2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup

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2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup
The EPCR Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  South Africa  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	9 December 2022 – 19 May 2023
Tournament statistics
Teams	18
Matches played	51
Attendance	314,320 (6,163 per match)
Highest attendance	31,514 - Glasgow Warriors v Toulon 19 May 2023
Lowest attendance	200 - Cheetahs v Scarlets 17 December 2022 200 - Cheetahs v Pau 22 January 2023[a]
Tries scored	329 (6.45 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Sam Costelow (Scarlets) 62 points
Top try scorer(s)	Johnny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors) Jiuta Wainiqolo (Toulon) 7 tries
Final
Venue	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Champions	Toulon (1st title)
Runners-up	Glasgow Warriors
← 2021–22 (Previous) (Next) 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 9th 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 27th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.

The tournament commenced in December 2022, and concluded with the final on 19 May 2023 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, which was contested between Glasgow Warriors (their first European final) and Toulon who made their fourth appearance in a European final.

This was the first year that teams from South Africa could qualify, following the inaugural United Rugby Championship season, with Johannesburg-based Lions making their inaugural appearance in European club rugby.^[1] In addition, another South African team, the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs franchise, formerly of the URC predecessor competition the Pro14, had been invited to enter, having been excluded from European competition during their Pro14 tenure.^[2]

Seventeen teams qualified for the 2022–23 EPCR Challenge 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. Plus one invited sides making 18 teams.

The distribution of teams were:

• England: three teams
  • Remaining teams in the Premiership that do not qualify for the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup. Worcester Warriors and Wasps had previously qualified but were both suspended after entering administration.
• France: six teams
  • Teams taking part in the 2022–23 Top 14 season that did not qualify for the Champions Cup
• Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales, South Africa: nine teams
  • The bottom seven teams in the United Rugby Championship and the Glasgow Warriors as the Welsh shield winners (the Ospreys) were not in the top 8 teams in the URC.^[3]
  • Cheetahs (invited to participate)^[2]

Round	Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship					Invited
	England	France	Ireland	Italy	Scotland	Wales	South Africa
Pool stage	Bath Bristol Bears Newcastle Falcons	Bayonne Brive Pau Perpignan Stade Français Toulon	Connacht	Benetton Zebre Parma	Glasgow Warriors	Cardiff Dragons Scarlets	Lions	Cheetahs

Team	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity	Method of qualification
Entering at Pool stage
Bath	Johann van Graan	Ben Spencer	Recreation Ground [b]	14,509	Premiership 9th–13th (13th)
Bayonne	Grégory Patat	Antoine Battut	Stade Jean-Dauger	18,069	Pro D2 Champions
Benetton	Marco Bortolami	Dewaldt Duvenage Michele Lamaro	Stadio Comunale di Monigo	6,700	URC bottom 8 (13th)
Bristol Bears	Pat Lam	Steve Luatua	Ashton Gate Stadium	27,000	Premiership 9th–13th (10th)
Brive	Patrice Collazo	Saïd Hireche	Stade Amédée-Domenech	13,979	Top 14 bottom 6 (12th)
Cardiff	Dai Young	Josh Turnbull	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125	URC bottom 8 (14th)
Cheetahs	Hawies Fourie	Victor Sekekete	Free State Stadium	46,000	Invited team
Connacht	Andy Friend	Jack Carty	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129	URC bottom 8 (11th)
Dragons	Dai Flanagan [c]	Harrison Keddie Will Rowlands	Rodney Parade [d]	8,700	URC bottom 8 (15th)
Glasgow Warriors	Franco Smith	Kyle Steyn	Scotstoun Stadium [e]	7,351	URC bottom 8 (8th)
Lions	Ivan van Rooyen	Reinhard Nothnagel	Ellis Park Stadium	62,567	URC bottom 8 (12th)
Newcastle Falcons	Dave Walder	Will Welch	Kingston Park	10,200	Premiership 9th–13th (12th)
Pau	Sébastien Piqueronies	Lucas Rey	Stade du Hameau	18,324	Top 14 bottom 6 (10th)
Perpignan	Patrick Arlettaz	Mathieu Acebes	Stade Aimé Giral	14,593	Top 14 bottom 6 (13th)
Scarlets	Dwayne Peel	Jonathan Davies	Parc y Scarlets	14,870	URC bottom 8 (10th)
Stade Francais	Gonzalo Quesada	Romain Briatte	Stade Jean-Bouin	20,000	Top 14 bottom 6 (11th)
Toulon	Pierre Mignoni	Charles Ollivon	Stade Mayol	18,200	Top 14 bottom 6 (8th)
Zebre	Fabio Roselli	Dave Sisi	Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi	5,000	URC bottom 8 (16th)
Entering at Knockout Stage (transferred from Champions Cup)
Clermont	Christophe Urios[f]	Arthur Iturria	Stade Marcel-Michelin	19,022	Champions Cup Pool B 9th–10th (9th)
Lyon	Xavier Garbajosa	Jean-Marc Doussain	Matmut Stadium de Gerland	35,029	Champions Cup Pool A 9th–10th (9th)
Racing 92	Laurent Travers	Henry Chavancy	Paris La Défense Arena	32,000	Champions Cup Pool A 9th–10th (10th)
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Jono Ross	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Champions Cup Pool B 9th–10th (10th)

