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European Rugby Champions Cup draw preview

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Leicester Tigers will discover their opponents for the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup when the draw takes place at the Stade de la Maladière in Neuchatel, Switzerland tomorrow (Tuesday, June 10).

The pool draw for the 2014/15 European Rugby Challenge Cup starts at 12.00pm (UK time) and will be followed immediately by the draw for the European Rugby Champions Cup pools.
 
Both draws will be broadcast live by BTsport.com, Sky Sports News, TG4 and Infosport + and will also be streamed live on www.epcrugby.com

Tigers will cover the draw on the club website and on the official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Twenty clubs from the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the Pro12, including two-time European champions Tigers, have booked their places in the 2014/15 European Rugby Champions Cup, and for the first time, the clubs have qualified on merit.

For the purposes of the pool draw, the Aviva Premiership clubs are ranked according to their finishing positions in the League table, so Saracens are top seeds with Northampton Saints ranked number two.

The Top 14 and Pro12 clubs are ranked based on their League performances and on their qualification for the knockout phases of their championships. So reigning European and Top 14 champions, RC Toulon, and Pro12 champions, Leinster Rugby, are also confirmed among the top seeds.

The 20 clubs will be divided into four tiers of five based on their qualification positions from the Leagues. A draw will be conducted in advance to establish Tier 1 with two of the three second-ranked clubs – Northampton Saints, Castres Olympique and Glasgow Warriors – joining Saracens, Toulon and Leinster in the top tier.

Once Tier 1 has been established, the remaining three tiers will fall into place. The draw for the five pools will then be made based on the tiers, and during the draw, some clubs may have to be placed directly into a pool in order to ensure that certain key principles apply (see below). 

In Tier 4, Sale Sharks and London Wasps will be drawn into pools which contain one other Aviva Premiership club, and Toulouse will be drawn into a pool which contains one other Top 14 club.


 
Rank Aviva Premiership Top 14 Pro 12
1 Saracens RC Toulon Leinster Rugby
2 Northampton Saints Castres Olympique Glasgow Warriors
3 Leicester Tigers Montpellier Munster Rugby
4 Harlequins Racing Metro 92 Ulster Rugby
5 Bath Rugby ASM Clermont Auvergne Ospreys
6 Sale Sharks Toulouse Scarlets
7 London Wasps   Benetton Treviso