2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup

2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup
2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup
	The EPCR Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England; France; Italy; Scotland; Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	10 December 2021 — 27 May 2022
Tournament statistics
Teams	15
Matches played	41
Attendance	309,980 (7,560 per match)
Highest attendance	51,431 - Lyon v Toulon ; 27 May 2022
Lowest attendance	200 - Zebre v Biarritz ; 11 December 2021
Tries scored	271 (6.61 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Léo Berdeu (Lyon); 71 points
Top try scorer(s)	Santiago Socino (Gloucester); 5 tries
Final
Venue	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Champions	Lyon (1st title)
Runners-up	Toulon
	← 2020–21 (Previous) (Next) 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup was 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 was 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 was increased from 14 to 15 and an additional six will join from the Champions Cup.^[1]

The tournament commenced in December 2021, and concluded with the final on 27 May 2022 at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France.^[2]^[3]

Lyon, who are in their first European final, won the Challenge Cup by defeating Toulon making it their first European title. It is also their first major title since their Champion de France title in 1933.

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 defending champions 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	Gloucester London Irish Newcastle Falcons Saracens Worcester Warriors	Biarritz Brive Lyon Pau Perpignan Toulon	Benetton Zebre Parma	Edinburgh	Dragons
Transferred from Champions Cup	Bath Northampton Saints Wasps	Castres		Glasgow Warriors	Cardiff

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	Nicolas Nadau	Steffon Armitage	Parc des Sports Aguiléra	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	Quentin Lespiaucq-Brettes	Stade du Hameau	18,324	Top 14 bottom 6 (12th)
Perpignan	Patrick Arlettaz	Mathieu Acebes	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

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Toulon	4	3	0	1	107	57	+50	13	7	3	1	16
2	Newcastle Falcons	4	3	0	1	73	89	−16	10	10	2	0	14
3	Biarritz	4	2	1	1	59	47	+12	8	4	1	1	12
4	Worcester Warriors	4	1	1	2	85	91	−6	11	12	2	1	9
5	Zebre Parma	4	0	0	4	75	115	−40	8	17	1	1	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Pool B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Lyon	4	4	0	122	57	+65	14	5	2	0	18
2	Gloucester	4	3	1	161	84	+77	23	10	3	1	16
3	Benetton	4	2	2	75	95	−20	9	12	0	0	8
4	Perpignan	4	1	3	54	138	−84	7	18	0	0	4
5	Dragons	4	0	4	74	112	−38	7	15	0	2	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Pool C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Edinburgh	4	3	0	1	161	47	+114	22	6	2	1	15
2	London Irish	4	2	1	1	78	82	−4	12	11	2	0	12
3	Saracens	4	2	0	2	118	78	+40	17	11	2	1	11
4	Brive	4	1	1	2	41	146	−105	4	21	0	0	6
5	Pau	4	1	0	3	75	120	−45	10	16	1	0	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Knock Out Stage

Seeding for knockout stage

Seed	Pool Leaders	Pts	Diff	TF
1	Lyon	18	+65	14
2	Toulon	16	+50	13
3	Edinburgh	15	+114	22
Seed	Pool Runners–up	Pts	Diff	TF
4	Gloucester Rugby	16	+77	23
5	Newcastle Falcons	14	–16	10
6	London Irish	12	–4	12
Seed	Pool Third placed	Pts	Diff	TF
7	Biarritz Olympique	12	+12	8
8	Saracens	11	+40	17
9	Benetton	8	–20	9
Seed	Best fourth placed	Pts	Diff	TF
10	Worcester Warriors	9	–6	11
–	Brive	6	–105	4
–	Perpignan	4	–84	7
Seed	Heineken Champions Cup (17–22)^[5]	Pts	Diff	TF
11 – HCC 1	Cardiff	7	–33	13
12 – HCC 2	Wasps	6	–51	6
13 – HCC 3	Castres Olympique	5	–14	9
14 – HCC 4	Glasgow Warriors	5	–35	7
15 – HCC 5	Northampton Saints	2	–68	6
16 – HCC 6	Bath	2	–100	6

Bracket

Round of 16			Quarter-finals			Semi-finals			Final

1	Lyon	31

10	Worcester Warriors	17
			1	Lyon	35

			14	Glasgow Warriors	27
5	Newcastle Falcons	17

14	Glasgow Warriors	27
						1	Lyon	20

						12	Wasps	18
3	Edinburgh	41

16	Bath	19
			3	Edinburgh	30

			12	Wasps	34
7	Biarritz Olympique	29

12	Wasps	39
									1	Lyon	30

									2	Toulon	12
2	Toulon	36

9	Benetton	17
			2	Toulon	19

			6	London Irish	18
6	London Irish	64

13	Castres	17
						2	Toulon	25

						8	Saracens	16
4	Gloucester	31

15	Northampton Saints	21
			4	Gloucester	15

			8	Saracens	44
8	Saracens	40

11	Cardiff	33

Round of 16

15 April 2022
17:30 BST

London Irish	64–27	Castres
Try: Creevy (2) 6' c, 24' c Rona 17' m Pearson 34' c González 37' c Rowe 39' c Rogerson 71' m Joseph 75' c Cornish 78' c Janse van Rensburg 79' m Con: Jackson (7/10) 7', 25', 35', 38', 40', 77', 79'	Report	Try: Kockott 45' c Chabouni 54' c Arata 58' c Con: Botica (3/3) 46', 55', 59' Pen: Botica (2/2) 21', 67'

