Your Sharks will face URC giants Leinster Rugby and Glasgow Warriors, and French Top14 sides Pau and Clermont Auvergne in the pool stage of the 2026/27 Investec Champions Cup.
But what do we know about our Pool One opponents….
Leinster Rugby
Last season’s beaten finalists, Irish giants Leinster are the most successful of the four provinces on the European stage. They have won the URC a record ten times, but have been waiting for their fifth Champions Cup title since winning the 2017/18 competition.
Last season they knocked out Alex Sanderson’s Sharks at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in the quarter-finals and after beating Toulon in a tight semi-final, were convincingly beaten by Bordeaux in the final in Bilbao. That was their fourth final defeat in the last five years.
Head Coach Leo Cullen announced in June that 2026/27 would be his last season at the helm of a Leinster squad packed with international quality with Irish stars including Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, James Ryan, Caelan Doris, Jamieson Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw.
Glasgow Warriors
Glasgow Warriors are one of two Scottish sides competing in the URC and Investec Champions Cup but have yet to get past the last eight of club rugby’s premier competition, losing to Toulon at that stage in last season’s edition. The club has fared better in the EPCR Challenge Cup, reaching its first-ever European final in 2023 before losing out to eventual champions Toulon.
In domestic competition, the club claimed its first major honour in 2015 by defeating Munster 31-13 in the Guinness PRO12 final at Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium. A second league title followed in 2024, as they defeated the Vodacom Bulls 21-16 in Pretoria to lift the URC trophy.
Glasgow Warriors possess a proud track record of producing international talent, with 21 members of the club’s squad selected for the 2015 Rugby World Cup – more than any other club side in world rugby. Current stars include Scotland skipper Sione Tuipolotu, as well as fellow Scotland internationals Scott Cummings, George Horne, Kyle Steyn and Matt Fagerson.
Pau
Pau, or Section Paloise to give them their full title, qualified for the 2026/27 Champions Cup by finishing fourth in the French Top14. It will be the club’s second consecutive appearance in the competition having qualified for the first time in 25 years for the 2025/26 edition.
Pau boasts an impressive history having won the the Bouclier de Brennus three times in 1928, 1946, and 1964, the European Challenge Cup in 2000 and the PRO D2 title in 2015.
Past players include Conrad Smith, Dan Robson, Steffon Armitage and Sam Whitelock while the current squad boasts French talents including Hugo Auradou, Théo Attissogbé, and Émilien Gailleton.
Clermont Auvergne
Clermont Auvergne is one of French rugby’s biggest names having won the Top14 title twice and the EPCR Challenge Cup on four occasions. But despite reaching three Champions Cup finals – in 2013, 2015 and 2017 – a first title still eludes them.
Last season’s competition saw them lose four out of four pool stage games, including a memorable win for Alex Sanderson’s Sharks in the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
The current squad features French internationals including Baptiste Jauneau, Killian Tixeront, Regis Montagne and Barnabe Massa.
