This year's Champions Cup format has brought yet more confusion for rugby fans as to how exactly the premier European rugby competition will progress into the knockout phases.
Though Ulster and Connacht have dropped to the Challenge Cup, there will be confirmed Irish involvement in the Champions Cup knockout stages, with Leinster and Munster progressing through to the last 16.
The new format this year sees four groups of six teams, with the top four in each pool progressing to the knockout stages. The top two in each pool are guaranteed home advantage in the last 16, and seeding for the round of 16 is sorted by finishing position (i.e., the group winners are seeds 1-4, runners-up 5-8, and so on).
The top two overall seeds are guaranteed home advantage in every subsequent knockout round, should they continue to progress through the competition.
There were still games to play on Sunday afternoon but, with those concluded with Bayonne's victory over Exeter, we now know who will face who in the round of 16.
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Champions Cup last 16: Confirmed fixtures as pool stages conclude
20 January 2024; Joe McCarthy of Leinster evades the tackle of James Cronin of Leicester Tigers during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 4 match between Leicester Tigers and Leinster at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in Leicester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
There were three games still to play on Sunday, which are set to shake up the final seeding for the last 16.
La Rochelle secured third place in Pool D with a bonus-point 37-24 victory over Sale, to leap frog Leicester in the pool table.
Toulouse ensured they will be the top seed for the knockout stages with a 31-19 win against Bath on home soil.
Bayonne unexpectedly whacked Exeter 40-17 in Sunday's final game, ending Exeter's chances of finishing the pool stages as the top-ranked group runner-up.
The unexpectedly decisive manner of La Rochelle's victory in Manchester, coupled with Exeter's heavy defeat in France, means that there are one or two surprises in the confirmed final set of the last 16 fixtures.
The final group of seedings and fixtures is as follows:
Seedings
- Group winners: #1 Toulouse, #2 Leinster, #3 Northampton, #4 Bordeaux
- Runners-up: #5 Harlequins, #6 Bulls, #7 Stormers, #8 Exeter
- Third-place: #9 Bath, #10 La Rochelle, #11 Lyon, #12 Glasgow
- Fourth-place: #13 Saracens, #14 Munster, #15 Leicester, #16 Racing 92
Last-16 fixtures
- Toulouse (#1 seed) v Racing 92 (#16 seed)
- Leinster (#2 seed) v Leicester (#15 seed)
- Northampton (#3 seed) v Munster (#14 seed)
- Bordeaux (#4 seed) v Saracens (#13 seed)
- Harlequins (#5 seed) v Glasgow (#12 seed)
- Bulls (#6 seed) v Lyon (#11 seed)
- Stormers (#7 seed) v La Rochelle (#10 seed)
- Exeter (#8 seed) v Bath (#9 seed)
The Champions Cup last 16 will see both Leinster and Munster reunited with the sides they faced on the final weekend of the pool stages - but with the venues reversed.
Leinster will host Leicester in the first knockout round, having beaten them 27-10 on the road in the final round of pool games. Meanwhile, Munster will be on the road themselves to face Northampton at Welford Road - the side who beat them at a rain-sodden Thomond Park on Saturday night.
Elsewhere, Ronan O'Gara and La Rochelle will also be reunited with an opponent from the pool stages. They will have to travel to South Africa to face the Stormers, who defeated them in dramatic fashion during their first round meeting in Cape Town.
Your Round of 16 fixtures are locked in 😍
Which of these games are you most looking forward to?#InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/6xU8tDtd2y— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 21, 2024
The entire bracket of fixtures running up to the final has also been confirmed - and it sets up a potential rematch between Leinster and La Rochelle in the quarter-finals, should both teams reach the last eight. The two sides have met in both of the previous two Champions Cup finals.
Both teams are also on the same side of the draw as Munster - setting up a potentially mouthwatering last-four clash should Munster reach that stage.
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