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Champions Exeter Chiefs will play Toulouse and Glasgow Warriors in the group stage of the 2020/21 Heineken Champions Cup following the tournament group draw held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland .
Exeter, who lifted the trophy for the first time after a dramatic 25th anniversary finale earlier this month, they were inducted into Group B and will face the four-time tournament winners and Glasgow in four rounds of the group stage at home and away.
Under the new format for the 2020/21 season with two groups of 12 clubs, reigning Guinness PRO14 champions Leinster Rugby will have Montpellier and Northampton Saints as their opponents in Group A when the tournament starts again in December, while last season’s riders -up, Racing 92, are in Group B where they will face Connacht Rugby and Harlequins.
Wasps, who were outmatched by the Chiefs in the Gallagher Premiership final, will face Dragons and Montpellier in Group A, and PRO14 finalists Ulster Rugby will face Gloucester Rugby and Toulouse in Group B.
Munster Rugby will renew its European rivalry with ASM Clermont Auvergne and Harlequins in Group B, while Bristol Bears Director of Rugby Pat Lam will return to Galway when the Challenge Cup winners face Connacht and Clermont also in the B Group.
For the purpose of the draw, the 24 clubs that qualified from the Premiership, PRO14 and TOP 14 were classified at four levels based on their performances in the knockout stages of their respective leagues and / or on their qualifying positions in their respective leagues. respective Classification Tables.
Each tier contained six clubs with Tier 1 consisting of the number one and number two ranked clubs from each league, and Tier 2, the number three and number four ranked clubs from each league, and so on.
Starting with Level 1, clubs were either drawn or assigned to Group A or Group B so that each group contained 12 clubs with no clubs at the same level from the same league in the same group.
The key principles regarding group stage matches are that clubs will only play against opponents in the same group, and clubs from the same league cannot play against each other.
Level 1 and Level 4 clubs that were drawn in the same group, but are not from the same league, will play each other at home and away for four rounds. The same principle applies to Tier 2 and Tier 3 clubs that were selected in the same group, but are not from the same league.
The exact dates of the Heineken Champions Cup group stage matches and the Challenge Cup preliminary stage matches, including venues, kick-off times and television coverage, will be announced as soon as possible after consultation with the clubs and EPCR partner stations.
The four highest-ranked clubs from each group of the Heineken Champions Cup will qualify for the quarter-finals to be played in two stages, and clubs ranked number five through number eight in each group will qualify for the round of 16 of the Challenge. Cup.
Today’s draw, which traced the first steps on the journey to the 2021 Marseille final weekend, was conducted by EPCR CEO Vincent Gaillard and EPCR Brand and Commercial Manager Anya Alderslade. Scrutinizing the event was Lausanne lawyer Jean-Guillaume Amiguet.
HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP 2020/21
POOL A (with opponents in parentheses)
Bordeaux-Bègles (Dragons, Northampton Saints)
Leinster Rugby (Montpellier, Northampton Saints)
Wasps (dragons, Montpellier)
Bath Rugby (La Rochelle, Scarlets)
Edinburgh Rugby (La Rochelle, Sale Sharks)
RC Toulon (sale of sharks, scarlets)
La Rochelle (Bath Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby)
Sale Sharks (Edinburgh Rugby, RC Toulon)
Scarlets (Bath Rugby, RC Toulon)
Dragons (Bordeaux-Bègles, Wasps)
Montpellier (Leinster Rugby, Wasps)
Northampton Saints (Bordeaux-Bègles, Leinster Rugby)
POOL B (with opponents in parentheses)
Exeter Chiefs (Glasgow Warriors, Toulouse)
Lyon (Glasgow Warriors, Gloucester Rugby)
Ulster Rugby (Gloucester Rugby, Toulouse)
Bristol Bears (ASM Clermont Auvergne, Connacht Rugby)
Munster Rugby (ASM Clermont Auvergne, Harlequins)
Racing 92 (Connacht Rugby, Harlequins)
ASM Clermont Auvergne (Bristol Bears, Munster Rugby)
Connacht Rugby (Bristol Bears, Racing 92)
Harlequins (Munster Rugby, Racing 92)
Glasgow Warriors (Exeter Chiefs, Lyon)
Gloucester Rugby (Lyon, Ulster)
Toulouse (Exeter Chiefs, Ulster Rugby)
Weekends of the 2020/21 season
Round 1 – 12/11/13 December 2020
Round 2 – 18/19/20 December 2020
Round 3 – January 15/16/17, 2021
Round 4 – 22/23/24 January 2021
Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals, first leg – April 2/3/4, 2021
Challenge Cup Round of 16 – April 2/3/4, 2021
Heineken Champions Cup Quarterfinals, second leg – 10/09/11 April 2021
Challenge Cup Quarterfinals – 10/09/11 April 2021
Semifinals – April 30 – May 1/2, 2021
Final phase 2021 – Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Challenge Cup Final – Friday, May 21
Heineken Champions Cup Final – Saturday May 22
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