GLASGOW Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend is looking forward to meeting some old friends - and a few former foes - in his team’s Champions Cup campaign next season.

The draw for European rugby’s premier competition pitched the PRO12 champions against Racing 92, Northampton Saints and the Scarlets.

And while Townsend is particularly keen on the meeting with one of his old clubs, Warriors fans are likely to be most excited by the prospect of seeing rugby’s most highly-paid player, All Blacks stand-off Dan Carter, turn out for Racing.

Scotstoun favourite DTH van der Merwe will, as he predicted on leaving at the end of last season, make a swift return to his old ground with new club Scarlets.

And another ex-Glasgow player, back-row forward John Barclay, will also return with the Welsh outfit.

“Northampton will be great for me personally, as I have very happy memories from being down there and they've grown so much since I was there,” Townsend said yesterday on his club’s website, glasgowwarriors.org.

“We were involved in two high-quality attacking games against them three years ago, and their new ground is a great rugby venue. The new stand they are building for next season will enhance this further. It will be a great place to play. They have been one of the best English teams over the last few years in terms of consistency in the league and finished top of the Premiership last season.

“Racing 92 have one of the biggest budgets in world rugby and the highest paid player in world rugby will be joining them in Dan Carter. They've recruited a lot of experienced players for next season and have got quality and real strength in depth.

“It's a new team for us as a club to play against, one of the leading teams in France, who have invested heavily to get better for next season. They've shown in some games over the last 12 months what they are capable of, and they came close to making the Champions Cup Final last season, just losing out to Saracens at the quarter-final stage.

"DTH (van der Merwe) said at the end of last season that we'd be playing together in the Champions Cup and he's been proved right! Scarlets have a very good history in Europe and they've made the quarter-finals and semi-finals before and they have a very good attacking game, which can win big games in this competition.”

In the Challenge Cup, Edinburgh were drawn in Pool 5 along with London Irish, whom they beat in the quarter-finals last season, Grenoble and Agen. Last season, when they reached the final, Edinburgh also faced an English side and two French clubs in the pool stages, but head coach Alan Solomons warned that getting to the knockout stages will be harder this time round.

“Last season we found ourselves in a pretty strong pool, but I think this season we'll be facing tougher opposition,” he said.

The finals of both competitions will be held at the new Grand Stade de Lyon in France, with the Challenge Cup taking place on Friday, May 13, and the Champions Cup the following day.

It was also announced yesterday that both 2017 finals will be held in Edinburgh.

The Champions Cup will be played at BT Murrayfield, but the venue for the Challenge Cup has yet to be decided.