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2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup

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 was the 29th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

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

The tournament commenced in May 2024. The final was held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Tottenham, England on 25 May 2024, and won by Toulouse for the sixth time, defeating Leinster 31–22.[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:

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.

Notes
  1. ^ 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

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is located in Greater London
Locations of London teams of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool A; Blue: Pool B.
2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is located in South Africa
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


Pool B


Pool C


Pool D


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

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Leinster lose out once again as Toulouse win sixth Champions Cup". RTE Sport. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  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.
  3. ^ "Bristol Bears to replace London Irish in Champions Cup, EPCR confirm". BBC Sport. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Heavyweight clashes to savour for 2023/24 season as EPCR pool draws completed". EPCR. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Tournament Statistics". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 6 May 2024.