Brentford Community Stadium
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

15 April 2022
19:00 CEST

Biarritz Olympique	29–39	Wasps
Try: Peyresblanques 28' m Hirigoyen 42' c Armitage 57' c Soury 68' c Con: Bosch (3/4) 43', 58', 68' Pen: Bosch (1/1) 14'	Report	Try: Umaga 11' m Barbeary (3) 14' c, 22' c, 75' c Robson 26' c Con: Gopperth (4/5) 15', 23', 27', 76' Pen: Gopperth (2/2) 9', 62'

Parc des Sports Aguiléra
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)

15 April 2022
21:00 CEST

Lyon	31–17	Worcester Warriors
Try: Couilloud 4' c R. Taofifénua 15' c Devisme 47' c Barassi 76' c Con: Sopoaga (3/3) 5', 16', 48' Berdeu (1/1) 78' Pen: Berdeu (1/1) 57'	Report	Try: Howe 2' m Hill 50' m Searle 75' c Con: Searle (1/3) 76'

Matmut Stadium de Gerland
Attendance: 10,500
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

15 April 2022
20:00 BST

Newcastle Falcons	17–27	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Montgomery 51' c Hodgson 65' c Con: Connon (1/1) 52' Hodgson (1/1) 66' Pen: Connon (1/1) 27'	Report	Try: Matthews 3' c Steyn (2) 6' m, 57' m McKay 31' c Con: Thompson (2/4) 4', 32' Pen: Thompson (1/2) 62'

Kingston Park
Attendance: 4,121
Referee: Tual Trainini (France)

16 April 2022
20:00 BST

Edinburgh	41–19	Bath
Try: Boffelli (2) 10' m, 62' c Kinghorn 31' c Schoeman 52' c Bennett 68' m Boyle 78' c Con: Boffelli (4/6) 31', 53', 64', 79' Pen: Boffelli (1/1) 22'	Report	Try: Underhill (2) 1' c, 25' m B. Spencer 34' c Con: Bailey (1/2) 2' B. Spencer (1/1) 35'

DAM Health Stadium
Attendance: 5,071
Referee: Ludovic Cayre (France)

16 April 2022
20:00 BST

Gloucester	31–21	Northampton Saints
Try: Thorley 4' c Rapava-Ruskin 7' c Alemanno 21' c Socino 46' c Con: Hastings (4/4) 5', 8', 22', 47' Pen: Hastings (1/1) 54'	Report	Try: Augustus 32' c Hutchinson 38' c Haywood 66' c Con: Biggar (2/2) 33', 39' Furbank (1/1) 67'

Kingsholm
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

16 April 2022
21:00 CEST

Toulon	36–17	Benetton
Try: Villière 7' c Ollivon 27' c Coulon 78' c Con: Carbonel (3/3) 8', 28', 80' Pen: Carbonel (5/6) 37', 62', 67', 72', 76'	Report	Try: Menoncello 52' c Ioane 60' c Con: Smith (2/2) 53', 61' Pen: Smith (1/1) 4'

Stade Mayol
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

17 April 2022
13:00 BST

Saracens	40–33	Cardiff
Try: Morris 36' c Maitland (2) 51' c, 57' m Davies 63' m Malins 69' c Con: Farrell (3/5) 37', 52', 70' Pen: Farrell (3/3) 14', 24', 31'	Report	Try: T. Williams 40' c Lane 48' c Carré 74' c Con: Priestland (2/2) 40+1', 49' J. Evans (1/1) 75' Pen: Priestland (4/5) 8', 32', 55', 60'

StoneX Stadium
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Quarter-finals

6 May 2022
20:00 BST

Gloucester	15–44	Saracens
Try: Singleton 30' m Rees-Zammit 73' c Con: Twelvetrees (1/1) 74' Pen: Hastings (1/1) 44'	Report	Try: Davies 8' c Itoje 47' c Tompkins 51' c George 61' c Taylor 71' c Con: Farrell (5/5) 9', 48', 52', 62', 72' Pen: Farrell (3/3) 5', 18', 36'

