This is from Bath Rugby Club:
21 June 2023
The club has had confirmation of the teams it is set to face in the Champions Cup pool stages in 2023/24.
The Blue, Black and White finished eighth in the Gallagher Premiership, securing their place in the Champions Cup in their last game of the season against Saracens.
Taking place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the home of next year’s final, Sarra Elgan and Vincent Pochulu announced Bath Rugby’s fate for their European campaign.
Being drawn in Pool 2, Bath Rugby will take on two French teams in the form of Top14 Champions, Stade Toulousain, along with Racing 92 and the URC’s Cardiff Rugby and Ulster Rugby.
Bath Rugby have also drawn Harlequins, however under the Champions Cup’s new format, teams within the same league drawn into the same pool will not play each other.
Within the new format, the Champions Cup sees four pools of six teams, totalling 24 teams. The teams are split into two tiers; the four winning teams from the 2022/23 leagues (Munster, La Rochelle, Stade Toulousain and Saracens) make up Tier 1, with the remaining 20 qualifying teams placed into Tier 2.
In a club first, the Blue, Black and White will take on Racing 92 who finished fifth in the Top14, giving new signing Finn Russell the chance to front up against his former French side.
Recent Top14 winners, Stade Toulousain, may also get the chance to visit The Rec, giving Bath a shot at redemption after a narrow 20-22 defeat the last time the French champions were in town in 2018.
Cardiff Rugby, who picked up the Welsh Shield for 2022/23, were handed a 38-3 hammering in 2016 and will look for retaliation come the pool stages.
Northern Ireland-based outfit Ulster Rugby, who were knocked out in this year’s URC 2022/23 quarter finals, complete Bath Rugby’s Pool fixtures for 2023/24.
2023/24 KEY DATES
Round 1 – 8/9/10 December 2023
Round 2 – 15/16/17 December 2023
Round 3 – 12/13/14 January 2024
Round 4 – 19/20/21 January 2024
Round of 16 – 5/6/7 April 2024
Quarter-finals – 12/13/14 April 2024
Semi-finals – 3/4/5 May 2024
Final – Saturday 25 May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Confirmation of who and where Bath Rugby will play in each round is yet to be announced.