The draws for the 2015-2016 Champions Cups and European Challenge Cup will be made in Neuchatel, Switzerland
, at 1.15pm today and be viewed live on epcrugby.com, btsport.com, Sky Sports News and be IN Sports.
The desire by the tournament organisers to pursue a specific meritocracy process based on the finishing positions of the clubs in the three domestic leagues, the Guinness Pro12, the Aviva English Premiership and the French Top 14 that make up the constituents of both tournaments has added a complexity to the draw.
To clarify the process, let's use the Champions Cup as the template. The 20 clubs must first be divided into four tiers and to do that requires a draw, before the five pools of four teams are decided.
Guaranteed to be in tier one are the champions of each of the domestic leagues, Glasgow Warriors (Pro12), Saracens (Premiership) and Stade Francais (Top14).
There will be a draw among the runners-up of the domestic leagues, Munster, Bath and Clermont Auvergne with the first two clubs pulled out, being allocated a place in tier one.
The remaining club will go into tier two, where the Ospreys, Northampton Saints and Toulon await. The final place in tier two will go to one of Ulster, Leicester Tigers or Toulouse.
That will be determined by the nationality of the club that loses out in the three-way draw for tier one. For example, if that proves to be Munster then Ulster would be promoted to tier two, if it’s Bath then the Tigers would be upwardly mobile, while Clermont would bring Toulouse with them.
Cast in stone
Tier three comprises
Leinster
, Racing 92 and Exeter Chiefs plus two from the Ulster/Tigers/Toulouse grouping. The only thing that is cast in stone, so to speak, ahead of the draw is that Wasps, Oyonnax, Scarlets, Benetton Treviso and Bordeaux-Begles will be in tier four.
Even when the four tiers have been sorted out there are a number of further stipulations. Each of the five pools will have at least one club from each of the three domestic leagues, while also containing a club from each of the four tiers.
There will be no more than two clubs from the same domestic league in a pool but none will contain two Pro12 clubs from the same country. Clubs from the same league will be kept apart until after the allocation of the tier four clubs.
In tier four, Wasps will be drawn in a pool that contains one other Premiership club while the same principle applies in relations to French clubs, Oyonnax and Bordeaux-Begles.
Finally when the tiers are completed, the draw for the five pools will be made, during which some clubs may have to be placed directly in a pool to comply with the aforementioned stipulations.
Connacht are one of the tier one teams in the European Challenge Cup, the draw for which will be conducted along similar lines to the Champions Cup.
The specific fixture schedule and television arrangements will be confirmed following negotiations with the participants and the broadcast rights holders at a later date.
The new qualification format has placed a primary focus on the performances of clubs in their domestic leagues and there is no longer any recourse to previous achievements in European rugby.
From an Irish perspective, Munster (beaten finalists) and Ulster (losing semi-finalists) were rewarded for their season long exploits in the Pro12 while Leinster (fifth), suffered on foot of a disappointing campaign.
