2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup

The 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the first season of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union competition. It is the 19th season of second tier pan-European club competition in general, as the competition replaces the European Challenge Cup.[1] The competition began with the first round of the group stage, on the weekend of 16 October 2014, and ended with the final on 1 May 2015 at the Twickenham Stoop.[2][3]

2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
 Romania
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and Knockout
Date16 October 2014 – 1 May 2015
Tournament statistics
Teams20
Matches played67
Attendance391,649 (5,846 per match)
Tries scored395 (5.9 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh)
(99 points)
Top try scorer(s)Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues)
(6 tries)
Final
VenueThe Stoop, Twickenham
Champions Gloucester (2nd title)
Runners-up Edinburgh

Gloucester became the first ever champions of the newly formatted competition, beating Edinburgh, who became the first ever Scottish team to make a European final, 19–13, with 14 men on the pitch for the final 17 minutes with center Bill Meakes being sent off because of a dangerous high tackle of the ball on Edinburgh center Sam Beard.[4][5]

Teams

Twenty teams qualified for the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup, based on their performance in their respective domestic leagues the previous season. The distribution of teams is as follows:[1]

  • England: 5 teams
  • France: 8 teams
    • Any teams finishing between 8th-12th position in the Top 14. (5 Teams)
    • The champion, and the winner of the promotion play-off, from the Pro D2. (2 Teams)
    • There will be an 8th team from France, as Stade Français lost the 7th Place play-off for entry into the European Rugby Champions Cup. (1 team)
  • Ireland, Italy, Scotland & Wales: 5 teams
  • Other European Nations: 2 teams
    • Two teams will qualify through the Qualifying Competition, which will take place in September.[3]

So far, the following 18 teams have qualified.

Aviva Premiership Top 14 Pro12 Qualifying Competition
England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales Other European Nations

Champions Cup Play-off
Main article: 2014–15 European Rugby Champions–Challenge Cup play-offs

The following teams took part in the play-off to decide the final team in the Champions Cup. The play-off was held between the 7th placed teams in the Aviva Premiership and the Top 14. The loser of this play-off joined the Challenge Cup.

Aviva Premiership Top 14
England France
Wasps Stade Français

On 29 April 2014, it was announced that this play-off would take place over two legs, on the weekends of 17/18 May and 24/25 May, with a draw being used to determine home advantage for each leg.[7]

The draw took place on 6 May 2014, in Heathrow. Following the draw, the fixtures were announced as follows:[8]

18 May 2014
15:00 BST
Wasps 30–29 Stade Français
24 May 2014
14:45 CEST
Stade Français 6–20 Wasps

Stade Français lost the play-off 35-50 on aggregate, and will play in the Challenge Cup.

Qualifying Competition
Further information: European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition § 2013–14

On 14 August 2014, EPCR announced the format for the first qualifying competition.[9]

Given the amount of time until the start of the Challenge Cup, it was announced that this first competition will consist of 2 two-legged matches, with the aggregate winner of each taking a place in either pool. The first legs took place on 20 September, with the return legs taking place on 27 September

Rugby Europe 1 Play-off
20 September 2014
16:00 CEST
Rovigo Delta 22–18 Tbilisi Caucasians
Stadio Mario Battaglini
Referee: Lloyd Lynton (SRU)
27 September 2014
17:00 GET
Tbilisi Caucasians 21–24 Rovigo Delta
Stadium Avchala
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
  • Rovigo Delta won the play-off 46 - 39 on aggregate, and qualify for Pool 1.

Rugby Europe 2 Play-off
20 September 2014
21:00 EEST
București Wolves 18–13 Calvisano
Stadium Arcul de Triumf
Referee: Gary Conway (IRFU)
27 September 2014
19:30 CEST
Calvisano 13–10 București Wolves
Peroni Stadium
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (FFR)

