2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup

The 2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup is the fifth edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 23rd edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition. Clubs from five of the nations that participate in the Six Nations Championship (Scotland being the only exception), along with club-sides from Romania and Russia, are competing.

2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Romania
 Russia
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and Knockout
Date12 October 2018 – 10 May 2019
Tournament statistics
Teams20
Matches played66
Attendance510,167 (7,730 per match)
Highest attendance28,438
Clermont v La Rochelle (Final)
10 May 2019
Lowest attendance100
Enisei-STM v Bristol Bears
12 January 2019
Tries scored474 (7.18 per match)
Top point scorer(s) Ihaia West (La Rochelle)
(64 points)
Top try scorer(s) Peter Betham (Clermont)
(10 tries)
Final
VenueSt James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
Champions Clermont (3rd title)
Runners-up La Rochelle

The first round of the group stage began on 12 October 2018, and the competition will end with the final on 10 May 2019 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.[1] This will be the second time the final will be held in England in the era of the current Challenge Cup, and the 12th including finals of the original Challenge Cup.

Teams

A total of 20 teams qualified for the 2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup; 18 qualified from across the Gallagher Premiership, Guinness Pro14 and Top 14, as a direct result of their domestic league performance, with two qualifying through the Continental Shield competition. Subject to the allocation of the 20th place in the 2018–19 Champions Cup as per EPCR rules,[2] the distribution of teams was:

  • England: five teams
  • France: eight teams
    • Any teams finishing between 7th and 12th position in the Top 14
    • The champion from the Pro D2
    • The winner of the promotion-relegation play-off between the team in 13th position in the Top 14 and the runner-up of the Pro D2
  • Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales: five teams
    • Any teams, excluding the South African teams, that did not qualify for the Champions Cup, through the Guinness Pro14
    • No team from Scotland ultimately participated, as Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors qualified for the 2018–19 Champions Cup.
  • Romania: one team
  • Russia: one team
    • One team qualified through the 2017–18 Continental Shield.

The following clubs qualified for the Challenge Cup.

Gallagher Premiership Top 14 Pro14 Continental Shield
England France Ireland Italy Wales Russia Romania

Qualifying competition – European Rugby Continental Shield

The qualification tournament was reformatted as a competition in its own right, the European Rugby Continental Shield, in 2017. Eight teams were split into two pools of four to compete in the pool stage of the European Rugby Continental Shield. Each team played the four teams in the other pool once. The winner of each pool then played-off against the runner-up of the other pool. The winners of these two qualifying play-offs played each other in a two-legged play-off for a place in the Challenge Cup.

The two Russian teams who had competed in the 2017–18 tournament played each other in a two-legged qualifying play-off for a place in the Challenge Cup. The winners of the two qualifying play-offs, having both qualified for the Challenge Cup, then played each other in the European Rugby Continental Shield final in May 2018.

Pool Play-offs

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Batumi 18–32 Timișoara Saracens 6–11 12–21
Heidelberger RK 51–42 Calvisano 34–29 17–13

Qualifying Play-offs

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Enisei-STM 74–48 Krasny Yar 47–22 27–26
Timișoara Saracens 41–47 Heidelberger RK 26–20 15–27

Continental Shield Final

Ineligible teams

Heidelberger RK were due to become the first German club to take part in either of the two major European rugby union competitions after qualification from the 2017–18 European Rugby Continental Shield. However, they were ruled ineligible by EPC Rugby due to their primary financial backer, Hans-Peter Wild, also being the majority shareholder in Stade Français and therefore being in a position to influence two teams in the competition.[3]

Timișoara Saracens, who had been eliminated by Heidelberger RK at the Continental Shield semi-final stage (effectively the Challenge Cup play-off) were confirmed as their replacement on 11 June 2018.[4]

