fbpx
Wikipedia

European Professional Club Rugby

November 29, 2023

European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) is the governing body and organiser of the two major club rugby union tournaments: the European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup.[1] A third tournament, the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition[2] was introduced as a qualification competition for clubs from minor nations to enter the Challenge Cup. EPCR shared control of this tournament with Rugby Europe, the international federation for rugby union in Europe, and with the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR). The tournament was discontinued after the 2018/19 season.

European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR)
SportRugby union
Founded2014 (2014)
HeadquartersLausanne, Switzerland
ChairmanDominic McKay (From May 2022)
CEOJacques Raynaud (From June 2023)
ReplacedEuropean Rugby Cup (ERC)
Official website
www.epcrugby.com

The organisation was established in 2014 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and is now headquartered in Lausanne. Switzerland was chosen so as not to have the headquarters in any of the seven participating countries.[3]

EPCR has nine stakeholders – the six tier 1 unions whose national teams play in the Six Nations Championship, and the club bodies that represent the English, French, Scottish, Irish, Italian, Welsh and South African clubs in their respective leagues.

The inaugural competitions were held in the 2014/15 season.

History edit

Prior to 2014, the pan-European club competitions - the Heineken Cup, and European Challenge Cup - were organised and run by European Rugby Cup Ltd. (ERC). ERC was created in 1995, following the advent of professionalism, by the then Five Nations Committee.

In 2012, Premiership Rugby and LNR, on behalf of the English and French clubs respectively, notified ERC that they would be withdrawing from the accord governing the competition, being dissatisfied with the organisation of the competition and the distribution of funding. Premiership Rugby subsequently refused to join any new agreement in which ERC remained organisers of European rugby tournaments.

On April 10, 2014 it was announced that the nine stakeholders with an interest in continuing major European club competition had come to an agreement for new competitions. Under the new agreement, ERC was wound up, and a new body, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), would be created to organise three new competitions, European Rugby Champions Cup, the European Rugby Challenge Cup, and the third tier Qualifying Competition, beginning with the 2014/15 season.[4]

Shortly after the establishment of EPCR, it was announced that the running of the inaugural 2014/15 tournament was to be handled in conjunction with ERC, the organisation it had been meant to replace, to facilitate a smooth transition. This was despite the latter having been described by chairman of Premiership Rugby, Quentin Smith, as "no longer fit for purpose". This was described as "something of an about-turn" by The Daily Telegraph.[5]

Since the 2015/16 season, EPCR staff have been running the competitions from their base in Switzerland. In 2017 the qualifying competition was reconstituted as a fully fledged third competition, the European Rugby Continental Shield.

EPCR governance edit

Board of directors edit

EPCR is managed through a 9-person Board of Directors, which represents all stakeholders, and includes an independent chairman. The nine shareholders, by country, are listed below:[6]

The EPCR independent chairman is Dominic McKay, who took over as interim chairman when Simon Halliday stepped down in October 2021. McKay was confirmed as permanent chairman in May 2022.[7]

Executive committee edit

There is also an executive committee, in charge of commercial matters relating to the tournaments, and preparations for Board meetings. This committee includes the Independent Chairman, Director-General, and three voting representatives, one representing each of the major European domestic leagues, the Top 14, the English Premiership and Pro14. Representation by English and French clubs on the three-person executive committee represents an increase in voting power for these two leagues as compared to the previous European Rugby Cup.[3]

Jacques Pineau became the interim Director General of EPCR when the tournament began, and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of EPCR.[6][8][9] On 29 April 2015, it was announced that Swiss national Vincent Gaillard had been appointed the Director General, and would work with Pineau until 1 July 2015, when he would officially take on the role.[10] Anthony Lepage was appointed to the role of CEO on an interim basis in October 2021 when Gaillard stepped down.[11]

Revenue edit

Revenues generated by EPCR tournaments are divided in three equal parts — one third to Premiership Rugby clubs, one third to LNR clubs, and one third to URC clubs.[3][12] Under the previous European Rugby Cup, the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian clubs had received 52% of revenues, while the English and French clubs received 48%.[12]

European Player of the Year edit

The European Player Award was introduced by ERC in 2010, as part of their ERC15 awards, created to recognise the outstanding contributors of the first 15 years of European rugby. The first recipient of the award, considered the best player of the previous 15 years, was Munster Rugby's Ronan O'Gara. Following the award, and beginning with the 2010-11 Heineken Cup season, ERC began presenting a Player of the Year Award annually.

