2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup

Not to be confused with 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup.

2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Georgia  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  South Africa  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	8 December 2023 – 24 May 2024
Tournament statistics
Teams	18 (pool stage) + 4 (knockout stage)
Matches played	51
Attendance	384,554 (7,540 per match)
Highest attendance	34,761 – Sharks v Gloucester 24 May 2024
Lowest attendance	1,600 – Zebre Parma v Cheetahs 9 December 2023
Tries scored	294 (5.76 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Anthony Belleau (Clermont) 81 points
Top try scorer(s)	Onisi Ratave (Benetton) Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks) 6 tries
Final
Venue	Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Champions	Sharks (1st title)
Runners-up	Gloucester

The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 28th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.

The tournament commenced in December 2023, and concluded with the final on 24 May 2024 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England.[1] In the final, Sharks beat Gloucester to win the cup for the first time.[2][3]

This is the second year that teams from South Africa can qualify, following the second United Rugby Championship season. Two teams have been invited from outside the three main European professional leagues; The Black Lion from Tbilisi, Georgia are current holders of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, the third-tier competition in European rugby administered by Rugby Europe, and Cheetahs the current holders of the Currie Cup, South Africa's second tier and most historic national competition. Originally not represented in the Challenge Cup, two Irish teams, Ulster and Connacht, joined in the play-off rounds, having dropped down from the Champions Cup.

Teams

Sixteen teams qualified for the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup from Premiership Rugby, the Top 14 and the United Rugby Championship as a direct result of their domestic league performance having not qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup. Plus two invited sides making 18 teams.[4]

The distribution of teams are:

• England: two teams
  • Remaining teams in the 2023–24 Premiership Season that do not qualify for the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. Bristol Bears had previously qualified but replaced London Irish in the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup following London Irish's suspension from the Premiership[5]
• France: six teams
  • Teams taking part in the 2023–24 Top 14 season that did not qualify for the Champions Cup
• Georgia, Italy, Scotland, Wales, South Africa: ten teams
  • Eight teams qualified from Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa through the United Rugby Championship. Ireland are not represented.
  • Two teams invited, one each from South Africa and Georgia.[6]

Entry Point	Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship					Invited
—	England	France	Ireland	Italy	Scotland	Wales	South Africa		Georgia
Pool stage	Gloucester Newcastle Falcons	Castres Clermont Montpellier Pau Perpignan Oyonnax	—	Benetton Zebre Parma	Edinburgh	Ospreys Scarlets Dragons	Sharks Lions	Cheetahs	Black Lion
Knockout stage	Sale Sharks	Bayonne	Ulster Connacht	—	—	—	—	—	—

Team details

Team	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity	Method of qualification
Entering at Pool stage
Benetton	Marco Bortolami	Dewaldt Duvenage Michele Lamaro	Stadio Comunale di Monigo	5,000	URC bottom eight
Black Lion	Levan Maisashvili	Merab Sharikadze	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium	27,223	Invited[a]
Castres	Jeremy Davidson	Mathieu Babillot	Stade Pierre-Fabre	12,500	Top 14 bottom 6
Cheetahs	Hawies Fourie	Victor Sekekete	Free State Stadium, South Africa	46,000	Invited[b]
			NRCA Stadium, Netherlands	5,000
Clermont	Christophe Urios	Arthur Iturria	Stade Marcel-Michelin	19,022	Top 14 bottom 6
Dragons	Dai Flanagan	Steffan Hughes	Rodney Parade	8,700	URC bottom eight
Edinburgh	Sean Everitt	Grant Gilchrist Jamie Ritchie	Edinburgh Rugby Stadium	7,800	URC bottom eight
Gloucester	George Skivington	Lewis Ludlow	Kingsholm	16,115	Premiership bottom 2
Lions	Ivan van Rooyen	Marius Louw	Emirates Airline Park	62,567	URC bottom eight
Montpellier	Richard Cockerill[c] Patrice Collazo[c]	Paul Willemse	GGL Stadium	15,697	Top 14 bottom 6
Newcastle Falcons	Alex Codling[d] Micky Ward (interim)[d]	Callum Chick	Kingston Park	11,200	Premiership bottom 2
Ospreys	Toby Booth	Justin Tipuric	Swansea.com Stadium	22,200	URC bottom eight
Oyonnax	Joe El Abd	Tommy Raynaud	Stade Charles-Mathon	11,500	Pro D2 Champions
Pau	Sébastien Piqueronies	Beka Gorgadze	Stade du Hameau	18,324	Top 14 bottom 6
Perpignan	Franck Azéma	Mathieu Acebes	Stade Aimé Giral	14,593	Top 14 bottom 6
Scarlets	Dwayne Peel	Josh Macleod	Parc y Scarlets	14,870	URC bottom eight
Sharks	John Plumtree	Lukhanyo Am	Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium	54,000	URC bottom eight[e]
Zebre Parma	Fabio Roselli	Dave Sisi	Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi	5,000	URC bottom eight
Entering at Knockout Stage (transferred from Champions Cup)
Bayonne	Grégory Patat	Denis Marchois	Stade Jean-Dauger	14,370	Champions Cup Pool C 5th place
Connacht	Peter Wilkins	Jack Carty	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129	Champions Cup Pool A 5th place
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Ben Curry	Salford Community Stadium	12,000	Champions Cup Pool D 5th place
Ulster	Richie Murphy	Iain Henderson	Ravenhill Stadium	18,196	Champions Cup Pool B 5th place

