2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup


The 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup is the sixth edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 24th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition. Clubs from six European nations compete, including Russian and Italian clubs who qualified via the Continental Shield.
The tournament began in November 2019. The final will take place on 16 October at a venue to be confirmed.

Teams

20 teams will qualify for the 2019–20 European Challenge Cup; 18 will qualify from Premiership Rugby, the Pro14 and the Top 14, as a direct result of their domestic league performance, with two qualifying through the 2018–19 Continental Shield. The distribution of teams is:
No team from Ireland will participate in the competition as all four clubs have qualified for the 2019-20 European Champions Cup.
The following clubs have qualified for the Challenge Cup.

Qualifying competition

Six teams were split into two pools of three to compete in the pool stage of the European Rugby Continental Shield. Each team played the other two teams in its pool twice on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each pool will each other in a two-legged play-off for a place in the Challenge Cup.
The Russian team and the Romanian team which competed in the 2018-19 European Challenge Cup will play each other in a two-legged play-off for a place in the Challenge Cup.

Qualifying Play-offs

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Team details

Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.
Note: Placing shown in brackets, denotes standing at the end of the regular season for their respective leagues, with their end of season positioning shown through CH for Champions, RU for Runner-up, SF for losing Semi-finalist and QF for losing Quarter-finalist.
TeamCoach /
Director of Rugby		CaptainStadiumCapacityMethod of Qualification
Agen Christophe LaussucqStade Armandie14,000Top 14 7th-12th
Bayonne Yannick Bru Antoine BattutStade Jean Dauger16,934Pro D2 champions
Bordeaux Bègles Christophe Urios Jefferson PoirotStade Chaban-Delmas34,694Top 14 7th-12th
Bristol Bears Pat Lam Steven LuatuaAshton Gate27,000Premiership 8th-11th
Brive Jeremy Davidson Saïd HirecheStade Amédée-Domenech16,000Pro D2 / Top 14 play-off winner
Calvisano Massimo Brunello Alberto ChiesaStadio San Michele5,000European Rugby Continental Shield play-off winner
Cardiff Blues John Mulvihill Ellis JenkinsCardiff Arms Park12,125Pro14 Conference A
Castres Mauricio Reggiardo Mathieu BabillotStade Pierre-Fabre12,500Top 14 7th-12th
Dragons Dean Ryan Cory HillRodney Parade8,700Pro14 Conference B
Edinburgh Richard Cockerill Stuart McInallyMurrayfield Stadium67,144Pro14 Conference B
Enisei-STM Alexander Pervukhin Uldis SauliteKuban Stadium35,200European Rugby Continental Shield play-off winner
Leicester Tigers Geordan Murphy Tom YoungsWelford Road Stadium25,849Premiership 8th-11th
London Irish Declan Kidney Blair CowanMadejski Stadium24,161RFU Championship champions
Pau Nicolas Godignon
Frédéric Manca		 Quentin LespiaucqStade du Hameau18,324Top 14 7th-12th
Scarlets Brad Mooar Ken OwensParc y Scarlets14,870Pro14 Conference B
Stade Français Heyneke Meyer
 Yoann MaestriStade Jean-Bouin20,000Top 14 7th-12th
Toulon Patrice Collazo Raphaël LakafiaStade Mayol18,200Top 14 7th-12th
Wasps Lee BlackettRicoh Arena32,609Premiership 8th-11th
Worcester Warriors Alan Solomons GJ van VelzeSixways Stadium11,499Premiership 8th-11th
Zebre Michael Bradley Tommaso CastelloStadio Sergio Lanfranchi5,000Pro14 Conference A

Seeding

The 20 competing teams will be seeded and split into four tiers; seeding is based on performance in their respective domestic leagues. Where promotion and relegation is in effect in a league, the promoted team is seeded last, or by performance in the lower competition.
RankTop 14PremiershipPro 14Continental Shield
1 Castres Wasps Scarlets Enisey-STM
2 Stade Français Bristol Bears Cardiff Blues Calvisano
3 Toulon Worcester Warriors Edinburgh
4 Bordeaux Bègles Leicester Tigers Dragons
5 Pau London Irish Zebre
6 Agen
7 Bayonne
8 Brive

Based on these seedings, teams are placed into one of the four tiers, with the top-seeded clubs being put in Tier 1. The nature of the tier system means that a draw is needed to allocate two of the three second-seed clubs to Tier 1. The fourth-seed team from the same domestic league as the second-seed team which was put in Tier 2 will also be placed in Tier 2. Brackets show each team's seeding and their league. e.g. 1 Top 14 indicates the team was the top seed from the Top 14.
Given the nature of the Continental Shield, a competition including developing rugby nations and Italian clubs not competing in the Pro14, the qualifying teams from this competition are automatically included in Tier 4.
Tier 1 Wasps Scarlets Castres Stade Français Cardiff Blues
Tier 2 Bristol Bears Worcester Warriors Edinburgh Toulon Leicester Tigers
Tier 3 Bordeaux Bègles Dragons London Irish Zebre Pau
Tier 4 Agen Bayonne Brive Enisey-STM Calvisano

