Investec Champions Cup Playoff Field Set: Bordeaux, Glasgow Earn Top Seeds
Investec Champions Cup Playoff Field Set: Bordeaux, Glasgow Earn Top Seeds
The 2026 Champions Cup playoff field is set, as Union Bordeaux-Bègles and the Glasgow Warriors earn top seeds, while La Rochelle and Munster exit early.
The roads to Bilbao, Spain, run through Bordeaux and Glasgow, as the 2026 Investec Champions Cup playoff field is set following four rounds of pool play.
Union Bordeaux-Bègles, the defending European champion, went 4-0-0 in Pool 4 and accumulated 20 match points — a bonus point in each contest — to earn the most favorable path to the final on May 23.
Bordeaux dominated the field and took the top spot by beating an impressive Bristol Bears club at Ashton Gate on Jan. 18 in Round 4 to clinch the No. 1 seed.
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The Glasgow Warriors were right on their heels throughout the four rounds.
Powered by a historic 21-point comeback win against preseason Champions Cup favorite Toulouse in Round 2 of Pool 1 play, the Warriors also went 4-0-0 and finished with 20 match points.
Bordeaux claimed the No. 1 seed because of an edge in points difference.
Winning Pool 3 was Leinster Rugby — the standard bearer of this decade in pool play — which will host a Round of 16 match and a possible quarterfinal in April.
The final top seed belongs to Bath Rugby, which survived the most chaotic pool of the competition, Pool 2, and earned home matches for the first two playoff rounds.
Bath, the defending Gallagher PREM Rugby champion, clinched its playoff spot after a Round 4 match against Edinburgh. Bath was the only pool winner that had not qualified for the playoffs entering the final match, a testament to how tough Pool 2 was this season.
The second seeds from the pools — which also will host matches in the Round of 16 — are last year’s runners-up, the Northampton Saints (16 match points), Harlequins (15), Toulon (14) and betting favorite Toulouse (12).
The six-time champions from France went nearly a decade without losing a pool match in this competition, but Toulouse lost twice on the road this season. Thankfully for Toulouse, few teams dominated more at home, and the squad finished with a plus-94 points difference, despite its two losses.
The top eight seeds will host playoff matches in the first two rounds beginning in April.
2025-2026 Investec Champions Cup Round Of 16 Match Schedule
Unofficially, the matchups for the Round of 16 should be:
- No. 1 Bordeaux vs. Leicester
- No. 2 Glasgow vs. Vodacom Bulls
- No. 3 Leinster vs. Edinburgh Rugby
- No. 4 Bath vs. Saracens
- No. 5. Northampton vs. Castres
- No. 6 Harlequins vs. Sale Sharks
- No. 7 Toulon vs. DHL Stormers
- No. 8 Toulouse vs. Bristol Bears
La Rochelle, Munster Rugby Shocking Champions Cup Exits
Some of the most successful clubs of this decade — and of all time — will miss the Champions Cup playoffs in stunning fashion.
Notably, La Rochelle, which won Champions Cup titles in 2022 and 2023, needed to win at home in Round 4 by at least five points to clinch a spot. Instead, the result was a loss to one of the most surprising top seeds in recent years, Harlequins, and finished 1-0-3 in the competition.
The 10-point home loss to the English club, combined with a slog of a Top 14 season, could put pressure on coach Ronan O’Gara.
O’Gara’s former club also faces pressure.
Munster Rugby was one of the favorites to win Pool 2, but after being ambushed in the first 15 minutes against Bath in Round 1, the lads from Ireland’s southern province never found their footing. Back-to-back losses to French clubs to start 2026 continued a difficult two months for the Irish power.
While La Rochelle and Munster will head to the EPCR Challenge Cup playoffs — and likely enter as favorites — some Champions Cup stalwarts failed to qualify for even that competition. Clermont went 0-0-4 and finished with a minus-108 points difference, while Bayonne, Gloucester and the Scarlets also saw their European seasons end.
South African Rugby Clubs In The EPCR Playoffs
While the only South African club hosting a playoff match in April will be the Hollywoodbets Sharks in the EPCR Challenge Cup, all three South African clubs will indeed play in the postseason.
The DHL Stormers — who were rooting for La Rochelle in Round 4 — did not earn a top seed, but they qualified for the playoffs as the No. 3 team in Pool 3.
The Bulls’ Pool 4 finish included a surprise win in France that knocked the No. 2 team in the Top 14, Pau, into the Challenge Cup.
After losing to the Bristol Bears in Pretoria, it was fair to wonder whether the Bulls would rotate their squad against Pau. Instead, the northern South Africa club edged Pau 26-24 in a Champions Cup classic.
The Sharks went 2-0-2 at home and crushed a rotated Clermont side 50-12 to clinch their second Challenge Cup berth. Toulouse’s big win over the Sale Sharks eliminated Sale from Champions Cup contention.
But the Sharks now have the opportunity to win their second Challenge Cup title in three years come April.
EPCR Challenge Cup Playoffs Will Be Loaded
On paper, all four Champions Cup clubs dropping into the Challenge Cup look like favorites in that competition. One of the strongest groups in years now heads to the tournament, featuring the Sharks, Munster, La Rochelle and Pau.
European Union Rugby Lives On FloSports And FloRugby
Rugby fans can stream every match from the Top 14, Gallagher Premiership and United Rugby Championship on FloRugby, along with the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, making the platform the U.S. home for the world’s biggest club competitions and the game’s top players.
How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby
Professional club rugby in Europe all streams on FloRugby and the FloSports app in the United States. FloRugby and FloSports also are the U.S. home to:
- United Rugby Championship
- PREM Rugby
- Top 14
- Investec Champions Cup
- EPCR Challenge Cup
- Currie Cup
- Super Rugby
- And more
FloRugby also is home to match archives and match replays.