Champions Cup: Fixtures, kick-off times, TV details and format
The Champions Cup gets underway this weekend. Leinster, Munster and Connacht are playing in it. The competition is already impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The winter derby matches will follow the opening two rounds of European action.
The 2021-22 Champions Cup starts on the opening weekend of the 2021/22 season.
The first round of Champions Cup fixtures will be played on Friday December 10th, 11th and 12th.
BT Sport will show all of the Champions Cup's fixtures live. Virgin Media and Channel 4 will broadcast one game every weekend. BT Sport and BT Sports Live will also be running liveblogs. Leinster's clash with Bath starts at 2.30pm on Saturday.
The 2020-21 tournament was disrupted by Covid-19. A new format was introduced and it has been retained this season. There are 24 teams divided into two pools of 12. The highest-ranked teams in each pool progress to a two-legged last-16, followed by quarter-finals, semis and the final.
The fixtures for the Champions Cup are: All games live on BT Sport.
Bristol Bears beat Scarlets 28-0 on Tuesday December 7th. Northampton Saints play Racing 92 on Friday December 10th at Franklin’s Gardens at 8pm. Cardiff Blues play Toulouse on Saturday December 11th, 1pm (Virgin Media/Channel 4). Bordeaux-Begles play Leicester Tigers, Stade Chaban-Delmas, 3.15pm, Leinster play Bath, Aviva Stadium, 5.30pm and Clermont play Ulster. Exeter Chiefs play Montpellier, Sandy Park, 8 pm. Ospreys play Sale Sharks, Liberty Stadium at 1 pm on Sunday December 12th and Wasps play Munster.
Montpellier, Leinster, Ulster, Northampton Saints and Harlequins are playing in the Champions Cup round two on Friday December 17th. Bath play La Rochelle, The Rec, at 1pm, Sale Sharks play Clermont, AJ Bell Stadium, 3.15pm. Racing 92 play Ospreys, La Defense Arena, 5.30pm and Glasgow Warriors play Exeter Chiefs. Munster play Castres, Thomond Park, 8pm on Sunday December 19th, Leicester Tigers play Connacht. Toulouse play Wasps, Stade Ernest Wallon, and St.ade Francais play Bristol Bears.
Cardiff play Harlequins on Friday January 14th at Cardiff Arms Park at 8pm. Wasps play Toulouse at Ricoh Arena on Saturday January 15th. Ospreys play Racing 92 at Liberty Stadium at 3.15pm, Connacht play Leicester at The Sportsground at 5.30pm and La Rochelle play Bath at Stade Marcel Deflandre at 7pm on Sunday January 16th, Leinster play Montpellier at RDS Arena at 1pm (Virgin Media/Channel 4). Bordeaux play Scarlets at the St. Chaban-Delmas at 4.45pm while Sale Sharks play Clermont at Marcel-Michelin at 6.00pm that evening.
Harlequins play Castres at Twickenham Stoop on Friday, January 21st at 8pm. Bath play Leinster at The Rec on Saturday, 1pm (Virgin Media/Channel 4). Toulouse play Cardiff Blues at Stade Ernest Wallon at 1 pm. Leicester play Bordeaux-Begles at Welford Road at 3.15 pm, Ulster play Clermont at Kingspan Stadium at 5.30 pm and Scarlets play Bristol Bears at Parc y Scarlet at 6. 30 pm on Sunday.
The United Rugby Championship is affected by a virus outbreak. The discovery of the Omicron variant in South Africa left Munster stranded. Cardiff and the Scarlets were also affected. Scarlet's match against Bristol was cancelled.
Munster are playing Wasps in the Champions Cup on Sunday. They have to register 22 new players this week as 14 of their travelling party tested positive for coronavirus. Peter O'Mahony is impressed with the development of some of the players.
There are still tickets for Leinster's clash with Bath available here. There are also tickets available for Connacht's opener against Stade Francais here, and full attendances allowed in both England and France. Travelling fans from Ireland do not need a test to enter either if they are fully vaccinated.
Toulouse won last year's tournament after a 22-17 win over Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle at Twickenham. Leinster received a bye into the quarter-finals after Toulon were hit by a Covid outbreak.
The Champions Cup final will be held at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome in May.
