The Investec Champions Cup will get underway in December as numerous clubs from Europe and beyond will fight for the greatest prize in club-level rugby. The competition has stuck with its format of four pool stage rounds followed by four knockout rounds heading into its 2024/25 edition. The eight overall stages will whittle an initial 24 teams down to one eventual champion – starting with Round One and ending with a grand final.
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The strongest expectations will be placed on the most historically successful clubs in the competition, such as Toulouse and Leinster, although this season several teams who have yet to lift the trophy, look strongly suited to be firm challengers.
Here we will preview this year’s competition, looking at the leading favourites and the teams most likely to become the latest first-time winners.
Toulouse are the favourites but Leinster are just behind.
Toulouse are the outright favourites after winning their sixth title in the 2023/24 competition. In a bet on sports, they are offered at 7/4 to extend their lead of all-time wins.
According to Paddy Power News, their strongest opposition will come in the form of Leinster, who are also the closest team to them in the title rankings since the Champions Cup began in 1995. It seems incredibly likely that prestige, as it often does, will reign supreme on club rugby union’s grandest stage.
Toulouse are immensely strong heading into the campaign, as their squad features a host of world-leading players. Most notably, Olympic gold medalist Antoine Dupont and flanker Jack Willis are still key components of the team – both of whom were standouts in last season’s Champions Cup final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Leinster have also maintained their leading players heading into the 2024/25 Champions Cup and has even strengthened in some areas, which is why they are expected to go all of the way once again. Dan Sheehan’s contract was extended for another two years in April, and the remainder of the regular core have also stayed put.
In terms of genuine additions to last year’s beaten finalists, vastly experienced New Zealand international Jordie Barrett is set to join Leinster in December on a deal until the end of the season. This means that the Irish team will be boosted by yet another top-level pro for the important rounds of the Champions Cup.
Bordeaux is expected to seriously pursue a first-ever win.
While the focus of most fans may be on Toulouse and Leinster – as both sides have huge pressure to deliver this season – numerous other teams cannot be ruled out. Union Bordeaux-Begles for example has never won the competition, yet ahead of the action getting underway are offered at just 6/1 to be the eventual champions.
This season’s competition may well not be defined by the long-term rivalry between Toulouse and Leinster but by another club that has recruited exceptionally well to put themselves in the reckoning.
The French club have acquired two established stars with past Champions Cup-winning experience. Jonny Gray from Exeter Chiefs and top fly-half Joey Carbery from Munster have been added to the impressive squad that reached the quarter-final last season and secured a top-three finish in the French top 14.
A New Narrative?
The favourites for the Champions Cup this season are ultimately the two teams that have been the most dominant historically, although Bordeaux’s strategy of adding past competition winners to their 23/24 squad could see a very different narrative of first-time champions emerge next May.