Pool stage

Main article: 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup pool stage

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

Pool 1

2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Sharks (1)	4	3	0	1	141	53	+88	21	6	4	1	17	Qualifies for a home Round of 16
2	Pau (6)	4	3	0	1	90	113	−23	10	15	0	0	12
3	Cheetahs (13)	4	2	0	2	112	105	+7	14	13	2	1	11	Qualifies for Round of 16
4	Zebre Parma (16)	4	2	0	2	83	92	−9	11	9	1	1	10
5	Dragons	4	1	0	3	71	80	−9	7	12	1	2	7
6	Oyonnax	4	1	0	3	56	110	−54	8	16	1	1	6

Source: EPCR

Pool 2

2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Benetton Rugby (3)	4	3	0	1	147	87	+60	19	12	3	0	15	Qualifies for a home Round of 16
2	Montpellier (5)	4	3	0	1	94	54	+40	15	7	2	0	14
3	Ospreys (7)	4	3	0	1	111	103	+8	15	14	2	0	14	Qualifies for a home Round of 16 as 3rd best
4	Lions (14)	4	2	0	2	94	76	+18	10	8	2	0	10	Qualifies for Round of 16
5	Newcastle Falcons	4	1	0	3	82	139	−57	8	20	0	1	5
6	Perpignan	4	0	0	4	45	114	−69	4	10	0	0	0

Source: EPCR

Pool 3

2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 3

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Gloucester (2)	4	4	0	0	99	52	+47	9	7	1	0	17	Qualifies for a home Round of 16
2	Clermont (4)	4	3	0	1	122	66	+56	17	7	3	0	15
3	Edinburgh (8)	4	2	0	2	103	92	+11	15	12	2	1	11	Qualifies for a home Round of 16 as second 3rd best
4	Castres (15)	4	2	0	2	88	91	−3	13	10	2	0	10	Qualifies for Round of 16
5	Black Lion	4	1	0	3	42	86	−44	3	10	0	1	5
6	Scarlets	4	0	0	4	59	126	−67	7	18	0	0	0

Source: EPCR

Knockout stage

The knockout stage will be played with a single-leg round of 16 matches consisting of the top four teams from each pool and the teams ranked 5th in each pool of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. The Round of 16 will follow a pre-determined format, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals will guarantee home advantage to the higher-ranked team.