EPCR continued the award after taking over the running of European competitions, and the first EPCR European Player of the Year Award was presented following the 2014-15 European Rugby Champions Cup season.

The most recent player to be awarded the accolade was Alex Goode in 2019.

Since 2017, the Player of the Year has been awarded The Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy, commissioned in tribute to Anthony Foley, the former Munster head-coach.[13]

ERC European Player of the Year (2010 — 2014) edit

EPCR European Player of the Year (2015 — present) edit

EPCR Elite Awards edit

The Elite Awards were created by ERC, to celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup. Introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions, EPCR has since maintained and continued the awards, updating them to include both Heineken Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup appearances.

Teams with 100 or more European Cup appearances edit

Team Total
Appearances
  Leinster 195
  Munster 195
  Toulouse 194
  Leicester Tigers 169
  Ulster 168
  Scarlets [n 1] 156
  Glasgow Warriors 135
  Montferrand / Clermont Auvergne 128
  Northampton Saints 126
  Cardiff Blues [n 2] 124
  Benetton 120
  Wasps 119
  Edinburgh 118
  Saracens 112
  Bath 109
  Ospreys 102
  1. ^ Includes 48 appearances as Llanelli RFC before the introduction of regional teams in Wales *
  2. ^ Includes 44 appearances as Cardiff RFC before the introduction of regional teams in Wales *
Updated 30 April 2023

Players with 100 or more European Cup caps edit

Player Club(s) Total
Appearances
  Ronan O'Gara Munster 110
  Cian Healy Leinster 105
  Gordon D'Arcy Leinster 104
  John Hayes Munster 101
  Peter Stringer Munster, Saracens, Bath, Sale Sharks 101
Updated 30 April 2023

Players with 500 or more European Cup points edit

Players with 25 or more European Cup tries edit

Source:[14]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Official site
  2. ^ "Continental Shield".
  3. ^ a b c "European Rugby Cup officials seconded to run the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup", Telegraph, 9 July 2014.
  4. ^ http://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/featured-post/15722/european-rugby-statement/ European Rugby Statement, The Rugby Paper, 10/4/14
  5. ^ "European Rugby Cup officials seconded to run the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup".
  6. ^ a b Future of European Rugby resolved, RFU.com 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Bean, Graham (13 May 2022). "Dominic McKay: New permanent role for former Celtic and Scottish Rugby chief". The Scotsman. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  8. ^ The Guardian Northampton to face Racing, Ospreys and Treviso in European Cup - Accessed 16/6/14
  9. ^ Inaugural EPCR finals set for London 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Appointments of new Director General and Independent Chairman announced - EPCR
  11. ^ "European rugby chiefs working on Club World Cup to take place every four years". Irish Examiner. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Heads of disagreement: reflections on the European rugby debacle", Sports Pro, 11 April 2014.
  13. ^ "The Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy". epcrugby.com.
  14. ^ "Milestones". EPC Rugby. Retrieved 30 April 2023.

