European Rugby Cup

European Rugby Cup

Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1995
Chairman	Jean-Pierre Lux
CEO	Derek McGrath
Closure date	2014

European Rugby Cup Ltd (or ERC) was the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments; the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup.^[1] It was replaced by the European Professional Club Rugby governing body in 2014.

The inaugural Heineken Cup competition was held in 1995–96, with the second tier competition established the following season.

History[]

The organisation was established in 1995, in preparation for the 1995–96 season, and was headquartered in Dublin. ERC's had nine major shareholders: the six tier 1 unions and three club associations, which were all represented on the board of directors:

Unions

• Rugby Football Union
• Fédération Française de Rugby
• Irish Rugby Football Union
• Scottish Rugby Union
• Welsh Rugby Union
• Federazione Italiana Rugby

Club associations

• Premiership Rugby
• Ligue Nationale de Rugby

In 2012, Premiership Rugby and LNR, on behalf of the English and French clubs respectively, notified ERC that they would be withdrawing from the accord governing the competition, being dissatisfied with the organisation of the competition and the distribution of funding. Premiership Rugby subsequently refused to join any new agreement in which ERC remained organisers of European rugby tournaments.

On 10 April 2014 it was announced that the nine shareholders with an interest in continuing major European club competition had come to an agreement for new competitions. Under the new agreement, ERC was wound up, and a new body, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), would be created to organise three new competitions, European Rugby Champions Cup, the European Rugby Challenge Cup, and the third tier Qualifying Competition, beginning with the 2014–15 season.^[2]

ERC Governance[]

The Board of ERC, which oversaw the implementation of ERC's strategy for the development of European club rugby, was made up of representatives of the six shareholder unions, league bodies and club representatives and shaped the strategy and development of ERC and the tournaments.

Reporting to and making recommendation the Board were a series of ERC Committees, focusing on the various roles of ERC as a Governing Body and Tournament Organiser and these drew on the experience and expertise of the clubs and Unions from each participation nation.

ERC Committee Structure: – ERC Commercial Committee – ERC Rugby Committee – ERC Match Officials Committee – ERC Disciplinary Committee – ERC Finance and Audit Committee

The ERC Executive and team of 20 employees was based in the Dublin headquarters and were charged with implementing the strategy for the development of European club rugby and management of the two tournaments and of the showpiece ERC Finals weekend.

ERC European Player of the Year[]

Recognised as one of the most prestigious individual accolades in the game, the ERC European Player of the Year honourrd the best player of the European club rugby season from both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup tournaments.

In 2010 ERC launched the ERC15 Awards, recognising the outstanding contributors to the first decade and a half of European competition. The inaugural recipient of the ERC European Player Award, as the best player over the first 15 years of these tournaments, was Munster Rugby's Ronan O'Gara. For the 2010/11 season, ERC moved to present an annual award.

On 26 May 2014, it was announced that Steffon Armitage (Toulon) had been named 2014 ERC European Player of the Year.^[3][4]

Winners: ^[5]
Ronan O'Gara (Munster Rugby) – 2010 (Awarded for the previous 15 seasons)
Seán O'Brien (Leinster Rugby) 2011
Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby) 2012
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) 2013
Steffon Armitage (Toulon) 2014
Nick Abendanon (Clermont) 2015

ERC Elite Awards[]

To celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup, the ERC Elite Awards scheme was introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions.

Teams with 50 or more appearances[]

Team[6]	Appearances
Munster	138
Toulouse
Leinster	128
Leicester Tigers	124
Scarlets[n 1]	117
Ulster
Cardiff Blues[n 2]	114
Edinburgh	103
Benetton	96
Biarritz Olympique	92
Glasgow Warriors	91
Northampton Saints	83
Perpignan	81
Stade Français	79
London Wasps	78
Montferrand/Clermont Auvergne	76
Bath	72
Ospreys	69
Harlequins	68
Castres Olympique	64
Gloucester
Saracens	56
^ Includes 48 appearances as Llanelli RFC before the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales ^ Includes 44 appearances as Cardiff RFC before the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales

Players with 100 or more Heineken Cup caps[]

Player[7]	Club(s)	Appearances
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	110
John Hayes	Munster	101
Peter Stringer	Munster, Saracens, Bath	100

Players with 50 or more Heineken Cup caps[]

