The 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage was the first stage of the 29th season of pan-European professional club rugby union competition, and the tenth under the European Rugby Champions Cup format. Twenty-four clubs from three major domestic and regional leagues competed over four rounds of pool fixtures, with 16 teams progressing to the knockout stages.
Structure
The pool stage draw took place on 21 June 2023. The complete fixture list was then announced on 13 July 2023. The fixtures will be played out across four weekends between 8 December 2023 and 21 January 2024.
Teams in the same pool play other teams in the same pool, except the other team from their domestic league, either at home or away, in the group stage. The top four teams in each pool progress to the round of 16, whilst the teams ranked 5th progressed to the knockout stages of the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Teams are awarded group points based on match performances; four points for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.
In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers are used, as directed by EPCR:
Where teams have played each other
The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams. If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools) The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage. If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage. If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.