Premiership duo Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks face an uphill battle to reach the knockout stage of the Champions Cup after being drawn alongside reigning champions La Rochelle and last season's beaten finalists Leinster in this season's pool draw. In a departure from last season's set up, 24 teams from England, France, Ireland, Wales and South Africa have been placed into four pools, each containing six club sides. Ad The four highest-ranked clubs from each pool will qualify for the Round of 16 and the clubs ranked number five in each of the pools will qualify for the knockout stage of the EPCR Challenge Cup.