Kingsholm Stadium
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

7 May 2022
12:30 BST

Edinburgh	30–34	Wasps
Try: Vellacott 12' c McBurney 25' c Bradbury 66' c Con: Boffelli (3/3) 13', 26', 66' Pen: Boffelli (3/3) 9', 42', 73'	Report	Try: Gopperth 15' c Alo 43' c West 57' c Barbeary 75' c Con: Gopperth (4/4) 16', 44', 58', 77' Pen: Gopperth (2/2) 7', 49'

DAM Health Stadium
Attendance: 6,431
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

7 May 2022
21:00 CEST

Lyon	35–27	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Couilloud 35' c R. Taofifénua 55' c Niniashvili (2) 61' m, 75' c Con: Berdeu (2/3) 36', 76' Doussain (1/1) 57' Pen: Berdeu (3/4) 1', 12', 70'	Report	Try: McKay 5' c Forbes 39' c Penalty try 49' Con: Thompson (2/2) 6', 40' Pen: Thompson (2/2) 23', 27'

Stade de Gerland
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

8 May 2022
13:30 CEST

Toulon	19–18	London Irish
Try: Ollivon 59' c Con: Carbonel (1/1) 59' Pen: Carbonel (4/5) 36', 40', 43', 66'	Report	Try: Tuisue 8' c Arundell 73' m Con: Jackson (1/2) 10' Pen: Jackson (2/3) 4', 62'

Stade Mayol
Attendance: 11,300
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

Semi-finals

14 May 2022
13:30 CEST

Lyon	20–18	Wasps
Try: Berdeu 46' c Charcosset 53' c Con: Berdeu (2/2) 48', 54' Pen: Berdeu (2/4) 35', 64'	Report	Try: Robson 23' m Gopperth 73' c Con: Gopperth (1/2) 74' Pen: Gopperth (2/2) 38', 51'

Stade de Gerland
Attendance: 10,525
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

14 May 2022
21:00 CEST

Toulon	25–16	Saracens
Try: Villière (2) 2' c, 39' m Wainiqolo 60' c Con: Carbonel (2/3) 4', 61' Pen: Carbonel (1/2) 33'	Report	Try: Earl 15' c Con: Farrell (1/1) 17' Pen: Farrell (3/4) 12', 26', 58'

Stade Mayol
Attendance: 13,368
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Final

27 May 2022
21:00

Lyon	30–12	Toulon
Try: Couilloud 7' c Penalty try 45' Barassi 47' c Con: Berdeu (2/2) 9', 49' Pen: Berdeu (2/3) 20', 59' Ngatai (1/1) 70'	Report	Try: Serin 16' c Kolbe 73' m Con: Carbonel (1/1) 17' Kolbe (0/1)

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 51,431
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

Notes

^ When crowds were in attendance

References

^ "Twickenham Stadium to host 2021 EPCR finals". European Professional Club Rugby. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
^ "EPCR statement – 2021 Marseille finals and semi-final matches". European Professional Club Rugby. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
^ "Key 2021/22 EPCR dates announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
^ "New EPCR tournament formats agreed for 2020/21 season". European Professional Club Rugby. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
^ "FalconsRugby.org.uk - Challenge Cup progress". m.rugbynetwork.net. Retrieved 22 March 2023.

[1] When crowds were in attendance

[2] "Twickenham Stadium to host 2021 EPCR finals". European Professional Club Rugby. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.

[3] "EPCR statement – 2021 Marseille finals and semi-final matches". European Professional Club Rugby. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.

[4] "Key 2021/22 EPCR dates announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.

[5] "New EPCR tournament formats agreed for 2020/21 season". European Professional Club Rugby. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.

[6] "FalconsRugby.org.uk - Challenge Cup progress". m.rugbynetwork.net. Retrieved 22 March 2023.

[a]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e 2021–22 European club competitions
Football	Men Champions League Europa League Europa Conference League Super Cup Youth League Women Champions League
Football variants	Futsal Champions League Women's European Champions Beach soccer Euro Winners Cup Women's Euro Winners Cup
Basketball	Men EuroLeague EuroCup Champions League FIBA Europe Cup Women EuroLeague EuroCup SuperCup
Volleyball	Men Champions League CEV Cup Challenge Cup Women Champions League CEV Cup Challenge Cup
Handball	Men Champions League European League European Cup Women Champions League European League European Cup
Water polo	Men Champions League Euro Cup Super Cup Women Euro League LEN Trophy Super Cup
Rugby union	Men Champions Cup Challenge Cup Super Cup
Ice hockey	Men Champions Hockey League Continental Cup
Indoor hockey	Men EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup Women EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup
Field hockey	Men Euro Hockey League Ranking Cup Trophy I Trophy II Women Euro Hockey League Trophy
Roller hockey	Men Euroleague World Skate Europe Cup Continental Cup Women European League
Lacrosse	Men Ken Galluccio Cup

Teams

Team details

Pool stage

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Knock Out Stage

Seeding for knockout stage

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

See also

Notes

References