Player[8]	Club(s)	Appearances
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	110
John Hayes	Munster	101
Peter Stringer	Munster, Saracens, Bath	100
Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	98
Donncha O'Callaghan	Munster	96
Leo Cullen	Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Leinster (2nd stint)	92
Shane Horgan	Leinster	87
Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster
Clément Poitrenaud	Toulouse
Anthony Foley	Munster	86
David Wallace	Munster
Nathan Hines	Edinburgh, Perpignan, Leinster, Clermont Auvergne	85
Jean Bouilhou	Toulouse	84
Marcus Horan	Munster
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets (2nd stint)
Fabien Pelous	Dax, Toulouse	81
Martyn Williams	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Cardiff Blues
Yannick Jauzion	Colomiers, Toulouse	79
Alan Quinlan	Munster	78
Sylvain Marconnet	Stade Français, Biarritz	76
Paul O'Connell	Munster
Julien Peyrelongue	Biarritz	75
Ian Gough	Pontypridd, Newport, Newport Gwent Dragons, Ospreys	74
Geordan Murphy	Leicester Tigers
Malcolm O'Kelly	Leinster
Jean-Baptiste Poux	Toulouse
William Servat	Toulouse
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	73
Allan Jacobsen	Edinburgh	72
Martin Castrogiovanni	Calvisano, Leicester Tigers	71
Cédric Heymans	Brive, Toulouse
Shane Jennings	Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Leinster (2nd stint)
Jérôme Thion	Montferrand, Perpignan, Biarritz
Vernon Cooper	Llanelli, Scarlets	70
Florian Fritz	Bourgoin, Toulouse
Simon Shaw	London Wasps
Martin Corry	Leicester Tigers	69
Louis Deacon	Leicester Tigers	68
Girvan Dempsey	Leinster
George Chuter	Saracens, Leicester Tigers	67
John Kelly	Munster
Grégory Lamboley	Toulouse
Nicolas Mas	Perpignan
Chris Paterson	Edinburgh, Gloucester, Edinburgh (2nd stint)
Jamie Heaslip	Leinster	66
Adam Jones	Neath, Ospreys
Duncan Jones	Neath, Ospreys
Eoin Reddan	Munster, London Wasps, Leinster
David Skrela	Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne
Chris Wyatt	Llanelli, Scarlets, Bourgoin
Ben Kay	Leicester Tigers	65
Julien Bonnaire	Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne	64
Yannick Bru	Toulouse
Nicolas Brusque	Pau, Biarritz
Romain Millo-Chluski	Toulouse
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	63
Benoît August	Stade Français, Biarritz	62
Mick O'Driscoll	Munster, Perpignan, Munster (2nd stint)
Iestyn Thomas	Ebbw Vale, Llanelli, Scarlets
Shane Byrne	Leinster, Saracens	61
Reggie Corrigan	Leinster
Thierry Dusautoir	Biarritz, Toulouse
Dougie Hall	Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors	60
Dafydd James	Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues
Gethin Jenkins	Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues
Benjamin Kayser	Stade Français, Leicester Tigers, Stade Français (2nd stint), Castres Olympique, Clermont Auvergne
Christian Labit	Toulouse, Northampton Saints
Gareth Thomas	Cardiff, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Toulouse, Cardiff Blues
Andrew Trimble	Ulster
Iain Balshaw	Bath, Gloucester, Biarritz	59
Steve Borthwick	Bath, Saracens
Frederic Michalak	Toulouse, Toulon
Lewis Moody	Leicester Tigers, Bath
Graham Rowntree	Leicester Tigers
Perry Freshwater	Leicester Tigers, Perpignan	58
Salvatore Perugini	L'Aquila, Calvisano, Toulouse, Aironi
Trevor Brennan	Leinster, Toulouse	57
Victor Costello	Leinster
Justin Fitzpatrick	Ulster, Castres Olympique, Ulster (2nd stint)
David Humphreys	Ulster
Jonathan Thomas	Swansea, Ospreys
Shane Williams	Neath, Ospreys
Roger Wilson	Ulster, Northampton Saints, Ulster (2nd stint)
Joe Worsley	London Wasps
Philippe Bidabé	Biarritz	56
Simon Easterby	Llanelli, Scarlets
Anthony Horgan	Munster
Gavin Thomas	Bath, Ospreys, Scarlets, Newport Gwent Dragons
David Auradou	Stade Français	55
Serge Betsen	Biarritz, London Wasps
Tommy Bowe	Ulster, Ospreys, Ulster (2nd stint)
Robin McBryde	Llanelli, Scarlets
Yannick Nyanga	Béziers, Toulouse
Shaun Payne	Swansea, Munster
Frankie Sheahan	Munster
Damien Traille	Pau, Biarritz
Garan Evans	Llanelli, Scarlets	54
Denis Hickie	Leinster
Benoît Lecouls	Toulouse, Biarritz, Toulouse (2nd stint)
Tom Voyce	Bath, London Wasps, Gloucester
Paddy Wallace	Ulster
Jason White	Glasgow, Sale Sharks, Clermont Auvergne
Isaac Boss	Ulster, Leinster	53
Lawrence Dallaglio	London Wasps
Austin Healey	Leicester Tigers
Alex King	London Wasps, Clermont
Leon Lloyd	Leicester Tigers, Gloucester
Mauro Bergamasco	Petrarca, Benetton Treviso, Stade Français, Aironi Zebre	52
Kelly Brown	Borders, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens
Pieter de Villiers	Stade Français
Vincent Debaty	Perpignan, Clermont Auvergne
Imanol Harinordoquy	Pau, Biarritz Olympique
Deiniol Jones	Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues
Rob Kearney	Leinster
Eric Miller	Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Leinster (2nd stint)
Aurélien Rougerie	Clermont Auvergne
Rimas Álvarez Kairelis	Perpignan	51
Peter Buxton	Newport, Gloucester
Lee Byrne	Scarlets, Ospreys, Clermont Auvergne
Ben Cohen	Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks
John Davies	Neath, Llanelli, Scarlets
Martin Johnson	Leicester Tigers
Al Kellock	Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors
Scott Murray	Saracens, Edinburgh, Montauban, Castres Olympique
Brendan Williams	Petrarca, Benetton Treviso
Nicolas Durand	Béziers, Perpignan, Racing Métro 92, Toulon, Perpignan (2nd stint)	50
Ross Ford	Borders, Edinburgh
Gary Longwell	Ulster
Sonny Parker	Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Ospreys
Julien Pierre	Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne
Matthew Rees	Celtic Warriors, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues

Players with 500 or more Heineken Cup points[]

Player[9]	Club(s)	Points
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	1,365
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets (2nd stint)	869
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	661
Diego Domínguez	Milan, Stade Français	645
David Humphreys	Ulster	564
Neil Jenkins	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors	502
David Skrela	Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne	500

Players with 25 or more Heineken Cup tries[]

Player[10]	Club(s)	Tries
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	35
Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster	33
Dafydd James	Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues	29
Shane Horgan	Leinster	27
Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	26
Geordan Murphy	Leicester Tigers	25

References[]