Toulouse & Loaded 'Group Of Death' | Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 Preview
Toulouse & Loaded 'Group Of Death' | Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 Preview
Pool 1 features Toulouse, Sharks, Clermont, Warriors, Sale, and Saracens in a stacked Champions Cup group. Here’s how each club stacks up in 2025–2026.
Pool 1 of the Investec Champions Cup features the most dominant team in the history of the competition that is seeking its seventh title. It includes the most dominant home side in the game today. It has a South African club with the biggest Springboks stars of the last two World Cups. And it even has the club that produced the teams of the decade in the 2010s.
Yes, the first — but not last — club pool in the 2025-2026 competition is loaded, as Toulouse, Clermont, the Glasgow Warriors, Hollywoodbets Sharks, Sale Sharks and Saracens are hunting for a top-4 finish and advancement into this year’s Round of 16.
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On paper, this pool appears to be a “Group of Death,” and that paper might be as firm as construction paper now that Antoine Dupont — the No. 2 player in the world according to FloRugby and arguably the greatest scrumhalf to ever play — returned for Toulouse eight months after tearing his ACL.
“This is a brutal pool… Actually, I think Pool 1 might be the ‘Pool of Death,’ in my opinion,” said Philip Bendon of FloRugby. “When you say (the teams) out loud, that is such a stacked group.”
Dupont doesn’t make Toulouse the favorite to win it all. The team already was, which shows the strength of the pool.
Bendon believes Toulouse will go 4-0-0 in pool play, which would include a Round 2 match at Glasgow.
If there’s a club that can beat the Warriors — who won the URC title in 2024 and have lost just two home matches in two seasons — perhaps it is the current leaders of the Top 14.
“Against the Warriors, that is going to be a hell of a battle,” Bendon said. “I think Toulouse takes that pool.”
A Glance At Each Investec Champions Cup Club In Pool 1
Toulouse (8-0-3 in Top 14, 1st)
Toulouse is where it usually is — leading the Top 14 and entering the competition with the best odds of any club at FanDuel.
Loaded with a hodgepodge of international stars, Toulouse seeks its seventh club title, its third this decade, and a sixth straight title for a Top 14 club.
Clermont (6-0-5 in Top 14, 8th)
A club that is consistently strong over the years, the team is led by Marcos Kremer (the No. 58-ranked player in the world from Argentina) and is seeking its first major championship since the 2017 Top 14 crown and the 2019 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Hollywoodbets Sharks (1-1-4 in the URC, 14th)
The Sharks are one of the most talented and star-stuffed clubs in all of rugby but, despite the bevy of stars — including Siya Kolisi, Ox Nché and Eben Etzebeth — have just the 2024 EPCR Challenge Cup to show for it.
The Sharks will have the geographical advantage when Saracens in Round 2 and Clermont in Round 4 travel to Durban.
Etzebeth’s availability also is a question after the most-capped Springbok ever was given a red card against Wales in international play for an eye-gouge. He faces a suspension that could be as short as four weeks or as long as four years. (The Springboks beat Wales 73–0).
Glasgow Warriors (4-0-2 in the URC, 5th)
The Warriors won the URC in 2024 and have developed a reputation for dominating teams at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. But in this run led by Sione Tuipulotu (the No. 13-ranked player in the world) and star Huw Jones (No. 56), the Warriors have not found success in the Champions Cup.
They did, however, reach the EPCR Challenge Cup Final in 2023.
Saracens (3-0-3 in Gallagher PREM, 6th)
Saracens has three current, or former, British captains on the team in Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Owen Farrell. But it’s the 19-year-old Noah Caluori who has taken the world by storm — he scored five tries in one PREM match earlier this year.
Sale Sharks (2-0-4 in Gallagher PREM, 7th)
In case fans were wondering, the Shark battle will take place in Round 3 at Salford Community Stadium in Sale, when the English Sharks face the South African Sharks.
While the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ best friends Kolisi and Etzebeth only act like brothers, the Sale Sharks have two sets of twins on their roster — including the Curry brothers, Tom and Ben.
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Investec Champions Cup Pool 1
Round 1
- Friday, Dec. 5 – 3 p.m. ET: Sale Sharks vs. Glasgow Warriors, Salford Community Stadium
- Saturday, Dec. 6 – 8 a.m. ET: Saracens vs. Clermont Auvergne, StoneX Stadium
- Sunday, Dec. 7 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Toulouse vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks, Stade Ernest Wallon
Round 2
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs. Saracens, Hollywoodbets Kings Park
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Clermont Auvergne vs. Sale Sharks, Stade Marcel-Michelin
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 3 p.m. ET: Glasgow Warriors vs. Toulouse, Scotstoun Stadium
Round 3
- Saturday, Jan. 10 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Clermont Auvergne vs. Glasgow Warriors, Stade Marcel-Michelin
- Saturday, Jan. 10 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Sale Sharks vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks, Salford Community Stadium
- Sunday, Jan. 11 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Saracens vs. Toulouse, StoneX Stadium
Round 4
- Saturday, Jan. 17 – 8 a.m. ET: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs. Clermont Auvergne, Hollywoodbets Kings Park
- Saturday, Jan. 17 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Toulouse vs. Sale Sharks, Stade Ernest Wallon
- Sunday, Jan. 18 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Glasgow Warriors vs. Saracens, Scotstoun Stadium
Watch Sale Sharks vs. The Glasgow Warriors Free Stream On FloRugby YouTube
Watch The Saracens vs. Clermont Free Stream On FloRugby YouTube
Watch Toulouse vs. The Hollywoodbets Sharks Free Stream On FloRugby YouTube
Investec Champions Cup Pool 1 Fixtures
Round 1
- Friday, Dec. 5 – 3 p.m. ET: Sale Sharks vs. Glasgow Warriors, Salford Community Stadium
- Saturday, Dec. 6 – 8 a.m. ET: Saracens vs. Clermont Auvergne, StoneX Stadium
- Sunday, Dec. 7 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Toulouse vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks, Stade Ernest Wallon
Round 2
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs. Saracens, Hollywoodbets Kings Park
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Clermont Auvergne vs. Sale Sharks, Stade Marcel-Michelin
- Saturday, Dec. 13 – 3 p.m. ET: Glasgow Warriors vs. Toulouse, Scotstoun Stadium
Round 3
- Saturday, Jan. 10 – 10:15 a.m. ET: Clermont Auvergne vs. Glasgow Warriors, Stade Marcel-Michelin
- Saturday, Jan. 10 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Sale Sharks vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks, Salford Community Stadium
- Sunday, Jan. 11 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Saracens vs. Toulouse, StoneX Stadium
Round 4
- Saturday, Jan. 17 – 8 a.m. ET: Hollywoodbets Sharks vs. Clermont Auvergne, Hollywoodbets Kings Park
- Saturday, Jan. 17 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Toulouse vs. Sale Sharks, Stade Ernest Wallon
- Sunday, Jan. 18 – 12:30 p.m. ET: Glasgow Warriors vs. Saracens, Scotstoun Stadium
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