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
Agen Mauricio Reggiardo
Stéphane Prosper
Stade Armandie 14,000 Top 14 8th-12th (11th)
Benetton Kieran Crowley Dean Budd Stadio Comunale di Monigo 6,700 Pro14 (5B)
Bordeaux Bègles Rory Teague Clément Maynadier Stade Chaban-Delmas 34,694 Top 14 8th-12th (10th)
Bristol Bears Pat Lam N/A (Leadership Group)[5] Ashton Gate 27,000 RFU Championship Champion
Clermont Franck Azéma Morgan Parra Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin 19,022 Top 14 8th-12th (9th)
Connacht Andy Friend Jarrad Butler Galway Sportsgrounds 8,129 Pro14 (6A)
Dragons Bernard Jackman Cory Hill Rodney Parade 8,700 Pro14 (6B)
Enisei-STM Alexander Pervukhin Uldis Saulite Krasny Yar Stadium
Sochi Central Stadium
3,600
10,200
Continental Shield Champions
Grenoble Stéphane Glas
Dewald Senekal
Antonin Berruyer Stade des Alpes 20,068 Pro D2 play-off winner
Harlequins Paul Gustard
Billy Millard
James Horwill
Chris Robshaw
Twickenham Stoop 14,800 Premiership 8th-11th (10th)
La Rochelle Xavier Garbajosa
Grégory Patat
Victor Vito Stade Marcel-Deflandre 16,000 Top 14 8th-12th (7th)
Northampton Saints Chris Boyd Dylan Hartley
Alex Waller
Franklin's Gardens 15,249 Premiership 8th-11th (9th)
Ospreys Allen Clarke Justin Tipuric Liberty Stadium 20,827 Pro14 (5A) [lower-alpha 2]
Pau Simon Mannix Julien Tomas Stade du Hameau 18,324 Top 14 8th-12th (8th)
Perpignan Alain Hyardet
Grégory Patat
François Gelez
Guillaume Vilaceca Stade Aimé Giral 14,593 Pro D2 Champion
Sale Sharks Steve Diamond Jono Ross AJ Bell Stadium 12,000 Premiership 8th-11th (8th)
Stade Français Heyneke Meyer Sergio Parisse Stade Jean-Bouin 20,000 Top 14 (12th)
Timișoara Saracens Chester Williams Vasile Rus Stadionul Dan Păltinișanu 32,972 Continental Shield (3rd) [lower-alpha 3]
Worcester Warriors Alan Solomons GJ van Velze Sixways Stadium 11,499 Premiership 8th-11th (11th)
Zebre Michael Bradley Tommaso Castello Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi 5,000 Pro14 (7A)

Seeding

The 20 competing teams were seeded and split into four tiers; seeding was based on performance in their respective domestic leagues. Where promotion and relegation is in effect in a league, the promoted team was seeded last, or (if multiple teams are promoted) by performance in the lower competition.[6] [7]

Rank Top 14 Premiership Pro 14 Continental Shield
1 La Rochelle Sale Sharks Benetton Enisei-STM
2 Pau Northampton Saints Ospreys Timișoara Saracens
3 Clermont Harlequins Connacht
4 Bordeaux Worcester Warriors Zebre
5 Agen Bristol Bears Dragons
6 Stade Français
7 Perpignan
8 Grenoble

Teams are taken from a league in order of rank and put into a tier. A draw is used to allocate two second seeds to Tier 1; the remaining team goes into Tier 2. This allocation indirectly determines which fourth-seeded team entered Tier 2, while the others enter Tier 3.

Given the nature of the Continental Shield — a competition including developing rugby nations and Italian clubs not competing in the Pro14 — the two qualifiers from that competition were automatically included in Tier 4 and are seeded equally, despite officially being ranked 1 and 2 from that competition.

The brackets show each team's seeding and their league (for example, 1 Top 14 indicates the team was seeded 1st from the Top 14).

Tier 1 Sale Sharks (1 Prem) Benetton (1 Pro14) La Rochelle (1 Top 14) Pau (2 Top 14) Northampton Saints (2 Prem)
Tier 2 Ospreys (2 Pro14) Harlequins (3 Prem) Connacht (3 Pro14) Clermont (3 Top 14) Zebre (4 Pro14)
Tier 3 Worcester Warriors (4 Prem) Bordeaux (4 Top 14) Bristol Bears (5 Prem) Dragons (5 Pro14) Agen (5 Top 14)
Tier 4 Stade Français (6 Top 14) Perpignan (7 Top 14) Grenoble (8 Top 14) Enisei-STM (CS 1) Timișoara Saracens (CS 2)

Pool stage

[[File:|750px|alt=Locations of teams of the 2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup group stage in Europe.
Brown: Pool 1; Red: Pool 2; Orange: Pool 3; Yellow: Pool 4; Green: Pool 5.]]
Locations of teams of the 2018–19 European Rugby Challenge Cup group stage in Europe.
Brown: Pool 1; Red: Pool 2; Orange: Pool 3; Yellow: Pool 4; Green: Pool 5.

The draw took place on 20 June 2018 in the Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Teams in the same pool play each other twice, both at home and away in the group stage started in October 2018, and continues through to January 2019. The pool winners and three best runners-up progressed to the quarter finals.

