Champions and Challenge Cup: Cardiff face English pair Bath and Harlequins
- Published
Cardiff beat Sale to reach the quarter-finals of last season's European Challenge Cup
Cardiff have been drawn alongside English pair Bath and Harlequins plus French sides Toulouse and Racing 92 - as well as Ulster - in the pool stage of the 2023-24 Champions Cup.
In the Challenge Cup, Ospreys were drawn alongside Newcastle, Benetton, Lions, plus Perpignan and Montpellier.
Scarlets face Gloucester, Edinburgh, Castres, Clermont Auvergne, and one of two as yet unknown invitee clubs.
Dragons will play Pau, Zebre, Oyannax, Sharks and the second invitee club.
Wales' only Champions Cup representative, Cardiff, along with their fans will enjoy the Severnside derby against Bath, likewise Scarlets supporters will relish a Challenge Cup tie against English opponents Gloucester, who have Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit in their ranks.
Cardiff will play four pool games, two home and two away, against clubs that do not compete in the United Rugby Championship (URC) - so will not face Ulster in the group stage despite being drawn in the same pool.
For the Challenge Cup, tournament organiser European Professional Club Rugby (EPRC) has said that "clubs will play four different opponents home or away during the pool stage with same-league matches being kept to a minimum, and only impacting clubs from the URC".
Full fixture lists will be published in due course, including the identities of the invitee clubs.
The European Rugby Champions and second-tier Challenge Cup have returned to a multi-pool format for next season. Each cup had been split into two leagues preceding the knockout stages in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Champions Cup has 24 teams split into four pools of six, with the 18-team Challenge Cup divided into three pools of six.
Round one will take place over 8/9/10 December, with the second round the following week.
Rounds three and four will take place from 12 to 21 January to decide which teams advance to the knock-out phase.
A round of 16 will be played on the first weekend of April and the quarter-finals the following week.
Semi-finals will be played on 3/4/5 May before the 2024 finals take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 24-25 May.
2023-24 Champions Cup pool stage
Pool 1: Saracens, Union Bordeaux-Begles, Bulls, Bristol Bears, Connacht, Lyon
Pool 2: Toulouse, Cardiff, Bath, Racing 92, Harlequins, Ulster
Pool 3: Munster, Aviron Bayonnais, Glasgow Warriors, Exeter Chiefs, Toulon, Northampton Saints
Pool 4: La Rochelle, Stade Francais, Leicester Tigers, Stormers, Leinster, Sale Sharks
2023-24 Challenge Cup pool stage
Pool 1: Invitee 1, Section Paloise, Dragons, Zebre, Oyannax, Sharks
Pool 2: Ospreys, USAP, Newcastle Falcons, Lions, Montpellier, Benetton Rugby
Pool 3: Edinburgh, Castres, Clermont Auvergne, Invitee 2, Gloucester, Scarlets