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WATCH AGAIN: Champions Cup and Challenge Cup draw - who your team got!
The draw for the Heineken Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup takes place this afternoon, starting at 14:00 UK and Ireland time. Keep it locked on RugbyPass to see who your team will get!
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It begins with the Challenge Cup draw, followed by the Champions Cup, below we explain how the draws will unfold. Watch them live and leave your comments.
Live Commentary:
15:00 Here is the lowdown from the draw
14:50 Saracens, two-time winners, will surely fancy their chances of getting out of this pool
🏆 | Saracens will face @GlasgowWarriors, @cardiff_blues and @LeLOURugby in @ChampionsCup Pool 3.
More to follow.#TogetherSaracens 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/nyZJ5TBh5S
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) June 20, 2018
14:48 So a recap
Pool 1: Leinster, Wasps, Toulouse and Bath
Pool 2: Castres, Exeter, Munster and Gloucester
Pool 3: Saracens, Glasgow, Lyon and Cardiff Blues
Pool 4: Scarlets, Racing 92, Leicester and Ulster Rugby
Pool 5: Montpellier, Newcastle Falcons, Edinburgh and Toulon
14:47 Just the 11 Champions Cup trophies between the four teams in Pool 1 – wow!
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CONFIRMED: Our 2018/19 Heineken Champions Cup pool is…
Leinster
Wasps
Toulouse
Bath#ChampionsCupDraw pic.twitter.com/bkWyfLwMAp— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) June 20, 2018
14:45 Gloucester Rugby, beaten finalists in the Challenge Cup, are in Pool 2, Cardiff Blues are in Pool 3, three-time winners Toulon are in Pool 5, Bath are in Pool 1. Ulster are in Pool 4. And we’re done
14:41 Pool 5 for Edinburgh, Munster are in Pool 2 with Castres and Exeter, Lyon in Pool 3, Leicester Tigers in Pool 4, Toulouse are in Pool 1. Pool 1 with Leinster, Wasps and Toulouse – that’s a lot of trophies between them!
14:40 Newcastle Falcons are in Pool 5 with Montpellier, Racing 92 are in Pool 4 with the Scarlets, Premiership runners-up are in Pool 2 with Castres, Glasgow Warriors in Pool 3 with Saracens
14:39 2004 and 2007 winners Wasps are in Pool 1 with defending champions Leinster
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14:38 Holders Leinster are in Pool 1, Castres in Pool 2, Montpellier in Pool 5, Scarlets are in Pool 4, while Saracens are in Pool 3
14:32 Montpellier and Scarlets drawn into Tier 1 with Saracens, Castres and Leinster
14:28 Drum roll please, the Champions Cup draw is about to start, EPCR currently in montage mode
14:26 Dragons fans, fear not it’s the Romanian Saracens you’re facing, not the English one’s in the Challenge Cup
Pool 1 – Northampton, Clermont, Dragons, Saracens 🇷🇴
Pool 2 – Pau, Ospreys, Worcester, Stade
Pool 3 – Sale Sharks, Connacht, Bordeaux-Begles, Perpignan
Pool 4 – La Rochelle, Zebre, Bristol, Enisei-sTM
Pool 5 – Benetton Rugby, Harlequins, Agen, Grenoble#ChallengeCupDraw— Dragons RFC (@dragonsrugby) June 20, 2018
14:21 Pool 3 earns the ‘Group of Death’ title Sale Sharks, Connacht, Bordeaux and Perpignan, a trip home to Ireland for Jackson too
CONFIRMED | Here's our Pool for next season's European Challenge Cup! #ChallengeCupDraw pic.twitter.com/4lCA3lRoC7
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) June 20, 2018
14:20 Paddy Jackson’s Perpignan in Pool 3, Sale Sharks could have had him if the rumours are true, they’ll be facing him instead
14:19 Grenoble in Pool 5
14:17 Bernard Jackman will given a headache with the Dragons in with Clermont and Northampton
14:16 Bristol Bears in Pool 4 along with La Rochelle
14:15 Agen in with Benetton and Harlequins in Pool 5
14:13 Connacht in Pool 3 with Sale Sharks
14:12 Ouch, Northampton have Clermont Auvergne join them in Pool 1, Ospreys in Pool 2 with Pau
14:11 2002 and 2005 Challenge Cup winners Sale Sharks into Pool 3, Pau in Pool 2, Benetton Rugby in Pool 5, highly fancied La Rochelle in Pool 4 and Northampton Saints in Pool 1. Phew, the draw without a hitch so far, Yashvili and Healy playing a blinder
14:07 Northampton and Pau go into the top pool for the Challenge Cup alongside top seeds Sale Sharks, Benetton Rugby and La Rochelle
14:05 While they’re chatting, want to know how good Paddy Jackson’s French is?
