92, with Harlequins, Bath, Cardiff and Ulster.
Toulon, winner of the last Challenge Cup, and Bayonne, which will take part in the Champions Cup for the first time, will tackle two big players in pool 3: Exeter, semi-finalists this year, and Munster, winner of the United Rugby Championship (URC), championship bringing together Welsh, Irish, Italian, Scottish and South African teams.
Four qualified out of six in each pool
Bordeaux-Bègles and Lyon will be opposed in Pool 1 to the Saracens, champions of England, and the South African Bulls.
The top four from each pool of six will qualify for the round of 16. The first day of the competition will take place on December 8, 9 and 10 and the final will be played on Saturday May 25 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
As for the Challenge Cup, Montpellier, champion of France 2022, was placed in the same pool as the Welsh Ospreys and the South African Lions. Castres and Clermont will have as their main opponents in pool 3 the English of Gloucester and the Scots of Edinburgh.