La Rochelle will find Leinster in chickens, heavy also for Bordeaux and Lyon, Toulouse, Racing and Toulon are doing better

The confrontations of the new-look Champions are now known. With a draw carried out on Wednesday June 21, the road to the succession of La Rochelle is now drawn. The path looks perilous for this second edition, which will see the integration of South African franchises.

Opposed in the final during the last edition, La Rochelle, double title holder, and Leinster, outgoing double finalist, will cross swords from the group stages, within a strong group. Indeed, this group 4 will bring together, apart from the last two finalists, the Stormers, the Sale Sharks, the Leicester Tigers and finally the French Stadium. As required by the new format, clubs from the same championship cannot compete during this phase. Parisians and Maritimes will therefore not be played at this stage.

For Union Bordeaux-Bègles, the task also promises to be very difficult with a very complicated group. If the Gironde team cannot face Lyon, also placed in this pool 1, it has come across big pieces: Saracens, Bristol Bears, Connacht and South Africans Bulls.

For Stade Toulouse and Racing 92, the draw could hardly have been more lenient. The two French clubs, which will not play each other in this first phase, indeed avoid the Irish headliners, but also South Africans. In this group 2, they will face Ulster, Bath, Harlequins and Cardiff. Teams largely affordable on paper. For Toulon, who will evolve in pool 3 with Bayonne, qualification is also possible. If Munster and Exeter are sacred customers, Glasgow and Northampton are a little less so.