Saracens drawn in 2019/2020 Champions Cup pool of death

NEWS: Reigning champions Saracens have been handed a humdinger of a Champions Cup pool following the draw for the 2019/20 season which was held in Lausanne on Wednesday.

Mark McCall’s Londoners, who doubled up by going on to defeat Exeter in the Premiership final three weeks after they had defeated Leinster in the European decider in Newcastle, have been drawn against Munster, Racing and Ospreys in Pool Four.

Saracens defeated Munster in the semifinals last April, while they also defeated Racing in the 2016 final in Lyon.

Stuart Hogg will have an immediate reunion with his former Glasgow Warriors teammates as the beaten English Premiership finalists were paired with the beaten Pro14 finalists in Pool Two. That pool also includes La Rochelle, beaten Challenge Cup finalists in May.

Meanwhile, beaten Champions Cup finalists Leinster have been pitted against Lyon and Benetton along with Northampton, who they defeated in the 2011 decider with a memorable second-half comeback.

Pools:

Pool One: Leinster, Lyon, Northampton, Benetton;

Pool Two: Exeter, Glasgow, La Rochelle, Sale;

Pool Three: Clermont, Ulster, Harlequins, Bath;

Pool Four: Saracens, Munster, Racing, Ospreys;

Pool Five: Toulouse, Gloucester, Connacht, Montpellier.

Prior to the draw which was conducted by Bryan Habana and Dimitri Yachvili, the 20 participating teams were divided into four tiers of five teams.

Tier one: Saracens, Leinster, Toulouse, Clermont, Exeter;

Tier two: Gloucester, Munster, Lyon, Glasgow, Ulster;

Tier three: Harlequins, Connacht, Racing, Northampton, La Rochelle;

Tier four: Bath, Benetton, Montpellier, Sale, Ospreys.