EDINBURGH have been handed tough draw which lines them up against two French super-powers in the European Champions Cup pool stage next season, while Glasgow Warriors face a slightly easier route to the quarter-finals, although they do have to face the might of English giants Saracens.
“I think we have quite a good group, with an English and French side, along with a Guinness PRO14 team as well. We’ve played Saracens recently and we know how tough that will be, but they are certainly not unbeatable and that will be a good test for us” said Warriors assistant coach Kenny Murray.
“We’ve performed well against Cardiff Blues in recent times and managed to get some good wins against them, but they are a team we have huge respect for.
“Lyon will be a bit of an unknown quantity to us as we’ve not played them in Europe before. They will be an interesting one to preview and with them being a Top 14 semi-finalist they will be a strong side.”
Edinburgh are in Pool 5 against –
Montpellier: who finished at the summit of the French Top 14 table at the end of the last regular season, and are, of course, coached by former Scotland supremo Vern Cotter
Toulon: who were three times (consecutively) European champions between 2013 and 2015, and the club Richard Cockerill coached during the second half of the 2016-17 season before joining Edinburgh
Newcastle Falcons: who finished fourth in the English Aviva Premiership last campaign but have not appeared in the top their of European competition since 2004-5
Glasgow Warriors, meanwhile, are in Pool 3 along with –
Saracens: who defeated Exeter Chiefs in the Grand Final of last season’s Aviva Premiership, and won the Champions Cup in both 2015 and 2016 before falling to eventual winners Leinster at the quarter-final stage last time out
Lyon: who finished fifth in the French Top 14 last season and are making their debut in the top tier of European competition
Cardiff Blues: who are the current European Challenge Cup holders but managed only 11 wins from 21 outings in the Guinness PRO14 last year
The full draw is as follows –
POOL 1: Leinster Rugby, Wasps, Toulouse, Bath Rugby
POOL 2: Castres Olympique, Exeter Chiefs, Munster Rugby, Gloucester Rugby
POOL 3: Saracens, Glasgow Warriors, Lyon, Cardiff Blues
POOL 4: Scarlets, Racing 92, Leicester Tigers, Ulster Rugby
POOL 5: Montpellier, Newcastle Falcons, Edinburgh Rugby, RC Toulon
The European Challenge Cup (which doesn’t involve any Scottish teams) has also been made –
POOL 1: Northampton Saints, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Dragons, Timisoara Saracens
POOL 2: Pau, Ospreys, Worcester Warriors, Stade Francais Paris
POOL 3: Sale Sharks, Connacht Rugby, Bordeaux-Begles, Perpignan
POOL 4: La Rochelle, Zebre Rugby, Bristol Bears, Enisei-STM
POOL 5: Benetton Rugby, Harlequins, Agen, Grenoble
The match schedule for the 2018-19 European season gets under way on the weekend of 12-14th October –
Round 1: 12/13/14 October
Round 2: 19/20/21 October
Round 3: 7/8/9 December
Round 4: 14/15/16 December
Round 5: 11/12/13 January 2019
Round 6: 18/19/20 January 2019
Quarter-finals: 29/30/31 March 2019
Semi-finals: 19/20/21 April 2019
Champions Cup Final: Saturday 11 May 2019, St James’ Park
Internal review must address all the big questions facing Scottish Rugby