Seeding

Rank	Team	Pts	Diff	TF
Pool leaders
1	Sharks	17	+88	21
2	Gloucester	17	+47	9
3	Benetton Rugby	15	+60	19
Pool runners-up
4	Clermont	15	+56	17
5	Montpellier	14	+40	15
6	Pau	12	–23	10
Top two third placed teams
7	Ospreys	14	+8	15
8	Edinburgh	11	+11	15
Champions Cup teams
9	Bayonne	8	–25	11
10	Sale Sharks	6	–7	13
11	Connacht	6	–52	13
12	Ulster	5	–59	12
Third best third placed team
13	Cheetahs	11	+7	14
Fourth placed teams
14	Lions	10	+18	10
15	Castres	10	–3	13
16	Zebre Parma	10	–9	11

Bracket

	Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	1	Sharks	47
	16	Zebre Parma	3
						1	Sharks	36
						8	Edinburgh	30
	8	Edinburgh	33
	9	Bayonne	15
											1	Sharks	32
											4	Clermont	31
	4	Clermont	27
	13	Cheetahs	22
						4	Clermont	53
						12	Ulster	14
	5	Montpellier	17
	12	Ulster	40
																1	Sharks	36
																2	Gloucester	22
	2	Gloucester	30
	15	Castres	25
						2	Gloucester	23
						7	Ospreys	13
	7	Ospreys	23
	10	Sale Sharks	15
											2	Gloucester	40
											3	Benetton	23
	3	Benetton	27
	14	Lions	17
						3	Benetton	39
						11	Connacht	24
	6	Pau	30
	11	Connacht	40

Round of 16

5 April 2024 20:00

Gloucester (2)	30–25	(15) Castres
Try: Mercer 8' c May 27' c Llewellyn 31' c Con: Carreras (3/3) 10', 28', 33' Pen: Carreras (3/3) 55', 61', 79'	Report	Try: Dumora 1' c Zarantonello 72' c Raisuqe 80+2' m Con: Popelin (2/3) 2', 73' Pen: Popelin (2/2) 39', 52'

Kingsholm, Gloucester Attendance: 9,134 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

6 April 2024 12:30

Clermont (4)	27–22	(13) Cheetahs
Try: Jurand 1' c Delguy 37' m Fourcade 41' c Jauneau 53' m Con: Belleau (2/4) 2', 42' Pen: Belleau (1/2) 22'	Report	Try: Qoma (2) 62' c, 72' c Mafura 68' m Con: Pienaar (2/3) 63', 73' Pen: Pienaar (1/1) 11'

Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand Attendance: 13,493 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

6 April 2024 17:30

Benetton (3)	27–17	(14) Lions
Try: Gallo 8' c Ratave 33' c Bernasconi 51' c Con: Umaga (3/3) 9', 34', 52' Pen: Albornoz (1/1) 63'	Report	Try: Visagie 2' c Hendrikse 46' c Con: Hendrikse (2/2) 3', 47' Pen: Hendrikse (1/3) 37'

Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso Attendance: 4,846 Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)

6 April 2024 20:00

Ospreys (7)	23–15	(10) Sale Sharks
Try: Morris 32' m Giles 46' m Morgan-Williams 48' c Con: O. Williams (1/3) 49' Pen: O. Williams (2/4) 25', 78'	Report	Try: Reed 61' m B. Curry 69' c Con: R. du Preez (1/2) 69' Pen: R. du Preez (1/1) 3'

Brewery Field, Bridgend[9] Attendance: 4,225 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

6 April 2024 20:00

Edinburgh (8)	33–15	(9) Bayonne
Try: Watson 23' m Currie 42' c Vellacott (2) 53' c, 56' c Van der Merwe 67' c Con: Healy (4/5) 42', 54', 57', 69'	Report	Try: Spring (2) 17' c, 49' m Con: Spring (1/2) 18' Pen: Spring (1/1) 48'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh [f] Attendance: 5,365 Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)

7 April 2024 12:30

Montpellier (5)	17–40	(12) Ulster
Try: Willemse 9' c Eymeri 23' c Con: Foursans-Bourdette (2/2) 10', 24' Pen: Foursans-Bourdette (1/1) 38'	Report	Try: Addison 27' c Baloucoune 42' m Wilson 62' c McCann 67' c McCloskey 77' c Penalty try 80' Con: Cooney (4/5) 30', 63', 68', 79'

GGL Stadium, Montpellier Attendance: 5,240 Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

