2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup
| 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament details | |||
| Countries |
 England France Ireland Italy Russia Scotland Wales
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| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Knockout | ||
| Date | 12 November 2015 – 13 May 2016 | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Teams | 20 | ||
| Matches played | 61 | ||
| Attendance | 334,108 (5,477 per match) | ||
| Highest Attendance | 28,556 Montpellier v Harlequins 13 May 2016 |
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| Lowest Attendance | 400 Enisey-STM v Newcastle Falcons 16 January 2016 |
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| Tries scored | 347 (5.69 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) |
Benoît Paillaugue (Montpellier) Rhys Patchell (Cardiff Blues) (56 points) |
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| Top try scorer(s) |
Marcus Watson (Newcastle Falcons) (6 tries) |
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| Final | |||
| Venue | Grand Stade de Lyon, Lyon | ||
| Champions |
Montpellier (1st title) |
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| Runner-up |
Harlequins
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| Official website | EPCR Website | ||
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The 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the second edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual pan-European rugby union competition for professional clubs. It is also the 20th season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, following on from the now defunct European Challenge Cup. Due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup taking place during September and October 2015, the competition began slightly later than usual, with the first round of the group stage, on the weekend of 12/13/14/15 November 2015, and ended with the final on 13 May 2016 in Lyon.
Gloucester were the 2014-15 champions, having beaten Edinburgh 19–13 in the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup#Final.
Montpellier won the cup, defeating Harlequins in the final 26-19.
20 teams qualified for the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup; a total of 18 qualified from across the Aviva Premiership, Guinness Pro12 and Top 14, as a direct result of their domestic league performance, with two coming through a play-off. The distribution of teams was:
As of 24 May 2015, the following clubs qualified for the Challenge Cup:
The following teams took part in play-off matches to decide the final team in the Champions Cup. The play-off was held between Premiership side Gloucester, as Challenge Cup winners, and teams from the Pro12 and Top 14.
The play-off was a two-match series, with the winner of the first match progressing to the second, and the winner of that second match qualifying for the Champions Cup. The two losing sides both joined the Challenge Cup.
In December 2014, EPCR announced an expanded format for the qualifying competition.
Six teams were to compete in two pools of three. Each team played the other once, either home or away. The winner of each pool then played a two-legged final against last year's qualifying sides, and the winners, on aggregate, took the two remaining places in the Challenge Cup.
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