2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup

Not to be confused with 2025–26 EPCR Challenge Cup.

The 2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the 2025–26 Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the twelfth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for professional clubs. It was the 31st season of the pan-European professional club rugby competition.

2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England France Ireland Scotland South Africa Wales
Tournament format(s)	Modified round-robin and knockout
Date	5 December 2025 – 23 May 2026
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	63
Attendance	1,059,748 (16,821 per match)
Highest attendance	52,327 – Bordeaux Bègles v Leinster 23 May 2026
Lowest attendance	4,965 – Sale Sharks v Glasgow Warriors 5 December 2025
Tries scored	519 (8.24 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Finn Russell (Bath) 81 points
Top try scorer(s)	Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Bègles) 10 tries
Final
Venue	San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao
Attendance	52,327
Champions	Bordeaux Bègles (2nd title)
Runners-up	Leinster

The final was played at San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao.

Bordeaux Bègles entered the competition as defending champions with Northampton Saints entering as beaten finalists. On 3 May the final was confirmed to be between reigning champions Bordeaux Bègles in a second successive final, and Irish province Leinster, reaching a record ninth Champions Cup final, and their fourth such final in five seasons.

In the final, Bordeaux Bègles comfortably emerged as winners over the Irish side 41 - 19, to claim their second title, and condemn Leinster to a record fifth final defeat.

Teams

Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues qualified for the 2025–26 edition of the Champions Cup. As both European trophy winners from the previous season achieved top eight domestic finishes, qualification was won on league standing alone.

The distribution of teams was:

• England: eight clubs
  • The top eight clubs from the 2024–25 Premiership.
• France: eight clubs
  • The top eight clubs from the 2024–25 Top 14.
• Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Wales: eight clubs
  • The top eight sides from the 2024–25 United Rugby Championship.

Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship
England	France	Ireland	Scotland	South Africa	Wales
Bath Bristol Bears Gloucester Harlequins Leicester Tigers Northampton Saints Sale Sharks Saracens	Bayonne Bordeaux Bègles Castres Clermont La Rochelle Pau Toulouse Toulon	Leinster Munster	Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors	Bulls Sharks Stormers	Scarlets

Team details

Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.

Team	Coach(es)/ Director of Rugby	Captain(s)	Stadium	Capacity	Method of qualification
Bath	Johann van Graan	Ben Spencer	Recreation Ground	14,509	Premiership top 8
Bayonne	Grégory Patat	Arthur Iturria	Stade Jean-Dauger	14,370	Top 14 top 8
Bordeaux Bègles	Yannick Bru	Jefferson Poirot	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,694	Top 14 top 8
Bristol Bears	Pat Lam	Fitz Harding	Ashton Gate	27,000	Premiership top 8
Bulls	Johan Ackermann	Ruan Nortjé	Loftus Versfeld	51,762	URC top 8
Castres	Xavier Sadourny	Mathieu Babillot	Stade Pierre-Fabre	12,500	Top 14 top 8
Clermont	Christophe Urios	Baptiste Jauneau	Stade Marcel-Michelin	19,022	Top 14 top 8
Edinburgh	Sean Everitt	Magnus Bradbury	Edinburgh Rugby Stadium	7,800	URC top 8
Glasgow Warriors	Franco Smith	Kyle Steyn	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351	URC top 8
Gloucester	George Skivington	Tomos Williams	Kingsholm Stadium	16,115	Premiership top 8
Harlequins	Jason Gilmore	Alex Dombrandt	Twickenham Stoop	14,800	Premiership top 8
La Rochelle	Ronan O'Gara	Grégory Alldritt	Stade Marcel-Deflandre	18,000	Top 14 top 8
Leicester Tigers	Geoff Parling	Ollie Chessum	Welford Road Stadium	25,849	Premiership top 8
Leinster	Leo Cullen	Caelan Doris	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	55,000	URC top 8
Munster	Clayton McMillan	Tadhg Beirne	Thomond Park, Limerick Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork	25,600 45,000	URC top 8
Northampton Saints	Phil Dowson	George Furbank	Franklin's Gardens	15,200	Premiership top 8
Pau	Sébastien Piqueronies	Lucas Rey	Stade du Hameau	14,999	Top 14 top 8
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Ernst van Rhyn	Salford Community Stadium	12,000	Premiership top 8
Saracens	Mark McCall	Maro Itoje	StoneX Stadium	10,500	Premiership top 8
Scarlets	Dwayne Peel	Josh Macleod	Parc y Scarlets	14,870	URC top 8
Sharks	JP Pietersen (for John Plumtree)	André Esterhuizen	Kings Park Stadium	52,000	URC top 8
Stormers	John Dobson	Salmaan Moerat	Cape Town Stadium Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	55,000 46,000	URC top 8
Toulon	Pierre Mignoni	Charles Ollivon	Stade Mayol	17,500	Top 14 top 8
Toulouse	Ugo Mola	Julien Marchand	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500	Top 14 top 8

Draw

For the purposes of the draw, the 24 clubs were separated into two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2, based on their league finishing position; with the winners of each domestic competition (Bath, Toulouse and Leinster) and the defending Champions Cup winners, Bordeaux Bègles, seeded in the top tier. The remaining twenty teams will be seeded in the second tier.

Like previous seasons, the four pools will be made up of six teams, with each pool containing two clubs from each of leagues; however, clubs from the same URC Shield cannot be in the same pool.

Pool stage

Main article: 2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage

Teams were drawn into pools in Dublin on 2 July 2025. Teams will be awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by fewer than eight points.

Each pool consisted of six teams, two from each of the three contributing leagues. Each team played the four teams not from its own league once with the top four teams advancing to the round of 16, where the top two teams in each group are given home advantage. The fifth placed teams 'dropped' into the Challenge Cup knockout rounds, joining twelve clubs from that competition's pool stages in the knockout stage as the ninth to twelfth seeds, earning away ties with the fifth-to eighth-ranked sides from the Challenge Cup's pool stage. The sixth placed team in each group is eliminated.

Pool 1

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Glasgow Warriors (2)	4	4	0	0	115	66	+49	17	9	4	0	20	Home Champions Cup round of 16
2	Toulouse (8)	4	2	0	2	168	74	+94	24	11	2	2	12
3	Sale Sharks (11)	4	2	0	2	89	127	−38	13	18	2	1	11	Away Champions Cup round of 16
4	Saracens (13)	4	2	0	2	93	70	+23	13	14	1	1	10
5	Sharks (9CC)	4	2	0	2	107	117	−10	16	17	2	0	10	Away Challenge Cup round of 16
6	Clermont	4	0	0	4	57	165	−108	9	25	0	0	0

Source: EPCR
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 2

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Bath (4)	4	3	0	1	180	89	+91	25	10	4	0	16	Home Champions Cup round of 16
2	Toulon (7)	4	3	0	1	123	106	+17	14	13	2	0	14
3	Castres (12)	4	2	0	2	98	106	−8	13	15	2	0	10	Away Champions Cup round of 16
4	Edinburgh (14)	4	2	0	2	69	140	−71	9	18	2	0	10
5	Munster (10CC)	4	1	0	3	99	101	−2	15	13	2	2	8	Away Challenge Cup round of 16
6	Gloucester	4	1	0	3	75	102	−27	8	15	1	1	6

Source: EPCR
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 3

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Leinster (3)	4	4	0	0	115	80	+35	16	10	2	0	18	Home Champions Cup round of 16
2	Harlequins (6)	4	3	0	1	184	86	+98	26	14	3	0	15
3	Stormers (9)	4	3	0	1	117	125	−8	15	19	2	0	14	Away Champions Cup round of 16
4	Leicester Tigers (16)	4	1	0	3	118	115	+3	17	15	2	0	6
5	La Rochelle (11CC)	4	1	0	3	101	114	−13	15	15	1	1	6	Away Challenge Cup round of 16
6	Bayonne	4	0	0	4	58	173	−115	8	24	0	0	0

Source: EPCR
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Pool 4

European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Bordeaux Bègles (1)	4	4	0	0	173	97	+76	27	14	4	0	20	Home Champions Cup round of 16
2	Northampton Saints (5)	4	3	0	1	156	110	+46	23	16	4	0	16
3	Bristol Bears (10)	4	3	0	1	154	104	+50	23	13	2	0	14	Away Champions Cup round of 16
4	Bulls (15)	4	1	0	3	113	181	−68	17	27	3	0	7
5	Pau (12CC)	4	1	0	3	110	160	−50	15	23	1	1	6	Away Challenge Cup round of 16
6	Scarlets	4	0	0	4	103	157	−54	13	24	2	1	3

Source: EPCR
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.

Knockout stage

The knockout stage followed the same format as used in previous years, beginning with a single-leg round of 16. This round was then followed by the quarter-finals and semi-finals, before the tournament concluded with the final at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao on 23 May 2026.

All clubs were ranked in descending order, based firstly on their ranking in their pool, and subsequently on the number of competition points they have accumulated, to create an overall ranking from 1 to 16. The pool winners were ranked 1 to 4, the second-placed clubs were ranked 5 to 8, the third-placed clubs were ranked 9 to 12, and the fourth-placed clubs were ranked 13 to 16.

Whilst the round of 16 followed a pre-determined format, the quarter-finals saw home advantage given to the higher ranked team, based on a pre-determined match-up. As such the teams seeded 1 to 4 were guaranteed home advantage if they reached the quarter-final, and teams seeded 13 to 16 were guaranteed an away fixture if they do so. Whether a team ranked from 5 to 12 would play home or away depended on other results in their section of the bracket.

At the semi-final stage, the higher ranked team had 'home country' advantage, with the match to be played in a suitably-sized stadium in their home union's territory, but not necessarily their own normal home stadium.

Following the pool stages, a record-setting seven English teams made it into the knockout bracket.

Seeding

Seed	Team	Pts	Diff	TF
Pool leaders
1	Bordeaux Bègles	20	+76	27
2	Glasgow Warriors	20	+49	17
3	Leinster	18	+35	16
4	Bath	16	+91	25
Pool runners-up
5	Northampton Saints	16	+46	23
6	Harlequins	15	+98	23
7	Toulon	14	+17	14
8	Toulouse	11	+94	24
Pool third place
9	Bristol Bears	14	+50	21
10	Stormers	14	–8	15
11	Sale Sharks	11	+32	12
12	Castres	10	–8	13
Pool fourth place
13	Saracens	10	+23	13
14	Edinburgh	10	–71	9
15	Bulls	7	–68	17
16	Leicester Tigers	6	+3	17

Bracket

	Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	1	Bordeaux Bègles	64
	16	Leicester Tigers	14
						1	Bordeaux Bègles	30
						8	Toulouse	15
	8	Toulouse	59
	9	Bristol Bears	26
											1	Bordeaux Bègles	38
											4	Bath	26
	4	Bath	31
	13	Saracens	22
						4	Bath	43
						5	Northampton Saints	41
	5	Northampton Saints	49
	12	Castres	41
																1	Bordeaux Bègles	41
																3	Leinster	19
	2	Glasgow Warriors	25
	15	Bulls	21
						2	Glasgow Warriors	19
						7	Toulon	22
	7	Toulon	28
	10	Stormers	27
											3	Leinster	29
											7	Toulon	25
	3	Leinster	49
	14	Edinburgh	31
						3	Leinster	43
						11	Sale Sharks	13
	6	Harlequins	17
	11	Sale Sharks	26

Round of 16

3 April 2026 20:00

Northampton Saints (5)	49–41	(12) Castres
Try: Penalty try 15' Fischetti 23' c Kemeny 42' c Freeman 51' c Furbank 58' c McParland 63' c Dingwall 70' c Con: Belleau (6/6) 24', 43', 51', 59', 64', 71'	Report Highlights	Try: Ambadiang (2) 7' m, 79' c Chabouni 11' c Ardron 52' m Karawalevu 56' c Botitu 67' c Con: Fernandez (1/3) 12' Hervé (3/3) 56', 67', 80' Pen: Fernandez (1/1) 22' Cards: Ambadiang  15' Ducat  18' Ramototabua  69'

cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, Northampton Attendance: 13,595 Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

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4 April 2026 15:00

Bath (4)	31–22	(13) Saracens
Try: Arundell (2) 43' c, 79' m Cokanasiga 49' c Spencer 58' m Lawrence 71' c Con: Russell (3/5) 44', 50', 72' Cards: Pepper  26' Obano  45'	Report Highlights	Try: Bracken 13' c Malins 66' m Caluori 73' c Con: Farrell (1/2) 14' Burke (1/1) 74' Pen: Farrell (1/1) 37' Cards: Wilson  68'

The Rec, Bath Attendance: 14,509 Referee: Ben Connor (Wales) (for Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Notes:

• Match referee Nika Amashukeli was replaced by Ben Connor during half-time, following an injury sustained in the first half.

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4 April 2026 16:00

Toulon (7)	28–27	(10) Stormers
Try: White 8' c Dréan 29' c Ferté 57' c Tuicuvu 65' c Con: Domon (1/1) 9' Albornoz (3/3) 30', 58', 66' Cards: Halagahu  72' Nonu  79'	Report Highlights	Try: A. Smith 23' c Roos 53' c Khan 77' c Con: Matthee (1/1) 24' Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2/2) 54', 77' Pen: Matthee (2/2) 19', 34'

Stade Mayol, Toulon Attendance: 14,171 Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)

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4 April 2026 17:30

Glasgow Warriors (2)	25–21	(15) Bulls
Try: Williamson 17' c Dempsey 33' m Schickerling 56' m McDowall 71' m Con: Lancaster (1/4) 18' Pen: Hastings (1/1) 80'	Report Highlights	Try: Grobbelaar 25' m van Staden 76' c Con: Pollard (0/1) Kriel (1/1) 77' Pen: Pollard (3/3) 12', 31', 39' Cards: Louw  79'

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 7,321 Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

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4 April 2026 18:30

Toulouse (8)	59–26	(9) Bristol Bears
Try: Willis 8' c Mauvaka (2) 13' c, 19' c Gourgues (2) 15' c, 39' c Lebel (2) 34' m, 40' c Thomas (2) 53' c, 58' c Con: Ramos (7/9) 9', 14', 16', 20', 30', 54', 58' Cards: Ntamack  47'	Report Highlights	Try: Harding 4' c Ravouvou 45' m Williams 69' c Heward 74' c Con: Williams (3/4) 5', 69', 75'

Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse Attendance: 31,541 Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

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4 April 2026 20:00

Harlequins (6)	17–26	(11) Sale Sharks
Try: Cunningham-South 48' m Dombrandt (2) 57' c, 67' m Con: Smith (1/3) 58' Cards: Evans  32' Kenningham  54'	Report Highlights	Try: Cowan-Dickie (2) 33' c, 53' c Con: Ford (2/2) 34', 54' Pen: Ford (4/5) 20', 25', 30', 42'

Twickenham Stoop, London Attendance: 7,515 Referee: Luc Ramos (France)

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5 April 2026 16:00

Bordeaux Bègles (1)	64–14	(16) Leicester Tigers
Try: Woki 20' c Rayasi (3) 26' m, 67' c, 75' c Lucu 32' c Bielle-Biarrey 34' c Lamothe 38' c Tameifuna 46' c Retière 71' c Con: Lucu (5/6) 21', 33', 35', 39', 47' Reus (3/3) 68', 72', 76' Pen: Lucu (1/1) 6'	Report Highlights	Try: Perese 43' c Searle 56' c Con: Searle (2/2) 43', 57'

Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Attendance: 32,915 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

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5 April 2026 17:30

Leinster (3)	49–31	(14) Edinburgh
Try: T. O'Brien (2) 1' c, 8' c J. O'Brien 24' c Keenan 36' c van der Flier 55' c Clarkson 62' c Ioane 64' c Con: Byrne (7/7) 2', 9', 25', 37', 56', 63', 65'	Report Highlights	Try: Shiel 15' m Thompson (2) 19' c, 27' c Currie 39' c Graham 51' m Con: Thompson (3/5) 20', 27', 40'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 21,491 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

Quarter-finals

10 April 2026 20:00

Bath (4)	43–41	(5) Northampton Saints
Try: Dunn 9' c Russell 26' c Arundell 33' c van Wyk 39' m Tuipulotu 58' c Hill 76' c Con: Russell (5/6) 10', 27', 34', 58', 77' Pen: Russell (1/1) 67' Cards: Reid  2'	Report Highlights	Try: Pollock 3' c Dingwall 6' c Lockett 16' c Kemeny 22' c Sleightholme 30' c Con: Smith (5/5) 4', 7', 17', 23', 30' Pen: Smith (2/2) 43', 65' Cards: van der Mescht  56' Pollock  72'

The Rec, Bath Attendance: 14,509 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

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11 April 2026 15:00

Glasgow Warriors (2)	19–22	(7) Toulon
Try: McDowall 9' c Smith 22' m Hiddleston 44' c Con: Lancaster (1/2) 10' Hastings (1/1) 46'	Report Highlights	Try: Dréan (2) 13' m, 36' m Gros 28' c Brex 58' m Con: Jaminet (1/4) 29' Cards: Kpoku  20'

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 7,321 Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

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11 April 2026 17:30

Leinster (3)	43–13	(11) Sale Sharks
Try: Sheehan 9' c Keenan 43' m Baird 53' c Ioane 56' c T. O'Brien 62' c Osborne 80' c Con: Byrne (5/6) 10', 54', 57', 63', 80' Pen: Byrne (1/1) 74'	Report Highlights	Try: Wills 68' c Con: Ford (1/1) 69' Pen: Ford (2/2) 34', 46' Cards: D. du Preez  36' McIntyre  43'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 18,839 Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

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12 April 2026 16:00

Bordeaux Bègles (1)	30–15	(8) Toulouse
Try: Lamothe 23' m Jalibert 45' c Tameifuna 57' Retière 74' m Con: Lucu (2/4) 46', 58' Pen: Lucu (2/2) 62', 77'	Report Highlights	Try: Ntamack 25' c Thomas 39' m Con: Ramos (1/2) 26' Pen: Ramos (1/1) 41' Cards: Aldegheri  37' Dupont  56'

Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Attendance: 32,930 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Semi-finals

2 May 2026 15:00

Leinster (3)	29–25	(7) Toulon
Try: Conan 12’ c van der Flier 32’ c Ringrose 43’ m Doris 66’ c Con: Byrne (3/3) 13’, 32’, 67’ Ringrose (0/1) Pen: Byrne (1/3) 48' Cards: Porter  35' Byrne  36'	Report Highlights	Try: Tuicuvu 36' m Serin 69' c Drean 75' c Con: Jaminet (2/3) 70', 76' Pen: Jaminet (2/3) 15', 25' Cards: Baubigny  43'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 38,555 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

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3 May 2026 16:00

Bordeaux Bègles (1)	38–26	(4) Bath
Try: Gazzotti 2' c Bielle-Biarrey 15' c Lucu 35' c Tameifuna 69' c Matiu 77' c Con: Lucu (5/5) 3', 16', 36', 70', 78' Pen: Lucu (1/1) 41'	Report Highlights	Try: Muir (2) 7' c, 27' m Hennessey 51' c Carr-Smith 81' c Con: Russell (3/4) 8', 52', 82' Cards: Ewels  67'

Stade Atlantique, Bordeaux Attendance: 42,105 Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Final

Main article: 2026 European Rugby Champions Cup final

23 May 2026 15:45 CEST (UTC+02)

Bordeaux Bègles (1)	41–19	(3) Leinster
Try: Lucu 13' c Uberti 17' c Bielle-Biarrey (2) 24' c, 35' c Moefana 41' c Con: Lucu (5/5) 14', 18', 25', 36', 42' Pen: Lucu (2/2) 59', 64'	Report	Try: O'Brien 8' c J. McCarthy 45' m Ringrose 71' c Con: Byrne (1/1) 9' Frawley (1/2) 71'

San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao Attendance: 52,327 Referee: Karl Dickson (England)