Rugby union competition
2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup Countries England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales Tournament format(s) Round-robin and knockout Date 10 December 2021 — 27 May 2022 Teams 15 Matches played 24 Attendance 109,888 (4,579 per match) Highest attendance 14,000 - Gloucester v Perpignan 22 January 2022 Lowest attendance 200 - Zebre v Biarritz 11 December 2021 [a] Tries scored 136 (5.67 per match) Top point scorer(s) Sam Davies (Dragons) 33 pointsTop try scorer(s) (Lyon) Olly Cracknell (London Irish) 3 triesVenue Stade de Marseille
The 2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup is the eighth 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 26th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the tournament format was changed for the previous season. A similar format remained for this season, however, the number of teams will be increased from 14 to 15 and an additional six will join from the Champions Cup .[1]
The tournament commenced in December 2021, with the final, scheduled for 27 May 2022 at Stade de Marseille in Marseille , France .[2] [3]
Teams [ ]
Fifteen teams qualified for the 2021–22 EPCR 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.[4]
The distribution of teams are:
England: five teams
Any teams finishing between 9th and 12th position in the Premiership that do not qualify for the 2020–21 European Champions Cup
The champion of the Championship (Saracens )
France: six teams
Any teams finishing between 9th and 12th position in the Top 14 that do not qualify for the 2020–21 European Champions Cup
As Montpellier did not finish in the top 8, the 8th ranked team will also compete in the Challenge Cup
The champion of the Pro D2 (Perpignan )
The winner of the relegation playoff between the 13th placed team in the Top 14 and the runner-up of the Pro D2 (Biarritz )
Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales: four teams
The bottom two sides in each conference from the Pro14
Round
Premiership
Top 14
United Rugby Championship
England
France
Italy
Scotland
Wales
Preliminary stage
Transferred from Champions Cup
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
6,700
Pro14 Conference B (6th)
Biarritz
Steffon Armitage
Parc des Sports Aguil��ra
15,000
Pro D2 Runner Up
Brive
Jeremy Davidson
Saïd Hireche
Stade Amédée-Domenech
13,979
Top 14 bottom 6 (11th)
Dragons
Dean Ryan
Rhodri Williams
Rodney Parade
8,700
Pro14 Conference A (5th)
Edinburgh
Mike Blair
Grant Gilchrist Stuart McInally
Edinburgh Rugby Stadium
7,800
Pro14 Conference B (5th)
Gloucester
George Skivington
Lewis Ludlow
Kingsholm Stadium
16,115
Premiership 9th–12th (11th)
London Irish
Declan Kidney
Matt Rogerson
Brentford Community Stadium
17,250
Premiership 9th–12th (9th)
Lyon
Pierre Mignoni
Jean-Marc Doussain
Stade de Gerland
35,000
Top 14 bottom 6 (9th)
Newcastle Falcons
Dean Richards
Micky Young George McGuigan
Kingston Park
10,200
Premiership 9th–12th (10th)
Pau
Thomas Domingo
Stade du Hameau
18,324
Top 14 bottom 6 (12th)
Perpignan
Stade Aimé Giral
14,593
Pro D2 Champions
Saracens
Mark McCall
Owen Farrell
StoneX Stadium
10,500
RFU Championship champions
Toulon
Franck Azéma
Raphaël Lakafia
Stade Mayol
18,200
Top 14 bottom 6 (8th)
Worcester Warriors
Alan Solomons
Ted Hill
Sixways Stadium
11,499
Premiership 9th–12th (12th)
Zebre
Emiliano Bergamaschi (Replaces Michael Bradley )
Giulio Bisegni
Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi
5,000
Pro14 Conference A (6th)
Entering at Knockout Stage (transferred from Champions Cup )
Bath
Stuart Hooper
Charlie Ewels
The Recreation Ground
14,509
Champions Cup Pool A 9th–11th (11th)
Cardiff Rugby
Dai Young
Josh Turnbull
Cardiff Arms Park
12,125
Champions Cup Pool b 9th–11th (9th)
Castres
Mauricio Reggiardo
Mathieu Babillot
Stade Pierre-Fabre
12,500
Champions Cup Pool B 9th–11th (11th)
Glasgow Warriors
Danny Wilson
Fraser Brown Ryan Wilson
Scotstoun Stadium
7,351
Champions Cup Pool A 9th–11th (9th)
Northampton Saints
Chris Boyd
Lewis Ludlam
Franklin's Gardens
15,200
Champions Cup Pool A 9th–11th (10th)
Wasps
Lee Blackett
Joe Launchbury
Ricoh Arena
32,609
Champions Cup Pool b 9th–11th (10th)
Pool stage [ ]
Key to colours
Winner, runner-up and third of each pool, advance to round of 16.
The highest-scoring fourth-place team also advance to round of 16.
Pool A (as it stands after R4) [ ]
Pool B (as it stands after R4) [ ]
P
W
D
L
PF
PA
Diff
TF
TA
TB
LB
Pts
Lyon (Q)
4
4
0
0
122
57
+65
14
5
2
0
18
Gloucester
3
2
0
1
135
63
+72
19
7
2
1
11
Benetton
3
1
0
2
58
88
–30
7
11
0
0
4
Perpignan
3
1
0
2
47
121
–74
6
16
0
0
4
Dragons
3
0
0
3
53
86
–33
4
11
0
1
1
Pool C (as it stands after R4) [ ]
P
W
D
L
PF
PA
Diff
TF
TA
TB
LB
Pts
London Irish
4
2
1
1
78
82
–4
12
11
2
0
12
Edinburgh
3
2
0
1
107
42
+65
14
5
1
1
10
Saracens
3
1
0
2
63
73
–10
9
10
1
1
6
Brive
3
1
1
1
36
91
–55
3
13
0
0
6
Pau
3
1
0
2
70
66
+4
9
8
1
0
5
Knock Out Stage [ ]
Seeding for knockout stage (as it stands after R4) [ ]
Bracket [ ]
Round of 16 [ ]
Seed 7
v
Wasps
Quarter-finals [ ]
Winner R16 1
v
Winner R16 8
Winner R16 4
v
Winner R16 5
Winner R16 2
v
Winner R16 7
Winner R16 3
v
Winner R16 6
Semi-finals [ ]
Winner QF 1
v
Winner QF 4
Winner QF 2
v
Winner QF 3
Final [ ]
Winner SF 1
v
Winner SF 2
See also [ ]
Notes [ ]
^ When crowds were in attendance
References [ ]
2021–22 teams European Challenge Cup(1996–2014)
European Rugby Challenge Cup(2014–2021)
EPCR Challenge Cup(2021–present)
Qualification play-offs
Continental Shield Play-offs