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 /
Director of Rugby		 Captain Stadium Capacity Method of Qualification
Bayonne Patricio Noriega
Nicolas Morlaes		 David Roumieu Stade Jean Dauger 17,000 Top 14 7th-12th (10th)
Bordeaux Bègles Raphaël Ibañez Matthew Clarkin Stade André Moga 10,000 Top 14 7th-12th (8th)
Brive Nicolas Godignon Arnaud Méla Stade Amédée-Domenech 16,000 Top 14 7th-12th (9th)
București Wolves Lynn Howells Stelian Burcea Arcul de Triumf Stadium 5,500 Challenge Cup Qualification Play-off
Cardiff Blues Paul John
Dale McIntosh
(For Mark Hammett)[lower-alpha 1]		 Matthew Rees BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park 12,500 Pro12 bottom 5 (7th)
Connacht Pat Lam John Muldoon Sportsgrounds 7,800 Pro12 bottom 5 (10th)
Edinburgh Alan Solomons Mike Coman Murrayfield Stadium 12,464[lower-alpha 2] Pro12 bottom 5 (8th)
Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter Dean Mumm Sandy Park 10,744 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (8th)
Gloucester David Humphreys Billy Twelvetrees Kingsholm Stadium 16,500 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (9th)
Grenoble Fabrice Landreau Fabien Gengenbacher Stade des Alpes 20,000 Top 14 7th-12th (11th)
La Rochelle Patrice Collazo
Fabrice Ribeyrolles		 Uini Atonio Stade Marcel-Deflandre 12,500 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 promotion play-off winner
London Irish Brian Smith George Skivington Madejski Stadium 24,250 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (10th)
London Welsh Justin Burnell Tom May Kassam Stadium 12,500 2013–14 RFU Championship Champion
Lyon Tim Lane Lionel Nallet Matmut Stadium 8,000 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 Champion
Newcastle Falcons Dean Richards Will Welch Kingston Park 10,200 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (11th)
Newport Gwent Dragons Lyn Jones Lee Byrne Rodney Parade 11,676 Pro12 bottom 5 (9th)
Oyonnax Christophe Urios Florian Denos Stade Charles-Mathon 11,400 Top 14 7th-12th (12th)
Rovigo Delta Filippo Frati Luke Mahoney Stadio Mario Battaglini 6,000 Challenge Cup Qualification Play-off
Stade Français Gonzalo Quesada Sergio Parisse Stade Jean-Bouin 20,000 7th Place play-off loser
Zebre Andrea Cavinato Marco Bortolami Stadio XXV Aprile
renamed Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in January 2015		 5,000 Pro12 bottom 5 (12th)

    Seeding

    The 20 competing teams will be seeded and split into four tiers, seeding will be based on performance in their respective domestic leagues. Where promotion and relegation is in effect in a league, the promoted team will be seeded last, or (if multiple teams are promoted) by performance in the lower tier.[11] So, Lyon – who were Pro D2 champions – will be the seventh Top 14 seed while La Rochelle – who qualified through the Pro D2 play-off – will be the eighth seed.

    As with the previous European competition, the European Challenge Cup, teams from the same country will be kept apart where possible. However, as 8 teams have qualified from France, 3 pools will contain two French teams – Oyonnax, Lyon and La Rochelle.

    For the purposes of creating the tiers, the clubs are ranked based on their finishing positions in the Top 14, Aviva Premiership, Pro12 and PRO D2 Leagues, or on their qualification via a play-off.

    Rank Top 14 Premiership Pro 12 Qualifying Competition
    1 Stade Français Exeter Chiefs Cardiff Blues Rovigo Delta
    2 Bordeaux Bègles Gloucester Edinburgh București Wolves
    3 Brive London Irish Newport Gwent Dragons
    4 Bayonne Newcastle Falcons Connacht
    5 Grenoble London Welsh Zebre
    6 Oyonnax
    7 Lyon
    8 La Rochelle

    Teams will be taken from a league in order of rank and put into a tier. A draw is used allocate two second seeds to Tier 1, the remaining team will go into Tier 2. This allocation then determines which fourth seeded team enters Tier 2, while the others enter Tier 3.

    Given the nature of the Qualifying Competition, a competition including developing rugby nations and Italian clubs not competing in the Pro12, Rugby Europe 1 and Rugby Europe 2 are automatically included in Tier 4, despite officially being ranked 1/2 from that competition.

    The brackets show each teams seeding and their league (for example, 1 Top 14 indicates the team has been seeded 1st from the Top 14).