7 April 2024 15:00

Sharks (1)	47–3	(16) Zebre Parma
Try: Tshituka 6' c Kok 20' c Rahl 35' c Fassi 43' c Buthelezi 56' m Hooker 64' c Bosch 74' c Con: Masuku (5/6) 7', 21', 36', 44', 65' Bosch (1/1) 75'	Report	Pen: Eden (1/1) 5'

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 6,730 Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (England)

7 April 2024 17:30

Pau (6)	30–40	(11) Connacht
Try: Zegueur (2) 9' c, 38' c Fisi'ihoi 46' c Con: Simmonds (3/3) 9', 39', 47' Pen: Simmonds (2/2) 25', 36'	Report	Try: Heffernan 4' c Prendergast (2) 14' m, 78' c Bolton 44' c Blade 54' c Aki 64' c Con: Carty (2/3) 6', 45' Hanrahan (3/3) 55', 65', 80'

Stade du Hameau, Pau Attendance: 6,488 Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Quarter-finals

12 April 2024 20:00

Gloucester (2)	23–13	(7) Ospreys
Try: Blake 30' m Pen: Carreras (6/6) 6', 18', 34', 50', 60', 65'	Report	Try: Giles 13' c Con: O. Williams (1/1) 14' Pen: O. Williams (1/2) 22' Giles (1/1) 40'

Kingsholm, Gloucester Attendance: 9,816 Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

13 April 2024 13:30

Sharks (1)	36–30	(8) Edinburgh
Try: Am 16' c J. Venter 26' c Mbonambi 55' c Con: Makusu (3/3) 17', 27', 56' Pen: Makusu (4/5) 48', 52', 65', 70' Bosch (1/1) 78'	Report	Try: Schoeman 31' c Watson 75' c Cherry 80+2' c Con: Healy (3/3) 32', 76', 80+3' Pen: Healy (3/3) 3', 15', 40'

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 11,894 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

13 April 2024 13:30

Clermont (4)	53–14	(12) Ulster
Try: Yato (2) 18' c, 68' c Sowakula (2) 36' c, 59' c Newsome 44' c Simmons 63' c Jurand 79' m Con: Belleau (4/4) 19', 37', 61', 64' Delguy (1/1) 45' Bézy (1/2) 69' Pen: Belleau (2/3) 28', 32'	Report	Try: Timoney (2) 12' c, 43' c Con: Cooney (2/2) 13', 45'

Stade Marcel-Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand Attendance: 13,945 Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)

14 April 2024 13:30

Benetton (3)	39–24	(11) Connacht
Try: Lucchesi 5' c Menoncello 12' c, 59' c Smith 19' c Albornoz (2) 26' 66' Con: Albornoz (1/1) 6' Umaga (3/3) 20', 28', 67' Pen: Umaga 53', 60'	Report	Try: Heffernan 2' c Boyle 41' c Aki 56' c Smith 68' Con: Hanrahan (2/4) 3', 42'

Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso Attendance: 4,098 Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Semi-finals

4 May 2024 12:30

Sharks (1)	32–31	(4) Clermont
Try: Koch 60' c Mapimpi 70' c Con: Masuku (2/2) 61', 71' Pen: Masuku (6/6) 3', 8', 13', 18', 25', 28'	Report	Try: Jurand (2) 4' c, 19' m Newsome 29' c Con: Belleau (2/3) 6', 31' Pen: Belleau (4/5) 15', 36', 40+1', 41'

Twickenham Stoop, London Attendance: 5,517 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

4 May 2024 15:00

Gloucester (2)	40–23	(3) Benetton
Try: Hathaway 5' m Blake 28' c Hastings 57' c Clarke 61' c Thorley 77' m Con: Hastings (3/5) 29', 59', 62' Pen: Hastings (2/3) 19', 48' Englefield (1/1) 69'	Report	Try: Smith 41' m Lucchesi (2) 54' m, 66' c Con: Albornoz (1/3) 67' Pen: Albornoz (2/2) 15', 23'

Kingsholm, Gloucester Attendance: 11,426 Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Final

