The EPCR Challenge Cup is the secondary European competition in rugby. It features all of the teams from the three major European competitions that did not qualify for the European Champions Cup.
18 teams take part in the group stage, including two teams that get invited to the competition each year.
Gallagher Prem
With eight teams qualifying for the Champions Cup, there will be two teams remaining to enter the Challenge Cup.
The teams currently sitting in the bottom two are Harlequins and Newcastle Red Bulls. Harlequins sit one point behind Gloucester and will aim to catch them before the end of the season. Newcastle are nine points behind Gloucester and could still mathematically make the top eight.
Top 14
The top eight is still hotly contested in France, with four teams still within three points of Castres in eighth.
The four teams currently in with a chance of top eight are La Rochelle, Bayonne, Toulon and Lyon. The bottom two sides are at risk of relegation and therefore won’t be in the Challenge Cup. Montauban are definitely relegated, while Perpignan will definitely be in the relegation playoff. If they survive, they will be in the Challenge Cup, while the newly promoted teams will also enter the competition.
United Rugby Championship
The eight sides that don’t make the playoffs in the URC will enter the Challenge Cup. As the biggest of the three leagues, the teams from the URC make up nearly half of the group stage of the Challenge Cup.
The teams currently set for the Challenge Cup:
-Connacht
-Sharks
-Ospreys
-Benetton
-Edinburgh
-Scarlets
-Dragons
-Zebre
Connacht and the Sharks are still in with a shot of the top eight, while the Ospreys and Benetton are still mathematically within reach, but it would take a lot to overturn their deficit to the Bulls in eighth.
Other Leagues
The group phase is made up of 18 teams, and with the remaining teams from the top three leagues outside of the Champions Cup, there are only 16. For the last few years, Black Lion from Georgia and the Cheetahs of the Currie Cup in South Africa have been invited to compete in the group stage of the competition.
Champions Cup
For the knockout phase of the Challenge Cup, there are four teams that drop down following the Champions Cup. These teams take up an away fixture in the round of 16.
