In just over a week, the very best European and South African rugby union clubs will get their Champions Cup and Challenge Cup campaigns underway. European rugby’s top honours are always hotly contested: only the 24 top-ranked sides from across the Gallagher Premiership, Top 14, and United Rugby Championship (URC) during the previous season qualify for the Champions Cup, and the 18 teams directly below them qualify for the Challenge Cup, meaning both competitions are packed with famous sides boasting talented squads.
- Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Format
- Champions Cup Pool Stage: Round 1
- Challenge Cup Pool Stage: Round 1
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Format
Both tournaments begin with a pool stage which is played across 4 rounds. Following the pool stage, both competitions move to a knock-out stage, where the teams that advance from the pools compete in head-to-head matches, until only 2 teams are left. These 2 teams then contest the final of their respective competition. The Champions Cup final will be held on 25 May 2024, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a day after the Challenge Cup final, which will be held at the same venue.
Fans shouldn’t get carried away though; reaching a European final is no easy task, and many strong and skilful clubs will be knocked-out before May comes around. Instead of trying to predict who’ll go all the way in 2024, then, we’ll instead take a look at the opening round of fixtures.
Champions Cup Pool Stage: Round 1
The Champions Cup pool stage will commence on the weekend of 9 December and will finish on the weekend of 20 January. Among the most high-profile ties is Glasgow Warriors versus Northampton Saints, which will be played on 8 December. The Saints have started the Premiership season well, and currently sit in sixth place, but it is the Scottish side which has really caught the eye this season: at time of writing the Warriors are top of the URC table, 1 point above Leinster. Adult ticket prices for this clash start at GBP £24.
Another headline fixture is Bulls versus Saracens. The South African URC side will host the reigning Premiership champions on 9 December, and whilst Sarries will go into the match as one of the Premiership pace-setters this season, winning away in South Africa is no easy task. Other notable match-ups include Toulon versus Exeter Chiefs (9 December), Bath versus Ulster (9 December), and Sale Sharks versus Stade Français (10 December). Match tickets are on general sale for all 3 latter fixtures.
Challenge Cup Pool Stage: Round 1
Like the Champions Cup pool stage, the Challenge Cup pool stage will also commence on the weekend of 9 December and will also finish on the weekend of 20 January. One of the first fixtures to be played across the weekend will be Black Lion versus Gloucester, on 9 December. Black Lion may not be a famous rugby institution, but the Georgian invitational team is sure to entertain during its first season in the competition, and a home tie in Tbilisi against a struggling Gloucester side could provide a debut win. Ticket prices start from GEL ₾5 (GBP £2).
Elsewhere, this season’s surprise package Benetton will travel to Wales on 9 December to take on URC rivals Ospreys, and Top 14 side Clermont will host Edinburgh, who currently sit in fifth place in the URC table; tickets are on general sale for both matches.
For more information on the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, including a full fixture list and ticket prices, click the links below: