Champions Cup draw: Munster drawn against O'Gara's Racing 92
By Fergus Jayes
Rassie Erasmus' Munster have been drawn against their old mate Ronan O'Gara and his Racing 92 outfit in the Champions Cup 2017/18 group stages. A tough Pool 4 also includes Leicester Tigers and Castres.
The pair clashed in the group stages last year with Munster emerging victorious with an impressive 22-10 victory over the French side in January 2017.
Leo Cullen's Leinster have been given a favourable group in Pool 3 with Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs the tier 1 side in the group.
They also come up against Pro12 rivals Glasgow in a highly anticipated clash and face a fixture against their old enemies Montpellier.
Ulster came into the draw as a Tier 3 team hoping to avoid the prospect of a Group of Death. They emerged with a difficult Pool facing off against formidable Tier 1 side Wasps and Tier 2 side La Rochelle who finished top of their respective leagues.
The Group of Death is Pool 2 with 2017 finalists Clermont Auvergne and Saracens paired together. The Tier 3 and Tier 4 sides arrive as no pushovers in the form of Ospreys and Northampton saints respectively.
Scarlets topped Pool 5 as the top seed as the reigning Pro12 champions as they were paired with Toulon, Bath Rugby and Treviso.
In the Challenge Cup, Connacht are paired in Pool 5 with Brive, Donncha O'Callaghan's Worcester Warriors, Oyonnax
Pool 1:
Wasps,
La Rochelle,
Ulster,
Harlequins.
Pool 2:
ASM Clermont Auvergne,
Saracens,
Ospreys,
Northampton.
Pool 3:
Exeter Chiefs,
Leinster,
Montpellier,
Glasgow.
Pool 4:
Munster,
Racing 92,
Leicester,
Castres.
Pool 5:
Scarlets,
Toulon,
Bath,
Benetton.
EPCR key dates – 2017/18 season
Round 1: 12/13/14/15 October;
Round 2: 19/20/21/22 October;
Round 3: 7/8/9/10 December;
Round 4: 14/15/16/17 December;
Round 5: 11/12/13/14 January 2018;
Round 6: 18/19/20/21 January 2018;
Quarter-finals: 29/30/31 March – 1 April 2018;
Semi-finals: 20/21/22 April 2018
