If they can beat Stade, who conquered the Ospreys in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup at the Principality Stadium last month, then the Blues will have to travel away to the winners of the other play-off game to try to secure their return to the top flight of European club rugby after a three season absence. If they can go all the way then they will join the Scarlets and Ospreys in the Champions Cup next season after they both qualified by finishing in the top six places in the PRO12.
Following the final round of matches in the Aviva Premiership, Guinness PRO12 and TOP 14 regular seasons at the weekend, EPCR can confirm that the following 19 clubs have qualified for the 2017/18 Champions Cup.
PRO12 – Munster, Leinster, Scarlets, Ospreys, Ulster Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Benetton Rugby
TOP 14 – La Rochelle, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Montpellier, RC Toulon, Castres Olympique, Racing 92
The 20th place for next season’s tournament will be decided by a series of play-off matches. If Gloucester Rugby win Friday evening’s Challenge Cup final at BT Murrayfield, they will take the place of Northampton Saints – the seventh-ranked club from the Aviva Premiership – in Play-Off 1.
Play-Off 1: Northampton Saints (Aviva Premiership seventh-ranked club) or Gloucester Rugby v Connacht Rugby (PRO12 ninth-ranked club)
Play-Off 2: Stade Français Paris (TOP 14 seventh-ranked club) v Cardiff Blues (PRO12 eighth-ranked club)
The Premiership and TOP 14 clubs will have home advantage
Play-Off Final – 26/27/28 May
Winner Play-Off 1 v winner Play-off 2
The winner of Play-Off 1 will have home advantage
The winner of the Play-Off Final takes the 20th place in the 2017/18 Champions Cup
The remaining 18 clubs from the Aviva Premiership, the Guinness PRO12 and the TOP 14 which have not qualified for the Champions Cup will play in the 2017/18 Challenge Cup.
The 19th and 20th places in next season’s Challenge Cup have been secured by Russia’s Enisei-STM and Krasny Yar, who will play in the Continental Shield final at the BT Murrayfield complex on Saturday.
The Pool Draws for 2017/18 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup will take place in Neuchâtel, Switzerland on Thursday 8 June.