[[File:

Bristol

Bath

Newcastle

Sale

Pau

Perpignan

Toulon

Stade Français

Bayonne

Brive

Lyon

Racing 92

Clermont

Zebre Parma

Benetton

Cardiff

Dragons

Scarlets

Glasgow Warriors

Connacht

class=notpageimage|

Locations

|1300px|alt=Locations of European teams of the 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Green: Pool A; Purple: Pool B; White: Entered competition in knockout stage.]]

[[:File:

Bristol

Bath

Newcastle

Sale

Pau

Perpignan

Toulon

Stade Français

Bayonne

Brive

Lyon

Racing 92

Clermont

Zebre Parma

Benetton

Cardiff

Dragons

Scarlets

Glasgow Warriors

Connacht

class=notpageimage|

Locations

| ]]

Locations of European teams of the 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Green: Pool A; Purple: Pool B; White: Entered competition in knockout stage.

Lions

Cheetahs

class=notpageimage|

Locations of South African teams of the 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup. Purple: Pool B.

Teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by less than eight points.

Pool A
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Toulon	4	4	0	0	102	56	+46	14	8	3	0	19
Glasgow Warriors	4	3	1	0	107	82	+25	16	10	2	0	16
Cardiff	4	3	0	1	154	57	+97	23	7	3	0	15
Bristol Bears	4	4	0	0	121	54	+67	19	8	3	0	14*
Connacht	4	3	0	1	135	72	+63	19	10	2	0	14
Brive	4	1	0	3	66	157	–91	9	23	1	1	6
Newcastle Falcons	4	1	0	3	63	132	–69	8	19	1	0	5
Bath	4	0	1	3	68	105	–37	8	14	0	1	3
Perpignan	4	0	0	4	68	118	–50	10	18	1	0	1
Zebre Parma	4	0	0	4	56	107	–51	8	17	0	1	1
Green background (rows 1 to 6) are qualification places for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Starting table — source: EPCR * Bristol Bears were deducted 5 match points for selecting an ineligible player[4]

Pool B
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Scarlets	4	4	0	0	124	57	+67	16	8	2	0	18
Benetton	4	3	0	1	120	70	+50	16	10	3	0	15
Lions	4	2	1	1	98	85	+13	11	11	2	0	12
Stade Français	4	2	0	2	85	86	–1	11	10	1	1	10
Dragons	4	1	1	2	98	103	–5	12	11	2	2	10
Cheetahs	4	2	0	2	73	87	–14	8	9	1	1	10
Pau	4	1	0	3	64	72	–8	6	6	0	3	7
Bayonne	4	0	0	4	28	130	–102	4	19	0	0	0
Green background (rows 1 to 6) are qualification places for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Starting table — source: EPCR

The knockout stage was played across 31 March/1/2 April with a single leg round of 16 matches consisting of the top six ranked teams from each pool and the teams ranked 9th and 10th in each pool of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup (Clermont, Lyon, Racing 92 and Sale Sharks denoted by * in the bracket). The Round of 16 followed a pre-determined format, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals always guaranteed home advantage to the higher ranked team.

The last-16 were dominated by clubs from Top 14 (eight) and the United Rugby Championship (six), with only two English clubs reaching the knockout stages - both eliminated in the first play-off round along with the only Irish team, Connacht, while both South African clubs departed by the quarter-finals. Treviso became the first Italian side to reach a European semi-final, as three URC teams from three different countries(Italy, Scotland and Wales) reached the final four along with French giant Toulon.

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

B1

Scarlets

19

A6

Brive

7

B1

Scarlets

32

B9

Clermont

30

A4

Bristol Bears

26

B9*

Clermont

33

B1

Scarlets

17

A2

Glasgow Warriors

35

A2

Glasgow Warriors

73

B5

Dragons

33

A2

Glasgow Warriors

31

B3

Lions

21

B3

Lions

51

A10*

Racing 92

28

A2

Glasgow Warriors

19

A1

Toulon

43

A1

Toulon

36

B6

Cheetahs

21

A1

Toulon

48

A9

Lyon

23

B4

Stade Français

24

A9*

Lyon

41

A1

Toulon

23

B2

Benetton

0

B2

Benetton

41

A5

Connacht

19

B2

Benetton

27

A3

Cardiff

23

A3

Cardiff

28

B10*

Sale Sharks

27

31 March 2023 20:00

Bristol Bears	26–33	Clermont
Try: Randall 33' c Radradra 37' c Con: MacGinty (2/2) 34', 38' Pen: MacGinty (4/5) 10', 17', 49', 77'	Report	Try: Lavanini 23' c Penaud (2) 27' c, 70' m Moala 39' m Con: Belleau (2/4) 24', 28' Pen: Belleau (3/3) 13', 42', 56'

Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol Attendance: 11,207 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

31 March 2023 20:00

Scarlets	19–7	Brive
Try: Fifita 50' m Shingler 78' m Pen: Costelow (3/3) 3', 15', 28'	Report	Try: Olding 46' c Con: Olding (1/1) 48'

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Attendance: 7,784 Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (England)

1 April 2023 13:30

Toulon	36–21	Cheetahs
Try: Salles 12' c Baubigny 30' m Luc 40+1' c Isa 47' m Wainiqolo 53' c Con: Salles (3/5) 13', 40+5', 54'	Report	Try: Van Rensburg 42' c Jasper 58' c Bernardo 71' c Con: Pienaar (3/3) 43', 59', 72'

Stade Mayol, Toulon Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

1 April 2023 16:00

Stade Français	24–41	Lyon
Try: Dachary 47' m Penalty try 19' Pen: Segonds (4/5) 6', 42', 44', 61'	Report	Try: Penalty try 50' Couilloud 56' c Marchand 77' m Dumortier 79' c Con: Sopoaga (2/3) 57', 80' Pen: Sopoaga (5/5) 8', 30', 36', 70', 73'

Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

1 April 2023 16:00

Benetton	41–19	Connacht
Try: Watson (2) 20' c, 52' c Smith 27' c Padovani (2) 36' c, 45' m Ruzza 61' m Con: Umaga (4/6) 21', 28', 37', 53' Pen: Umaga (1/2) 75'	Report	Try: Oliver 12' m Porch (2) 17' c, 56' c Con: Hawkshaw (1/2) 18' Forde (1/1) 57'

Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)

1 April 2023 17:30

Glasgow Warriors	73–33	Dragons
Try: Horne 2' c Matthews (5) 14' c, 22' m, 26' c, 33' c, 42' c Turner 56' c Forbes 58' c Jones 60' c Steyn (2) 72' m, 80' c Con: Horne (8/10) 3', 15', 27', 34', 43', 57', 59', 61' c Miotti (1/1) 80'	Report	Try: J. Williams 18' c Dyer 29' c Rosser 38' c Dee (2) 45' c, 75' c Con: Reed (4/5) 19', 39', 46', 77'

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 5,140 Referee: Tual Trainini (France)

1 April 2023 18:30

Lions	51–28	Racing 92
Try: Louw (2) 4' c, 51' c Van der Merwe 7' c Maxwane 22' c R. Venter 40' c Lombard 54' c Nohamba 66' c Con: Nohamba (5/6) 5', 40'+1, 52', 55', 67 Pen: Nohamba (1/1) 17'	Report	Try: Moukoro (2) 11' c, 28' c Volavola 48' c Taofifénua 58' c Con: Le Garrec (3/3) 12', 29', 48'c Spring (1/1) 59'

Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg Attendance: 2,894 Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

