Connacht Rugby and Bristol Bears will meet again next season, having been drawn in the same pool for the 2023/24 Heineken Cup Champions Cup.
Pete Wilkins' side will face Pat Lam's Bears, which next season also includes long-time Connacht favourite Kieran Marmion, who moved to Bristol having failed to nail down a two year contract extension at the Sportsground.
Connacht will also meet two French sides, newcomers Lyon, and Bordeaux, which will be welcome news by the travelling Connacht Clan, while Saracens are the toughest of the English opposition in the cup - the current Gallagher Premiership titleholders.
The 24 Champions Cup clubs qualified on merit from the TOP 14, Gallagher Premiership and BKT United Rugby Championship (URC ).
Connacht have played Bristol and Saracens in the cup previously, losing to both English clubs, while they have played Bordeaux in the Challenge Cup on three occasions, winning all.It will be a new venure for Connacht and the clan to take on Lyon.
Next season’s Champions Cup boasts four pools of six clubs each, each pool containing two clubs from each of the French Top14, English Premiership and United Rugby Championship (URC ). Yet each team will play four pool matches against four different clubs not from the same league, two at home and two away.
Fixtures: Round of 16 – 5/6/7 April 2024; Quarter-finals – 12/13/14 April; 2024 semi-finals – 3/4/5 May 2024; EPCR Challenge Cup final, 24 May 24, 2024; Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; Champions Cup final – May 25, 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