Benvingut Paddy Jackson ! Ses premiers mots en français pour vous ! #GENERATIONUSAP pic.twitter.com/NMgjTAgyYT
— USAP (@usap_officiel) June 19, 2018
13:59 Not sure what this Scarlet tweet says, check out Google translate, but the Scarlets, knocked out at the semi-final stage last year are in the draw for the Champions Cup
CWPAN PENCAMPWYR | Cofiwch bod grwpiau Cwpan Pencampwyr Ewrop yn cael eu dewis heddiw, yn fyw o 2pm. Ymunwch â ni ym Mar Calon ac Enaid neu gwyliwch yn fyw yma ➡️ https://t.co/WWceLU8UA8 #ynypac pic.twitter.com/4qPITKYKs9
— Scarlets Rugby (@scarlets_rugby) June 20, 2018
13:53 Northampton were the 2000 Heineken Cup winners, they’re in the Challenge Cup next season, a European debut for new Director of Rugby Chris Boyd. A reminder the Challenge Cup draw is first up, followed by the Heineken Champions Cup
🏆 Not long now!
Find out who we'll be facing in @ERChallengeCup live at 2pm at the below link
🎥 https://t.co/SPKgeSyVOT pic.twitter.com/NidL86aHSP
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) June 20, 2018
1349: Champions Cup holders Leinster getting geared up
Who's it going to be? 🤔👇#ChampionsCupDraw pic.twitter.com/Sq7Rj2lhrc
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) June 20, 2018
13:45 Apparently just 16,000 tickets left on public sale for the Heineken Champions Cup Final if you fancy a trip to sunny Newcastle on May 11th next year.
13:40 The people responsible for trying to drum up some drama and tension will be presenter Sarra Elgan along with a few lads who could chuck a rugby ball a bit – Raphael Ibanez, Austin Healy and Dimitri Yachvili
13:32 It at the Olympic Museum, quite the fancy location from the EPCR!
13:30 The draw is taking place in Lausanne, Switzerland – not exactly a famous rugby hotbed…
Champions Cup Draw Explained:
In the Champions Cup Leinster, Saracens and Castres as champions of their respective leagues are top seeds. Here is a breakdown of the draw.
Tier 1 has Leinster, Saracens and Castres, joining them will be two of the three second-ranked clubs – Exeter Chiefs, Scarlets and Montpellier.
Tier 2 will have Wasps, Glasgow Warriors and Racing 92, along with the second-ranked team which didn’t make it into Tier 1 (one of Exeter Chiefs, Scarlets and Montpellier) and the fourth ranked club from the same league
Tier 3 will have Leicester Tigers, Edinburgh Rugby and Toulouse and the two fourth ranked clubs which did get into Tier 2
Tier 4 is already decided and complete. It has the sixth-ranked clubs from each league – Bath Rugby, Challenge Cup winners, Cardiff Blues, and RC Toulon – as well as Ulster Rugby and Gloucester Rugby.
- Each pool will have at least one club from each of the three leagues.
- Each of the five 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.
Challenge Cup Draw Explained:
Sale Sharks, Benetton Rugby and Jonno Gibbes’ future club La Rochelle are the top seeds. Here is a breakdown of the draw.
Tier 1 Sale Sharks, Benetton Rugby and La Rochelle, along with two of the three second-ranked clubs from the TOP 14, Premiership or the PRO14. The two clubs will be decided by a draw in advance of the pool draw proper
Tier 2 has ASM Clermont Auvergne, Paul Gustard’s Harlequins and Connacht Rugby, along with the the second-ranked club who didn’t make it into Tier 1, along with the fourth-ranked club from the same league as the club which wasn’t in Tier 1
Tier 3 will have Agen, newly promoted Premiership side Bristol Bears, Dragons along with the two remaining fourth-ranked clubs
Tier 4 contains Stade Francais Paris, Paddy Jackson’s new club Perpignan, Grenoble, Russian side Enisei-STM, and Romanian club Timisoara Saracens
Along with Sale, the Premiership clubs involved are Chris Boyd’s Northampton, Harlequins with new head coach Paul Gustard, Worcester Warriors and newly promoted Bristol Bears, under Pat Lam who has recent experience of this competition with Connacht.
The PRO14 clubs in the hat are Benetton, Ospreys, Connacht, Zebre and Dragons
The Top 14 clubs are last season’s Champions Cup quarter-finalists La Rochelle, Pau, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Bordeaux-Begles, Agen, Stade Francais, PRO D2 champions Perpignan and Grenoble.
Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments