2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage

The 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage was the first stage of the 27th season of European club rugby union, and the eighth under the European Rugby Champions Cup format. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the end of the 2019–20 tournament, twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues would competed in the Champions Cup in a one-year exceptional basis.

Several round 2 matches between teams from France and the UK were postponed. This was due to new travel restrictions between the UK and France introduced by the French government on 18 December 2021.^[1] This resulted in multiple 0–0 draws and 2 match points given to each team.

Seeding[]

For the purposes of the pool draw, the 24 clubs were separated into tiers based on their league finishing position, and clubs from the same league in the same tier were not drawn into the same pool. The number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league are in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs are in Tier 2, the number 5 and 6 ranked clubs are in Tier 3, and the number 7 and number 8 ranked clubs are in Tier 4.^[2]

Pool play will feature the Tier 1 teams playing the Tier 4 teams in their pool (that are not from the same league) twice in a home and away manner, while the Tier 2 and 3 clubs will follow in a similar manner.

The four teams from each pool with the best points will qualify for the knockout stage. Teams finishing 5th through 8th after pool play will join the Challenge Cup at the round of 16 stage (joining eight qualifiers from the Challenge Cup pool stage) In total, eight weekends of play will be provided for, one less than in previous seasons.

Tier	Rank	Top 14	Premiership	United Rugby Championship (Pro14)
1	1	Toulouse	Harlequins	Leinster
	2	La Rochelle	Exeter Chiefs	Munster
2	3	Racing 92	Bristol Bears	Ulster
	4	Bordeaux Bègles	Sale Sharks	Connacht
3	5	Clermont	Northampton Saints	Scarlets
	6	Stade Français	Leicester Tigers	Ospreys
4	7	Castres	Bath	Cardiff
	8	Montpellier	Wasps	Glasgow Warriors

Pool stage[]

The draw took place on 21 July 2021, at the Lausanne, Switzerland.^[3]

Teams in the same pool play two other teams twice, at home and away, in the group stage that began on the weekend of 11-13 December 2020, and ended prematurely on 18–20 December 2020. The top eight teams in each pool progress to the round of 16, with the teams ranked 9-11 progressing to the 2020–21 European Rugby Challenge Cup round of 16.

Teams are awarded group points based on match performances. Four points are awarded for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.^[4]

In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers are used, as directed by EPCR:

1. Where teams have played each other
   1. The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
   2. If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
   3. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
2. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools)
   1. The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
   2. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
   3. If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
   4. If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.

Key to colours

	Top 8 in each pool, advance to round of 16.
	Teams ranked 9th–11th in each pool advance to 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup round of 16

(Q) denotes the team has qualified for the Champions Cup quarter-finals

(q) denotes the team has qualified for the Challenge Cup quarter-finals

Pool A[]

Pool A Standings [5]
Team v t	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Racing 92	4	4	0	0	126	24	+102	16	3	3	0	19
Ulster	4	4	0	0	114	96	+18	15	9	3	0	19
La Rochelle	4	3	1	0	97	64	+33	11	7	2	0	16
Leinster	4	3	0	1	198	62	+136	30	8	3	0	15
Sale Sharks	4	2	1	1	89	48	+41	13	5	1	1	12
Exeter Chiefs	4	2	0	2	127	82	+45	19	7	3	0	11
Montpellier	4	2	0	2	78	157	–79	9	23	2	0	10
Clermont	4	1	1	2	79	82	–3	8	10	0	2	8
Glasgow Warriors	4	1	0	3	82	117	–35	7	15	0	1	5
Northampton Saints	4	0	0	4	56	124	–68	6	17	0	2	2
Bath	4	0	1	3	48	148	–100	6	22	0	0	2
Ospreys	4	0	0	4	33	123	–90	3	17	0	0	0

Round 1[]

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Round 2[]

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• Montpellier awarded the 5 match points and a 28–0 victory following COVID cases within the Leinster team.^[6]

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• Initially postponed (with the intent to reschedule) due to travel restrictions between UK and France,^[7] but later cancelled with a 0–0 draw verdict and 2 match points to each team.^[8]

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• Initially postponed (with the intent to reschedule) due to travel restrictions between UK and France,^[7] but later cancelled with a 0–0 draw verdict and 2 match points to each team.^[8]

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• Racing 92 awarded the 5 match points and a 28–0 victory following COVID cases within the Ospreys team.^[9]

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Round 3[]

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Round 4[]

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• Racing 92 awarded the 5 match points and a 28–0 victory following COVID cases within the Northampton Saints team.^[10]

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Pool B[]

Pool B Standings [11]
Team v	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leicester Tigers	4	4	0	0	102	64	+38	14	7	3	0	19
Harlequins	4	4	0	0	135	101	+34	18	15	3	0	19
Munster	4	4	0	0	115	47	+68	12	5	2	0	18
Bristol Bears	4	3	1	0	108	38	+70	16	4	3	0	17
Connacht	4	1	0	3	118	104	+14	16	14	3	3	10
Bordeaux	4	1	1	2	58	54	+4	8	7	1	1	8
Toulouse	4	1	1	2	61	65	–4	8	8	1	0	7
Stade Français	4	1	1	2	63	95	–32	7	14	1	0	7
Cardiff	4	1	0	3	85	118	–33	13	16	2	1	7
Wasps	4	1	1	2	51	102	–51	6	13	0	0	6
Castres	4	0	0	4	77	91	–14	9	9	1	4	5
Scarlets	4	0	1	3	31	125	–94	4	19	0	0	2

Round 1[]

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• Due to the Scarlets team having to isolate following trip to South Africa, Scarlets had to forfeit the match on safety grounds, meaning Bristol were awarded 5 match points and a 28–0 victory.^[12]

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Round 2[]

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• Initially postponed (with the intent to reschedule) due to travel restrictions between UK and France,^[7] but later cancelled with a 0–0 draw verdict and 2 match points to each team.^[8]

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• Initially postponed (with the intent to reschedule) due to travel restrictions between UK and France,^[7] but later cancelled with a 0–0 draw verdict and 2 match points to each team.^[8]

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• Initially postponed (with the intent to reschedule) due to travel restrictions between UK and France,^[7] but later cancelled with a 0–0 draw verdict and 2 match points to each team.^[8]

Round 3[]

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Round 4[]

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• Cardiff were awarded the 5 match points and a 28–0 victory following COVID cases within the Toulouse team.^[13]

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• Leicester were awarded the 5 match points and a 28–0 victory following COVID cases within the Bordeaux Bègles team.^[14]

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References[]