If it Paris, we'll need to find a new base.

www.facebook.com/164846966881952/posts/5...56518770942/?app=fbl

Not sure there's more I need to see of Brive, nice enough place and craic was good last time but sorta peaked at Bar Basque...

Yeah Newcastle, yeah but nah because you know it'll be depths of winter and at my age hypothermia is now a real risk...

They say that the distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success and your ravings are usually spot on.

So my absinthe-fuelled ravings were almost right, but we do get the excitement of a draw.
Pity they're all opponents we've played fairly recently. I'd still prefer Brive and Newcastle for the away trips. Not really much in it in terms of beatability.

www.epcrugby.com/2022/06/13/2022-23-epcr...ualifiers-confirmed/

Draw on Tuesday June 28.

The clubs will be divided into two pools of 10 – Pool A and Pool B – and in a similar format to the Heineken Champions Cup, the tournament will be played over eight weekends with four rounds of matches in the pool stage starting in December.

The six highest-ranked clubs from each pool, as well as the 9th and 10th ranked clubs from each of the Heineken Champions Cup pools, will qualify for a Round of 16, which will be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final at the Aviva Stadium on 19 May 2023.

The number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league will be in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs from each league, as well as the number 5 and number 6 ranked clubs from the URC, will be in Tier 2. The Dragons, Zebre Parma, Aviron Bayonnais, USAP, Bath Rugby and the Cheetahs will be in Tier 3.

The Tier 1 and the Tier 3 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league, will play one another home and away over four pool stage rounds.

The Tier 2 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not from the same league, will play one another home and away during the pool stage. In order to adhere to the key principle of no same-league matches, Tier 2 clubs from the TOP 14 can only play against opposition from the URC, and similarly, Tier 2 clubs from the Premiership can also only play against opposition from the URC.

2022/23 EPCR CHALLENGE CUP QUALIFIERS
United Rugby Championship: 1 Glasgow Warriors, 2 Scarlets, 3 Connacht Rugby, 4 Lions, 5 Benetton Rugby, 6 Cardiff Rugby, 7 Dragons, 8 Zebre Parma
TOP 14: 1 RC Toulon, 2 Section Paloise, 3 Stade Français Paris, 4 CA Brive, 5 Aviron Bayonnais, 6 USAP
Gallagher Premiership: 1 Wasps, 2 Bristol Bears, 3 Worcester Warriors, 4 Newcastle Falcons, 5 Bath Rugby
Invited: Cheetahs

So Connacht will be in Tier 2 and play Stade/Brive and Worcester/Newcastle.

Perpignan hold on to their Top 14 spot in the play-off so will be the final ball in the hat.

OK we are probably going to play Brive and Newcastle I have now decided ...

A guide to potential opponents in action this weekend: rugby.connacht.pink/?p=100

neill_m wrote: Cheetahs also invited to play in the Challenge Cup

Ah so my prediction was correct
The key to predicting things accurately is to make about forty contradictory predictions ...

Official confirmation on the EPCR website that the 4 South African sides in the URC will compete in the Heineken and Challenge Cups next season. Cheetahs also invited to play in the Challenge Cup, solving the 20th team problem. Formats and draw to be confirmed/held later in June.

With Challenge Cup with 20 sides, I would expect a similar set up to the Heineken Cup with 2 pools x 10 etc.

I'm kinda hoping that they drop the idea of Heineken Cup teams getting into the knockout stage. It's beyond ridiculous that Castres and Northampton got through with four defeats. It may have just been a pandemic rule to compensate teams that lost out due to cancellations.
But not sure what the alternative is - maybe two legged quarter finals ...

pinky wrote: It would make for a straightforward format alright. I was thinking two pools of 8, each with two tiers of 4 (1 Eng 1 Fra 2 URC) and each URC team plays the two non-URC teams in the other tier of its pool and vice versa.
But also, the guy on wikipedia may very well have just copied last year's article, deleted the bits he wasn't sure about and then added up the sums again!
I think the format was confirmed very late last season if I recall.

2 pools x 8 also works with top 5 in each progressing + 9th-11th in each Heineken Cup pool making up Round of 16.

It would make for a straightforward format alright. I was thinking two pools of 8, each with two tiers of 4 (1 Eng 1 Fra 2 URC) and each URC team plays the two non-URC teams in the other tier of its pool and vice versa.
But also, the guy on wikipedia may very well have just copied last year's article, deleted the bits he wasn't sure about and then added up the sums again!
I think the format was confirmed very late last season if I recall.

pinky wrote: Well Lyon are through to the Champions Cup so the last French spot pretty much goes to a shootout between Toulon and Clermont.
Toulon are two ahead but they have to go to Racing whereas Clermont are at home to Montpellier. Bookies have Clermont and Racing as favourites but Clermont would need both of the results to go their way so Toulon still have the edge.
Meanwhile someone has added a wikipedia page for next season's Challenge Cup confidently predicting only four teams each from England and France. He doesn't cite any sources but it's from someone who edits a lot of rugby stuff so might be something to it (or could be nonsense). The idea of newly promoted teams not playing in Europe was floated before so not completely ridiculous.
If that were to happen Connacht would play 11th or 12th in each league, so the lesser of Pau/Stade Francais or the better of Brive/Perpignan and either Newcastle or the winner of Worcester v Bath.

Interesting a 16 team format would sort out the issue. Connacht were 3rd best behind Glasgow/Munster and Scarlets, So in theory would be Tier 2 (assuming a similar structure to Heineken Cup of one pool of 16) with top 10 progressing to Round of 16. IF Connacht were Tier 2 and the other two leagues put in 4 sides, then they would face 11th in Premiership and Top 14, that would be currently Newcastle, but could change to Bath or Worcester depending on Saturday. In Top 14th, Stade are currently 11th on same points as Pau in 10th. Brive in 12th can't catch Stade.

All of the above is based on assumptions mind!

Well Lyon are through to the Champions Cup so the last French spot pretty much goes to a shootout between Toulon and Clermont.
Toulon are two ahead but they have to go to Racing whereas Clermont are at home to Montpellier. Bookies have Clermont and Racing as favourites but Clermont would need both of the results to go their way so Toulon still have the edge.
Meanwhile someone has added a wikipedia page for next season's Challenge Cup confidently predicting only four teams each from England and France. He doesn't cite any sources but it's from someone who edits a lot of rugby stuff so might be something to it (or could be nonsense). The idea of newly promoted teams not playing in Europe was floated before so not completely ridiculous.
If that were to happen Connacht would play 11th or 12th in each league, so the lesser of Pau/Stade Francais or the better of Brive/Perpignan and either Newcastle or the winner of Worcester v Bath.

And just as I predict a Romanian team in the Challenge Cup, the Wolves join the Super Cup ... www.rugbyeurope.eu/news/romanian-wolves-...by-europe-super-cup/
You'd wonder where team 20 will come from, if there even is one. A prime number seems unlikely. Cheetahs? The winner of tomorrows Súper Liga Americana final? A trip to Mondevideo would be a bit of craic.
Maybe one team sits it out for an 18 team comp. I'm sure you'd get some volunteers from the Top 14 to have a winter break.