Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the EPCR has changed the competition formula every year. For this edition, the 24 clubs participating in the Champions Cup are, this time, divided into four groups of six. Each club will play four matches against four different opponents who are not from their own league, either at home or away. The four Irish teams are placed in a different group, like the two South African provinces (Stormers and Bulls). Each group has two teams from the Top 14. At the end of the group stage, the four best ranked clubs in each group will qualify for the round of 16, and the clubs which finish in fifth place will be awarded in the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup.
Considered the toughest championship in the world, the Top 14 leads the way in the number of titles gleaned (11), ahead of England (10) and Ireland (7). And France has reigned supreme over the Old Continent for three years. A real takeover – the same as Toulon between 2013 and 2015 – with the coronation of Toulouse in 2021 and the historic double achieved by La Rochelle during the last two editions. The wait is once again very high among the French teams. With in particular a Racing 92, leader of the championship which now counts in its ranks the Englishman Stuart Lancaster, formerly of Leinster and accustomed to the now intercontinental games. The Ile-de-France residents, three unfortunate finalists (2016, 2018, 2020), have never hidden the fact that this competition is a priority objective.
Bayonne, a nice surprise last season, will discover the Champions Cup on the Munster pitch. We have had an easier baptism…. With its promising three-quarter line of “Galactics” (Jalibert, Penaud, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey), will the Bordeaux-Bègles Union reach a milestone? The Girondins had managed to reach the semi-finals in 2021 (defeat against Toulouse, future winner). Finally, Stade Français Paris and Toulon, back at the forefront in the Top 14 after years at the bottom of the wave, will want to regain their former glory in the Champions Cup. “We want to evolve to the next level compared to the best in Europe. We can’t wait to meet these big teams and start this competition, we’ve been waiting for it for a long time,” insists Var winger Gabin Villière.
One question remains: how will the French internationals react in this post-World Cup year? Antoine Dupont, who dreams of participating in the Olympics with the French 7s team, will only return to Toulouse in the event of the final stages. “We have to stop saying that our heads are upside down. The European Cup comes at the right time: we’re changing competition, we’re going to have to change gear. It will give us new objectives,” says international pillar Cyril Baille. Problem is, the post-World Cup seasons are not successful for the French. Only Toulouse, for the first edition in 1996, managed to win the European title after the World Cup in South Africa.
Places of honor. Leinster remains in two lost finals, in epic conditions, against Stade Rochelais. The last, at home, in his Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The Dubliners, who make up the largest contingent of internationals in the Clover XV, will inevitably be revengeful, but their last coronation dates back to 2018, a short eternity. Above all, they will have to digest the departure of their star opener Jonathan Sexton. The task will be arduous and the pressure strong for his appointed successor Ross Byrne, currently injured in his arm. Behind, Munster and Ulster, although they remain formidable, struggle as soon as the final stages begin.
The case of England is even more complicated. Hit by a serious financial crisis which saw the bankruptcy of three clubs (Wasps, London Irish and Worcester), English rugby is at the trough of the wave. Gone are the golden years between 2016 and 2020, with Saracens’ three titles and Exeter’s first. The Premiership now has only ten clubs, the clubs’ cumulative losses over the last six years amount to 340 million euros. Be careful, however, not to bury too quickly the subjects of His Majesty who make the (forced) bet of training, due to a very low salary cap. They were announced to be in the middle of a crisis and they managed to reach the semi-final of the World Cup and shake up the Springboks for a long time.
Last year, the move south began with the integration of three South African provinces into the Champions Cup. And the Pretoria Bulls, the Cape Stormers and the Durban Sharks had managed, for their debut, to reach the round of 16. The Sharks and the Stormers had reached this level but exploded in the quarters against Toulouse (54-20) and Exeter (42-17). Hard learning. Undefeated on their lands, these three provinces had suffered outside their bases, in particular due to the precarious conditions of transfer to Europe. “What is hard for South Africa is that even if we finish at the top of the rankings, we will not be entitled to the semi-finals at home, it will always be in Europe,” lamented Neil Powell, the director of Sharks rugby.
This year, there will only be two southern provinces in the major competition (Bulls and Stormers) and the Springboks present in their ranks will surely want to honor their recent title of World Champions. If several Boks play in France (Kolisi, Nyakana, Reinach) or Japan (Kolbe, Du Toit, De Klerk, Kriel, De Allende), a large battalion is still “at home”. Determined to shine this year in the Champions Cup, after having managed to get their hands on the United Rugby Championship (formerly Celtic League), won in 2022 by the Stormers against the Bulls (18-13).