    Tier 1 Cardiff Blues (1 Pro12) Exeter Chiefs (1 AP) Stade Français (1 Top 14) Gloucester (2 AP) Edinburgh (2 Pro12)
    Tier 2 Bordeaux Bègles (2 Top 14) Brive (3 Top 14) London Irish (3 AP) Newport Gwent Dragons (3 Pro12) Bayonne (4 Top 14)
    Tier 3 Newcastle Falcons (4 AP) Connacht (4 Pro12) FC Grenoble (5 Top 14) London Welsh (5 AP) Zebre (5 Pro12)
    Tier 4 Oyonnax (6 Top 14) Lyon (7 Top 14) La Rochelle (8 Top 14) Rovigo Delta (Rugby Europe 1) București Wolves (Rugby Europe 2)

    Pool stage
    Main article: 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup pool stage

    The draw took place on 10 June 2014, at the Stade de la Maladière in Neuchâtel.[12]

    Teams will play each other twice, both at home and away, in the group stage, that will begin on the weekend of 16/17/18/19 October 2014, and continue through to 22/23/24/25 January 2015, before the pool winners and three best runners-up progress to the quarter finals.[2][13]

    Fixtures were announced on Thursday 14 August 2014 at 2pm.

    Teams are awarded competition points, based on match result. Teams receive 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and 1 defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.[14]

    In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers are used, as directed by EPCR:

    1. Where teams have played each other
      1. The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
      2. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
      3. If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
    2. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools)
      1. If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
      2. The club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
      3. If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
      4. If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.
    Key to colours
         Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
         Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals.

    Pool 1
    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    London Irish (4) 6501220123+9730114024
    Cardiff Blues (6) 650124995+15435104024
    Grenoble 6204161160+119213112
    Rovigo Delta 600677329-252850011

    Pool 2
    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    Exeter Chiefs (2) 650121297+11526114125
    Connacht (8) 6402186144+4223164020
    Bayonne 6204106162–591018019
    La Rochelle 610584182−981024004

    Pool 3
    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    Newport Gwent Dragons (3) 6501240127+11331154125
    Newcastle Falcons (7) 6402208149+5929204121
    Stade Français 6303155143+1219132115
    București Wolves 600677261−184839011

    Pool 4
    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    Edinburgh (5) 650114690+561481122
    Lyon 6402149139+1017152018
    Bordeaux Bègles 6303176142+3422143116
    London Welsh 600672172−100723011

    Pool 5
    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    Gloucester (1) 660021164+1472565029
    Oyonnax 6402123124-112130016
    Zebre 6204102154−521018008
    Brive 600693187−941121022

    Seeding and runners-up
    Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/−
    1 Gloucester2925+147
    2 Exeter Chiefs2526+115
    3 Newport Gwent Dragons2531+113
    4 London Irish2430+97
    5 Edinburgh2214+56
    Seed Pool Runners–up Pts TF +/−
    6 Cardiff Blues2435+154
    7 Newcastle Falcons2129+59
    8 Connacht2023+42
    9 Lyon1817+10
    10 Oyonnax1612-1

    Knock-out stage

    The eight qualifiers will be seeded according to performance in the pool stage, and compete in the quarter-finals, which will be held on the 3/4/5 April 2015. The four top seeds will host the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 format.

    The semi-finals, to be contested by the quarter-final winners, will take place on the weekend of 17/18/19 April 2015.

    The winners of the semi-finals will contest the final, at The Twickenham Stoop, on the weekend of 1 May 2015.[3]

    Quarter-finals
    3 April 2015
    19:45
    Gloucester 14–7 Connacht
    Try: Sharples 20' c
    Meakes 30' c
    Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 21', 31'
    		 Report[15] Try: Penalty try 65' c
    Con: Carty (1/1) 66'
    Kingsholm Stadium
    Attendance: 13,236
    Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
    4 April 2015
    12:45
    Newport Gwent Dragons 25–21 Cardiff Blues
    Try: Amos 35' c
    Cudd 45' m
    Penalty try 50' c
    Con: Prydie (2/3) 35', 51'
    Pen: Prydie (1/3) 8'
    D. Jones (1/1) 67'
    		 Report[16] Try: L. Williams 4' c
    Anscombe 25' c
    Navidi 74' c
    Con: Anscombe (3/3) 5', 26', 74'
    Rodney Parade
    Attendance: 8,119
    Referee: JP Doyle (RFU)
    4 April 2015
    20:00
    Exeter Chiefs 48–13 Newcastle Falcons
    Try: Ewers 12' c
    Penalty try 19' c
    Waldrom 41' c
    McGuigan 58' c
    Hill 69' c
    Mumm 71' c
    Con: Slade (4/4) 13', 20', 41', 58'
    Steenson (2/2) 70', 73'
    Pen: Slade (2/2) 35', 54'
    		 Report[17] Try: Harris 66' c
    Con: Catterick (1/1) 68'
    Pen: Catterick (2/2) 33', 39'
    Sandy Park
    Attendance: 10,022
    Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR)
    5 April 2015
    17:45
    London Irish 18–23 Edinburgh
    Try: Gilsenan 40' c
    Steele 52' m
    Con: Geraghty (1/2) 40'
    Pen: Geraghty (2/4) 32', 45'
    		 Report[18] Try: Nel 10' c
    McKenzie 59' c
    Con: Hidalgo-Clyne (2/2) 11', 61'
    Pen: Hidalgo-Clyne (3/3) 1', 18', 20'
    Madejski Stadium
    Attendance: 4,728
    Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (FFR)

