2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup

2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries  England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
 Romania
Tournament format(s) Round-robin and Knockout
Date 16 October 2014 – 1 May 2015
Tournament statistics
Teams 20
Matches played 67
Attendance 391,649 (5,846 per match)
Tries scored 395 (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
Venue The Stoop, Twickenham
Champions England Gloucester (2nd title)
Runner-up Scotland Edinburgh
Official website EPCR Website
← 2013–14 (Previous) (Next) 2015–16 →

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 The Twickenham Stoop.[2][3]

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][6]

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]

So far, the following 18 teams have qualified.

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

Champions Cup Play-off

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 England France 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.[8]

The draw took place on 6 May 2014, in Heathrow. Following the draw, the fixtures were announced as follows:[9]

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

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

Qualifying Competition

On 14 August 2014, EPCR announced the format for the first qualifying competition.[10]

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 Italy 22–18 Georgia (country) Tbilisi Caucasians
Stadio Mario Battaglini
Referee: Lloyd Lynton (SRU)
27 September 2014
17:00 GET
Tbilisi Caucasians Georgia (country) 21–24 Italy Rovigo Delta
Stadium Avchala
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)

Rugby Europe 2 Play-off

20 September 2014
21:00 EEST
București Wolves Romania 18–13 Italy Calvisano
Stadium Arcul de Triumf
Referee: Gary Conway (IRFU)
27 September 2014
19:30 CEST
Calvisano Italy 13–10 Romania 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
France Bayonne Argentina Patricio Noriega
France Nicolas Morlaes		 France David Roumieu Stade Jean Dauger 17,000 Top 14 7th-12th (10th)
France Bordeaux Bègles France Raphaël Ibañez New Zealand Matthew Clarkin Stade André Moga 10,000 Top 14 7th-12th (8th)
France Brive France Nicolas Godignon France Arnaud Méla Stade Amédée-Domenech 16,000 Top 14 7th-12th (9th)
Romania București Wolves Wales Lynn Howells Romania Stelian Burcea Arcul de Triumf Stadium 5,500 Challenge Cup Qualification Play-off
Wales Cardiff Blues Wales Paul John
Wales Dale McIntosh
(For New Zealand Mark Hammett)[lower-alpha 1]		 Wales Matthew Rees BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park 12,500 Pro12 bottom 5 (7th)
Ireland Connacht Samoa Pat Lam Ireland John Muldoon Sportsgrounds 9,500 Pro12 bottom 5 (10th)
Scotland Edinburgh South Africa Alan Solomons New Zealand Mike Coman Murrayfield Stadium 12,464[lower-alpha 2] Pro12 bottom 5 (8th)
England Exeter Chiefs England Rob Baxter Australia Dean Mumm Sandy Park 10,744 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (8th)
England Gloucester Ireland David Humphreys England Billy Twelvetrees Kingsholm Stadium 16,500 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (9th)
France Grenoble France Fabrice Landreau France Fabien Gengenbacher Stade des Alpes 20,000 Top 14 7th-12th (11th)
France La Rochelle France Patrice Collazo
France Fabrice Ribeyrolles		 France Uini Atonio Stade Marcel-Deflandre 12,500 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 promotion play-off winner
England London Irish Australia Brian Smith England George Skivington Madejski Stadium 24,250 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (10th)
England London Welsh Wales Justin Burnell England Tom May Kassam Stadium 12,500 2013–14 RFU Championship Champion
France Lyon Australia Tim Lane France Lionel Nallet Matmut Stadium 8,000 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 Champion
England Newcastle Falcons England Dean Richards England Will Welch Kingston Park 10,200 Aviva Premiership 7th-11th (11th)
Wales Newport Gwent Dragons Wales Lyn Jones Wales Lee Byrne Rodney Parade 11,676 Pro12 bottom 5 (9th)
France Oyonnax France Christophe Urios France Florian Denos Stade Charles-Mathon 11,400 Top 14 7th-12th (12th)
Italy Rovigo Delta Italy Filippo Frati New Zealand Luke Mahoney Stadio Mario Battaglini 6,000 Challenge Cup Qualification Play-off
France Stade Français Argentina Gonzalo Quesada Italy Sergio Parisse Stade Jean-Bouin 20,000 7th Place play-off loser
Italy Zebre Italy Andrea Cavinato Italy 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.[12] 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 France Stade Français England Exeter Chiefs Wales Cardiff Blues Italy Rovigo Delta
    2 France Bordeaux Bègles England Gloucester Scotland Edinburgh Romania București Wolves
    3 France Brive England London Irish Wales Newport Gwent Dragons
    4 France Bayonne England Newcastle Falcons Ireland Connacht
    5 France Grenoble England London Welsh Italy Zebre
    6 France Oyonnax
    7 France Lyon
    8 France 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 Wales Cardiff Blues (1 Pro12) England Exeter Chiefs (1 AP) France Stade Français (1 Top 14) England Gloucester (2 AP) Scotland Edinburgh (2 Pro12)
    Tier 2 France Bordeaux Bègles (2 Top 14) France Brive (3 Top 14) England London Irish (3 AP) Wales Newport Gwent Dragons (3 Pro12) France Bayonne (4 Top 14)
    Tier 3 England Newcastle Falcons (4 AP) Ireland Connacht (4 Pro12) France FC Grenoble (5 Top 14) England London Welsh (5 AP) Italy Zebre (5 Pro12)
    Tier 4 France Oyonnax (6 Top 14) France Lyon (7 Top 14) France La Rochelle (8 Top 14) Italy Rovigo Delta (Rugby Europe 1) Romania București Wolves (Rugby Europe 2)

