2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup
The 2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup was the third edition of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, an annual rugby union competition for professional clubs and franchises outside the three major leagues of European rugby. This edition of the Rugby Europe Super Cup featured one new addition to the competition, the Bohemia Rugby Warriors from the Czech Republic, who in turn replaced RC Batumi of Georgia, the team that participated in the previous edition of the tournament. For the first time, eight separate nations were represented in the competition.[1]
| 2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Countries | Belgium Czech Republic Georgia Israel Netherlands Portugal Romania Spain |
| Date | 4 November – 22 December 2023 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Teams | 8 |
| Matches played | 20 |
| Attendance | 6,664 (333 per match) |
| Tries scored | 153 (7.65 per match) |
| Final | |
| Champions | Black Lion (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Tel Aviv Heat |
The Black Lion Tbilisi from Georgia, as winners of the 2022 edition are also competing by invitation in the second tier European Challenge Cup, the first time the winner of the Super Cup has been integrated into the professional EPCR competition.
Teams edit
| Nation | Stadium | Head coach | Captain | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home stadium | Capacity | Location | |||
| Black Lion | Avchala Stadium | 2,500 | Tbilisi | Levan Maisashvili | Merab Sharikadze |
| Bohemia Rugby Warriors | Markéta Stadium | 10,000 | Prague | Antonín Brabec | Patrik Prucha |
| Brussels Devils | Stade Communal de Soignies | 1,000 | Soignies | Sébastien Guns | Robin Vermeersch |
| Castilla y León Iberians | Estadio Pepe Rojo | 5,000 | Valladolid | Miguel Velasco | Mario Pichardie |
| Delta | NRCA Stadium | 10,000 | Amsterdam | Gareth Gilbert | Vikas Meijer |
| Lusitanos | Estádio Nacional | 500 | Lisbon | Sébastien Bertrank | Tomás Appleton |
| Romanian Wolves | Arena Zimbrilor | 2,300 | Baia Mare | Eugen Apjok | Nicolaas Immelman |
| Tel Aviv Heat | Tsirio Stadium* National Rugby Center* | 13,331 3,000 | Limassol* Budapest* | Kevin Musikanth | Prince ǃGaoseb |
* Owing to the ongoing war in Israel, Tel Aviv Heat's home matches were played in Cyprus and Hungary
Group stage edit
The format was mildly rejigged from previous seasons with a 'major' and 'minor' group, rather than two geographical pools, although the distribution was roughly north (Group B) and south (Group A).
The 'major' group, Group A contained the four highest seeds, three of whom qualify for the semi finals. The 'minor' group, Group B, contained the teams ranked 5th to 8th, and the winner of that group became the fourth semi finalist. The aim was to ensure relative competitiveness across the competition.
Tel Aviv Heat played both of its home fixtures outside Israel due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
| Advances to the Grand Finals Semi-Finals | |
| Advances to the Ranking Finals Semi-Finals |
Group A edit
| Pos. | Team | Games | Points | Tries | TBP | LBP | Table points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | For | Against | Diff | |||||
| 1 | Black Lion | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 46 | +44 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | Tel Aviv Heat | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 96 | 72 | +24 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 3 | Castilla y León Iberians | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 57 | 90 | -33 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Lusitanos | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 71 | -35 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points | Draw – 2 points | At least 3 more tries than opponent – 1 point | Loss within 7 points – 1 point | ||||||||||||||
Round 1 edit
| (1 TBP) Black Lion | 39–19 | Castilla y León Iberians |
| Report |
| Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: n/a Referee: Cristian Șerban |
| Lusitanos | 23–31 | Tel Aviv Heat (1 TBP) |
| Report |
| Estádio Nacional, Lisbon Attendance: n/a Referee: Ian Kenny |
Round 2 edit
| Lusitanos | 0–22 | Black Lion (1 TBP) |
| Report |
| Estádio Nacional, Lisbon Attendance: 300 Referee: Keane Davsion |
