2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup
2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup | |
---|---|
Tournament details | |
Countries | England France Georgia Ireland Italy Scotland South Africa Wales |
Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and knockout |
Date | 8 December 2023 – 24 May 2024 |
Tournament statistics | |
Teams | 18 pool stage plus 4 knockout. |
Matches played | 36 |
Attendance | 241,674 (6,713 per match) |
Highest attendance | 17,233 – Black Lion v Clermont 20 January 2023 |
Lowest attendance | 1,600 – Zebre Parma v Cheetahs 9 December 2023 |
Tries scored | 205 (5.69 per match) |
Final | |
Venue | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London |
The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup will be the 10th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 28th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.
The tournament will commence in December 2023, and will conclude with the final on 24 May 2024 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England.[1]
This will be the second year that teams from South Africa can qualify, following the second United Rugby Championship season. Two teams have been invited from outside the three main European professional leagues; The Black Lion from Tblisi, Georgia are current holders of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, the third-tier competition in European rugby administered by Rugby Europe, and Cheetahs the current holders of the Currie Cup, South Africa's second tier and most historic national competition. Originally not represented in the Challenge Cup, two teams Ulster and Connacht joined in the play-off rounds, having dropped down for the Champions Cup.
Teams
Sixteen teams qualified for the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup from Premiership Rugby, the Top 14 and the United Rugby Championship as a direct result of their domestic league performance having not qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup. Plus two invited sides making 18 teams.[2]
The distribution of teams are:
- England: two teams
- Remaining teams in the 2023–24 Premiership Season that do not qualify for the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. Bristol Bears had previously qualified but replaced London Irish in the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup following London Irish's suspension from the Premiership[3]
- France: six teams
- Teams taking part in the 2023–24 Top 14 season that did not qualify for the Champions Cup
- Georgia, Italy, Scotland, Wales, South Africa: ten teams
- Eight teams qualified from Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa through the United Rugby Championship. Ireland are not represented.
- Two teams invited, one each from South Africa and Georgia.[4]
Entry Point | Premiership | Top 14 | United Rugby Championship | Invited | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
— | England | France | Ireland | Italy | Scotland | Wales | South Africa | Georgia | |
Pool stage | — | ||||||||
Knockout stage | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Team details
Pool stage
Teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by less than eight points.
Pool 1
EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 1 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | |
Sharks (1) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 141 | 53 | +88 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
Pau (6) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 90 | 113 | –23 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
Cheetahs (13) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 112 | 105 | +7 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
Zebre Parma (16) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 83 | 92 | –9 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
Dragons | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 71 | 80 | –9 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Oyonnax | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 110 | –54 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Green background indicates qualification places for a home Challenge Cup round of 16. Blue background indicates top two third-placed teams who also qualify for a home Challenge Cup round of 16. Yellow background indicated other teams qualified for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (rows 5 to 6) indicates teams eliminated from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: EPCR |
Pool 2
EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 2 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | |
Benetton Rugby (3) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 147 | 87 | +60 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
Montpellier (5) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 54 | +40 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
Ospreys (7) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 111 | 103 | +8 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
Lions (14) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 94 | 76 | +18 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
Newcastle Falcons | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 82 | 139 | –57 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Perpignan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 114 | –69 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Green background indicates qualification places for a home Challenge Cup round of 16. Blue background indicates top two third-placed teams who also qualify for a home Challenge Cup round of 16. Yellow background indicated other teams qualified for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (rows 5 to 6) indicates teams eliminated from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: EPCR |
Pool 3
EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 3 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | |
Gloucester (2) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 52 | +47 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
Clermont (4) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 122 | 66 | +56 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
Edinburgh (8) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 103 | 92 | +11 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
Castres (15) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 88 | 91 | –3 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
Black Lion | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 86 | –44 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Scarlets | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 59 | 126 | –67 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Green background indicates qualification places for a home Challenge Cup round of 16. Blue background indicates top two third-placed teams who also qualify for a home Challenge Cup round of 16. Yellow background indicated other teams qualified for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (rows 5 to 6) indicates teams eliminated from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: EPCR |
Knockout stage
The knockout stage will be played with a single-leg round of 16 matches consisting of the top four teams from each pool and the teams ranked 5th in each pool of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. The Round of 16 will follow a pre-determined format, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals will guarantee home advantage to the higher-ranked team.
