ERCC 2015/16 Pool Draw

The Pool Draw for the 2015/16 European Rugby Champions Cup will take place in Neuchâtel, Switzerland on Wednesday, 17 June at 1.35pm approx (UK and Irish time).

 

It will follow on directly from the draw for the European Rugby Challenge, with both draws broadcast live on Sky Sports News and beIN Sports and streamed live on btsport.com and epcrugby.com. 

The event comperes in Neuchatel will be Craig Doyle (BT Sport) and Raphaël Ibañez (European Cup winner - France Televisions), with Dimitri Yachvili (Challenge Cup winner - beIN Sports) and Ieuan Evans (European Cup winner - Sky Sports) conducting the draws.

The key principles and key steps integral to the Pool Draw are explained below.

Key principles

  • The 20 clubs which have qualified on merit from the Aviva Premiership, Top 14 and Guinness PRO12 leagues, and/or the Champions Cup play-offs, will compete in the 2015/16 European Rugby Champions Cup in five pools of four.
  • The clubs are divided into four tiers based on their status as league winners and/or on their qualification positions in their league tables. This will be done by a draw in advance of the main pool draw.
  • Each pool will have at least one club from each of the three leagues.
  • Each of the five pools will have one club from each of the four tiers.
  • There will be no more than two clubs from the same league in a pool.
  • No pool will contain two PRO12 clubs from the same country.
  • Clubs from the same league will be kept apart until the allocation of the Tier 4 clubs.

 

European Rugby Champions Cup qualification

For the purposes of creating the tiers, the Aviva Premiership, Top 14 and PRO12 clubs are ranked based on their league performances and on their performances in the knockout phases. For clubs which did not qualify for the knockout phases of their leagues, or which were eliminated at the same stage of the knockout phase, rankings are decided by league table finishing positions.

 

RANK

PREMIERSHIP

PRO12

TOP14

1

Saracens

Glasgow

Clermont or Stade

2

Bath

Munster

Clermont or Stade

3

Northampton Saints

Ospreys

Toulon

4

Leicester Tigers

Ulster

Toulouse

5

Exeter Chiefs

Leinster

Racing Metro

6

Wasps

Scarlets

Oyonnax

7

-

Benetton Treviso

Bordeaux-Begles

 

 

Tier 1

Tier 1 will include the three league champions from the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the PRO12.

Tier 1 will also include two of the three clubs which are ranked second from the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the PRO12. The two clubs will be decided by a draw in advance of the draw for the pools.

Tier 2

Tier 2 will include the three clubs which are ranked third from the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the PRO12.

Tier 2 will also include the second-ranked club which was not drawn into Tier 1, and the club which is ranked fourth from the same league as the club which was not drawn into Tier 1.

Tier 3

Tier 3 will include the two clubs ranked fourth which are not in Tier 2. Tier 3 will also include the three clubs which are ranked fifth from each league.

Tier 4

Tier 4 will include the three clubs which are ranked sixth in the leagues. Tier 4 will also include the Italian qualifier (7th ranked club from the PRO12) and the Champions Cup play-offs qualifier.

How the draw works

Upon direction from the MCs, one person will draw the club balls and another person will draw the pool balls.

Step 1

At this point, only the Tier 4 clubs are confirmed. A draw has to be made to establish the five Tier 1 clubs, and once Tier 1 is confirmed, Tiers 2 and 3 fall into place as per the key principles above.

The draw takes place to determine which two clubs from the three clubs ranked number two in the leagues – ie. Bath Rugby, Munster Rugby, and the Top 14 runners-up – will join Saracens, Glasgow Warriors and the Top 14 champions in Tier 1.

The Top 14 runners-up, Bath and Munster balls are placed in the bowl, and two clubs are then drawn into Tier 1.

Tier 1 clubs

Saracens (Aviva Premiership champions)

Glasgow Warriors (Guinness PRO12 champions)

XXXXXXXX (Top 14 champions)

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

Step 2

Once the Tier 1 clubs are established, the five Tier 2 clubs can be confirmed as follows: the three third-ranked clubs in the leagues – Northampton Saints, Ospreys and RC Toulon – will be joined by XXXXXXX who were not drawn into Tier 1, and by XXXXXXX who are the fourth-ranked club from the XXXXXXX league.

Tier 2 clubs

RC Toulon

Northampton Saints

Ospreys

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

Step 3

Once the Tier 2 clubs are established, the five Tier 3 clubs can be confirmed as follows: the two remaining fourth-ranked clubs, XXXXXXX and XXXXXXXX, and the three fifth-ranked clubs, Exeter Chiefs, Leinster Rugby and Racing 92.

Tier 3 clubs

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

Exeter Chiefs

Leinster Rugby

Racing Metro

Tier 4 clubs

The clubs in Tier 4 are already confirmed as follows:

Benetton Treviso

Bordeaux-Bègles

Oyonnax

Scarlets

Wasps

Step 4

Each of the five Tier 1 clubs are drawn, followed by a pool number for that club.

Step 5

Draw for the five Tier 2 clubs.

As each club ball is selected, a draw is then made to allocate the club a pool from the available pools based on the key principles above. Some clubs may have to be placed directly into a pool in order to ensure the key principles apply.

Step 6

Draw for the five Tier 3 clubs.

Again, as each club ball is selected, a draw is then made to allocate the club a pool from the available pools based on the key principles above. Some clubs may have to be placed directly into a pool in order to ensure the key principles apply.

Step 7

Draw for the five Tier 4 clubs.

Again, as each club ball is selected, a draw is then made to allocate the club a pool from the available pools based on the key principles above. Scarlets from the PRO12 will be drawn first as they cannot be drawn into the same pool as Ospreys.

The remaining clubs are then drawn into pools which contain one other club from their league.

Some clubs may have to be placed directly into a pool in order to ensure the key principles apply.

 

2015/16 Tournament weekends

Round 1: 12/13/14/15 November

Round 2: 19/20/21/22 November

Round 3: 10/11/12/13 December

Round 4: 17/18/19/20 December

Round 5: 14/15/16/17 January 2016

Round 6: 21/22/23/24 January 2016

Quarter-finals: 7/8/9/10 April 2016

Semi-finals: 22/23/24 April 2016

Final: 13/14 May 2016