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Cheslin Kolbe of Toulouse watches during the European Champions Cup match against Gloucester at Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse on January 19, 2020.
Cheslin Kolbe’s Toulouse and Handre Pollard’s Montpellier will participate in next season’s European Champions Cup, in the changes announced by tournament organizers on Wednesday due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The World Cup winning pair were going to miss out as their clubs finished in the French Top 14 last season, but the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) said eight teams from each of the three major professional leagues in the world. continent will qualify for the competition.
The number of teams will increase from 20 to 24 and will be placed in groups of 12, each team will play two games at home and away from home, and the top four of the groups will advance to the quarterfinals.
“We know we have time constraints, we have less time to play the season. Then there was the limitation of the leagues, who preferred not to have six, but eight teams,” Vincent Gaillard, EPCR executive director, told AFP in an interview. .
“Everything brings innovative things, reducing the group stages to increase the knockout stages,” he added.
The format will be introduced for the new legislature with the first game of matches on the weekend of December 11-13 and the final at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on May 22.
The Challenge Cup will feature 14 clubs (six Top 14, four English Premier League and four PRO14) in a group. The final of the tournament will be held on May 21, also in Marseille.
The quarterfinals of this year’s Champions Cup and second-tier Challenge Cup have been rescheduled for September 18 and 21 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Gaillard said authorities had given the green light for participants to cross the borders despite the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“All the governments involved have granted exceptions for teams to travel. Our attention shifts to the health conditions of the teams,” Gaillard said.
Earlier this week, the French league said that if two or more Covid-19 cases are recorded on one side, its next game will be postponed, but the EPCR has chosen not to follow suit.
“There won’t be multiple cases. We raised the limit on the number of registered players,” Gaillard said.
“That means that from the moment a club can appoint a team of players who have no infection, respecting the requirements of the number of forwards and second row, the game can be played.
“If you can’t play, if too many players can’t play, then the match will be void,” he concluded.