External links edit

  • Official website  

November 29, 2023
european, professional, club, rugby, epcr, governing, body, organiser, major, club, rugby, union, tournaments, european, rugby, champions, epcr, challenge, third, tournament, european, rugby, challenge, qualifying, competition, introduced, qualification, compe. European Professional Club Rugby EPCR is the governing body and organiser of the two major club rugby union tournaments the European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup 1 A third tournament the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition 2 was introduced as a qualification competition for clubs from minor nations to enter the Challenge Cup EPCR shared control of this tournament with Rugby Europe the international federation for rugby union in Europe and with the Italian Rugby Federation FIR The tournament was discontinued after the 2018 19 season European Professional Club Rugby EPCR SportRugby unionFounded2014 2014 HeadquartersLausanne SwitzerlandChairmanDominic McKay From May 2022 CEOJacques Raynaud From June 2023 ReplacedEuropean Rugby Cup ERC Official websitewww wbr epcrugby wbr comThe organisation was established in 2014 in Neuchatel Switzerland and is now headquartered in Lausanne Switzerland was chosen so as not to have the headquarters in any of the seven participating countries 3 EPCR has nine stakeholders the six tier 1 unions whose national teams play in the Six Nations Championship and the club bodies that represent the English French Scottish Irish Italian Welsh and South African clubs in their respective leagues The inaugural competitions were held in the 2014 15 season Contents 1 History 2 EPCR governance 2 1 Board of directors 2 2 Executive committee 3 Revenue 4 European Player of the Year 4 1 ERC European Player of the Year 2010 2014 4 2 EPCR European Player of the Year 2015 present 5 EPCR Elite Awards 5 1 Teams with 100 or more European Cup appearances 5 2 Players with 100 or more European Cup caps 5 3 Players with 500 or more European Cup points 5 4 Players with 25 or more European Cup tries 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory editPrior to 2014 the pan European club competitions the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup were organised and run by European Rugby Cup Ltd ERC ERC was created in 1995 following the advent of professionalism by the then Five Nations Committee In 2012 Premiership Rugby and LNR on behalf of the English and French clubs respectively notified ERC that they would be withdrawing from the accord governing the competition being dissatisfied with the organisation of the competition and the distribution of funding Premiership Rugby subsequently refused to join any new agreement in which ERC remained organisers of European rugby tournaments On April 10 2014 it was announced that the nine stakeholders with an interest in continuing major European club competition had come to an agreement for new competitions Under the new agreement ERC was wound up and a new body European Professional Club Rugby EPCR would be created to organise three new competitions European Rugby Champions Cup the European Rugby Challenge Cup and the third tier Qualifying Competition beginning with the 2014 15 season 4 Shortly after the establishment of EPCR it was announced that the running of the inaugural 2014 15 tournament was to be handled in conjunction with ERC the organisation it had been meant to replace to facilitate a smooth transition This was despite the latter having been described by chairman of Premiership Rugby Quentin Smith as no longer fit for purpose This was described as something of an about turn by The Daily Telegraph 5 Since the 2015 16 season EPCR staff have been running the competitions from their base in Switzerland In 2017 the qualifying competition was reconstituted as a fully fledged third competition the European Rugby Continental Shield EPCR governance editBoard of directors edit EPCR is managed through a 9 person Board of Directors which represents all stakeholders and includes an independent chairman The nine shareholders by country are listed below 6 England Rugby Football Union Premiership Rugby Limited France Ligue Nationale de Rugby Italy Federazione Italiana Rugby Ireland Italy Scotland South Africa Wales United Rugby ChampionshipThe EPCR independent chairman is Dominic McKay who took over as interim chairman when Simon Halliday stepped down in October 2021 McKay was confirmed as permanent chairman in May 2022 7 Executive committee edit There is also an executive committee in charge of commercial matters relating to the tournaments and preparations for Board meetings This committee includes the Independent Chairman Director General and three voting representatives one representing each of the major European domestic leagues the Top 14 the English Premiership and Pro14 Representation by English and French clubs on the three person executive committee represents an increase in voting power for these two leagues as compared to the previous European Rugby Cup 3 Jacques Pineau became the interim Director General of EPCR when the tournament began and was responsible for the day to day operations of EPCR 6 8 9 On 29 April 2015 it was announced that Swiss national Vincent Gaillard had been appointed the Director General and would work with Pineau until 1 July 2015 when he would officially take on the role 10 Anthony Lepage was appointed to the role of CEO on an interim basis in October 2021 when Gaillard stepped down 11 Revenue editRevenues generated by EPCR tournaments are divided in three equal parts one third to Premiership Rugby clubs one third to LNR clubs and one