Publication date: 27 Oct 2022

About the European Challenge Cup

The European Rugby Challenge Cup (ERCC) is a club tournament for European rugby-15 teams that has been held annually since 2014. After the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, the European Challenge Cup is the second most important competition. The Challenge Cup is currently played between 20 teams. The French team Lyon is the reigning champion of the Challenge Cup, having beaten Toulon 2021-2022.

EPCR official website

2022/2023 ERCC

The upcoming tournament will be the 9th edition of the European Challenge Cup. It will be held from December 2022 and will end with the final match on 30 May 2023. This year the Lions club from South Africa can make their first appearance in the competition. A total of 18 teams will take part in the tournament and qualify for the 2022/2023 Challenge Cup.

History of the ERCC

The Challenge Cup originally started as the European Conference and was later renamed the European Shield. The Burgoyne team won by a score of 18-9. Over the years, the number of participants has changed more or less. Eventually, the format of the league has also changed, with the tournament becoming a knock-out competition in 2002.

From 2014 onwards, the rules and regulations have been in force. It was in 2014 that the basic regulations for the creation of the three tournaments were signed:

1. UEFA Champions League;
2. European Challenge Cup;
3. Qualifying competitions.

Since 2014, the ERCC has been represented by several major sponsors such as Heineken (2014-present), Turkish Airlines (2015-present), Google Youtube (2014-present). The uniforms are provided to the athletes by Canterbury.

Previous winners of ERCC tournaments

2023/24 European Challenge Cup

There is no information yet about the 10th ERCC. The exact dates and venues will be announced at a later date.

Keep an eye on the dates of rugby tournaments and other events in our Sporting Events Calendar.