EPCR Pool Draw Date Set

The pool draws for the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup tournaments will be staged at the Premier Sports studios in Dublin on Tuesday, 1st July. 

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 13.30 (UK-Irish time) / 14.30 (European/South African time) / 16.30 (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. 

The 2025/26 fixture schedules for both tournaments with dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage will be announced as soon as possible. Fixtures will be determined using an algorithm which will take into consideration league calendar restrictions, individual club calendar restrictions, broadcast requirements and the pool draws. 

 *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 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 – San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao; Friday 22 May  

Investec Champions Cup Final – San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao; Saturday 23 May