English clubs have been allocated to the pools depending on their finish in the 2011-12 Aviva Premiership.

Welsh regions have been allocated to the pools to avoid repeating fixtures from the Heineken and Amlin Challenge cups where possible.

[3] The competition will take place during the Autumn Internationals window and during the Six Nations thus allowing teams to develop their squad players.

Leicester Tigers are defending champions this season after claiming the cup with a 26–14 victory over Northampton Saints in the final at Sixways Stadium in Worcester.

It was the seventh victory for Leicester Tigers (a record) in the competition, and the second since the current Anglo-Welsh format was adopted in 2005.