2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup: Difference between revisions

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup
2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England; France; Ireland; Scotland; South Africa; Wales
Tournament format(s)	Modified round-robin and knockout
Date	8 December 2023 – 25 May 2024
Tournament statistics
Matches played	48
Attendance	708,747 (14,766 per match)
Highest attendance	42,003 – Leinster v Stade Français ; 13 January 2023
Lowest attendance	6,024 – Connacht v Bordeaux ; 8 December 2023
Tries scored	353 (7.35 per match)
Final
Venue	Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
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Revision as of 16:00, 6 April 2024

The 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is the tenth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for teams from the top five nations in European rugby and South Africa. It is the 29th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

This is the second time the tournament features the top teams from South Africa, following the second United Rugby Championship season.

The final will be played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.^[1] La Rochelle are the defending champions, having won their second European Cup title in the previous edition.^[1]

Teams

Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues qualified to compete in the 2023–24 edition of the Champions Cup.

The distribution of teams is:

England: eight clubs
- The top eight clubs from Premiership Rugby^[a]
France: eight clubs
- The top eight clubs from the Top 14
Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, Wales: eight clubs
- The top side in each of the four regional shields from the United Rugby Championship (one Irish, one Welsh, one South African and one either Scottish or Italian), along with the remaining top four ranked clubs regardless of nation, within the league, that didn't win their respective shield. If the club that wins the championship has not qualified by the methods above then that club, the four shield winners and the remaining top three ranked clubs regardless of nation, within the league, that didn't win their respective shield will qualify.

Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship
England	France	Ireland	South Africa	Scotland	Wales
Bath Bristol Bears^[a] Exeter Chiefs Harlequins Leicester Tigers Northampton Saints Sale Sharks Saracens	Bayonne Bordeaux-Bègles La Rochelle Lyon Racing 92 Stade Français Toulon Toulouse	Connacht Leinster Munster Ulster	Bulls Stormers	Glasgow Warriors	Cardiff

Team details

Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.

Note: Placing shown in brackets, denotes standing at the end of the regular season for their respective leagues, with their end of season positioning shown through CH for Champions, RU for Runner-up, SF for losing Semi-finalist, and QF for losing Quarter-finalist.

Team	Coach(es) / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity	Method of qualification
Bayonne	Grégory Patat	Denis Marchois	Stade Jean-Dauger	14,370	Top 14 top 8 (8th)
Bath	Johann van Graan	Ben Spencer	The Recreation Ground	14,509	Premiership top 8 (8th)
Bordeaux Bègles	Yannick Bru	Jefferson Poirot	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,694	Top 14 top 8 (6th) (SF)
Bristol Bears	Pat Lam	Steve Luatua	Ashton Gate	27,000	Premiership top 8 (9th)^[a]
Bulls	Jake White	Marcell Coetzee	Loftus Versfeld Stadium	51,762	URC table rankings (6th) (QF)
Cardiff	Matt Sherratt	Josh Turnbull	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125	URC Welsh Shield winner (10th)
Connacht	Peter Wilkins	Jack Carty	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129	URC table rankings (7th) (SF)
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Jack Yeandle	Sandy Park	13,593	Premiership top 8 (7th)
Glasgow Warriors	Franco Smith	Kyle Steyn	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351	URC Scottish/Italian Shield winner (4th) (QF)
Harlequins	Billy Millard	Stephan Lewies	Twickenham Stoop	14,800	Premiership top 8 (6th)
La Rochelle	Ronan O'Gara	Grégory Alldritt Uini Atonio	Stade Marcel-Deflandre	16,700	Top 14 top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Leicester Tigers	Dan McKellar	Julián Montoya	Mattioli Woods Welford Road	25,849	Premiership top 8 (3rd) (SF)
Leinster	Leo Cullen	James Ryan Garry Ringrose	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700	URC Irish Shield winner (1st) (SF)
Lyon	Fabien Gengenbacher	Baptiste Couilloud Jordan Taufua	Matmut Stadium de Gerland	35,029	Top 14 top 8 (3rd) (QF)
Munster	Graham Rowntree	Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park	25,600	URC table rankings (5th) (CH)
Northampton Saints	Phil Dowson	Lewis Ludlam	cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens	15,200	Premiership top 8 (4th) (SF)
Racing 92	Stuart Lancaster	Henry Chavancy	Paris La Défense Arena	32,000	Top 14 top 8 (5th) (SF)
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Ben Curry	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Premiership top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Saracens	Mark McCall	Owen Farrell	StoneX Stadium	10,500	Premiership top 8 (1st) (CH)
Stade Français	Laurent Labit	Paul Gabrillagues	Stade Jean-Bouin	20,000	Top 14 top 8 (4th) (QF)
Stormers	John Dobson	Salmaan Moerat	Cape Town Stadium	55,000	URC South African Shield winner (3rd) (RU)
Toulon	Pierre Mignoni	Charles Ollivon	Stade Mayol	17,500	Top 14 top 8 (7th)
Toulouse	Ugo Mola	Antoine Dupont Julien Marchand	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500	Top 14 top 8 (1st) (CH)
Ulster	Dan McFarland	Iain Henderson	Ravenhill Stadium	18,196	URC table rankings (2nd) (QF)