    Pool stage

    The draw took place on 10 June 2014, at the Stade de la Maladière in Neuchâtel.[13]

    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][14]

    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.[15]

    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
    England London Irish (4) 6 5 0 1 220 123 +97 30 11 4 0 24
    Wales Cardiff Blues (6) 6 5 0 1 249 95 +154 35 10 4 0 24
    France Grenoble 6 2 0 4 161 160 +1 19 21 3 1 12
    Italy Rovigo Delta 6 0 0 6 77 329 -252 8 50 0 1 1

    Pool 2

    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    England Exeter Chiefs (2) 6 5 0 1 212 97 +115 26 11 4 1 25
    Ireland Connacht (8) 6 4 0 2 186 144 +42 23 16 4 0 20
    France Bayonne 6 2 0 4 106 162 –59 10 18 0 1 9
    France La Rochelle 6 1 0 5 84 182 −98 10 24 0 0 4

    Pool 3

    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    Wales Newport Gwent Dragons (3) 6 5 0 1 240 127 +113 31 15 4 1 25
    England Newcastle Falcons (7) 6 4 0 2 208 149 +59 29 20 4 1 21
    France Stade Français 6 3 0 3 155 143 +12 19 13 2 1 15
    Romania București Wolves 6 0 0 6 77 261 −184 8 39 0 1 1

    Pool 4

    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    Scotland Edinburgh (5) 6 5 0 1 146 90 +56 14 8 1 1 22
    France Lyon 6 4 0 2 149 139 +10 17 15 2 0 18
    France Bordeaux Bègles 6 3 0 3 176 142 +34 22 14 3 1 16
    England London Welsh 6 0 0 6 72 172 −100 7 23 0 1 1

    Pool 5

    Team
    		 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
    England Gloucester (1) 6 6 0 0 211 64 +147 25 6 5 0 29
    France Oyonnax 6 4 0 2 123 124 -1 12 13 0 0 16
    Italy Zebre 6 2 0 4 102 154 −52 10 18 0 0 8
    France Brive 6 0 0 6 93 187 −94 11 21 0 2 2

    Seeding and runners-up

    Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/−
    1 England Gloucester 29 25 +147
    2 England Exeter Chiefs 25 26 +115
    3 Wales Newport Gwent Dragons 25 31 +113
    4 England London Irish 24 30 +97
    5 Scotland Edinburgh 22 14 +56
    Seed Pool Runners–up Pts TF +/−
    6 Wales Cardiff Blues 24 35 +154
    7 England Newcastle Falcons 21 29 +59
    8 Ireland Connacht 20 23 +42
    9 France Lyon 18 17 +10
    10 France Oyonnax 16 12 -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 England 14–7 Ireland Connacht
    Try: Sharples 20' c
    Meakes 30' c
    Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 21', 31'
    		 Report 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 Wales 25–21 Wales 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 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 England 48–13 England 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 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 England 18–23 Scotland Edinburgh
    Try: Gilsenan 40' c
    Steele 52' m
    Con: Geraghty (1/2) 40'
    Pen: Geraghty (2/4) 32', 45'
    		 Report 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 Scotland 45–16 Wales 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 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 England 30–19 England 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 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 Scotland 13–19 England Gloucester
    Try: Ford 65' c
    Con: Hidalgo-Clyne (1/1) 65'
    Pen: Hidalgo-Clyne (2/3) 2', 35'
    		 Report 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.[11]
    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. 1 2 "Future of European Rugby resolved" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
    2. 1 2 EPCRugby.com - 10 things you may not know about EPCR
    3. 1 2 3 Inaugural EPCR finals set for London
    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. ↑ "Edinburgh 13-19 Gloucester: Cherry and whites survive Bill Meakes red card to win first European trophy in nine years". Daily Mail. 1 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
    7. ↑ "Minimum Standards Criteria audit results" (Press release). Rugby Football Union. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
    8. ↑ Rugby Union - Anglo-French play-off dates announced, AFP 29/5/2014
    9. ↑ European Rugby Champions Cup play-off draw, Premiership Rugby
    10. ↑ http://www.epcrugby.com/eng/news/28897.php
    11. ↑ "Cardiff Blues: Mark Hammett leaves as director of rugby" [Press Release Zebre]. BBC Sport. BBC Sport. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
    12. ↑ http://archive.ercrugby.com/news/28791.php ERCRugby.com. Accessed 8 June 2014
    13. ↑ Irish Times - Rugby’s European Champions Cup draw to place on June 10th. Accessed 31/5/14
    14. ↑ EPCRugby.com - 2014/15 EPCR Pool Draws
    15. ↑ EPCR Competition Rules
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