third to URC clubs 3 12 Under the previous European Rugby Cup the Irish Welsh Scottish and Italian clubs had received 52 of revenues while the English and French clubs received 48 12 European Player of the Year editThe European Player Award was introduced by ERC in 2010 as part of their ERC15 awards created to recognise the outstanding contributors of the first 15 years of European rugby The first recipient of the award considered the best player of the previous 15 years was Munster Rugby s Ronan O Gara Following the award and beginning with the 2010 11 Heineken Cup season ERC began presenting a Player of the Year Award annually EPCR continued the award after taking over the running of European competitions and the first EPCR European Player of the Year Award was presented following the 2014 15 European Rugby Champions Cup season The most recent player to be awarded the accolade was Alex Goode in 2019 Since 2017 the Player of the Year has been awarded The Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy commissioned in tribute to Anthony Foley the former Munster head coach 13 ERC European Player of the Year 2010 2014 edit 2010 Ronan O Gara Munster Rugby Awarded for the previous 15 seasons 2011 Sean O Brien Leinster Rugby 2012 Rob Kearney Leinster Rugby 2013 Jonny Wilkinson Toulon 2014 Steffon Armitage Toulon EPCR European Player of the Year 2015 present edit 2015 Nick Abendanon Clermont 2016 Maro Itoje Saracens 2017 Owen Farrell Saracens 2018 Leone Nakarawa Racing 92 2019 Alex Goode Saracens 2020 Sam Simmonds Exeter Chiefs 2021 Antoine Dupont Toulouse 2022 Josh van der Flier Leinster 2023 Gregory Alldritt La Rochelle EPCR Elite Awards editThe Elite Awards were created by ERC to celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup Introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions EPCR has since maintained and continued the awards updating them to include both Heineken Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup appearances Teams with 100 or more European Cup appearances edit Team Total Appearances nbsp Leinster 195 nbsp Munster 195 nbsp Toulouse 194 nbsp Leicester Tigers 169 nbsp Ulster 168 nbsp Scarlets n 1 156 nbsp Glasgow Warriors 135 nbsp Montferrand Clermont Auvergne 128 nbsp Northampton Saints 126 nbsp Cardiff Blues n 2 124 nbsp Benetton 120 nbsp Wasps 119 nbsp Edinburgh 118 nbsp Saracens 112 nbsp Bath 109 nbsp Ospreys 102 Includes 48 appearances as Llanelli RFC before the introduction of regional teams in Wales Includes 44 appearances as Cardiff RFC before the introduction of regional teams in Wales Updated 30 April 2023Players with 100 or more European Cup caps edit Player Club s Total Appearances nbsp Ronan O Gara Munster 110 nbsp Cian Healy Leinster 105 nbsp Gordon D Arcy Leinster 104 nbsp John Hayes Munster 101 nbsp Peter Stringer Munster Saracens Bath Sale Sharks 101Updated 30 April 2023Players with 500 or more European Cup points edit Player Club s Points nbsp Ronan O Gara Munster 1 365 nbsp Stephen Jones Llanelli Scarlets Clermont Auvergne 869 nbsp Owen Farrell Saracens 834 nbsp Johnny Sexton Leinster Racing 92 784 nbsp Dimitri Yachvili Biarritz 661 nbsp nbsp Diego Dominguez Milan Stade Francais 645 nbsp Dan Biggar Ospreys Northampton Saints 634 nbsp Morgan Parra Bourgoin Clermont 569 nbsp David Humphreys Ulster 564 nbsp Leigh Halfpenny Cardiff Blues Toulon Scarlets 523 nbsp Neil Jenkins Pontypridd Cardiff Celtic Warriors 502 nbsp David Skrela Colomiers Stade Francais Toulouse Clermont Auvergne 500Updated 30 April 2023Players with 25 or more European Cup tries edit Player Club s Tries nbsp Chris Ashton Northampton Saints Saracens Toulon Sale Sharks Leicester Tigers 41 nbsp Vincent Clerc Toulouse 36 nbsp Simon Zebo Munster Rugby Racing 92 34 nbsp Juan Imhoff Racing 92 33 nbsp Brian O Driscoll Leinster Rugby 33 nbsp Dafydd James Pontypridd Llanelli Bridgend Celtic Warriors Harlequins Scarlets Cardiff Blues 29 nbsp Tommy Bowe Ulster Ospreys 29 nbsp Shane Horgan Leinster 27 nbsp Andrew Trimble Ulster 27 nbsp Gordon D Arcy Leinster 26 nbsp Geordan Murphy Leicester Tigers 25 nbsp Naipolioni Nalaga Clermont Auvergne 25Updated 30 April 2023Source 14 See also editEuropean Rugby Champions Cup European Rugby Challenge Cup European Rugby Continental Shield nbsp Sports portalReferences edit Official site Continental Shield a b c European Rugby Cup officials seconded to run the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup Telegraph 9 July 2014 http www therugbypaper co uk featured post 15722 european rugby statement European Rugby Statement The Rugby Paper 10 4 14 European Rugby Cup officials seconded to run the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup a b Future of European Rugby resolved RFU com Archived 2014 05 25 at the Wayback Machine Bean Graham 13 May 2022 Dominic McKay New permanent role for former Celtic and Scottish Rugby chief The Scotsman Retrieved 21 December 2022 The Guardian Northampton to face Racing Ospreys and Treviso in European Cup Accessed 16 6 14 Inaugural EPCR finals set for London Archived 2014 08 13 at the Wayback Machine Appointments of new Director General and Independent Chairman announced EPCR European rugby chiefs working on Club World Cup to take place every four years Irish Examiner 6 October 2021 Retrieved 21 December 2022 a b Heads of disagreement reflections on the European rugby debacle Sports Pro 11 April 2014 The Anthony Foley Memorial Trophy epcrugby com Milestones EPC Rugby Retrieved 30 April 2023 External links editOfficial website nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title European Professional Club Rugby amp oldid 1187351592, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.