    Semi-finals
    17 April 2015
    19:45
    Edinburgh 45–16 Newport Gwent Dragons
    Try: McInally 14' c
    Visser 22' m
    B. Toolis 54' c
    Hidalgo-Clyne 60' c
    Fife 67' c
    Con: Hidalgo-Clyne (4/5) 16', 56', 61', 69'
    Pen: Hidalgo-Clyne (4/5) 10', 33', 40+2', 58'
    		 Report[19] Try: Harris 43' c
    Con: D. Jones (1/1) 44'
    Pen: D. Jones (3/3) 3', 18', 30'
    Murrayfield Stadium
    Attendance: 8,231
    Referee: JP Doyle (RFU)
    18 April 2015
    19:45
    Gloucester 30–19 Exeter Chiefs
    Try: Meakes 30' c
    Savage 67' c
    May 77' c
    Con: Laidlaw (3/3) 31', 68', 78'
    Pen: Laidlaw (2/3) 17', 71'
    Hook (1/1) 38'
    		 Report[20] Try: Taione 75' c
    Con: Steenson (1/1) 76'
    Pen: Slade (4/4) 20', 40', 45', 60'
    Kingsholm Stadium
    Attendance: 11,907
    Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)

    Final
    1 May 2015
    19:45 BST
    Edinburgh 13–19 Gloucester
    Try: Ford 65' c
    Con: Hidalgo-Clyne (1/1) 65'
    Pen: Hidalgo-Clyne (2/3) 2', 35'
    		 Report[21] Try: Twelvetrees 10' c
    Con: Laidlaw (1/1) 11'
    Pen: Laidlaw (4/5) 8', 36', 49', 53'
    The Twickenham Stoop, London
    Attendance: 14,316
    Referee: Jérôme Garcès (FFR)

    See also

    Notes
    1. Mark Hammett began the tournament as Cardiff Blues head coach, but resigned for personal reasons on 25 February 2015, and replaced by Hammett's assistants, Paul John and Dale McIntosh who will oversee the Blues from the Quarter Finals onwards.[10]
    2. Although Murrayfield's full capacity is 67,800, only the lower section of the West Stand, with a capacity of 12,464, is generally opened for Edinburgh fixtures.

    References
    1. "Future of European Rugby resolved" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
    2. |utmccn=%28referral%29|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/mCsEgmuUXy&__utmv=-&__utmk=101943746 EPCRugby.com - 10 things you may not know about EPCR
    3. Inaugural EPCR finals set for London Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
    4. "Gloucester hold on to beat Edinburgh despite Billy Meakes' mad moment". Guardian. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
    5. "Edinburgh 13-19 Gloucester". BBC Sport. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
    6. "Minimum Standards Criteria audit results" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
    7. "Rugby Union - Anglo-French play-off dates announced, AFP 29/5/2014". Archived from the original on 2014-04-30. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
    8. European Rugby Champions Cup play-off draw, Premiership Rugby
    9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    10. "Cardiff Blues: Mark Hammett leaves as director of rugby" [Press Release Zebre]. BBC Sport. BBC Sport. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
    11. http://archive.ercrugby.com/news/28791.php Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine ERCRugby.com. Accessed 8 June 2014
    12. Irish Times - Rugby’s European Champions Cup draw to place on June 10th. Accessed 31/5/14
    13. EPCRugby.com - 2014/15 EPCR Pool Draws Archived 2014-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
    14. "EPCR Competition Rules". Archived from the original on 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
    15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2015-04-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-18. Retrieved 2015-04-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-21. Retrieved 2015-04-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
    21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-05-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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