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c London Irish originally qualified as one of the top 8 Premiership teams, after finishing 5th in the 2022–23 season. However, the club was officially suspended from all professional competitions on 6 June 2023, due to financial insolvency.^[2] As a consequence, their spot in the Champions Cup was awarded to Bristol Bears, the highest ranked team outside the top 8.^[3]

Pool stage

[[File:

London
(see map below)

Locations

|1300px|alt=Locations of European teams of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.

Red: Pool A;

Blue: Pool B;

Green: Pool C;

Purple: Pool D.]]

[[:File:

London
(see map below)

Locations

| ]]

Locations of European teams of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.

Red: Pool A;

Blue: Pool B;

Green: Pool C;

Purple: Pool D.

Harlequins

Saracens

class=notpageimage|

Locations of London teams of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.

Red: Pool A;

Blue: Pool B.

Bulls

Stormers

class=notpageimage|

Locations of South African teams of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.

Red: Pool A;

Purple: Pool D.

Teams are awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for scoring four tries in a game, and one bonus point for losing by less than eight points.

The draw for the pool stage took place on 21 June 2023.^[4] Unlike the previous season, the format consisted of four pools with six teams in each. The rules of the draw stipulated that the 2022–23 champions of the three European domestic leagues (Saracens, Toulouse and Munster) and the 2022–23 Champions Cup winners (La Rochelle) would each be drawn into separate pools. The remaining 20 teams were then drawn at random, with the only condition being that no more than two teams from the same domestic league could be placed into each pool.

Pool A

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool A
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Bordeaux (4)	4	3	0	1	172	83	+89	26	11	4	1	17
Bulls (6)	4	3	0	1	132	102	+30	16	16	2	1	15
Lyon (11)	4	2	0	2	121	123	–2	18	16	3	1	12
Saracens (13)	4	2	0	2	125	142	–17	17	20	2	0	10
Connacht (11CC)	4	1	0	3	88	140	–52	13	19	2	0	6
Bristol Bears	4	1	0	3	80	128	–48	11	19	1	0	5

Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

Pool B

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool B
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Toulouse (1)	4	4	0	0	178	69	+109	26	10	4	0	20
Harlequins (5)	4	3	0	1	151	109	+42	22	16	3	0	15
Bath (9)	4	3	0	1	124	102	+22	18	14	3	0	15
Racing 92 (16)	4	1	0	3	116	117	–1	17	16	2	2	8
Ulster (12CC)	4	1	0	3	88	147	–59	12	22	1	0	5
Cardiff	4	0	0	4	80	193	–113	11	28	2	1	3

Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

Pool C

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool C
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Northampton Saints (3)	4	4	0	0	137	75	+62	18	10	2	0	18
Exeter Chiefs (8)	4	3	0	1	87	99	–12	13	14	1	0	13
Glasgow Warriors (12)	4	2	0	2	77	63	+14	12	8	1	1	10
Munster (14)	4	1	1	2	93	93	0	13	10	2	1	9
Bayonne (9CC)	4	1	1	2	82	107	–25	11	16	1	1	8
Toulon	4	0	0	4	60	99	–39	7	16	0	2	2

Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

Pool D

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool D
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster (2)	4	4	0	0	123	53	+70	17	5	3	0	19
Stormers (7)	4	3	0	1	102	99	+3	12	12	2	0	14
La Rochelle (10)	4	2	0	2	111	73	+38	13	9	2	2	12
Leicester Tigers (15)	4	2	0	2	84	122	–38	10	16	1	0	9
Sale Sharks (10CC)	4	1	0	3	103	110	–7	13	14	1	1	6
Stade Français	4	0	0	4	56	122	–66	8	17	0	2	2

Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

Knockout stage

The knockout stage will begin with the round of 16, starting on 5 April 2024, and concludes with the final on 25 May 2024.

Like in 2022/23 the round of 16 will consist of a single leg match, consisting of the top four ranked teams from each Pool respectively. All clubs will thereafter be ranked in descending order based firstly on their ranking in their pool and subsequently on the number of match points they have accumulated, to create an overall ranking from 1 to 16. The pool winners will be ranked 1 to 4, the second-placed clubs will be ranked 5 to 8, the third-placed clubs will be ranked 9 to 12, and the fourth-placed clubs will be ranked 13 to 16.

Whilst the round of 16 follows a pre-determined format, the quarter-finals will see home advantage given to the higher ranked team based on a pre-determined match-up. The semi-finals are to be played at a neutral venue, with the higher ranked team having home country advantage.

Seeding

Rank	Team	Pts	Diff	TF
Pool leaders
1	Toulouse	20	+109	26
2	Leinster	19	+70	17
3	Northampton Saints	18	+62	18
4	Bordeaux Bègles	17	+89	26
Pool runners-up
5	Harlequins	15	+42	22
6	Bulls	15	+30	16
7	Stormers	14	+3	12
8	Exeter Chiefs	13	–12	13
Pool third place
9	Bath	15	+22	18
10	La Rochelle	12	+38	13
11	Lyon	12	–2	18
12	Glasgow Warriors	10	+14	12
Pool fourth place
13	Saracens	10	–17	17
14	Munster	9	0	13
15	Leicester Tigers	9	–38	10
16	Racing 92	8	–1	17

Bracket

Round of 16			Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	Final

1	Toulouse

16	Racing 92


			Exeter Chiefs
8	Exeter Chiefs	21

9	Bath	15



5	Harlequins	28

12	Glasgow Warriors	24
			Harlequins


4	Bordeaux Bègles

13	Saracens



3	Northampton Saints

14	Munster


			Bulls
6	Bulls	59

11	Lyon	19



7	Stormers

10	La Rochelle



2	Leinster

15	Leicester Tigers

Round of 16

5 April 2024
20:00

Harlequins (5)	28–24	(12) Glasgow Warriors
Try: Esterhuizen 22' c M. Smith 33' c Murley 40+1' c Riley 75' c Con: M. Smith (4/4) 24', 34', 40+2', 77'	Report	Try: Cummings 2' c Matthews 49' c Horne 52' c Con: Horne (3/3) 3', 50', 53' Pen: Horne (1/1) 59'

Twickenham Stoop, London
Referee: Tual Trainini (France)

6 April 2024
12:30

Bulls (6)	59–19	(11) Lyon
Try: De Klerk (2) 12' c, 77' m Papier (2) 20' c, 53' c Coetzee 27' c Vermaak 33' c Le Roux 48' m Kriel 67' c C. Smith 71' c Con: Goosen (5/6) 13', 21', 28', 34', 54' C. Smith (2/3) 69', 72'	Report	Try: Page-Relo 30' c Penalty try 46' Abrahams 55' m Con: Jackson (1/2) 31'

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

6 April 2024
15:00

Stormers (7)	R16 7	(10) La Rochelle

Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

6 April 2024
15:00

Exeter Chiefs (8)	R16 8	(9) Bath

Sandy Park, Exeter
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)

6 April 2024
17:30

Bordeaux Bègles (4)	R16 4	(13) Saracens

Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

6 April 2024
20:00

Leinster (2)	R16 2	(15) Leicester Tigers

Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

7 April 2024
12:30

Northampton Saints (3)	R16 3	(14) Munster

cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, Northampton
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

7 April 2024
15:00

Toulouse (1)	R16 1	(16) Racing 92

Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

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

Neutral venue

3/4/5 May 2024

Winner QF 2	SF 2	Winner QF 3

Neutral venue

Final

25 May 2024

Winner SF 1	v	Winner SF 2

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

References

^ ^a ^b "EPCR pool draws for 2023/24 season". EPCR. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
^ "London Irish file for administration after being suspended from Gallagher Premiership and all leagues by RFU". Sky Sports. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
^ "Bristol Bears to replace London Irish in Champions Cup, EPCR confirm". BBC Sport. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
^ "Heavyweight clashes to savour for 2023/24 season as EPCR pool draws completed". EPCR. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.

[Bristol_Bears-4] London Irish originally qualified as one of the top 8 Premiership teams, after finishing 5th in the 2022–23 season. However, the club was officially suspended from all professional competitions on 6 June 2023, due to financial insolvency.^[2] As a consequence, their spot in the Champions Cup was awarded to Bristol Bears, the highest ranked team outside the top 8.^[3]

[EPCR1-1] "EPCR pool draws for 2023/24 season". EPCR. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.

[London_Irish-2] "London Irish file for administration after being suspended from Gallagher Premiership and all leagues by RFU". Sky Sports. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

[Bristol_Bears-3] "Bristol Bears to replace London Irish in Champions Cup, EPCR confirm". BBC Sport. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

[5] "Heavyweight clashes to savour for 2023/24 season as EPCR pool draws completed". EPCR. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.

[1]

[a]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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 | RD1-score2 =
-| RD1-seed3 = 8
+| RD1-seed3 = '''8'''
-| RD1-team3 = {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Exeter Chiefs]]
+| RD1-team3 = {{flagicon|ENG}} '''[[Exeter Chiefs]]'''
-| RD1-score3 =
+| RD1-score3 = '''21'''
 | RD1-seed4 = 9
 | RD1-team4 = {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Bath Rugby|Bath]]
-| RD1-score4 =
+| RD1-score4 = 15
 | RD1-seed5 = '''5'''
@@ Line 480: / Line 480: @@
 | RD2-score1 =
 | RD2-seed2 =
-| RD2-team2 = {{flagicon|ENG}}
+| RD2-team2 = {{flagicon|ENG}} [[Exeter Chiefs]]
 | RD2-score2 =

v t e 2023–24 European club competitions
Football	Men Champions League Europa League Europa Conference League Super Cup Youth League Women Champions League
Football variants	Futsal Champions League Women's European Champions Beach soccer Euro Winners Cup Women's Euro Winners Cup
Basketball	Men EuroLeague EuroCup Champions League FIBA Europe Cup Women EuroLeague EuroCup SuperCup
Volleyball	Men Champions League CEV Cup Challenge Cup Women Champions League CEV Cup Challenge Cup
Handball	Men Champions League European League European Cup Women Champions League European League European Cup
Water polo	Men Champions League Euro Cup Challenger Cup Super Cup Women Champions League Euro Cup Challenger Cup Super Cup
Rugby union	Men Champions Cup Challenge Cup Super Cup
Ice hockey	Men Champions Hockey League Continental Cup
Indoor hockey	Men EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup Women EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup
Field hockey	Men Euro Hockey League Trophy I Trophy II Women Euro Hockey League Trophy I Trophy II
Roller hockey	Men Champions League World Skate Europe Cup Continental Cup Women European League
Lacrosse	Men Ken Galluccio Cup
Floorball	Men Champions Cup Women Champions Cup
Korfball	Mixed Champions League Challenger Cup Satelite Cup

Revision as of 16:00, 6 April 2024

Teams

Team details

Pool stage

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Knockout stage

Seeding

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

See also

References