The draw for the Round of 16 threw up a number of intriguing clashes with Leicester Tigers hosting Connacht Rugby at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Harlequins facing Ulster Rugby at The Stoop and Glasgow Warriors travelling to take on Montpellier at the GGL Stadium.

London Irish, the highest-ranked qualifier from the preliminary stage, will be at home against Cardiff Blues, while Ospreys, who were also guaranteed a home fixture, will meet Newcastle Falcons at the Liberty Stadium.

Bath, meanwhile, will travel to Parma for their Round of 16 tie against Zebre Rugby Club, Dragons will host Northampton Saints, and Benetton Rugby will be at home against Agen with the matches scheduled for the weekend of 2/3/4 April.

The draw for the quarter-final matches was also made and the winner of the Montpellier v Glasgow tie will be at home against either Benetton or Agen, and whoever comes out on top between Dragons and Northampton will have home advantage against Harlequins or Ulster.

The winners between Zebre and Bath will be at home in the last eight against London Irish or Cardiff, while whoever triumphs between Leicester and Connacht will host either Ospreys or Newcastle.

For the purposes of the Round of 16 draw, clubs from the same league were not drawn against one another, however, Challenge Cup clubs and qualifiers from the Heineken Champions Cup were drawn against one another.

As London Irish, Ospreys and Leicester Tigers had won both of their preliminary stage matches on the pitch – where results were not impacted by COVID-19 – all three clubs were guaranteed home fixtures in the Round of 16.

The draw for the quarter-finals was open allowing for the possibility of matches between clubs from the same league, and a further draw for the semi-finals will take place following the quarter-finals.

The exact dates of the Challenge Cup Round of 16 fixtures including venues, kick-off times and TV coverage, will be announced as soon as possible following consultation with the clubs and EPCR’s partner broadcasters.

Today’s draws were conducted by Ben Harries, EPCR’s Head of Events and Operations, and by Mária Gyolcsos of EPCR’s Governance and Regulation department. The event scrutineer was Lausanne-based solicitor, Jean-Guillaume Amiguet.

ROUND OF 16
(Weekend of 2/3/4 April – first-named clubs at home)

Dragons v Northampton Saints
Ospreys v Newcastle Falcons
London Irish v Cardiff Blues
Harlequins v Ulster Rugby
Benetton Rugby v Agen
Zebre Rugby Club v Bath Rugby
Leicester Tigers v Connacht Rugby
Montpellier v Glasgow Warriors

QUARTER-FINALS
(Weekend of 9/10/11 April – first-named winners at home)

QF1 Winner Montpellier/Glasgow Warriors v Winner Benetton/Agen
QF2 Winner Dragons/Northampton Saints v Winner Harlequins/Ulster
QF3 Winner Zebre/Bath v Winner London Irish/Cardiff Blues
QF4 Winner Leicester Tigers/Connacht v Winner Ospreys/Newcastle Falcons

Key Dates

Round of 16: 2/3/4 April
Quarter-finals: 9/10/11 April
Semi-finals: 30 April – 1/2 May
Challenge Cup final: Marseille - Friday, 21 May
Heineken Champions Cup final: Marseille - Saturday, 22 May

Five former tournament winners – Bath Rugby, Cardiff Blues, Harlequins, Montpellier and Northampton Saints – were included in the draws for the knockout stage of the 2020/21 Challenge Cup which were staged today (Tuesday 9 March) in Lausanne, Switzerland.