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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Champions Cup fixtures: Munster handed opening Toulouse revenge chance as Leinster face trip to Racing

Munster have been handed an early chance for Champions Cup revenge having been handed an opening round clash with Toulouse at Thomond Park in December.

The Reds lost a thrilling quarter-final encounter with defending champions Toulouse on penalties at the Aviva Stadium last season, after the sides were locked together at the end of extra-time.

Under new head coach Graham Rowntree, the Reds will hope to hit the ground running in front of their own supporters.

READ MORE: Revitalised Tadhg Morley hails Kerry boss Jack O'Connor's man-management

Leinster, who knocked Toulouse out in the semi-finals before losing to La Rochelle in the decider, also face formidable French opposition in the first round.

Leo Cullen's side will travel to take on Racing 92, who the Blues beat in the 2018 final.

However the venue has yet to be confirmed as Racing's La Defense Arena is unavailable on the weekend of the clash (December 9/10/11). Leinster fans have been advised not to make any travel plans as yet as a result.

Meanwhile, Ulster will get their European challenge up and running away from home as well when the travel to meet Sale Sharks at AJ Bell Stadium on the same weekend.

The following week, Kingspan Stadium will host Ronan O'Gara's reigning champions La Rochelle- (December 16/17/18).

Dan McFarland's charges will then travel to face La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre (January 13/14/15) before Sale come to Kingspan Stadium on January 20/21/22.

Leinster's second round fixture will see Gloucester come to the RDS (December 16/17/18) before clashing with the Premiership side in Kingsholm (January 13/14/15) before a potentially vital final round collision with Racing at the Aviva Stadium on the week-ending January 20/21/22.

After hosting Toulouse, Munster will head to Franklin's Gardens to face Northampton Saints (December 17/18/19) before meeting the English side in Limerick (January 13/14/15) and travelling to Stade Ernest Wallon for another showdown with Toulouse.

The exact dates and kick-off times of fixtures will be announced at a later date following negotiations with all media rights holders.

The format for the new season will see the eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool qualify for the knockout stages, which will comprise of a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final, which will take place at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, May 20.

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