The EPCR has published its revised tournament formats for the 2020/21 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.
Both tournaments will resume with Rounds of 16 matches on the weekend of 2/3/4 April and the knockout stages will continue with quarter-finals, semi-finals and the scheduled Marseille finals on EPCR’s allocated weekends in April and May.
The Rounds of 16 and quarter-final matches in both tournaments will be decided by draws which will take place on Tuesday, 9th March.
Regarding the Heineken Champions Cup, the eight highest-ranked clubs in Pool A and the eight highest-ranked clubs in Pool B at the time of the suspension of the tournament have qualified for the Round of 16.
Leinster and Munster are confirmed for the Champions Cup and Connacht and Ulster for the Challenge Cup.
The provinces will be kept apart in the otherwise open draw as teams from the same country will not play each other.
The five teams in the Champions Cup who had won both of their pre-shutdown home games will be guaranteed a home draw in the round of 16, good news for Leinster and Munster and also ruling out a first game back clash with any of Racing 92, Wasps or Bordeaux-Begles.
The draws for the quarter-finals will take place immediately after the Rounds of 16 draws on Tuesday, 9th March and will be streamed live on epcrugby.com.
Qualified Teams
Heineken Champions Cup Qualifiers – Racing 92, Leinster Rugby, Wasps, Bordeaux-Bègles, Munster Rugby, Lyon, Toulouse, La Rochelle, Scarlets, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs, Edinburgh Rugby, Gloucester Rugby, RC Toulon, Sale Sharks
NB Racing 92, Leinster, Wasps, Bordeaux-Bègles and Munster are guaranteed home matches in the Round of 16.
Challenge Cup Qualifiers – London Irish, Ospreys, Leicester Tigers, Cardiff Blues, Zebre Rugby Club, Agen, Benetton Rugby, Newcastle Falcons, Ulster Rugby, Connacht Rugby, Northampton Saints, Bath Rugby, Montpellier, Dragons, Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors
NB London Irish, Ospreys and Leicester Tigers are guaranteed home matches in the Round of 16.
Key Dates
Knockout Stage Draws: Tuesday 9 March
Rounds of 16: 2/3/4 April
Quarter-finals: 9/10/11 April
Semi-finals: 30 April – 1/2 May
Challenge Cup final: Marseille – Friday, 21 May
Heineken Champions Cup final: Marseille – Saturday, 22 May
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