The draw for next season's Heineken Champions Cup pool stage has been made this afternoon in Lausanne.
Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht were all awaiting news of their opponents in Europe's premier competition for next season.
Munster have been handed a difficult draw in Pool 4's Group of Death, alongside reigning champions Saracens, who lifted their third European crown in Newcastle last month. Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan's Racing 92 and the Ospreys are also alongside them.
Johann Van Graan's Munster were of course beaten by Racing at the last-four stage of the competition in 2018.
Leo Cullen's Leinster were finalists in this competition just last month and are in Pool 1 with Lyon, Northampton Saints (who they beat in the 2011 European decider), and Benetton.
Dan McFarland's Ulster will have to navigate the challenges of French runners-up Clermont Auvergne, and English pair Harlequins and Bath in Pool 3.
Ulster reached the quarter-finals back in March. That was their first visit to the knockout stages since 2014, where they ultimately lost to Leinster in the Aviva Stadium.
Bath are looking to qualify for the Champions Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2015. Their fly-half Freddie Burns’ brother Billy plays for Ulster. They could be set go head-to-head again, as they did previously when Freddie was at Leicester and Billy played for Gloucester.
Connacht qualified for next year's Champions Cup via the Pro 14, and they are set to be in Pool 5 alongside Toulouse, Gloucester and Montpellier.
The other Pool - Pool 2 - sees top seeds Exeter Chiefs with Glasgow Warriors, La Rochelle and Sale Sharks.
The pool stages kick off later this year, due to the Rugby World Cup in Japan, which takes place from September to November.
Retired internationals Bryan Habana and Dimitri Yachvili had the honour of performing the draw at the Theatre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The first round of games is slated for the weekend of 15/16/17 November.
The draw in full is below:
So there we have it 🎬
The Pools for next season's #ChampionsCup are set in stone for all to see 🤩
Initial thoughts on the groups?
The toughest pool is _____ ✍️💬 pic.twitter.com/aO0cGcYenl— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) June 19, 2019
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