By about 1:30pm today, you should know your province’s Champions Cup pool stage opponents.
The draw for the 2016/17 European Cup will take place in neutral Switzerland this afternoon and will be followed closely by fans from Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy.
All four Irish provinces have qualified for the Champions Cup, with Guinness PRO12 champions Connacht the only guaranteed top seed.
Leinster may yet make it as a top seed – their name will be in the hat for a completely random, preliminary draw. Two teams, from Leinster, Exeter Chiefs and Toulon, will be top seeds if their names are lucky to be drawn from a hat/ornate glass bowl.
No teams from the same country may be drawn in the same pool and there will be no more than two teams from the same league drawn together. Here are the best draws, in our opinion, each province can get.
Connacht (top seeds)
Pat Lam’s men return to Europe’s elite club competition after a year in the wilderness. A pretty successful year, as it turns out.
Connacht would fancy themselves against Exeter Chiefs [if they are unlucky with the preliminary draw] but would be happy with Glasgow Warriors, especially having turned them over twice in the space of a fortnight.
Scarlets are the handiest of the Tier 3 sides Connacht can get while every team will have their fingers crossed for Zebre. They can’t get both though as they are all in the PRO12. To that end, we’ll go with a Toulouse side that are not as frightening as they used to be.
Best draw: Exeter, Toulouse, Zebre
Worst draw:Â Toulon, Scarlets, Sale Sharks
Leinster (top/second seeds)
First off, Leinster will be hoping to get that top seeding. Â If they do, they would be happy with that ‘best draw’ for Connacht [see above]. The worst draw [also above] applies too.
On the basis that they are unlucky not to be drawn, this is their best and worst case scenario:
Best draw:Â Exeter Chiefs, Toulouse, Zebre
Worst draw:Â Saracens, Scarlets, Sale Sharks
Ulster (third seeds)
Their strong finish to the season got them into a semi-final but was not enough to secure them a better signing. Lumped into Tier 3, Les Kiss’ side will be hoping for Zebre at the very least.
Best draw:Â Racing 92, Exeter Chiefs, Zebre
Worst draw:Â Saracens, Glasgow Warriors, Bordeaux-Begles.
Munster (fourth seeds)
Like it or lump it, Munster are getting screwed either way the balls roll.
They can’t get Zebre but will be hoping to avoid those daunting away days to the likes of Stade Marcel Michelin and Welford Park. They can’t get Connacht either – the Tier 1 side every other European outfit will be targeting.
Best draw:Â Exeter, Glasgow Warriors, Montpellier
Worst draw:Â Saracens, Clermont, Scarlets.
Stay with us over the afternoon to follow all the permutations, fixtures and reactions.
