Leicester Tigers are in the second set of rankings, and therefore will be drawn in a pool to face one of the Tier 1 sides - Toulon, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne, Munster, Leinster or Ulster.
Reigning champions, Toulon, will be the first club allocated a pool for the 2013/14 Heineken Cup draw at 2.30pm on Wednesday.
Once the Tier 1 clubs have each been allocated a pool, no club from the same tier will be drawn in the same pool, and no pool will have more than one club from the same country with the exception of France, as there are seven French clubs in next season’s tournament.
Racing Metro 92, as the lowest-ranked of the seven French clubs, will be drawn last into a pool with another French club.
The Amlin Challenge Cup clubs will be drawn into five pools and each pool will contain four clubs. Each pool will include one club from each of the four tiers and no two clubs from the same country will be drawn in the same pool with the exceptions of France as there are seven French clubs, and England, as there are six English clubs in next season’s tournament.
The tiers are based on the ERC European rankings system over the past four seasons in the Heineken Cup, the knockout stage of the Amlin Challenge Cup, and also on participation in the pool stage of the Amlin Challenge Cup over the same four-season period.
2013/14 Heineken Cup clubs and tiers
Tier 1 – Leinster Rugby, Toulon, Toulouse, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Ulster Rugby, Munster Rugby
Tier 2 – Northampton Saints, Harlequins, Cardiff Blues, Saracens, Leicester Tigers, Perpignan
Tier 3 – Edinburgh Rugby, Ospreys, Scarlets, Glasgow Warriors, Montpellier, Connacht Rugby
Tier 4 – Gloucester Rugby, Castres Olympique, Racing Metro 92, Exeter Chiefs, Benetton Treviso, Zebre
2013/14 Amlin Challenge Cup clubs and tiers
Tier 1 – Biarritz Olympique PB, Stade Francais Paris, London Wasps, Bath Rugby, Brive
Tier 2 – London Irish, Sale Sharks, Newport Gwent Dragons, England (TBC), Rugby Viadana
Tier 3 – Bayonne, I Cavalieri Prato, Worcester Warriors, Bordeaux-Bègles, Cammi Rugby Calvisano
Tier 4 - Grenoble, Mogliano Rugby, Oyonnax, Bucharest Wolves, Spanish representative
