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EPCR statement: Champions Cup pool stage shake-up
By PA
The Heineken Champions Cup will return to a multi-pool format next season. Tournament organisers have scrapped the two groups of 12 system, with the 24 qualifiers now featuring in four pools, each containing six teams.
There will be a maximum of two clubs from the same league – Gallagher Premiership, URC and French Top 14 – in each pool. There are no matches between clubs from the same league. Each team will play four games against four different clubs who are not from the same league, either home or away, during the pool stage.
The leading four clubs in each pool will qualify for the round of 16, and each fifth-placed team progress to the European Challenge Cup knockout phase.
The Challenge Cup will comprise 18 teams in three pools of six, with games in both tournaments being played over eight weekends and culminating in finals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next May.
EPCR chairman Dominic McKay said: “Our focus has always been to ensure that everyone can easily understand, engage with and follow our tournaments, and also to ensure we have a structure that creates real sporting jeopardy in as many matches as possible.
“We will continue to work with our stakeholders to look at ways in which we can improve both tournaments, an objective which is at the heart of our strategy and commitment to fans, clubs and partners.
“Our competitions truly are the pinnacle of professional club rugby, and we have to ensure that they continue to engage and to enthral existing and new audiences along the way.”
The pool draws will take place in London on June 21, with the opening round of games taking place in December.
Champions Cup qualifiers: Saracens, Sale Sharks, Leicester, Northampton, Harlequins, Exeter, Bath, Bristol, Munster, DHL Stormers, Leinster, Ulster, Glasgow, Vodacom Bulls, Connacht, Cardiff, La Rochelle, Toulouse, Racing 92, Bordeaux-Begles, Lyon, Stade Francais, Toulon, Bayonne.
Challenge Cup qualifiers: Gloucester, Newcastle, Cell C Sharks, Emirates Lions, Benetton, Edinburgh, Ospreys, Scarlets, Dragons, Zebre Parma, Castres, Clermont Auvergne, Montpellier, Pau, Perpignan, Oyonnax, plus two invited teams.
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Latest Comments
If Pollock is in the squad, who gets left out?
"I think the Eddie Jones style development player approach is whats called for"
(i) Why?
(ii) The churn of players under Eddie Jones was generally considered to be quite a bad thing. Do you want Guy Pepper, Ted Hill, Ben Curry, etc. to give up and go to France like Marchant did?
(iii) England already have a really young squad, and especially a young back row. If they do badly in the six nations Borthwick will probably lose his job, so shouldn't they prioritise winning in the short term and developing the players already in the squad, rather than bringing in newer, younger, guys?
(iv) England have a development tour in June. If you really want Pollock to be in the squad prior to graduating the u20s, why not wait until the summer?
Go to commentsWhen England's defence was able to get into shape it could be dominant though (especially in the game against NZ). Is the number of tackles really the main issue?
I get that making loads of tackles is tiring, but so is building multi-phase attacks. I'm just worried England would get tired out from attacking, then struggle to get set when they're subjected to counter attacks.
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