EPCR has today confirmed the dates for the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions, with the pool draw for both tournaments set to take place on Tuesday 1 July.
After reaching the Final of last season’s competition – where the men in Black, Green and Gold were agonisingly defeated 20-28 by eventual winners Union Bordeaux Bègles – Northampton Saints will have their opposition confirmed for the upcoming season next month, with the draws to be staged at Premier Sport studios in Dublin.
Both draws will be streamed live on epcrugby.com and the event, which will be co-presented by Elma Smit and Vincent Pochulu, will start at 1.30pm (UK-Irish time) / 2.30pm (European/South African time) / 4.30pm (Georgian time).
INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP POOL DRAW
The 24 Investec Champions Cup clubs which have qualified on merit from the TOP 14, Gallagher Premiership and United Rugby Championship (URC) will once again compete in four pools of six – Pool 1, Pool 2, Pool 3 and Pool 4 (see qualifiers below).
The key principles of the Investec Champions Cup draw are as follows:
- Each pool of six will contain two clubs from each of the leagues.
- Clubs from the same URC Shield cannot be in the same pool. Therefore, the Irish qualifiers – Leinster Rugby and Munster Rugby – will each be drawn or allocated into separate pools. The same principle applies for the Scottish qualifiers – Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby. Similarly, the Vodacom Bulls, the Hollywoodbets Sharks and the DHL Stormers from South Africa cannot be in the same pool.
- There will be no matches between clubs from the same league, so in order to create the pool stage fixtures, each club will play four matches against four different clubs who are not from the same league, either home or away.
For the purposes of the draw, the clubs will be divided into two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. The four clubs in Tier 1 will be: Union Bordeaux Bègles (2025 Investec Champions Cup winners), Bath Rugby (2025 Gallagher Premiership winners), Leinster Rugby (2025 URC winners), and the TOP 14 winners. If Union Bordeaux Bègles win the TOP 14 title, then the Investec Champions Cup final runners-up, Northampton Saints, will be included in Tier 1.
To start the process, the four Tier 1 clubs will be drawn with the first club out of the drum going into Pool 1, the second club out of the drum going into Pool 2, the third club out of the drum going into Pool 3 and the fourth club out of the drum going into Pool 4.
Adhering to the key principles, the remaining 20 clubs in Tier 2 will then be drawn or allocated into the pools. If a club cannot be drawn into a pool in accordance with the key principles, then the club will be allocated to the next available pool. The process will then re-start at the pool into which the initial club could not be drawn.
2025/26 INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP QUALIFIERS
TOP 14: Stade Toulousain, Union Bordeaux Bègles, RC Toulon, Aviron Bayonnais, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Castres Olympique, Stade Rochelais , Section Paloise.
Gallagher Premiership: Bath Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Sale Sharks, Bristol Bears, Gloucester Rugby, Saracens, Harlequins, Northampton Saints.
United Rugby Championship: Leinster Rugby, Vodacom Bulls, Hollywoodbets Sharks, Glasgow Warriors, DHL Stormers, Munster Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby, Scarlets.
*The four Tier 1 clubs will be confirmed in advance of the pool draw.
2025/26 EPCR WEEKENDS
- Round 1: 5/6/7 December 2025
- Round 2: 12/13/14 December 2025
- Round 3: 9/10/11 January 2026
- Round 4: 16/17/18 January 2026
- Round of 16: 3/4/5 April 2026
- Quarter-finals: 10/11/12 April 2026
- Semi-finals: 1/2/3 May 2026
- EPCR Challenge Cup Final: Friday 22 May, San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
- Investec Champions Cup Final: Saturday 23 May, San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