Seeding
Rank | Team | Pts | Diff | TF |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pool leaders | ||||
1 | Sharks | 17 | +88 | 21 |
2 | Gloucester | 17 | +47 | 9 |
3 | Benetton Rugby | 15 | +60 | 19 |
Pool runners-up | ||||
4 | Clermont | 15 | +56 | 17 |
5 | Montpellier | 14 | +40 | 15 |
6 | Pau | 12 | –23 | 10 |
Top two third placed teams | ||||
7 | Ospreys | 14 | +8 | 15 |
8 | Edinburgh | 11 | +11 | 15 |
Champions Cup teams | ||||
9 | Bayonne | 8 | –25 | 11 |
10 | Sale Sharks | 6 | –7 | 13 |
11 | Connacht | 6 | –52 | 13 |
12 | Ulster | 5 | –59 | 12 |
Third best third placed team | ||||
13 | Cheetahs | 11 | +7 | 14 |
Fourth placed teams | ||||
14 | Lions | 10 | +18 | 10 |
15 | Castres | 10 | –3 | 13 |
16 | Zebre Parma | 10 | –9 | 11 |
Bracket
Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Sharks | ||||||||||||||||||
16 | Zebre Parma | ||||||||||||||||||
8 | Edinburgh | ||||||||||||||||||
9 | Bayonne | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | Clermont | ||||||||||||||||||
13 | Cheetahs | ||||||||||||||||||
5 | Montpellier | ||||||||||||||||||
12 | Ulster | ||||||||||||||||||
2 | Gloucester | ||||||||||||||||||
15 | Castres | ||||||||||||||||||
7 | Ospreys | ||||||||||||||||||
10 | Sale Sharks | ||||||||||||||||||
3 | Benetton | ||||||||||||||||||
14 | Lions | ||||||||||||||||||
6 | Pau | ||||||||||||||||||
11 | Connacht |
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
12/13/14 April 2024 |
Winner R16 1 | QF 1 | Winner R16 8 |
High-ranked team home |
12/13/14 April 2024 |
Winner R16 2 | QF 2 | Winner R16 7 |
High-ranked team home |
12/13/14 April 2024 |
Winner R16 3 | QF 3 | Winner R16 6 |
High-ranked team home |
12/13/14 April 2024 |
Winner R16 4 | QF 4 | Winner R16 5 |
High-ranked team home |
Semi-finals
3/4/5 May 2024 |
Winner QF 1 | SF 1 | Winner QF 4 |
High-ranked team home |
3/4/5 May 2024 |
Winner QF 2 | SF 2 | Winner QF 3 |
High-ranked team home |
Final
See also
Notes
- ^ Black Lion are champions of the third-tier Rugby Europe Super Cup competition for European nations outside the Six Nations.[4]
- ^ Cheetahs formerly competed in the Pro 12, the earlier incarnation of the United Rugby Championship.[4]
- ^ a b Richard Cockerill was sacked in November 2023 after a poor start to the season and replaced by Patrice Collazo.[5]
- ^ a b Alex Codling stepped down from his daily duties as Newcastle Falcons head coach at the start of February 2024. Forwards coach Micky Ward took over on an interim basis.[6]
- ^ Sharks finished eighth in the URC regular season phase, but were displaced in the Champions Cup by Cardiff Rugby as URC Welsh Shield winners
References
- ^ "Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to host 2024 Champions Cup final". Irish Times. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ^ "EPCR pool draws for 2023/24 season". EPCR Challenge Cup. European Professional Club Rugby. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Bristol Bears to replace London Irish in Champions Cup, EPCR confirm". BBC Sport. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "European Challenge Cup: Georgian side Black Lion invited into European competition". BBC Sport. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ "Richard Cockerill is sacked by Montpellier after just seven games". Rugby Pass. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Steve Diamond: Newcastle Falcons appoint ex-Sale and Worcester boss as consultant director of rugby". BBC Sport. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "European Challenge Cup: Ospreys to host Sale in Bridgend rather than Swansea". BBC Sport. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.