A big weekend of global sports is upon us.
Singapore hosts the Rugby Sevens and LIV Golf. F1 comes to Miami. SailGP comes to Bermuda. There are NSL events in Rhode Island and Nashville. The Investec Champions Cup rugby semifinals happen in Ireland and in France. Finally, the Challenger Cup semifinals take place too on Saturday. This is the second division of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR).
The EPCR Challenger Cup semis are both being contested in England. The matchups are the Sharks (Durban, South Africa) vs Clermont (Central France) and Gloucester (west of England) vs Benetton (outside Venice, Italy). After the finals are played on May 24th one of these four teams will emerge victorious and thereby qualify for the Investec Champions Cup next season, the "Champions League" of European rugby, and the strongest club rugby competition in the world.
But how does it all work, you may wonder?
The Investec Champions Cup, aka EPCR Champions Cup, features the finest domestic rugby teams from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. The 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is in its tenth season of competition. The competition usually begins between October and December, when 24 teams play one another during the pool stage. The top 16 teams then progress to the knockout stages and the final is held in May. This year the finals are on May 25th in London. The finalists are decided this weekend.
How did these rugby clubs get into the Champions Cup? Historically 24 teams qualify for the competition, the same number as used to qualify for the Heineken Cup. 23 of the 24 teams qualify automatically based on finishing position in their respective leagues. The winner of the Challenge Cup will earn a place in the Champions Cup regardless of league position in their domestic league. There are three domestic leagues, namely England, France and URC. URC, or the United Rugby Championship, is a combination of numerous nations. The team distribution is typically the top 8 English Premiership teams; the top 8 teams in the French "Top 14" league; and the top 8 teams from the URC. The URC comprises teams from South Africa, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
In the English premiership table the top 8 teams that have qualified for the Investec Cup have already been decided, there is only one round of matches left for the season. The last two teams in the table will not qualify because they are too far behind on points, namely: Gloucester and Newcastle. That said, Gloucester can still qualify by winning their semi tomorrow and then the Challenger Cup final on May 24th.
The French Top 14 league table standings are not yet decided - there are still a few rounds of regular play left for the season. The teams that are vying for coveted Champions Cup spaces are USA Perpignan, Castres Olympique, Section Paloise, Lyon, and Clermont, each of which still has the opportunity to finish top 8 and qualify. Clermont, like Gloucester, also have a chance of getting through by winning the EPCR 2nd division, starting with their semifinal tomorrow.
The top 8 in the URC current standings are not yet decided. The Stormers, Connacht, Ulster, and Benetton are in a position to qualify but are living dangerously. Edinburgh, Ospreys, and the Lions are below the cut line but can still make it. Also, the Sharks (Durban) will not finish top 8 but could still qualify for the Champions Cup by winning the Challenger Cup. Benetton are in 8th place so can still go through based on points. Like Clermont in France, they will have a second bite at the apple in the Challenger Cup semis and finals.
So Gloucester and the Sharks have no other way to the Champions Cup except to win their respective semis tomorrow. Expect them to put their bodies on the line in these "do or die" matches. Fresh legs could make all the difference here (more about this in a later blog post). Notably, the Sharks, Gloucester and Clermont have all participated in the Investec Cup in the prior season ending 2023 and were relegated. And the Italian side, Benetton, was last in the Champions Cup back in the 2019/20 season. No Italian side has played in the competition since. So, they are all pretty desperate to get back into the top flight tournament. They know the stakes.
