Munster land another tough Euro challenge

It may be the Rugby Champions Cup now, but the inaugural pool draw for the new competition will have elicited reactions that are all too familiar from the days when the tournament was known as the Heineken Cup.

The name, the trophy, the format, the seedings and qualification procedures have all been changed, but there were undoubtedly the same groans and sheepish grins on the back of proceedings which took place yesterday in the Swiss city of Neuchatel.

One thing everyone could agree on was that Pools 1 and 3 will see the majority of slugfests. Munster have been pitched into the first of those, Ulster the latter. Leinster, on the other hand, will be happier campers.