were drawn with Leinster, the RaboDirect Pro 12 and Amlin Challenge Cup champions who beat them in Cardiff two years ago, the Top 14 champions Castres, who are grouped with the Saints for the third successive campaign, and Ospreys, the one Welsh region which in recent seasons has looked threatening in Europe.

"It is a very tough draw for us," said the Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder. "Leinster have proved time and again in the last few years that they are one of the top teams in European rugby, Ospreys have won the Pro 12 twice in the last four years and have five Lions in their squad and we know that Castres will be as tough as they come. All six matches will be tough and webeaten finalists Clermont Auvergne, big-spending Racing-Métro, who have signed the Lions Jonathan Sexton, Jamie Roberts and Dan Lydiate, and the Scarlets. In the Amlin Challenge Cup, Sale and Worcester are in the same group, along with the 2012 winners Biarritz, Wasps will face Bayonne again, while newly promoted Newcastle's fate will depend on how they fare home and away against another club returning to the top flight, Brive.