2023/24 Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup pools confirmed

The pools for the 2023/24 Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup pools have been confirmed following a live draw at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London.

The EPCR Challenge Cup saw eighteen teams drawn across three pools of six and comprised of teams from the United Rugby Champions Chip, English Premiership and French Top 14 competitions.

Joining these teams will be two invitational teams who have yet to be confirmed but will come from outside of the three league’s.

In full the EPCR Challenge Cup pools are as follows:

Pool One:
Invitee 1 TBC
Pau 🇫🇷
Dragons RFC 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
Zebre Parma 🇮🇹
Oyonnax Rugby 🇫🇷
Cell C Sharks -🇿🇦

Pool Two:
Ospreys 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
Perpignan 🇫🇷
Newcastle Falcons 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Emirates Lions 🇿🇦
Montpellier 🇫🇷
Benetton Rugby 🇮🇹

Pool Three:
Edinburgh Rugby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Castres 🇫🇷
Clermont 🇫🇷
Invitee 2 – TBC
Gloucester Rugby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Scarlets 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

At the conclusion of the EPCR Challenge Cup draw, there was a short break before the Heineken Champions Cup draw took place.

The Champions Cup will consist of four pools of six teams, unlike the Challenge Cup four teams were awarded first seed status for winning their domestic competition or the Heineken Champions Cup.

Those teams were Stade Rochelais (Heineken Champions Cup), Stade Toulousain (French Top 14), Saracens (English Premiership) and Munster Rugby (United Rugby Championship).

These four teams were each drawn into different pools to ensure no champions would meet until the knockout stages.

In full the 2023/24 Heineken Champions Cup pools are as follows:

Pool 1:
Saracens 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Bordeaux-Belges 🇫🇷
Vodacom Bulls 🇿🇦
Bristol Bears 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Connacht Rugby 🇮🇪
Lyon 🇫🇷

Pool 2:
Toulouse 🇫🇷
Cardiff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
Bath Rugby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Racing 92 🇫🇷
Harlequins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Ulster Rugby 🇮🇪

Pool 3:
Munster Rugby 🇮🇪
Bayonne 🇫🇷
Glasgow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Exeter Chiefs 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Toulon 🇫🇷
Northampton Saints 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Pool 4:
La Rochelle 🇫🇷
Stade Français 🇫🇷
Leicester Tigers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
DHL Stormers 🇿🇦
Leinster Rugby 🇮🇪
Sale Sharks 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