Sham Doran Profile picture
Jun 13, 2022 14 tweets 17 min read Read on X
#URC fans from SA, welcome to the torment of figuring out the complex, ever-changing seeding/pool allocation for the @ChampionsCup. I’ll try to be brief, and predict what teams will face @BlueBullsRugby, @THESTORMERS and @SharksRugby next season ... 🧵1/14
Each league (@URCOfficial, @top14rugby, @premrugby) sends 8 teams to @ChampionsCup. Since the ‘20/’21 season, 24 teams form two pools of 12. This looks hideous, but will explain each part below… 2/14
First, seeding. The French (left) keep it simple, and base seeding on rank in the league before the @top14rugby playoffs. Note that @LeLOURugby finished 9th, but qualified by winning the @ChallengeCup_… 3/14
#URC (middle) base seeding on playoff performance. @BlueBullsRugby or @THESTORMERS will be 1st/2nd seed and defeated playoff teams are ranked by league position (e.g. @leinsterrugby above @UlsterRugby). 1v2 and 3v4 is not hugely important as we’ll see in a moment… 4/14
Finally, the English (right) do a split. Top four seeds determined by playoff performance. Next four by league. @LeicesterTigers and @Saracens (finalists) will be 1 or 2, but again not hugely important as we'll see… 5/14
@ChampionsCup allocates 4 tiers to the seedings, to structure the pools and opponents. Tier 1: (1st & 2nd seeds) through to Tier 4 (7th and 8th seeds). This is why I mentioned above that certain seedings (e.g.,1st vs 2nd, 3rd vs 4th, etc) don’t really matter… 6/14
A draw puts teams into pool A or B. Each league can only have one team per tier in each pool. So @THESTORMERS and @BlueBullsRugby can’t be in the same pool. Nor can @leinsterrugby and @UlsterRugby. Nor can @staderochelais, and @racing92. And so on… 7/14
This leaves us with the structure I posted above. Hope it makes more sense now. Now onto the pool fixtures. Teams only play 4 games in the pool stages, home and away to two specific opponents. 8/14
Pool-stage opponents are also determined by tier and league. Tier 1 teams face Tier 4 teams, and Tier 2 teams face Tier 3 teams. However teams can’t face opponents from their own league. So each #URC team faces an English and French opponent home and away (4 games)… 9/14
That means, @THESTORMERS and @BlueBullsRugby (in URC’s Tier 1) will each play home and away against two non-URC opponents from Tier 4. Looking below, this means two each from @ASMOfficiel, @LeLOURugby, @ExeterChiefs and @londonirish (FYI @mark_keohane)… 10/14
@leinsterrugby and @UlsterRugby (in URC’s Tier 2) will get two each from @staderochelais, @racing92, @gloucesterrugby and @SaleSharksRugby… 11/14
@SharksRugby and @Munsterrugby (in URC’s Tier 3) will get two each from @UBBrugby, @StadeToulousain, @Harlequins and @SaintsRugby (FYI @threeredkings)… 12/14
And finally @EdinBruRugby and @OspreysSC (in URC’s Tier 4) will get two each from @CastresRugby, @MHR_officiel, @LeicesterTigers and @Saracens (FYI @SquidgeRugby, @simonrug)… 13/14
Most importantly, the great man, @oxnche, will play either @UBBrugby or @StadeToulousain, so ~6 months for recon on best cake places in these cities. Please excuse some more engagement farming: @iamSivN, @TankLanning, @FrontRowGrunt, @rugby_ap, @craigray11... 14/14

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Sham Doran

Sham Doran Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(