The Champions Cup draw – everything Leinster, Munster and Ulster fans need to know

The Champions Cup draw takes place in Switzerland this afternoon.

Connacht fans will need to tune in here from 1pm to watch the Challenge Cup draw, with the five Champions Cup pools being determined immediately afterwards. The 20 Champions Cup participants are divided into four tiers of five teams. At this point only the champions of the PRO12 (Scarlets), Premiership (Exeter) and Top 14 (Clermont) are in the top tier, with two of the second-placed teams to be selected at random to join the top seeds - meaning two of Munster, Wasps and RC Toulon will be top seeds. Tier 2 will include Leinster Rugby as well as the other third-ranked clubs from the Premiership and Top 14, Saracens and La Rochelle, as well as whichever one of Munster, Wasps and Toulon do not get drawn as top seeds, along with the fourth-ranked club from the same league as the club which was not drawn into Tier 1. It does get a tad confusing! Fifth-ranked Ulster will be in the third tier, along with the two clubs ranked fourth which are not in Tier 2, and Bath Rugby and Montpellier. Tier four will not be altered as it contains the sixth-ranked clubs from each league – Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors and Castres Olympique – along with Italian qualifiers Benetton Rugby and the winner of the Champions Cup play-offs, Northampton Saints. EPCR key dates – 2017/18 season Round 1: 12/13/14/15 October Round 2: 19/20/21/22 October Round 3: 7/8/9/10 December Round 4: 14/15/16/17 December Round 5: 11/12/13/14 January 2018 Round 6: 18/19/20/21 January 2018 Quarter-finals: 29/30/31 March – 1 April 2018 Semi-finals: 20/21/22 April 2018 Bilbao Finals 2018 Challenge Cup final: Friday, 11 May, San Mamés Stadium Champions Cup final: Saturday, 12 May, San Mamés Stadium