1 April 2023 20:00

Cardiff	28–27	Sale Sharks
Try: Domachowski 19' c Adams (2) 33' m, 40'+2 c Con: Evans (2/3) 20', 40'+3 Pen: Evans (2/2) 9', 71' Priestland (1/1) 43'	Report	Try: Van der Merwe 15' c Roebuck 51' c Ashman 63' c Con: Ford (3/3) 16', 52', 63' Pen: Ford (2/2) 29', 58'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 7,512 Referee: Luc Ramos (France)

7 April 2023 20:00

Scarlets	32–30	Clermont
Try: Halfpenny 7' m Costelow 14' c J. Williams 36' c Conbeer 76' c Con: Halfpenny (1/2) 15' Costelow (2/2) 37', 76' Pen: Halfpenny (1/1) 6' Costelow (1/2) 68'	Report	Try: Simone 20' m Raka (2) 29' c, 44' m Beria 64' c Con: Belleau (1/3) 31' Plisson (1/1) 64' Pen: Belleau (2/2) 3', 35'

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Attendance: 7,634 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

8 April 2023 13:30

Toulon	48–23	Lyon
Try: Wainiqolo (2) 29' m, 66' m Baubigny 38' c Priso 40+3' c Nayacalevu 49' c Ollivon 57' c Luc 77' c Con: West (4/5) 39', 40+5, 50', 58' Biggar (1/2) 78' Pen: West (1/1) 5'	Report	Try: Couilloud 61' c Arnold 71' c Con: Berdeu (2/2) 61', 72' Pen: Sopoaga (3/4) 2', 8', 46'

Stade Mayol, Toulon Attendance: 12,095 Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

8 April 2023 16:00

Benetton	27–23	Cardiff
Try: Smith 20' c Lamaro 56' c Watson 68' c Con: Umaga (2/2) 21', 57' Albornoz (1/1) 70' Pen: Umaga (2/2) 6', 12'	Report	Try: Young 30' c Grady 46' c Con: Priestland (2/2) 30', 47' Pen: Priestland (2/2) 43', 61'

Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

8 April 2023 20:00

Glasgow Warriors	31–21	Lions
Try: Dempsey 9' c Dobie 17' c Z. Fagerson 48' c Jordan 73' c Con: Horne (4/4) 10', 19', 49', 74' Pen: Horne (1/1) 68'	Report	Try: Nohamba 43' c F. Horn 64' c Brandon 76' c Con: Nohamba (1/1) 43' Lombard (2/2) 65', 76'

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 4,249 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

The higher-ranked club gained home stadium advantage, however, in the event that a South African team had been the higher ranked side, the game would have been located in Europe.

29 April 2023 17:30

Scarlets	17–35	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Steff Evans 31' m Pen: Costelow (4/4) 24’, 28’, 40’, 46’	Report	Try: McDowall (2) 2' c, 79' c Horne 43' c Matthews 50' c Darge 56' c Con: Horne (5/5) 4’, 43’, 51’, 57’, 80’ + 1

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Attendance: 13,077 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

30 April 2023 13:30

Toulon	23–0	Benetton
Try: Paia'aua 4' c Gigashvili 17' c Con: Biggar (2/2) 5', 17' Pen: Biggar (3/3) 13', 42', 46'	Report

Stade Mayol, Toulon Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

19 May 2023 20:00 IST (UTC+01)

Glasgow Warriors	19–43	Toulon
Try: Steyn (2) 55' c, 73' c Cancelliere 68' m Con: Horne (2/3) 56', 74'	Report	Try: Serin (2) 4' c, 24' c Parisse 17' c Wainiqolo 57' m Nayacalevu 63' m West 77' c Con: Serin (3/3) 5', 18', 26' Paillaugue (2/3) 64', 79' Pen: Paillaugue (1/2) 50'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 31,514 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points As of 30 April 2023 Source:[5] Rank Player Club Points 1 Sam Costelow Scarlets 62 2 Rhys Priestland Cardiff 57 3 George Horne Glasgow 47 4 Dan Biggar Toulon 39 5 AJ MacGinty Bristol 38

Most tries As of 29 April 2023 Source:[5] Rank Player Club Tries 1 Johnny Matthews Glasgow 7 2 Josh Adams Cardiff 6 Jiuta Wainiqolo Toulon Steff Evans Scarlets 5 Rhyno Smith Benetton 5

• 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup