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2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup

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2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and knockout
Date12 December 2020 – 22 May 2021 (tentative)
Tournament statistics
Teams24 (tentative)
Final
VenueStade de Marseille, Marseille
← 2019–20 (Previous)
(Next) 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] will be the seventh season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (ECPR) for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. It will be the 26th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

The tournament is tentatively scheduled to begin on 12 December 2020. The final will take place on 22 May 2021 at the Stade de Marseille.[2]

Teams

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the end of the previous tournament twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues are expected to compete in the Champions Cup in a one-year exceptional basis.[3]

The expected distribution of teams is therefore:

  • England: eight clubs
  • France: eight clubs
    • The top eight clubs in the Top 14
  • Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales: eight clubs
    • The top four sides (not including the South African sides, which are ineligible for European competition) in both conferences in the Pro14.

The following teams qualified for the tournament at suspension of their respective leagues.

Premiership Top 14 Pro14
England England France France Ireland Ireland Italy Italy Scotland Scotland Wales Wales

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, QF for losing Quarter-finalist, and PO for the Pro14 7th place play-off winner.

Team Coach /
Director of Rugby 		Captain Stadium Capacity Method of qualification
England Bath England Stuart Hooper England Matt Garvey Recreation Ground 14,509 Premiership Rugby top 8 (6th)
France Bordeaux Bègles France Cristophe Urios France Jefferson Poirot Stade Chaban-Delmas 34,694 Top 14 top 8 (1st)
England Bristol Bears Samoa Pat Lam New Zealand Steve Luatua Ashton Gate 27,000 Premiership Rugby top 8 (3rd)
France Clermont France Franck Azéma France Morgan Parra Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin 19,022 Top 14 top 8 (6th)
Ireland Connacht Australia Andy Friend Australia Jarrad Butler Galway Sportsgrounds 8,129 Pro14 Conference B (4th)
Wales Dragons England Dean Ryan Wales Cory Hill Rodney Parade 8,700 Pro14 Conference A (5th)
Scotland Edinburgh England Richard Cockerill Scotland Stuart McInally Murrayfield 12,464[a] Pro14 Conference B (1st)
England Exeter Chiefs England Rob Baxter England Jack Yeandle Sandy Park 13,593 English Premiership top 8 (1st)
Scotland Glasgow Warriors New Zealand Dave Rennie Scotland Ryan Wilson
New Zealand Callum Gibbins 		Scotstoun Stadium 7,351 Pro14 Conference A (3rd)
England Harlequins England Paul Gustard Twickenham Stoop 14,800 English Premiership top 8 (7th)
France La Rochelle Ireland Ronan O'Gara New Zealand Victor Vito Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16,000 Top 14 top 8 (5th)
Ireland Leinster Ireland Leo Cullen Ireland Jonathan Sexton RDS Arena
Aviva Stadium 		18,500
51,700 		Pro14 Conference A (1st)
England London Irish Ireland Declan Kidney Scotland Blair Cowan Brentford Community Stadium 17,250 Premiership Rugby top 8 (8th)
France Lyon France Pierre Mignoni France Baptiste Couilloud
France Félix Lambey 		Matmut Stadium de Gerland 25,000 Top 14 top 8 (2nd)
France Montpellier France Xavier Garbajosa France Fulgence Ouedraogo Altrad Stadium 15,697 Top 14 top 8 (8th)
Ireland Munster South Africa Johann van Graan Ireland Peter O'Mahony Thomond Park 25,600 Pro14 Conference B (2nd)
England Northampton Saints New Zealand Chris Boyd England Teimana Harrison
England Alex Waller 		Franklin's Gardens 15,200 Premiership Rugby top 8 (4th)
France Racing 92 France Laurent Travers France Henry Chavancy Paris La Défense Arena 30,681 Top 14 top 8 (3rd)
England Sale Sharks England Steve Diamond South Africa Jono Ross AJ Bell Stadium 12,000 Premiership Rugby top 8 (2nd)
Wales Scarlets New Zealand Brad Mooar Wales Ken Owens Parc y Scarlets 14,870 Pro14 Conference B (3rd)
France Toulon France Patrice Collazo France Raphaël Lakafia Stade Mayol 18,200 Top 14 top 8 (4th)
France Toulouse France Ugo Mola France Julien Marchand Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Top 14 top 8 (7th)
Ireland Ulster England Dan McFarland Ireland Iain Henderson Ravenhill Stadium 18,196 Pro14 Conference A (2nd)
England Wasps England Lee Blackett England Dan Robson
Wales Thomas Young 		Ricoh Arena 32,609 Premiership Rugby top 8 (5th)

Notes:

  1. ^ Although Murrayfield's full capacity is 67,144, only the lower section of the East Stand, with a capacity of 12,464, is generally opened for Edinburgh fixtures.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Heineken® Returns as Headline Sponsor of European Rugby Champions Cup". Heineken. 4 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Marseille finals moved to 2021 with new venues for this season to be decided". European Professional Club Rugby. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  3. ^ "New EPCR dates for 2019/20 announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
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