The Stormers, Lions and Bulls will lead the South African charge in the Champions Cup, while the Sharks and Cheetahs will feature in the Challenge Cup.
The Stormers will take on double defending champs Bordeaux-Begles, while the Lions will be welcomed to their inaugural Champions Cup campaign by runners-up and French giants Toulouse in the pool stage later this year.
This coming season’s Champions Cup will kick off earlier than in previous seasons, with the first two rounds of pool fixtures to be battled out in October, followed by the next two in December and January.
The Stormers, Lions and Bulls will carry South Africa’s hope in the competition, while the Sharks and Cheetahs will battle it out in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
Brutal debut
For the Lions they are set to receive a brutal welcome to the biggest franchise rugby competition in the world, after they were drawn in pool two along with French sides Toulouse and La Rochelle, English sides Saracens and Exeter Chiefs, and Irish side Connacht.
It will be a massive test for the Johannesburg franchise, who have only played in the Challenge Cup previously, with their best performance seeing them reach the quarter-finals back in the 2022-23 season, so just making it out of the Champions Cup group stage would be a massive achievement for them.
The Stormers will once again come face to face with a double defending champ in the pool stage, as they did against La Rochelle in 2023-24, with them this time up against Bordeaux-Begles after being drawn in pool three along with another French side Racing 92, Irish side Munster, and English Premiership teams Bristol Bears and Gloucester.
In pool four the Bulls will come up against English sides Northampton Saints and Bath, French teams Montpellier and Stade Francais and lone Welsh representatives Cardiff.
Pool one sees no SA teams, but Leinster and Glasgow Warriors represent the URC, Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers the English Premiership and Clermont Auvergne and Pau the French Top 14.
Rule change
In a change to the previous qualification rules, in this season’s Champions Cup the top three teams from each pool will move straight into the round of 16, and they will be joined by the next four best teams on points, regardless of which pool they come from, which could see up to five teams from one pool making it through.
In the EPCR Challenge Cup the Cheetahs find themselves in a competitive pool one alongside Ireland’s Ulster, France’s Perpignan and Bayonne, Italy’s Zebre and Welsh side Dragons.
It will be interesting to see if the Sharks will target another crack at the Challenge Cup title, after they won it in the 2023-24 season. They are in pool two alongside French teams Lyon and Castres, English side Newcastle Red Bulls, Italian outfit Benetton and Scarlets from Wales.
Pool three is essentially the pool of death, headlined by French giants Toulon while a couple of other top teams in England’s Harlequins and Scotland’s Edinburgh are also in it along with Welsh side Ospreys, Georgian team Black Lion and French side Vannes.
