It might be an entire World Cup away, but attention will briefly turn back to the Champions Cup next week.
The draw for the pool stages is taking place in Switzerland next Wednesday but there has been some confusion surrounding who will be seeded where.
There is some good news for Munster fans though, as they have a 2 in 3 chance of being a top seed. However, since three-time champions Toulon were upset in the Top 14 semi-final, they will be in pot two since the tournament is seeded based on league form.
The three league winners will all be placed in pot one, while two of of the league runner ups – Munster, Bath or Clermont/Stade Francais – will join them.
Pot two will be made up of the second place team who misses out on pot one, the three third ranked teams in each league (Ospreys, Northampton and Toulon ) and one of the fourth ranked teams (Leicester, Ulster and Toulouse).
Pot three will be made up of the two remaining fourth ranked teams and the three fifth ranked teams (Leinster, Exeter and Racing Metro).
Pot 4 will be the three sixth ranked teams (Oyonnax, Wasps and Scarlets), playoff winner Bordeaux Begles and Treviso.
It sounds complicated but this would be the best case scenario for the Irish provinces:
Pot one: Glasgow, Saracens, Clermont, Munster and Bath.
Pot two: Stade Francais, Toulon, Northampton, Ospreys and Ulster.
Pot three: Toulouse, Leicester, Leinster, Exeter and Racing Metro.
Pot four: Oyonnax, Wasps, Scarlets, Treviso and Bordeaux Begles.
Leinster and Ulster could potentially draw Toulon AND Clermont, which would be disastrous for either province but we’ll have to wait ’til next week to see how everything shakes out.
