Last updated: August 9, 2026
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Twenty-four clubs contest the competition, drawn from three leagues that each supply eight teams: Premiership Rugby in England, the Top 14 in France, and the United Rugby Championship, which spans Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa. That mix is the whole point of the tournament — it is the only place these sides meet competitively.
The twenty-four are split into four pools of six, with two clubs from each league in every pool. Teams do not play everyone in their pool. Instead each club plays the four sides that are not from its own league, once each, which keeps the pool stage to four rounds and guarantees cross-border fixtures throughout.
The top three in each pool go through to the Round of 16 automatically. The remaining four knockout places go to the four highest-ranked clubs left across all the pools, so a strong third or fourth place in a difficult pool can still be worth more than a comfortable one elsewhere. From the Round of 16 it is straight knockout through quarter-finals and semi-finals to the final.
EPCR tightened the pool stage for 2026/27, and the changes are worth understanding before you read a table. The attacking bonus point is now harder to earn: a side must finish a match at least three tries clear of its opponent, rather than simply reaching a try count. The losing bonus point is unchanged, still awarded for a defeat by seven points or fewer.
The tie-break has changed too. Where clubs finish level on match points, the first separator is now the number of wins rather than points difference, which rewards winning ugly over losing handsomely. Taken together the changes push clubs towards chasing results rather than margins, and they make the four at-large knockout places harder to back into.
There is also a consolation route. The four highest-ranked clubs that miss out on the Champions Cup knockout stage drop into the EPCR Challenge Cup at the Round of 16, so a pool campaign that falls short does not necessarily end a club’ European season.
London’ representation in the competition changes from season to season, because qualification is earned through domestic league position rather than fixed. For 2026/27 the capital’ entrant is Saracens, who play their home European rugby at StoneX Stadium in Hendon.
Saracens were drawn in a demanding pool for 2026/27 alongside Toulouse, the Lions, La Rochelle, Exeter Chiefs and Connacht. Under the four-match pool format that means two home fixtures against clubs from outside the Premiership — exactly the kind of tie that draws a bigger crowd than a routine league weekend, and the main reason London rugby supporters follow this competition closely.
The capital’ other Premiership club, Harlequins, are in the Challenge Cup this season rather than the Champions Cup, so the Stoop hosts second-tier European rugby in 2026/27. Historically, clubs have occasionally moved marquee European ties to a larger ground, and Twickenham has hosted knockout rugby of this kind, though a switch is the exception rather than the routine.
European fixtures are usually easier to get into than a marquee Premiership derby, but harder than a mid-table league weekend, and the gap widens as a club goes deeper into the knockouts. Pool matches against a well-supported French or Irish side sell strongly and bring a substantial away following, which changes the atmosphere considerably from a normal club afternoon.
The pool stage is played in two blocks across the winter, with the knockout rounds running into spring and the final in late May. Because the pool stage is only four matches long, each club gets just two home European fixtures in the group phase, so the dates are worth marking early rather than treating as a routine part of the season ticket.
Club membership schemes generally give access ahead of general sale, and European ties are normally sold separately from domestic league packages. Check the club’ own sales windows rather than assuming a season ticket covers European rugby.
Both of London’ European venues are straightforward on public transport, and both are considerably smaller than the international stadium, so the crowd management is a different proposition entirely. StoneX Stadium sits in Hendon in north London; The Stoop is in Twickenham in the south-west, a short walk from the main stadium it sits beside.
If a tie is moved to the larger ground next door, the logistics change completely and the crowd can multiply several times over. Our Twickenham transport guide and Twickenham seating guide cover that scenario, including which stations take the strain and how the post-match exit is staggered.
The Champions Cup runs alongside the domestic league rather than replacing it, which is what makes the winter months congested for the clubs involved. Premiership Rugby continues throughout, the Premiership Rugby Cup occupies the windows when international rugby takes players away, and the European rounds are slotted into dedicated weekends.
The international calendar overlaps too. The Six Nations falls in the middle of the European season and the Nations Championship takes players away in its own windows, so squad rotation through the pool stage is normal rather than a sign a club is treating the competition lightly. On the women’ side, Premiership Women’s Rugby runs its own season, with Saracens Women and Harlequins Women both competing.
Last updated: August 9, 2026