Pool stage

The draw took place in June 2019.
Teams in the same pool will play each other twice, both at home and away in the group stage, that will begin in November 2019, and continue through to January 2020, before the pool winners and three best runners-up progressed to the quarter finals.
Teams will be awarded competition points, based on match result. Teams receive four points for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.
In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers will be used, as directed by EPCR:
  1. Where teams have played each other
  2. # The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
  3. # If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
  4. # If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
  5. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition
  6. # The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
  7. # If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
  8. # If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
  9. # If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.
Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals.

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Pool 5

Ranking of pool leaders and runners-up

Knock-out stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Attendances

ClubHome
Games		TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Agen37,5802,5273,5701,99718%
Bayonne321,5667,1899,0535,05742%
Bordeaux Bègles343,69414,56517,55312,23342%
Bristol Bears332,50510,83511,12010,51140%
Brive39,3353,1124,5331,80019%
Calvisano35,4501,8172,50095036%
Cardiff Blues317,6125,8717,1224,66848%
Castres324,5078,1698,2777,95765%
Dragons312,0884,0294,0384,01346%
Edinburgh317,5295,8436,3875,4329%
Enisei-STM37002334001001%
Leicester Tigers346,86115,62016,53815,07360%
London Irish39,0833,0283,4442,63213%
Pau314,1154,7056,1243,72426%
Scarlets320,5756,8587,5656,25746%
Stade Français36,0002,0002,0002,00010%
Toulon338,57512,85815,33610,21271%
Wasps320,8476,9497,5946,10721%
Worcester Warriors320,1246,7086,9386,28758%
Zebre36,1002,0332,2001,90041%

Player scoring

RankPlayerTeamPoints
1 Jamie ShillcockWorcester Warriors567
2 Matthieu JalibertBordeaux Bègles562
3 Sam DaviesDragons560
4 Leigh HalfpennyScarlets446
5 Clovis LebailPau542
6 Anthony BelleauToulon440
6 Jarrod EvansCardiff Blues440
7 Callum SheedyBristol Bears537
8 Tedo AbzhandadzeBrive635
9 Joris SegondsStade Français633

Most tries

RankPlayerTeamTries
1 Jamie ShillcockWorcester Warriors55
2 Jonah HolmesLeicester Tigers14
2 Josh AdamsCardiff Blues24
2 Owen LaneCardiff Blues34
2 Albert TuisueLondon Irish34
2 Darcy GrahamEdinburgh44
2 Duhan van der MerweEdinburgh44
2 Will CaponBristol Bears54
2 Ollie LawrenceWorcester Warriors54
2 Vasil LobzhanidzeBrive54
2 Vincent PintoPau64

Season records

Team

;Largest home win – 56 points
66–10 Worcester Warriors at home to Enisei-STM on 11 January 2020
;Largest away win – 70 points
73–3 Bordeaux Bègles away to Agen on 6 December 2019
;Most points scored – 73 points
73–3 Bordeaux Bègles away to Agen on 6 December 2019
;Most tries in a match – 11
Bordeaux Bègles away to Agen on 6 December 2019
;Most conversions in a match – 9
Bordeaux Bègles away to Agen on 6 December 2019
;Most penalties in a match – 6
Dragons at home to Worcester Warriors on 13 December 2019
;Most drop goals in a match – 2
Leicester Tigers at home to Cardiff Blues on 12 January 2020

Player

;Most points in a match – 27
Jamie Shillcock for Worcester Warriors away to Enisey-STM on 15 November 2019
;Most tries in a match – 4
Jonah Holmes for Leicester Tigers at home to Pau on 16 November 2019
Darcy Graham for Edinburgh at home to Agen on 18 January 2020
;Most conversions in a match – 8
Clovis Lebail for Pau at home to Calvisano on 22 November 2019
Jamie Shillcock for Worcester Warriors at home to Enisei-STM on 11 January 2020
;Most penalties in a match – 6
Sam Davies for Dragons at home to Worcester Warriors on 13 December 2019
;Most drop goals in a match – 2
George Ford for Leicester Tigers at home to Cardiff Blues on 12 January 2020

Attendances

;Highest – 17,553
Bordeaux Bègles at home to Edinburgh on 11 January 2020
;Lowest – 100
Enisei-STM at home to Castres on 6 December 2019
;Highest average attendance — 15,620
Leicester Tigers
;Lowest average attendance — 233
Enisei-STM