LEINSTER AND MUNSTER will both have home advantage in their respective Heineken Champions Cup last 16 matches.
European Professional Club Rugby confirmed the revised format for the knockout stages of the 2020/21 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup which are set to resume on 2/3/4 April.
As expected, the top eight teams from Pool A and the top eight teams from Pool B –which includes both Leinster and Munster — will compete for the Champions Cup while the remaining eight teams, including Ulster and Connacht, will go into the Challenge Cup.
The draws for the last 16 and for the quarter-finals in both competitions will take place on Tuesday 9 March, with the fixtures decided by an open draw rather than by virtue of pool seeding.
Clubs from the same league cannot be drawn against one another in the last 16, while clubs from the same pool can be drawn against one another. In the Challenge Cup, the eight teams who qualified by virtue of their performance in Challenge Cup pool stages and the eight teams from the Champions Cup can be drawn against one another.
The EPCR have also confirmed that any teams which won both of their pool matches on the field of play will be guaranteed a home tie in the last 16.
As a result, Leinster, Munster, Racing 92, Wasps and Bordeaux-Bègles will all play at home in the Champions Cup last 16, while London Irish, Ospreys and Leicester Tigers will play at home in the Challenge Cup last 16.
Champions Cup
Racing 92, Leinster Rugby, Wasps, Bordeaux-Bègles, Munster Rugby, Lyon, Toulouse, La Rochelle, Scarlets, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs, Edinburgh Rugby, Gloucester Rugby, RC Toulon, Sale Sharks
Racing 92, Leinster, Wasps, Bordeaux-Bègles and Munster are guaranteed home matches in the Round of 16.
Challenge Cup
London Irish, Ospreys, Leicester Tigers, Cardiff Blues, Zebre Rugby Club, Agen, Benetton Rugby, Newcastle Falcons, Ulster Rugby, Connacht Rugby, Northampton Saints, Bath Rugby, Montpellier, Dragons, Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors
London Irish, Ospreys and Leicester Tigers are guaranteed home matches in the Round of 16.
Originally published at 14.56
Subscribe to The42 Rugby Weekly podcast here:
