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19 of next season's 20 Champions Cup teams have been decided
After the completion of all regular season fixtures in the Aviva Premiership, Guinness PRO14 and the TOP 14, the following clubs have qualified for the 2018/19 Champions Cup:
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AVIVA PREMIERSHIP
Exeter Chiefs, Saracens, Wasps, Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers, Bath Rugby, *Gloucester Rugby
*As both Champions Cup finalists, Leinster Rugby and Racing 92, as well as the Cardiff Blues, were already qualified by virtue of their respective league positions, Gloucester have qualified as either the winning or losing club in the Challenge Cup final.
GUINNESS PRO14
Glasgow Warriors, Leinster Rugby, Scarlets, Munster Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby, Cardiff Blues
The seventh qualifying place from the PRO14 will be decided by a play-off between Ulster Rugby and the Ospreys at the Kingspan Stadium on Sunday, 20 May (3.05pm).
TOP 14
Montpellier, Racing 92, Toulouse, RC Toulon, Lyon, Castres Olympique
After this weekend’s results in all three league, the Pro14 will not be in a position to receive an eighth place in the Champions Cup should Leinster Rugby triumph against Racing 92 in next weekend’s European decider.
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Ulster versus Ospreys
As a result Ulster Rugby will host Ospreys Rugby on Sunday, May 20 in Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium with a kick-off time of 15:05. The game will be broadcast by BBC Northern Ireland and S4C.
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With the Guinness PRO14 Championship allocated seven places in next season’s Champions Cup, the top three teams in Conference A and Conference B automatically qualified, meaning the fourth- placed team in either Conference would play-off for the PRO14’s seventh representative spot.
However, with South African newcomers Toyota Cheetahs, who are ineligible for Champions Cup participation, finishing third in Conference A, fourth-placed Cardiff Blues duly took the third qualifying spot and Ospreys, who finished in fifth place, were shifted into the Play-Off position to face Ulster.
Ulster will have home advantage by virtue of finishing with the greater number of points accumulated during the Guinness PRO14 regular season (62, as opposed to Ospreys’ 44).
The remaining 18 clubs from the Premiership, the PRO14 and the TOP 14 which have not qualified for the Champions Cup will play in the 2018/19 Challenge Cup. The 19th and 20th places in next season’s tournament have been secured by Russia’s Enisei-STM and Heidelberger RK of Germany who will play in the final of the Continental Shield next Saturday in Getxo.
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