Champions Cup: Ulster to face Toulouse in Pool Two; Leinster will play La Rochelle in Pool Four
- Published
La Rochelle's Jonathan Danty is tackled by Ross Byrne and Robbie Henshaw during the 2023 Champions Cup final
Ulster have been drawn in Pool Two of the 2023-24 Champions Cup, along with Top 14 winners Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Bath, Racing 92 and Harlequins.
Leinster will face the club they have lost to in the last two finals of the competition, La Rochelle, in Pool Four.
Stade Francais, Leicester, Stormers and Sale Sharks are also in Pool Four.
URC champions Munster are joined by Bayonne, Glasgow Warriors, Exeter Chiefs, Toulon and Northampton Saints in Pool Three.
Pool One pits Connacht with Premiership champions Saracens, Bordeaux-Begles, Bulls, Bristol Bears and Lyon.
Each of the four Irish provinces will play four pool games, two at home and two away, against clubs that do not compete in the United Rugby Championship.
The details of those fixtures are yet to be finalised.
Ulster therefore will not play Cardiff, Leinster will not face Stormers, Munster will not play Glasgow and Connacht will not have a pool fixture against the Bulls.
The match-up between four-time champions Leinster and Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle immediately catches the eye given the thrilling finals contested by the clubs over both of the last two seasons.
Ulster's standout group game will see them take on five-time victors Toulouse, who edged out Dan McFarland's men in agonising fashion by one point on aggregate over two legs at the last 16 stage in April 2022.
Format changes explained
This year's revamped tournament involved the top tier seeds - La Rochelle, Toulouse, Saracens and Munster being kept apart in separate pools, while the remaining 20 sides involved were unseeded in an open draw.
Each pool could include a maximum of two clubs from one 'domestic' league and the Irish provinces had to be kept apart.
The top four teams from each pool will progress to the last-16 knockout stage of the competition, with the fifth-placed club taking part in the Challenge Cup knockout stages and the sixth-placed club dropping out.
The tournament will again be played over eight weekends, with the opening pool games on 8-10 December, followed by matches on 15-17 December, 12-14 January and 19-21 January.
The last-16 ties will be staged on 5-7 April, then the quarter-finals on 12-14 April, the semi-finals on 3-5 May and the final at London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 25 May.