Bordeaux and Saints in same Champions Cup pool
Champions Cup draw
Pool 1: Toulouse, Clermont, Sharks, Saracens, Glasgow Warriors, Sale SharksPool 2: Bath, Toulon, Munster, Castres, Edinburgh, GloucesterPool 3: Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Harlequins, La Rochelle, Bayonne, StormersPool 4: Bordeaux-Begles, Scarlets, Bristol, Pau, Northampton, Bulls
Challenge Cup draw
Pool 1: Ospreys, Connacht, Zebre, Montpellier, US Montauban, Black LionPool 2: Newcastle, Dragons, Benetton, Lions, Lyon, USAPPool 3: Ulster, Cardiff, Exeter Chiefs, Toyota Cheetahs, Racing 92, Stade Francais
Fixtures - Champions & Challenge Cup
Round one: 5-7 December Round two: 12-14 DecemberRound three: 9-11 January Round four: 16-18 JanuaryLast 16: 3-5 April Quarter-finals: 10-12 April 2026Semi-finals: 1-3 May Challenge Cup final: Friday, 22 MayChampions Cup final: Saturday, 23 MayBoth final venues are at San Mames Stadium, Bilbao.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Aston Villa hopeful of completing the signing of Nice forward Evann Guessand - with the Ivory Coast star set to become Unai Emery's first major addition of the window
are working on the signing of Nice forward Evann Guessand and hope to complete a deal this week as they try to add extra competition to their attack. In what would be Villa's first significant move in the market this summer, Guessand would join Unai Emery 's men for about £28m. Villa have been looking for a new forward ever since Jhon Duran departed last January and seem to have settled on Guessand, who has been considered one of the most promising players in French football in recent seasons. He scored 13 goals and had 10 assists in all competitions last season and though he plays mainly through the middle, the 24-year-old can also operate on the flanks. Villa have insisted all summer that Ollie Watkins is not for sale but if they sign Guessand, it will be interesting to see whether clubs who admire Watkins make a serious move for him. Meanwhile, West Ham remain keen to sign Jacob Ramsey from Aston Villa with the midfielder currently keeping his options open over his long-term future. Though Ramsey is well-regarded by Villa boss Unai Emery, his status as a homegrown player means an eventual transfer fee represents pure profit in the club accounts – crucial in the current era of Premier League spending rules. Villa have been willing to listen to offers for Ramsey since the transfer window opened and are thought to value him at about £40million.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ex-Arsenal star reveals he squared up to Thierry Henry and used to get BLACK EYES from his team-mates as he lifts the lid on Gunners' fighting culture under Arsene Wenger
A former Arsenal star has lifted the lid on the aggressive atmosphere in Arsene Wenger 's squad of Invincibles - and revealed how he once squared up to Gunners legend Thierry Henry during a particularly heated clash. The French manager oversaw one of the north London club's finest eras during his 22-year tenure, with Wenger's squads achieving two double-winning seasons and their unmatched, unbeaten season in 2003-2004. In the early 2000s, the squad with replete with players whose names would pass into Arsenal folklore, including Henry and his compatriot Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Martin Keown. But as ex-winger David Bentley revealed on a recent podcast appearance, with the squad's competitive spirit came a fighting attitude that saw players even come to blows with one another after training sessions. Bentley came through the Arsenal academy before linking up with the senior side in 2001. Although the player spent a number of seasons on loan - first at Norwich City, then at Blackburn Rovers - his entry into the first-team dressing room was a baptism of fire, with the then-teenager thrust into a heated atmosphere at the club's Colney training ground. 'You talk about personalities. No chance,' Bentley told Undr The Cosh podcast. 'You've got Ray Parlour - loves it, lunatic, beautiful man. 'Then you've got Martin Keown, Dennis Bergkamp's an animal - he'd kick the c*** out of everyone. 'Giovanni van Bronckhorst - I used to come up against him and I'd come away with black eyes and bloodied eyes, he used to elbow the life out of me. 'Fights. Pascal Cygan against Kolo Toure was the best fight I've ever seen on the training ground. Two animals going at each other. To try to break them up we needed the whole team. Vieira stamping on me.' But Bentley was quick to admit a moment of his own hot-bloodedness, when going toe-to-toe with France superstar Thierry Henry. The pair were playing against one another in a highly competitive seven-a-side training game organised by Wenger, and Bentley described how, during a heated exchange, he saw red with Henry. 'I squared up to Thierry Henry, ripped off my gloves, (said) "Come on, let's have it." What they did - Wenger, (assistant manager) Pat Rice and the coaching staff - was put on seven-a-sides everyday. 'The dressing room was more concerned about winning the seven-aside tournaments than the game on Saturday. It was hell for leather and it was just slide tackles and fighting. Especially in the last game, that's where I squared up to Thierry, bless him. I would have got a good hiding as well!' Bentley also reminisced about a close encounter with Keown, after he ribbed the star over his age. 'Worst thing I could have done,' Bentley added. #The ball then came in, and I was shielding it, he grabbed me by the neck and threw me from behind. 'My shirt was ripped, and I'm going "Gaffer! Pat!" and they'd say, "get on with it!" Bentley was adamant that the high-intensity atmosphere was critical to Arsenal's unbeaten success - and over 20 years later, current manager Mikel Arteta has appeared keen to create his own unique culture within his title-chasing squad. The current Gunners manager has raised eyebrows with his unusual coaching methods, which have included playing You'll Never Walk Alone in training sessions ahead of facing Liverpool, and hiring sleight-of-hand illusionists to pick his players' pockets at a team dinner to teach them the lesson of alertness.
The Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Sun
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on brink of Besiktas transfer exit with Leeds among possible destinations for ex-England star
ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN looks set to finally get his move away from Besiktas. The former England midfielder has been locked in talks with the Turkish club over becoming a free agent for the last month. 3 3 And finally, it looks as though Oxlade-Chamberlain, 31, who has still been training with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team in Istanbul, could be able to leave in the next few days. He left Liverpool in 2023 and the contract with Besiktas was due to run until 2026. But he has struggled with form and fitness. Oxlade-Chamberlain managed just five goals and one assist in 50 appearances with Besiktas. And the former Arenal and Southampton man is now hoping to get a return to the Premier League. Leeds is one possible destination for the midfielder, who has been blighted by injury over the years. Sources told SunSport Oxlade-Chamberlain fell out of favour in the eyes of former Manchester United hitman and manager Solskjaer ahead of the coming season. The same sources claim Besiktas initially wanted to pay the midfielder's severance package in instalments. 3 Oxlade-Chamberlain, however, refused to accept the proposed terms. That refusal paved the way for a crunch meeting between the Ox and Besikitas chiefs. And it's ultimately resulted in the club deciding to pay his exit fee in full.
