Munster and Ulster have been handed difficult draws for the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup.
Munster will play this season’s Heineken Cup and English Premiership runners-up Saracens, French giants Clermont and Sale Sharks.
Ulster also have an imposing task in a group containing European champions Toulon, two-time winners Leicester and Pro12 rivals Scarlets.
RaboDirect Pro12 champions and three-time European kingpins Leinster will face Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins, Castres and Wasps.
Ireland out-half Johnny Sexton’s Racing Metro will battle Northampton, Ospreys and Benetton Treviso.
The draw for the revamped European competitions, which replace the old Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cups, took place in Neuchatel, Switzerland this afternoon.
Twenty teams will take part in next season’s competition, down from 24 in the Heineken Cup, seven from the English Premiership, six from the Top 14 and seven from the RaboDirect Pro12.
Leinster’s Sean Cronin said: “Usually there’s only one group of death, but they all look tough pools. We’ve got two trips to London which all the boys will be looking forward to. Hopefully there are a few Irish living in London who fancy coming along and giving us their support, as they did at Northampton last season.
“We had Castres Olympique in that pool as well. We played poorly at home and just squeezed out the win but did well out there when we knew it was do-or-die for qualifying.
“But they have since reached a second Top14 final in a row so that says everything about their strength. They may not be the first French team people talk about, but you don’t reach two finals in a row and win the title without being a top-quality team.
“We were disappointed with ourselves last season. We work so hard to progress from a pool that including Northampton, Castres and Ospreys and then felt we let ourselves down in the quarter-final at Toulon.
“Leinster have a proud tradition in Europe and it will be a huge focus for us next season. We are judged on winning trophies and it was great to lift the PRO12 title and send everyone off for the summer break with a huge boost but we want to prove ourselves again in Europe next season, even though it will be strange not to have Leo and Brian on the pitch.”
European Rugby Champions Cup draw
Pool 1: Saracens, Munster, Clermont Auvergne, Sale Sharks.
Pool 2: Leinster, Castres, Harlequins, London Wasps.
Pool 3: Toulon, Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Scarlets.
Pool 4: Glasgow Warriors, Montpellier, Bath, Toulouse.
Pool 5: Northampton Saints, Racing Metro, Ospreys, Benetton Treviso.
