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2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup

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2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 South Africa
Tournament format(s)Modified round-robin and knockout
Date6 December 2024 – 24 May 2025
Tournament statistics
Final
VenuePrincipality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
← 2023–24 (Previous)
(Next) 2025–26 →

The 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the 2024–25 Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the eleventh season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for professional clubs. It is the 30th season of the pan-European professional club rugby competition and the second season in which Investec will be named title sponsors.

The final will be played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.[1][2]

Teams

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Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues will qualify to compete in the 2024–25 edition of the Champions Cup.[3]

The distribution of teams is:

Premiership Top 14 United Rugby Championship
England England France France Ireland Ireland Italy Italy Scotland Scotland South Africa South Africa

Team details

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Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.

Note: Placing shown in brackets, denotes standing at the end of the regular season for their respective leagues, with their end of season positioning shown through CH for Champions, RU for Runner-up, SF for losing Semi-finalist, and QF for losing Quarter-finalist.

Team Coach(es)/
Director of Rugby
Captain(s) Stadium Capacity Method of qualification
England Bath South Africa Johann van Graan England Ben Spencer Recreation Ground 14,509 Premiership top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Italy Benetton Italy Marco Bortolami Italy Michele Lamaro Stadio Comunale di Monigo 5,000 URC top 8 (7th) (QF)
France Bordeaux France Yannick Bru France Jefferson Poirot Stade Chaban-Delmas 34,694 Top 14 top 8 (3rd) (RU)
England Bristol Bears Samoa Pat Lam England Fitz Harding Ashton Gate 27,000 Premiership top 8 (5th)
South Africa Bulls South Africa Jake White South Africa Marcell Coetzee Loftus Versfeld 51,762 URC top 8 (2nd) (RU)
France Castres Ireland Jeremy Davidson France Mathieu Babillot Stade Pierre-Fabre 12,500 Top 14 top 8 (7th)
France Clermont France Christophe Urios France Baptiste Jauneau Stade Marcel-Michelin 19,022 Top 14 top 8 (8th)
England Exeter Chiefs England Rob Baxter Wales Dafydd Jenkins Sandy Park 13,593 Premiership top 8 (7th)
Scotland Glasgow Warriors South Africa Franco Smith Scotland Kyle Steyn Scotstoun Stadium 7,351 URC top 8 (4th) (CH)
England Harlequins Australia Billy Millard England Alex Dombrandt Twickenham Stoop 14,800 Premiership top 8 (6th)
France La Rochelle Ireland Ronan O'Gara France Grégory Alldritt Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16,700 Top 14 top 8 (5th) (SF)
England Leicester Tigers Australia Michael Cheika Argentina Julián Montoya Mattioli Woods Welford Road 25,849 Premiership top 8 (8th)
Ireland Leinster Ireland Leo Cullen Ireland Caelan Doris Aviva Stadium 51,700 URC top 8 (3rd) (SF)
Ireland Munster Ireland Ian Costello Ireland Tadhg Beirne Thomond Park 25,600 URC top 8 (1st) (SF)
England Northampton Saints England Phil Dowson England George Furbank cinch stadium at Franklin's Gardens 15,200 Premiership top 8 (1st) (CH)
France Racing 92 England Stuart Lancaster France Henry Chavancy Paris La Défense Arena 32,000 Top 14 top 8 (6th) (QF)
England Sale Sharks England Alex Sanderson England Ben Curry Salford Community Stadium 12,000 Premiership top 8 (3rd) (SF)
England Saracens Ireland Mark McCall England Maro Itoje StoneX Stadium 10,500 Premiership top 8 (4th) (SF)
South Africa Sharks New Zealand John Plumtree South Africa Lukhanyo Am Hollywoodbets Kings Park 52,000 Challenge Cup Champions
France Stade Français France Laurent Labit France Paul Gabrillagues Stade Jean-Bouin 20,000 Top 14 top 8 (2nd) (SF)
South Africa Stormers South Africa John Dobson South Africa Salmaan Moerat DHL Stadium 55,000 URC top 8 (5th) (QF)
France Toulon France Pierre Mignoni France Charles Ollivon Stade Mayol 17,500 Top 14 top 8 (4th) (QF)
France Toulouse France Ugo Mola France Antoine Dupont Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Top 14 top 8 (1st) (CH)
Ireland Ulster Ireland Richie Murphy Ireland Iain Henderson Kingspan Stadium 18,196 URC top 8 (6th) (QF)

Pool stage

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[[File:|1300px|alt=Locations of British, Irish and French teams of the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool 1; Blue: Pool 2; Green: Pool 3; Purple: Pool 4.]]
Locations of British, Irish and French teams of the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool 1; Blue: Pool 2; Green: Pool 3; Purple: Pool 4.
Locations of London teams of the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Green: Pool 3; Purple: Pool 4.
Locations of Italian teams of the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Blue: Pool 2.
Locations of South African teams of the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool 1; Green: Pool 3; Purple: Pool 4.

Teams were drawn into pools on 2 July in Cardiff.[2] Teams will be awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by less than eight points.

The format is, once again, a modified round robin. Each pool consists of six teams, two from each of the three contributing leagues. Each team plays the four teams not from its own league once, with one game away to each league and one game at home. Teams do not play their league partners at this stage. The top four teams go to the first knock out round, where the top two teams in each group are given home advantage. The fifth placed teams 'drop' into the Challenge Cup knockout rounds, joining twelve clubs from that competition's pool stages in the knockout stage as the ninth to twelfth seeds, earning away ties with the fifth-to eighth-ranked sides from the Challenge Cup's pool stage. The sixth placed team in each group is eliminated.

Pool 1

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European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 France Bordeaux 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home Champions Cup round of 16.
2 England Exeter Chiefs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 England Leicester Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Champions Cup round of 16.
4 South Africa Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 France Toulouse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 Ireland Ulster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[4]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 2

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European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 2
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 England Bath 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home Champions Cup round of 16.
2 Italy Benetton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 England Bristol Bears 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Champions Cup round of 16.
4 France Clermont 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 France La Rochelle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 Ireland Leinster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[4]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 3

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European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 3
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 South Africa Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home Champions Cup round of 16.
2 France Castres 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Ireland Munster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Champions Cup round of 16.
4 England Northampton Saints 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 England Saracens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 France Stade Français 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[4]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 4

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European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 4
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Scotland Glasgow Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home Champions Cup round of 16.
2 England Harlequins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 France Racing 92 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Champions Cup round of 16.
4 England Sale Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 South Africa Stormers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 France Toulon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[4]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

References

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  1. ^ "Champions Cup: Cardiff to host 2025 final before 2026 return to Bilbao". BBC Sport. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "2024/25 EPCR season and Pool Draws dates". European Professional Club Rugby. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Qualification". EPCR. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "Pool Tables | Investec Champions Cup". www.epcrugby.com. European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 2 July 2024.