24 May 2024 20:00

Sharks (1)	36–22	(2) Gloucester
Try: Buthelezi 25' c Fassi 54' c Mapimpi 59' c Con: Masuku (3/3) 26', 55', 60' Pen: Masuku (5/6) 14', 30', 36', 49', 52'	Report	Try: Tuisue 57' c Socino 75' c Clarke 78' m Con: Hastings (2/3) 58', 76' Pen: Englefield (1/1) 22'

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London Attendance: 34,761 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

Team details

Sharks FB 15 Aphelele Fassi  6'  74' RW 14 Werner Kok OC 13 Ethan Hooker IC 12 Francois Venter LW 11 Makazole Mapimpi FH 10 Siya Masuku SH 9 Grant Williams  71' N8 8 Phepsi Buthelezi OF 7 Vincent Tshituka BF 6 James Venter  76' RL 5 Gerbrandt Grobler  76' LL 4 Eben Etzebeth (c) TP 3 Vincent Koch  69' HK 2 Bongi Mbonambi  69' LP 1 Ox Nché  69' Substitutions: HK 16 Fez Mbatha  69' PR 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu  69' PR 18 Hanro Jacobs  69' LK 19 Jeandre Labuschagne  76' BR 20 Dylan Richardson  76' SH 21 Cameron Wright  71' FH 22 Curwin Bosch  74' WG 23 Eduan Keyter Coach: John Plumtree Gloucester FB 15 Santiago Carreras RW 14 Jonny May  76' OC 13 Chris Harris IC 12 Seb Atkinson  56' LW 11 Ollie Thorley FH 10 Adam Hastings SH 9 Caolan Englefield  56' N8 8 Zach Mercer OF 7 Lewis Ludlow (c) BF 6 Ruan Ackermann  64' RL 5 Arthur Clark  56' LL 4 Freddie Clarke TP 3 Fraser Balmain  40' HK 2 Seb Blake  40' LP 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson  40' Substitutions: HK 16 Santiago Socino  40' PR 17 Mayco Vivas  40' PR 18 Kirill Gotovtsev  40' LK 19 Albert Tuisue  56' BR 20 Jack Clement  64' SH 21 Stephen Varney  56' CE 22 Max Llewellyn  56' FB 23 Josh Hathaway  76' Coach: George Skivington Player of the Match: Vincent Koch (Sharks) Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) Pierre Brousset (France) Television Match Official: Eric Gauzins (France)

See also

• 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup
• 2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup

Notes

1. Black Lion are champions of the third-tier Rugby Europe Super Cup competition for European nations outside the Six Nations.[6]
2. Cheetahs formerly competed in the Pro 12, the earlier incarnation of the United Rugby Championship.[6]
3. Richard Cockerill was sacked in November 2023 after a poor start to the season and replaced by Patrice Collazo.[7]
4. Alex Codling stepped down from his daily duties as Newcastle Falcons head coach at the start of February 2024. Forwards coach Micky Ward took over on an interim basis.[8]
5. Sharks finished eighth in the URC regular season phase, but were displaced in the Champions Cup by Cardiff Rugby as URC Welsh Shield winners
6. Edinburgh's game against Bayonne was originally scheduled to be held at the Edinburgh Rugby Stadium but was moved the day of the game to Murrayfield Stadium due to strong winds from Storm Kathleen.[10]

References

1. "Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to host 2024 Champions Cup final". Irish Times. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
2. "Sharks overpower Gloucester to win Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
3. "Sharks win Challenge Cup final, reducing URC Champions Cup places to seven". RTE Sport. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
4. "EPCR pool draws for 2023/24 season". EPCR Challenge Cup. European Professional Club Rugby. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
5. "Bristol Bears to replace London Irish in Champions Cup, EPCR confirm". BBC Sport. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
6. "European Challenge Cup: Georgian side Black Lion invited into European competition". BBC Sport. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
7. "Richard Cockerill is sacked by Montpellier after just seven games". Rugby Pass. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
8. "Steve Diamond: Newcastle Falcons appoint ex-Sale and Worcester boss as consultant director of rugby". BBC Sport. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
9. "European Challenge Cup: Ospreys to host Sale in Bridgend rather than Swansea". BBC Sport. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
10. "Edinburgh's clash with Bayonne moved to Murrayfield". BBC Sport. 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.