Twenty clubs will play in next season’s EPCR Challenge Cup with eight representatives from the Vodacom URC, including the Johannesburg-based Emirates Lions who will also be making a historic first appearance in an EPCR competition, six from the TOP 14, five from the Premiership, as well as the Toyota Cheetahs from Bloemfontein who have accepted an invitation to compete. (See qualifiers below)

The clubs will be divided into two pools of 10 – Pool A and Pool B – and in a similar format to the Heineken Champions Cup, the tournament will be played over eight weekends with four rounds of matches in the pool stage starting in December.

The six highest-ranked clubs from each pool, as well as the 9th and 10th ranked clubs from each of the Heineken Champions Cup pools, will qualify for a Round of 16, which will be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final at the Aviva Stadium on 19 May 2023.

The live-streamed draw for the EPCR Challenge Cup pools is also scheduled to take place at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday 28 June with the clubs separated into three tiers based on their rankings, and clubs from the same league will not play against one another during the pool stage.

The number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league will be in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs from each league, as well as the number 5 and number 6 ranked clubs from the Vodacom URC, will be in Tier 2. The Dragons, Zebre Parma, Aviron Bayonnais, USAP, Bath Rugby and the Toyota Cheetahs will be in Tier 3.

The Tier 1 and the Tier 3 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league, will play one another home and away over four pool stage rounds.

The Tier 2 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not from the same league, will play one another home and away during the pool stage. In order to adhere to the key principle of no same-league matches, Tier 2 clubs from the TOP 14 can only play against opposition from the Vodacom URC, and similarly, Tier 2 clubs from the Premiership can also only play against opposition from the Vodacom URC.

Further details and timings for the draws for both the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup pools will be communicated shortly.

2022/23 EPCR CHALLENGE CUP QUALIFIERS

United Rugby Championship: 1 Glasgow Warriors, 2 Scarlets, 3 Connacht Rugby, 4 Emirates Lions, 5 Benetton Rugby, 6 Cardiff Rugby, 7 Dragons, 8 Zebre Parma

TOP 14: 1 RC Toulon, 2 Section Paloise, 3 Stade Français Paris, 4 CA Brive, 5 Aviron Bayonnais, 6 USAP

Gallagher Premiership: 1 Wasps, 2 Bristol Bears, 3 Worcester Warriors, 4 Newcastle Falcons, 5 Bath Rugby

Invited: Toyota Cheetahs

2022/23 key dates
Round 1 – 9/10/11 December 2022
Round 2 – 16/17/18 December 2022
Round 3 – 13/14/15 January 2023
Round 4 – 20/21/22 January 2023
Round of 16 – 31 March/ 1/2 April 2023
Quarter-finals – 7/8/9 April 2023
Semi-finals – 28/29/30 April 2023
EPCR Challenge Cup final – Friday 19 May 2023; Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Heineken Champions Cup final – Saturday 20 May 2023; Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Issued by SA Rugby Communications

????CONFIRMED????

Our lineup for the 2022/23 #ChallengeCupRugby season is OUT ????

More ➡️ https://t.co/9Gb1a7FE2S pic.twitter.com/Rx08Uwl5zO

— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) June 13, 2022