2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup
| 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament details | |||
| Countries |
 England France Italy Romania Russia Scotland Wales
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| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Knockout | ||
| Date | 13 October 2016 – 12 May 2017 | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Teams | 20 | ||
| Matches played | 49 | ||
| Attendance | 312,598 (6,380 per match) | ||
| Highest Attendance | 14,634 (La Rochelle v La Rochelle) |
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| Lowest Attendance | 300 (Enisey-ETM v Brive) |
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| Tries scored | 324 (6.61 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) |
Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (67 points) |
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| Top try scorer(s) |
Keelan Giles (Ospreys) (7 tries) |
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| Final | |||
| Venue | BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh | ||
| Official website | EPCR Website | ||
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The 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup is the third edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Clubs from six European nations plus one Russian club compete. It is also the 21st season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, following on from the now defunct European Challenge Cup.
Montpellier are the reigning champions, having beaten Harlequins in the final of the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup. They do not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup as a result of the win
The first round of the group stage will begin on the weekend of 13/14/15/16 October 2016, and the competition will end with the final on 12 May 2017 in Edinburgh.
20 teams will qualify for the 2016–17 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 expected distribution of teams is:
The French Top 14 had its allocation reduced by 1 place after Montpellier won the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup. This is after it was decided that, due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there would be no qualification play-off.
The following clubs have qualified for the Challenge Cup.
Once again, EPCR expanded the qualifying competition.
Eight teams were split into two pools of four. Each team played the four teams in the other pool once. The winner of each pool then played a two-legged final against last year's qualifying sides, and the winners, on aggregate, will take the two remaining places in the Challenge Cup.
Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.
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