Glasgow Warriors: Northampton provide Champions Cup test

Glasgow faced Northampton in 2013

Pro12 winners Glasgow Warriors will face Northampton Saints, who finished top of the Aviva Premiership, in next season's European Champions Cup.

Following the draw in Switzerland, they are joined in Pool 3 by French club Racing '92 and Welsh team Scarlets.

Edinburgh have been drawn against London Irish, Grenoble and Agen, in Pool 5 of the European Challenge Cup.

Last season, Alan Solomon's side lost to Gloucester in the final of the same tournament.

Edinburgh missed qualifying for the Champions Cup after finishing eighth in the Pro12.

To progress in the Challenge Cup this time, they will have to come through a group containing London Irish, who finished 10th in the English top flight, Grenoble, who were 11th in the Top 14 and French rivals Agen, who have won promotion.

They defeated London Irish in this season's quarter-finals, while Agen won both home and away against Edinburgh in season 2006/7 and the Scots shared the honours when they faced Grenoble home and away in 1999/2000.

Glasgow face tougher opposition, with Northampton having finished top of the Premiership table.

They lost in the play-off semi-final to eventual champions Saracens as they failed to retain the title they won in 2014 along with the European Challenge Cup.

Edinburgh have defeated London Irish previously in European competition

Glasgow head coach Gregor Townsend spent three years with Saints and told Warriors' website: "Northampton will be great for me personally as I have very happy memories from being down there and they've grown so much since I was there.

"We were involved in two high-quality attacking games against them three years ago and their new ground is a great rugby venue.

"They have been one of the best English teams over the last few years in terms of consistency in the league and we're expecting a really tough challenge against them."

Racing '92, the new name of Racing Metro, finished fifth in the Top 14, while Scarlets were sixth in the Pro12.

"Racing 92 have one of the biggest budgets in world rugby and the highest-paid player in world rugby will be joining them in Dan Carter," said Townsend.

"They've recruited a lot of experienced players for next season and have got quality and real strength in depth."

Winger DTH van der Merwe this summer left Glasgow to join Scarlets, who also have Scotland forward John Barclay in their squad.

"DTH said at the end of last season that we'd be playing together in the Champions Cup and he's been proved right," said Townsend.

The Champions Cup campaign begins on the weekend of 14-15 November.

Lyon's new Grand Stade de Lyon, which is due to open later this year, will host the final on 14 May 2016.

The final of the Challenge Cup, fixtures for which begin on 12 November, will take place at the same venue the previous evening.

European Champions Cup draw

Pool 1: Saracens, Ulster, Toulouse, Oyonnax

Pool 2: Clermont Auvergne, Ospreys, Exeter Chiefs, Bordeaux

Pool 3: Glasgow Warriors, Northampton Saints, Racing 92, Scarlets

Pool 4: Stade Francais, Munster, Leicester Tigers, Treviso

Pool 5: Bath, Toulon, Leinster, Wasps

European Challenge Cup draw

Pool 1: Connacht, Brive, Newcastle Falcons, Enisei-STM

Pool 2: Sale Sharks, Newport Gwent Dragons, Castres, Pau

Pool 3: Montpellier, Harlequins, Cardiff Blues, Calvisano

Pool 4: La Rochelle, Gloucester, Zebre, Warriors

Pool 5: Edinburgh, London Irish, Grenoble, Agen