Teams are awarded competition points, based on match result. Teams receive four points for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.[8]

In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers will be 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 with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
    3. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
  2. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools)
    1. The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
    2. If equal, 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
Clermont (1) 660030411718744166030
Northampton Saints (8) 640228212715551185021
Dragons 6204179201–2226292010
Timișoara Saracens 600649369–320651000

Pool 2

Team
P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Worcester Warriors (4) 65011501252519162022
Ospreys 62041411053618122313
Pau 630389127–3812161013
Stade Français 6204140163–2316212212

Pool 3

Team
P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Sale Sharks (3) 64021961088827124222
Connacht (6) 65011461202619142022
Bordeaux Bègles 6213137171–3417231112
Perpignan 6015117197–801327013

Pool 4

Team
P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
La Rochelle (2) 650123810413432154024
Bristol Bears (7) 640226710815942134121
Zebre 63031531421121182014
Enisei-STM 6006103407–3041463101

Pool 5

Team
P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Harlequins (5) 64021791136623133221
Benetton 64021711066523123120
Grenoble 620492159–671121019
Agen 6204112176–641526019

Ranking of pool leaders and runners-up

Rank Pool Leaders Pts Diff TF
1 Clermont3018744
2 La Rochelle2413432
3 Sale Sharks228827
4 Worcester Warriors222519
5 Harlequins216623
Rank Pool Runners–up Pts Diff TF
6 Connacht222619
7 Bristol Bears2115942
8 Northampton Saints2115542
9 Benetton206523
10 Ospreys133618

Knock-out stage

Format

The eight qualifiers are ranked according to their performance in the pool stage and compete in the quarter-finals which will be held on the weekend of 28–31 March 2019. The four top teams will host the quarter-finals against the four lower teams in a 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 format.

The semi-finals will be played on the weekend of 19–21 April 2019. As in recent seasons, a fixed semi-final bracket is set in advance. However, beginning this season the higher-seeded team will host each semi-final regardless of whether they won their quarter-final at home or on the road.[9]

The winners of the semi-finals will contest the final, at St James' Park, on 10 May 2019.

Bracket

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Clermont 61
8 Northampton Saints 38
1 Clermont 32
5 Harlequins 27
4 Worcester Warriors 16
5 Harlequins 18
1 Clermont 36
2 La Rochelle 16
2 La Rochelle 39
7 Bristol Bears 15
2 La Rochelle 24
3 Sale Sharks 20
3 Sale Sharks 20
6 Connacht 10

Quarter-finals

29 March 2019
19:45 GMT UTC+0
Sale Sharks (3) 20–10 (6) Connacht
Try: McGuigan 9' c
Solomona 14' c
Con: MacGinty (2/2) 10', 16'
Pen: MacGinty (2/2) 28', 33'
Report[10] Try: Godwin 67' c
Con: Leader (1/1) 68'
Pen: Carty (1/2) 7'
Leader (0/1)
AJ Bell Stadium
Attendance: 4,649
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
30 March 2019
20:15 GMT UTC+0
Worcester Warriors (4) 16–18 (5) Harlequins
Try: Heem 23' m
Howe 46' m
Con: Weir (0/2)
Pen: Weir (2/3) 60', 74'
Report[11] Try: Murley 16' m
Tapuai 67' c
Con: Smith (0/1)
Catrakilis (1/1) 69'
Pen: Smith (1/1) 36'
Catrakilis (1/1) 75'
Sixways Stadium
Attendance: 6,349
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (FFR)
31 March 2019
13:45 CEST UTC+2
La Rochelle (2) 39–15 (7) Bristol Bears
Try: Alldritt 12' c
Penalty try 20'
Doumayrou 26' c
Liebenberg 40' m
Rattez 71' c
Con: West (2/3) 13', 27'
Lamb (1/1) 72'
Pen: West (2/2) 7', 52'
Report[12] Try: Luatua 35' c
O'Conor 79' m
Con: Madigan (1/1) 36'
Sheedy (0/1)
Pen: Madigan (1/1) 17'
Stade Marcel-Deflandre
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)
31 March 2019
19:00 CEST UTC+2
Clermont (1) 61–38 (8) Northampton Saints
Try: Betham (3) 19' m, 48' m, 76' c
Penaud (3) 25' c, 57' c, 75' c
Penalty try 27'
Nanai-Williams 71' c
Con: Parra (1/3) 26'
Laidlaw (4/4) 58', 72', 76', 77'
Pen: Parra (2/2) 1', 43'
Laidlaw (1/1) 69'
Report[13] Try: Tuala 55' c
Burrell 61' c
Mitchell 63' c
Hutchinson 65' c
Moon 78' c
Con: Hutchinson (5/5) 56', 61', 63', 66', 79'
Pen: Biggar (1/1) 9'

