Glasgow Warriors: Who they could face in Challenge Cup draw

It is not where they want to be, but Glasgow Warriors will at least have the consolation of being among the top seeds when the draw is made in Dublin on Tuesday for the EPCR Challenge Cup.

Zander Fagerson (left) in action for Glasgow Warriors against the Cheetahs in 2019. The South African side have been invited to play in the Challenge Cup. Picture: Ross Parker/SNS

You have to go back to 2006-07 for the last time Glasgow were not involved in the elite Champions Cup. To put it in perspective, it was Edinburgh and the long defunct Border Reivers who pipped them for a place on that occasion.

There is a new format for the Challenge Cup this season, with the 20 competing teams split into two pools of ten.

Eight of the clubs come from the United Rugby Championship, six from France’s Top 14 and five from the English Premiership. They are joined by the Cheetahs, the former Pro14 side from South Africa, who are competing on an invitational basis.

It is the first time South African sides have taken part in the Challenge Cup and the Cheetahs will be joined by compatriots, the Lions, who qualified via the URC.

For the draw, the teams are divided into three tiers based chiefly on last season’s league positions. Glasgow, who finished eighth in the URC, were denied a place in the Champions Cup by the requirement for Wales to be represented in the top competition.

Ospreys finished ninth in the URC but go into the Champions Cup as winners of the Welsh Shield.

As top seeds, Glasgow will face teams from the third tier in the pool section. Clubs from the same league cannot play against one another at this stage so the Warriors will meet two from the following four clubs: Perpignan, Bayonne, Bath, Cheetahs.

They will play the two sides home and away, giving them four pool stage matches to be played over two weekends in December and two in January.

The top six from each pool will qualify for the last 16 where they will be joined by four clubs dropping down from the Champions Cup. The round of 16 will be played on the weekend of March 31-April 1 and 2 and will be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on May 19 next year.

Challenge Cup pool draw tiers

Tier 1: Glasgow Warriors (URC), Scarlets (URC), Toulon (Fra), Pau (Fra), Wasps (Eng), Bristol (Eng)

Tier 2: Connacht (URC), Lions (URC), Benetton (URC), Cardiff (URC), Stade Francais (Fra), Brive (Fra), Worcester (Eng), Newcastle (Eng)

Tier 3: Dragons (URC), Zebre Parma (URC), Perpignan (Fra), Bayonne (Fra), Bath (Eng), Cheetahs