The Champions Cup trophy is pictured at the Aviva Stadium before last month's semi-final between Leinster and Northampton Saints ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
The pool draws for the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup tournaments will be held at the Premier Sports studios in Dublin on Tuesday, July 1.
Both draws will be streamed live on epcrugby.com and the event, which will be co-presented by Elma Smit and Vincent Pochulu, will start at 1.30pm local time.
Newly-crowned BKT United Rugby Championship winners Leinster and beaten quarter-finalists Munster will the Irish representatives in next season’s Investec Champions Cup, while Connacht and Ulster, who both finished outside of the URC’s top eight, will play in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
The pool stages will kick off on December 5-7 and last until mid-January, before the knockout rounds across April and May lead to another thrilling finals weekend, with the tournament deciders to be held at Bilbao’s stunning San Mamés Stadium on Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23.
Click here for information on the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup finals.
The 24 Investec Champions Cup teams that qualified on merit from the URC, the Gallagher Premiership, and the Top 14 will once again compete in four pools of six – Pool 1, Pool 2, Pool 3, and Pool 4.
The key principles of the Champions Cup pool draw are as follows:
– Each pool of six will contain two teams from each of the leagues
– Clubs from the same URC Shield cannot be in the same pool. Therefore, the Irish qualifiers, Leinster and Munster, will each be drawn or allocated into separate pools, and similarly, the Vodacom Bulls, the Hollywoodbets Sharks, and the DHL Stormers from South Africa cannot be in the same pool
– There will be no matches between teams from the same league, so in order to create the pool fixtures, each team will play four matches against four different sides who are not from the same league, either home or away
For the purposes of the draw, the teams will be divided into two tiers. The four teams in tier 1 will be: Bordeaux-Bègles, this year’s Investec Champions Cup winners, new Gallagher Premiership champions Bath, URC champions Leinster, and the soon-to-be-confirmed Top 14 winners.
If Bordeaux-Bègles win the Top 14 title, then the Champions Cup runners-up from this past season, Northampton Saints, will be included in tier 1.
To start the process, the four tier 1 teams will be drawn with the first side out of the drum going into Pool 1, the second one out put in Pool 2, the third going into Pool 3, and the fourth placed in Pool 4.
Adhering to the key principles, the remaining 20 teams in tier 2 will then be drawn or allocated into the pools. If a team cannot be drawn into a pool in accordance with the key principles, then the team will be allocated to the next available pool. The process will then restart at the pool into which the initial team could not be drawn.
Meanwhile, next season’s EPCR Challenge Cup will once again have 18 teams – eight from the URC, two from the Gallagher Premiership, six from the Top 14, and two invited sides, Black Lion from Georgia, and South Africa’s Toyota Cheetahs.
They will compete in three pools of six – Pool 1, Pool 2, and Pool 3. The following are the key principles integral to the EPCR Challenge Cup pool draw:
– Each pool of six will contain two Top 14 clubs
– As the draw will include three Welsh sides (Cardiff, the Ospreys, and the Dragons), each pool will have one Welsh representative
– The Italian clubs, Benetton and Zebre Parma, who are from the same URC Shield, cannot be in the same pool
– Connacht and Ulster, who are from the same URC Shield, cannot be in the same pool
– Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons, the two Gallagher Premiership qualifiers, cannot be in the same pool
– The Emirates Lions from South Africa, as well as the two invited clubs, Black Lion and the Toyota Cheetahs, cannot be in the same pool
– A maximum of three URC teams can be included in the same pool
– Teams will play four different opponents, home or away, during the pool phase, and a limited number of same-league fixtures will be unavoidable
To start the process, all 18 team balls will be placed in the drum. Any three balls will be drawn separately with the first team out of the drum going into Pool 1, the second one placed in Pool 2, and the third side going into Pool 3.
The draw will then continue on an ‘open’ basis with the next team out of the drum going into Pool 1, the following one going into Pool 2, and so on in ascending numerical order until all team balls are drawn or allocated provided that the key principles are adhered to.
If a team cannot be drawn into a pool in accordance with the key principles, then they will be allocated to the next available pool. The process will then restart at the pool into which the initial team could not be drawn.
The 2025/26 fixture schedules for both tournaments, with dates, venues, kick-off times, and TV coverage, will be announced as soon as possible.
Fixtures will be determined using an algorithm which will take into consideration league calendar restrictions, individual club calendar restrictions, broadcast requirements, and the pool draws.
INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP TEAMS:
BKT UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP – Leinster Rugby, Vodacom Bulls, Hollywoodbets Sharks, Glasgow Warriors, DHL Stormers, Munster Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby, Scarlets
GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP – Bath Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Sale Sharks, Bristol Bears, Gloucester Rugby, Saracens, Harlequins, Northampton Saints
TOP 14 – Stade Toulousain, Union Bordeaux-Bègles, RC Toulon, Aviron Bayonnais, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Castres Olympique, Stade Rochelais, Section Paloise
EPCR CHALLENGE CUP TEAMS:
BKT UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP – Cardiff Rugby, Benetton Rugby, Emirates Lions, Ospreys, Connacht Rugby, Ulster Rugby, Zebre Parma, Dragons RFC
GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP – Exeter Chiefs, Newcastle Falcons
TOP 14 – Montpellier Hérault Rugby, Racing 92, Lyon Olympique Universitaire Rugby, Stade Français Paris, USA Perpignan, US Montauban
INVITED CLUBS – Black Lion (Georgia), Toyota Cheetahs (South Africa)
Round 1 – December 5/6/7
Round 2 – December 12/13/14
Round 3 – January 9/10/11
Round 4 – January 16/17/18
Round Of 16 – April 3/4/5
Quarter-Finals – April 10/11/12
Semi-Finals – May 1/2/3
EPCR Challenge Cup Final – San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao, Friday, May 22
Investec Champions Cup Final – San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao, Saturday, May 23
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