Semi-finals

20 April 2019
18:30 CEST UTC+2
La Rochelle (2) 24–20 (3) Sale Sharks
Try: Penalty try 23'
Murimurivalu 25' c
Alldritt 50' c
Con: West (2/2) 27', 52'
Pen: West (1/2) 16'
Report[14] Try: Penalty try 13'
Ashton 33' c
Con: MacGinty (1/1) 34'
Pen: MacGinty (2/3) 20', 68'
Stade Marcel-Deflandre
Attendance: 16,000
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
20 April 2019
21:00 CEST UTC+2
Clermont (1) 32–27 (5) Harlequins
Try: Lee 31' c
Penaud 35' c
Con: Parra (2/2) 33', 36'
Pen: Parra (4/4) 28', 40'+3, 47', 54'
Drop: Lopez (2/2) 9', 25'
Report[15] Try: Brown 38' m
Robshaw 57' c
Lang 65' c
Dombrandt 79' m
Con: Smith (2/4) 58', 66'
Pen: Smith (1/1) 12'
Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
Attendance: 17,923
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)

Final

10 May 2019
19:45 BST UTC+1
Clermont (1) 36–16 (2) La Rochelle
Try: Penaud 30' c
Lee 60' c
Fofana 72' c
Con: Laidlaw (3/3) 31', 61', 72'
Pen: Parra (1/1) 13'
Laidlaw (4/4) 23', 52', 57', 80'
Report[16] Try: Atonio 65'
Con: West (1/1) 66'
Pen: West (3/4) 25', 35', 48'
St James' Park
Attendance: 28,438
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

Attendances

  • Does not include the attendance at the final as it takes place at a neutral venue.
Club Home
Games
Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity
Agen37,2972,4323,1872,02017%
Benetton39,9803,3274,6002,48050%
Bordeaux Bègles341,62813,87617,12911,89940%
Bristol Bears325,4248,4758,8527,98331%
Clermont580,76116,15217,92315,39985%
Connacht316,1185,3736,2294,87866%
Dragons313,5064,5024,6004,30652%
Enisei-ETM33,3001,1002,70010027%
Grenoble322,5977,5327,8976,97038%
Harlequins325,6098,5369,5326,83858%
La Rochelle576,00015,20016,00015,00095%
Northampton Saints334,08811,36311,73910,63775%
Ospreys318,1496,0506,1845,89329%
Pau320,4036,8019,7304,52437%
Perpignan316,8705,6238,0383,66639%
Sale Sharks416,3064,0774,6493,04934%
Stade Francais317,6705,8906,8804,25029%
Timișoara Saracens[lower-alpha 4]23,0001,5002,0001,0005%
Worcester Warriors426,9236,7316,9786,34959%
Zebre36,1002,0332,8001,50041%

[18]

Individual statistics

  • Points scorers includes tries as well as conversions, penalties and drop goals. Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).

Season records

See also

Notes

  1. The English league was sponsored by Aviva during the 2017–18 season.
  2. Ospreys lost the 7th place play-off to Ulster, missing out on qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup.
  3. Timișoara Saracens qualified for the European Challenge Cup after runners-up Heidelberger RK were disqualified due to owner Hans-Peter Wild also being a primary shareholder at Stade Français, leading to a potential conflict of interest if these teams were to meet in this season's competition.[4]
  4. Timișoara Saracens only played 2 home games as their home game against Northampton Saints on 15 December 2018 was cancelled due to poor weather.[17]

References

  1. "European club rugby finals to break new ground in 2018 and 2019". epcrugby.com.
  2. "Champions Cup Qualification". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  3. "Strong line-up confirmed for 2018/19 Challenge Cup". epcrugby.com.
  4. "Pool Draws for 2018/19 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  5. "Bristol Bears Premiership Rugby". Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  6. "Watch the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Pool Draws live : News | ERC | Official Website". ERCRugby.com. 7 June 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  7. "2018/19 Challenge Cup Pool Draw" (PDF). epcrugby.com.
  8. "Champions Cup Rules". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  9. "Challenge Cup semi-finals". EPCR. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  10. "Sale secure Challenge Cup semi-final spot". European Professional Club Rugby. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  11. "Harlequins into last four after tense away success". European Professional Club Rugby. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  12. "La Rochelle into Challenge Cup semi-finals after dominant victory". European Professional Club Rugby. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  13. "Clermont reach last four after beating Northampton in 13-try thriller". European Professional Club Rugby. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  14. "La Rochelle reach first European final after beating Sale in thriller". European Professional Club Rugby. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  15. "Clermont beat spirited Harlequins to set up all-French final". European Professional Club Rugby. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  16. "Clermont clinch third Challenge Cup with victory over La Rochelle". European Professional Club Rugby. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  17. "Timișoara Saracens C-C Northampton Saints". European Professional Club Rugby. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  18. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 20 April 2019.
  19. "Player Statistics". EPCR. 10 May 2019. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  20. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most points in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  21. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most tries in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  22. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most conversions in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  23. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most penalties in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  24. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most points in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  25. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  26. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most conversions in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
  27. "European Rugby Challenge Cup 18/19 Most penalties in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 10 May 2019.
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