Rugby Challenge Cup
| European Rugby Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
Current season or competition:: 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup
|
|
 |
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| Sport | Rugby union |
| Inaugural season | 1996 |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Nations |
 England France Wales Ireland Italy Scotland Georgia Romania Russia Spain Portugal Germany Belgium
|
| Holders |
Montpellier (2015–16)
|
| Most titles |
Harlequins (3 titles)
|
| Website | EPCR Website |
| Related competitions |
European Rugby Champions Cup Qualifying Competition |
The European Rugby Challenge Cup is an annual European rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby. It is the second tier competition for clubs whose country's national team compete in the Six Nations Championship, as well as some teams from select other European nations. The first edition on the tournament was in 2014, after it replaced the European Challenge Cup which had run since 1996, following disagreements in the structure of the format of the tournament and division of revenue.
Twenty teams qualify for the Challenge Cup, 18 from the three main European domestic leagues (English Premiership, Top 14, and Pro12), and two from a special Qualifying Competition between teams from other European nations.
Montpellier are the current Challenge Cup holders, having won the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup, while Harlequins have won the tournament a record three times, most recently in 2011.
20 teams will qualify for the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
18 of these teams will automatically qualify from the English Premiership, the French Top 14 and the Pro12.
The 19th and 20th teams will qualify via a Qualifying Competition, organised by European Professional Club Rugby and Rugby Europe.
For the 2014–15 season, this took the form of 2 two-legged play-off matches, with the aggregate winner of each taking one of the two Rugby Europe spots in the draw, and it will involve the 2 best teams from Italy's National Championship of Excellence, plus a Romanian and Georgian selections.
An expanded format, which is expected to feature more matches and more nations, for qualification into the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup, and subsequent seasons, was expected to be announced 15 September 2014. However, on 5 September 2014, it was announced that no such competition would take place during the 2014–15 season, and negotiations continue to create the new competition as soon as possible.
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