| Castilla y León Iberians | 20–38 | Tel Aviv Heat (1 TBP) |
| Report |
| Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid Attendance: 500 Referee: Shota Tevzadze |
Round 3 edit
| (1 LBP) Tel Aviv Heat | 27–29 | Black Lion |
| Report |
| Tsirio Stadium, Limassol Attendance: 0 Referee: Luc Ramos |
| Castilla y León Iberians | 18–13 | Lusitanos (1 LBP) |
| Report |
| Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid Attendance: n/a Referee: Saba Abulashvili |
Group B edit
| Pos. | Team | Games | Points | Tries | TBP | LBP | Table points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | For | Against | Diff | |||||
| 1 | Romanian Wolves | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 167 | 17 | +150 | 25 | 3 | +22 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Brussels Devils | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 89 | 82 | +7 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Delta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 91 | 72 | +19 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Bohemia Rugby Warriors | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 193 | -176 | 2 | 28 | -26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points | Draw – 2 points | At least 3 more tries than opponent – 1 point | Loss within 7 points – 1 point | ||||||||||||||
Round 1 edit
| (1 TBP) Brussels Devils | 41–12 | Delta |
| Report |
| Stade Communal de Soignies, Soignies Attendance: 582 Referee: Mike English |
| (1 TBP) Romanian Wolves | 76–7 | Bohemia Rugby Warriors |
| Report |
| Arena Zimbrilor, Baia Mare Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Eugeniu Procopi |
Round 2 edit
| Delta | 5–31 | Romanian Wolves (1 TBP) |
| Report |
| NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 300 Referee: Saba Abulashvili |
| Markéta Stadium, Prague Attendance: n/a Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti |
Round 3 edit
| Bohemia Rugby Warriors | 0–74 | Delta (1 TBP) |
| Report |
| Markéta Stadium, Prague Attendance: 732 Referee: Ethan Glass |
| Brussels Devils | 5–60 | Romanian Wolves (1 TBP) |
| Report |
| Nelson Mandela Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 650 Referee: Paulo Duarte |
Ranking Finals edit
| Fifth place semi-finals | Fifth place Final | |||||
| 3 December – Soignies | ||||||
| Delta | 8 | |||||
| 16 December – Amsterdam | ||||||
| Lusitanos | 53 | |||||
| Lusitanos (a.e.t.) | 46 | |||||
| 2 December – Amsterdam | ||||||
| Brussels Devils | 29 | |||||
| Brussels Devils | 44 | |||||
| Bohemia Rugby Warriors | 10 | |||||
| Seventh place final | ||||||
| 16 December – Amsterdam | ||||||
| Delta | 55 | |||||
| Bohemia Rugby Warriors | 3 | |||||
Semi-finals edit
| Stade Communal de Soignies, Soignies Attendance: 250 Referee: Alexandru Ionescu |
| NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 100 Referee: Ethan Glass |
7th place final edit
| Delta | 55–3 | Bohemia Rugby Warriors |
| Report |
| NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 150 Referee: Paulo Duarte |
5th place final edit
Grand Finals edit
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 2 December – Tbilisi | ||||||
| Black Lion | 41 | |||||
| 22 December – Tbilisi | ||||||
| Castilla y León Iberians | 0 | |||||
| Black Lion | 27 | |||||
| 2 December – Budapest | ||||||
| Tel Aviv Heat | 17 | |||||
| Tel Aviv Heat | 31 | |||||
| Romanian Wolves | 6 | |||||
| Bronze final | ||||||
| 16 December – Amsterdam | ||||||
| Castilla y León Iberians | 17 | |||||
| Romanian Wolves | 41 | |||||
Semi-finals edit
| Black Lion | 41–0 | Castilla y León Iberians |
| Report |
| Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 800 Referee: Ru Campbell |
| Tel Aviv Heat | 31–6 | Romanian Wolves |
| Report |
| National Rugby Center, Budapest Attendance: 500 Referee: Andrew Cole |
Bronze final edit
| Castilla y León Iberians | 17–41 | Romanian Wolves |
| Report |
| NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 150 Referee: Sulkhan Chikhladze |
Cup Final edit
| Black Lion | 27–17 | Tel Aviv Heat |
| Report |
| Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Andrew Cole |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Rugby Europe has confirmed the details of the third season of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, its club competition for the emerging rugby unions in Europe". 6 July 2023.