Ulster

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Ulster will face Cheetahs, Perpignan, Dragons, Bayonnais and Zebre in pool one of the 2026-27 European Challenge Cup.

Richie Murphy's side lost this year's final against Montpellier and are back in the second-tier European competition after finishing ninth in the United Rugby Championship table.

They have been drawn against French opposition again in Top 14 sides Bayonnais and Perpignan, who finished 12th and 13th in the division.

The province will also come up against South African side Cheetahs, who they beat in the group stage last year, as well as familiar URC opposition in Italian side Zebre and Welsh team Dragons.

In the Champions Cup, this year's beaten finalists Leinster will be up against French sides Clermont Auvergne and Pau as well as English teams Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks and fellow URC outfit Glasgow Warriors in Pool One.

Due to tournament rules, the URC champions will not play against Glasgow.

Connacht, who sneaked into the URC play-offs and qualified for the Champions Cup ahead of Ulster, have been handed a tough draw in Pool Two.

They will be up against Toulouse, Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle, Saracens, Exeter Chiefs and Lions, who they will not play.

Munster are in Pool Three and will take on back-to-back winners Bordeaux, Racing 92, English sides Bristol Bears and Gloucester and Stormers, who they won't face.

The pool stage of both the 2026-27 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup will see the introduction of try-scoring bonus points awarded only to teams who cross at least three more times than their opponents – rather than for simply scoring four or more tries.

There will also be a change in qualification criteria for the last-16 stage with only three teams from each of the four pools going through automatically, with the remaining four last-16 spots allocated on the basis of table points collected.

Champions Cup draw

Pool 1: Leinster, Glasgow, Pau, Sale, Leicester, Clermont

Pool 2: Toulouse, Lions, Saracens, La Rochelle, Exeter, Connacht

Pool 3: Bordeaux-Begles, Stormers, Racing 92, Munster, Bristol, Gloucester

Pool 4: Northampton, Bath, Cardiff, Montpellier, Stade Francais, Bulls

Challenge Cup draw

Pool 1: Cheetahs, Ulster, Perpignan, Dragons, Bayonne, Zebre

Pool 2: Treviso, Lyon, Newcastle, Sharks, Castres, Scarlets

Pool 3: Ospreys, Edinburgh, Black Lion, Harlequins, Toulon, Vannes

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Ulster's dream of ending a 20-year wait for silverware was crushed in emphatic fashion as Montpellier produced a relentless display to win Friday's Challenge Cup final 59-26 in Bilbao.

The French side ran in nine tries to become the first team to score more than 50 points in a European final, condemning Ulster to another season in Europe's second tier.

When asked about the difference between the teams, Ulster boss Richie Murphy told BBC Sport NI: "A lot of power. I thought we started well going 7-0 up, a little mistake on an exit costs us seven points.

"We needed to get out ahead and we couldn't manage to do that. It was really difficult to play in the heat it cause a lot of slippy ball.

"We didn't want to make it a set piece game against one of the best teams in France and the world. We're a young side, we'll learn from this and move on. I can't fault the effort."

On his post-match message to the players, he added: "I haven't said too much in there really.

"We are two years into the club, we're moving in the right direction but it's tough, we can see areas around our scrum and line-out need to improve to compete at the top level."

Ulster winger Rob Baloucoune, who marked his return from injury with a well-taken try, said: ""Tough conditions coming into that as the first game back and the result is bitterly disappointing. We were looking to come out and come home with the cup and that wasn't the case.

"We knew they would be strong, they're second in the Top 14 and we came out strong, started well but let them into the game through easy mistakes.

"If you let a team like that into the game easily you're always going to be in the bad side of it."

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Centre James Hume says Ulster's players are "embracing" the chance to make history in the Challenge Cup final on Friday.

Richie Murphy's side face Montpellier in Bilbao as they look to end a 20-year trophy drought and also secure their place in next season's Champions Cup, having missed out through the United Rugby Championship [URC] with a ninth-place finish.

With no URC play-offs to look forward to, Friday represents the final act of Ulster's season and the opportunity to bring a first trophy back since the 2006 Celtic League success.

There have been some near misses since, with Hume part of the squad that lost out in the 2019-20 Pro 14 final, so the 27-year-old is keen to make up for that disappointment.

"I'm definitely embracing it," Hume said.

"Richie [Murphy, head coach] said just this morning, 'you have a chance to write your name in history'.

"I think it's my eighth season and there's times where you get really, really close, like the semi-final in 2022 [a last-gasp loss to the Bulls in South Africa]. The Pro 14 final during Covid - stuff just didn't go as we had planned.

"This is a massive opportunity for us to bring some silverware back home to Belfast, where there hasn't been since 2006, so we're buzzing for it."

After Friday's disappointment when a late Glasgow try saw the Scottish club claim a dramatic 26-22 win in Belfast, Ulster's eggs are firmly in Friday's Challenge Cup final basket if they want to play in next season's Champions Cup.

With a cup final to look forward to, Hume insists "you can't let that affect you too much" as they prepare to face the side sitting second in the Top 14.

The three-times capped Ireland international admits away defeats in the league against Scarlets and Ospreys "cost us" but the challenge of European rugby is one in which Ulster have produced some of their best moments this season.

"It seems that when we play in Europe against teams that aren't in our league [URC], we seem to play better rugby or it's like more enjoyable to attack against.

"French defences are a bit more erratic and not as organised as what the northern hemisphere rugby usually is within our league, so sometimes that presents different opportunities and maybe suits us a bit more, but we'll see in the weekend."

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Ulster have confirmed the appointment of former New Zealand international Clarke Dermody as the province's new forwards coach.

The 46-year-old, who will join this summer before the 2026-27 season, will replace Jimmy Duffy.

Dermody will move to Ulster from Super Rugby side Highlanders, where he has fulfilled a number of positions including a two-year stint as head coach between 2022 and 2024.

"While we are sad to say goodbye to Jimmy Duffy who is moving on, as a coaching team we are very excited to be welcoming Clarke to Ulster this summer," said Ulster head coach Richie Murphy.

"He is an experienced coach, with a strong track record of developing top talent. We are looking forward to seeing him implement his methods and philosophy with our squad next season."

During his playing career, loose-head prop Dermody played for Southland, Highlanders and London Irish, where he made over 100 appearances before injury forced his retirement in 2012.

He made three Test appearances for the All Blacks, two of which came against Ireland in 2006.

His coaching career began at Southland Stags in 2014, while he was the Highlanders' scrum coach during their 2015 Super Rugby triumph.

As co-coach alongside current Ireland attack coach Andrew Goodman, Dermody won back-to-back National Provincial Championship titles with in 2019 and 2020 with Tanman Mako.

Having impressed as Highlanders forwards coach, Dermody was appointed head coach in 2022 following Tony Brown's departure for Japan before transitioning into assistant coach two years later after Jamie Joseph's return to the Dunedin-based franchise.