The 2026–27 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage will be the first of two stages of the 32nd season of the pan-European professional club rugby union competition. It will be the 13th under the European Rugby Champions Cup format. Twenty-four clubs from three major domestic and regional leagues will compete over four rounds of pool fixtures. 16 teams will be progressing to the second and final stage, the knockout stage.
Structure The pool stage draw took place on 1 July 2026, with the complete fixture list later announced on 10 July 2026. The fixtures will be played out across four weekends between 16 October 2026 and 17 January 2027.
Teams will play other teams in the same pool, except the other team from their own league, once either home or away. Each team will host two home games. The top three teams in each pool will progress to the round of 16. The four other round of 16 places will go to the four clubs with the highest number of points across all pools, regardless of which pool they are in. Four clubs that did not qualify for the round of 16 can progress to the knockout stages of the 2025–26 EPCR Challenge Cup. These will be the next four clubs with the highest number of points, also regardless of which pool they are in.
Teams will be awarded points based on match performances; four points for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring three or more tries more than their opposition, and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.
If two or more clubs in the same pool are equal on match points, their ranking will be determined as follows: the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage; or If equal, the number of tries scored in the pool stage; or If equal, the club with the fewest number of players suspended for disciplinary incidents in the pool stage; or If still equal, by drawing lots.
Pool 1
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Pool 2
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Pool 3
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Pool 4
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Notes
References