2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup

Not to be confused with 2025–26 EPCR Challenge Cup.

2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
France
Ireland
Scotland
South Africa
Wales
Tournament format(s)Modified round-robin and knockout
Date5 December 2025 – 23 May 2026
Tournament statistics
Teams24
Final
VenueSan Mamés Stadium, Bilbao

The 2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the 2025–26 Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) will be the twelfth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for professional clubs. It will be the 31st season of the pan-European professional club rugby competition.

The final will be played at San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao.[1]

Bordeaux Bègles enter the competition as defending champions with Northampton Saints entering as beaten finalists.[2]

Teams

Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues qualified for the 2025–26 edition of the Champions Cup.[3] As both European trophy winners from the previous season achieved top eight domestic finishes, qualification was won on league standing alone.

The distribution of teams was:

Premiership Top 14 United Rugby Championship
England France Ireland Scotland South Africa Wales

Team details

Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.

Team Coach(es)/
Director of Rugby 		Captain(s) Stadium Capacity Method of qualification
Bath Johann van Graan Recreation Ground 14,509 Premiership top 8
Bayonne Grégory Patat Stade Jean-Dauger 14,370 Top 14 top 8
Bordeaux Bègles Yannick Bru Stade Chaban-Delmas 34,694 Top 14 top 8
Bristol Bears Pat Lam Ashton Gate 27,000 Premiership top 8
Bulls Vacant Loftus Versfeld 51,762 URC top 8
Castres Xavier Sadourny Stade Pierre-Fabre 12,500 Top 14 top 8
Clermont Christophe Urios Stade Marcel-Michelin 19,022 Top 14 top 8
Edinburgh Sean Everitt Edinburgh Rugby Stadium 7,800 URC top 8
Glasgow Warriors Franco Smith Scotstoun Stadium 7,351 URC top 8
Gloucester George Skivington Kingsholm Stadium 16,115 Premiership top 8
Harlequins Danny Wilson Twickenham Stoop 14,800 Premiership top 8
La Rochelle Ronan O'Gara Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16,700 Top 14 top 8
Leicester Tigers Geoff Parling Welford Road Stadium 25,849 Premiership top 8
Leinster Leo Cullen Aviva Stadium, Dublin 55,000 URC top 8
Munster Clayton McMillan Thomond Park 25,600 URC top 8
Northampton Saints Phil Dowson Franklin's Gardens 15,200 Premiership top 8
Pau Sébastien Piqueronies Stade du Hameau 14,999 Top 14 top 8
Sale Sharks Alex Sanderson Salford Community Stadium 12,000 Premiership top 8
Saracens Mark McCall StoneX Stadium 10,500 Premiership top 8
Scarlets Dwayne Peel Parc y Scarlets 14,870 URC top 8
Sharks John Plumtree Kings Park Stadium 52,000 URC top 8
Stormers John Dobson Cape Town Stadium 55,000 URC top 8
Toulon Pierre Mignoni Stade Mayol 17,500 Top 14 top 8
Toulouse Ugo Mola Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Top 14 top 8

Draw

For the purposes of the draw, the 24 clubs were separated into two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2, based on their league finishing position; with the winners of each domestic competition (Bath, Toulouse and Leinster) and the defending Champions Cup winners, Bordeaux Bègles, seeded in the top tier. The remaining twenty teams will be seeded in the second tier.

Like previous seasons, the four pools will be made up of six teams, with each pool containing two clubs from each of leagues; however, clubs from the same URC Shield cannot be in the same pool.

Pool stage

Pool 1

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Clermont 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home round of 16.
2 Glasgow Warriors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Sale Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away round of 16.
4 Saracens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Sharks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 Toulouse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[4]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 2

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 2
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Bath 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home round of 16.
2 Castres 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Edinburgh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away round of 16.
4 Gloucester 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Munster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 Toulon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[5]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 3

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 3
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Bayonne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home round of 16.
2 Harlequins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 La Rochelle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away round of 16.
4 Leicester Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Leinster 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 Stormers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[6]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 4

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 4
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1 Bordeaux Bègles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home round of 16.
2 Bristol Bears 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away round of 16.
4 Northampton Saints 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Pau 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Away Challenge Cup round of 16.
6 Scarlets 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: EPCR[7]
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

References

  1. ^ "Champions Cup: Cardiff to host 2025 final before 2026 return to Bilbao". BBC Sport. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  2. ^ Kitson, Robert (24 May 2025). "Northampton heartbreak as Penaud inspires Bordeaux to Champions Cup glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  3. ^ "All the teams qualified for the Investec Champions Cup 2025/26". EPCR. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Pool Tables | Investec Champions Cup". www.epcrugby.com. European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Pool Tables | Investec Champions Cup". www.epcrugby.com. European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Pool Tables | Investec Champions Cup". www.epcrugby.com. European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Pool Tables | Investec Champions Cup". www.epcrugby.com. European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
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