There’s just one week to go until the draw for the 2019/20 Heineken Champions Cup pool stages, when we find out who we will face in our European campaign.
The draw takes place in Lausanne, Switzerland, next Wednesday (19th June) at approximately 1.20pm, immediately following the Challenge Cup draw. The draw will be streamed live on www.epcrugby.com and on the official tournament Facebook page.
About the Draw
- The 20 clubs that have qualified on merit from Gallagher Premiership Rugby, the Guinness PRO14 and the TOP14 will be divided into four tiers based on their performances in the knockout phases, and/or on their qualification positions in their league tables. This will be done by a draw in advance of the main pool draw
- The 2019/20 Heineken Champions Cup winners go automatically into Tier1
- Each pool will have at least one club from each of the three leagues
- Each of the pools will have one club from each of the four tiers
- There will be no more than two clubs from the same league in a pool
- No pool will contain two PRO14 clubs from the same country
- Clubs from the same league will be kept apart until the allocation of the Tier 4 clubs
Club rankings
For the purposes of creating the tiers, Premiership, PRO14 and TOP 14 clubs are ranked based on their league performances and on their performances in the knockout phases. For clubs which did not qualify for the knockout phases of their leagues, or which were eliminated at the same stage of the knockout phase, rankings are decided by league table finishing positions and/or by other official qualification criteria.
*Toulouse & Clermont Auvergne play in the TOP 14 Final this weekend.
TIER 1
Tier 1 will include the three championship winners from the Premiership, the PRO14 and the TOP 14.
Tier 1 will also include two of the three clubs ranked second from the Premiership, the PRO14 and the TOP14. The two clubs will be decided by a draw in advance of the draw for the pools
TIER 2
Tier 2 will include the three clubs ranked third from the Premiership, the PRO14 and the TOP 14.
Tier 2 will also include the second-ranked club that was not drawn into Tier 1, and the club ranked fourth from the same league as the club that was not drawn into Tier 1.
TIER 3
Tier 3 will include the two fourth-ranked club not in Tier 2. Tier 3 will also include the three clubs ranked fifth from each league.
TIER 4
Tier 4 will include the three clubs ranked sixth in the leagues as well as Sale Sharks, a losing Challenge Cup semi-finalist and the Ospreys, the seventh-ranked club from the PRO14.
2nd Ranked: Exeter Chiefs, Glasgow Warriors and Toulouse or ASM Clermont Auvergne
4th Ranked: Northampton Saints, Ulster Rugby, La Rochelle
