Leinster will face Saracens and Ulster will take on Toulouse in the Champions Cup quarter-finals on the weekend of September 18th, 19th and 20th, the ECPR has confirmed.
The semi-finals will take place the following weekend – September 25th, 26th and 27th – while the final will be played on Saturday October 17th with the Challenge Cup finale the night before. The quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Challenge Cup will be played on the same weekends as the quarters and semis of the Champions Cup. The organisers say they are still hoping to stage both matches in Marseille as planned but “the situation is under review in light of public gathering and international travel restrictions which might be in place at the time of the finals.”
The statement did not say what number of fans, if any, would be able to attend matches and it would depend on the local restrictions in place in each country at the time of each match.
As previously reported in The Irish Times, the Aviva Stadium could seat 18,500 fans for Leinster's meeting with Saracens and a potential semi-final a week later, if the two metre social distancing rule was reduced to one metre.
The ECPR has also been looking at potential changes to next season’s Champions Cup and Challenge Cup with Thursday’s statement saying that “a 24-club Heineken Champions Cup with eight representatives from each of Europe’s leading league competitions is one of the options under discussion.”
Next season’s tournaments are due to start on the weekend of December 11th, 12th and 13th.
New Champions Cup and Challenge Cup dates
Quarter-finals: weekend of 18/19/20 September
Semi-finals: weekend of 25/26/27 September
Challenge Cup final: Friday, 16 October
Heineken Champions Cup final: Saturday, 17 October
Start of 2020/21 season: weekend of 11/12/13 December
