Champions Cup: Glasgow Warriors handed rematch with Toulon in Euro draw

Glasgow Warriors have been handed a rematch with Toulon in the group stage of next season’s European Champions Cup.

The French side got the better of Glasgow in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup last month and the two clubs have been drawn together in Pool 3 of the Champions Cup. All clubs will play four matches in the pool phase of the revamped competition which sees the 24 teams split into four groups of six.

Glasgow and three-time Champions Cup winners Toulon are joined by Munster, Bayonne, Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints in a tough looking Pool 3. The Warriors will not play Munster as competition rules state that the clubs who are in the same league will not face each other in the group stage. The competing teams will each have two home and two away games and, after four rounds of fixtures, the top four sides will qualify for the last 16, with the fifth-placed team dropping into the Challenge Cup. Only the sixth-placed team will be eliminated completely from European competition.

Franco Smith, the Glasgow coach, welcomed the draw and the club’s return to the top table of European rugby. “Our return to the Heineken Champions Cup is something that everyone at the club, from players to backroom staff, is really looking forward to in 2023-24,” said Smith. “Toulon and Exeter are two top teams with whom we are more than familiar from recent seasons and who have great European pedigree. Northampton are highly experienced team in European rugby that play a very expansive style, and Bayonne will be looking to show what they can do on their first appearance in the tournament.”

Glasgow qualified for the elite tournament after finishing fourth in the United Rugby Championship last season, winning the Scottish-Italian Shield. Exeter Chiefs, Champions Cup winners in 2020, are old foes who defeated the Warriors 52-17 at Sandy Park in the 2021-22 season. Northampton and Munster are also former European champions, the Saints winning in 2000, and Munster triumphing in 2006 and 2008. Glasgow have never played a competitive match against Bayonne before. The first round of Champions Cup fixtures will take place on the weekend of December 8-9-10.

Champions Cup draw

Pool 1: Saracens, Bristol, Bordeaux, Bulls, Lyon, Connacht.

Pool 2: Toulouse, Racing 92, Ulster, Bath, Harlequins, Cardiff.

Glasgow Warriors lost to Toulon in last season's European Challenge Cup final. (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Pool 3: Munster, Exeter, Northampton, Bayonne, Glasgow, Toulon.

Pool 4: La Rochelle, Leinster, Stormers, Stade Francais, Leicester, Sale.

Champions Cup dates 2023/24

Round 1 – 8/9/10 December 2023

Round 2 – 15/16/17 December 2023

Round 3 – 12/13/14 January 2024

Round 4 – 19/20/21 January 2024

Round of 16 – 5/6/7 April 2024

Quarter-finals – 12/13/14 April 2024

Semi-finals – 3/4/5 May 2024

Champions Cup final – Saturday 25 May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium