Lar wrote:Where can I find the Rules for the seedings?
Is there a chance that if we are beaten next Saturday we would be in Pot 2 even though we are European Champions?
Also is the following not an anomaly (qualification for the Champions Cup as per EPCR website):
EPCR website wrote:In accordance with a decision of the EPCR Board comprising the nine unions, federations and league bodies, the 20th place in the Champions Cup will be determined as follows:
i) Champions Cup winner, if not already qualified
ii) Challenge Cup winner, if not already qualified
iii) Challenge Cup losing finalist, if not already qualified
iv) Play-off match between the losing Challenge Cup semi-finalists, if not already qualified
v) Highest ranked non-qualified club by virtue of league position from the same league as the Champions Cup winner
So if Racing 92 had not qualified for the Champions Cup via the Top 14 this season Gloucester would have got in ahead of them as losing Challenge Cup finalist?
There are four tiers for the draw seeded as such.
Tier 1: Winners of all three league (that's the winner of the final) + 2 of the 3 runners-up*
Tier 2: 1 of the 3 runners-up, all third ranked teams from each league**, plus 1 of the 3 4th ranked teams from each league***
Tier 3: Other 2 4th ranked teams plus the 3 5th ranked teams from each league
Tier 4: 3 6th ranked teams, Winners of Pro14 play-offs, plus 20th team
* this is done by a separate draw on the same day as main draw - this will be the fifth draw in this new format. French teams have ended up in Tier 2 on three occasions with the Pro14 runners-up getting drawn there once.
** teams beaten in the semi-finals (and quarter-finals in Pro14 and Top14) are separated by final league position. So in the Pro14 Glasgow will be ranked third and Munster fourth as Glasgow had more points at the end of the regular season.
*** Whichever league's runner-up is drawn into Tier 2, their fourth seeded team is also drawn in Tier 2. So, if Leinster are in Tier 2 so will Munster be.
At the moment it's looking as follows;
Tier 1: Winners of all three league (that's the winner of the final) + 2 of the 3 runners-up
Tier 2: 1 of the 3 runners-up, Glasgow, Wasps plus French third seeds, plus 1 of Munster, Newcastle or French 4th seeds
Tier 3: Two of Munster, Newcastle and French 4th seeds, Toulouse, Edinburgh, Leicester
Tier 4: Cardiff, Bath, Toulon, Ulster, Gloucester
Teams remaining to be allocated spots
Pro14: Leinster, Scarlets
Aviva: Exeter, Saracens
Top14: Montpellier, Racing 92, Lyon, Castres
When the draw itself is made, each group must be made up of one team from each league from the first three tiers, plus Leinster can't be drawn with Ulster and Scarlets can't be drawn against Cardiff from Tier 4.
e.g. if Leinster are top seed then we must get an English/French from Tier 2 and whichever one we don't get from Tier 2 we get in Tier 3. Essentially means we can't be drawn against Glasgow/Munster/Edinburgh.