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Leinster to face La Rochelle in Round 1 as European fixtures revealed
The European Champions Cup is going to get heavy fast next season, with defending champions Stade Rochelais facing last season’s runners-up, Leinster, in the opening round.
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The match, which will take place at Stade Marcel Deflandre on December 10, was revealed as the EPCR confirmed the pool stage fixture and dates this morning.
Leinster, the tournament runners-up for the past two seasons, will be hoping to secure a knockout stage berth. They will face Sale Sharks and Stade Francais Paris at home in Rounds 2 and 3, respectively.
Saracens, the winners of the Gallagher Premiership, will begin their campaign against the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria. You can view the full fixtures here.
Stade Toulousain open their Pool 2 campaign at Stade Ernest Wallon against Cardiff on Saturday 9 December before travelling to Harlequins in Round 2 and then to Ulster Rugby in Round 3. The five-time Champions Cup winners wrap up their pool stage schedule with a home tie against Bath in Round 4.
Munster will be at Thomond Park for their Round 1 and Round 4 fixtures against newcomers, Aviron Bayonnais, and Northampton Saints respectively. In Rounds 2 and 3 the men in red will be on the road to face Exeter Chiefs and the 2023 EPCR Challenge Cup winners, RC Toulon in Pool 3.
In the EPCR Challenge Cup, the Cell C Sharks, making their debut, will have home advantage in Rounds 1 and 3 against Section Paloise and Oyonnax. Black Lion, the first Georgian club to participate in EPCR’s main professional competitions, will host Gloucester in their first Challenge Cup appearance.
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Clermont’s schedule sees them up against Edinburgh at Stade Marcel-Michelin in Round 1 on Friday 8 December, followed by an away fixture at Gloucester, a home game against Scarlets before they travel to Tbilisi to face Black Lion in Round 4.
Previous Challenge Cup winners Montpellier Hérault Rugby, open their Pool 2 campaign against the Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on Sunday 10 December before back-to-back home fixtures against the Ospreys and the Emirates Lions, and then in Round 4, Benetton.
The tournaments will commence on the weekend of December 8-10, and the EPCR Finals Weekend will be held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 24-25, 2024.
“We are delighted to announce the details of EPCR’s 2023/24 tournament pool stage fixtures five months before the tournaments get under way again in December,” said EPCR Chairman, Dominic McKay. “This has been a collaborative process and we thank the clubs, leagues and our broadcast partners for their assistance in finalising the schedule in such a short period of time. We know the fans will be hugely excited about the fixtures and they are now able to plan their weekends well in advance. There are some intriguing clashes in the pool stages with world-class rugby for all to see.”
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2023/24 weekends
Round 1 – 8/9/10 December 2023
Round 2 – 15/16/17 December 2023
Round 3 – 12/13/14 January 2024
Round 4 – 19/20/21 January 2024
Round of 16 – 5/6/7 April 2024
Quarter-finals – 12/13/14 April 2024
Semi-finals – 3/4/5 May 2024
EPCR Challenge Cup final – Friday 24 May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Champions Cup final – Saturday 25 May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Comments on RugbyPass
The Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
2 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
2 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
10 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
10 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
10 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
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