Sport | Rugby union |
---|---|
Founded | 1995 |
Chairman | Jean-Pierre Lux |
CEO | Derek McGrath |
Closure date | 2014 |
European Rugby Cup Ltd (or ERC) was the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments: the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. [1] It was replaced by the European Professional Club Rugby governing body in 2014.
The inaugural Heineken Cup competition was held in 1995–96, with the second-tiercompetition established the following season.
The organisation was established in 1995, in preparation for the 1995–96 season, and was headquartered in Dublin. ERC's had nine major shareholders: the six tier 1 unions and three club associations, which were all represented on the board of directors:
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.
In April 2014 the nine shareholders with an interest in continuing major European club competition came to an agreement for new competitions. Under the new agreement, ERC was wound up, and a new body, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), was 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. [2]
The Board of ERC, which oversaw the implementation of ERC's strategy for the development of European club rugby, was made up of representatives of the six shareholder unions, league bodies and club representatives and shaped the strategy and development of ERC and the tournaments.
Reporting to and making recommendation the Board were a series of ERC Committees, focusing on the various roles of ERC as a Governing Body and Tournament Organiser and these drew on the experience and expertise of the clubs and Unions from each participation nation.
ERC Committee Structure: – ERC Commercial Committee – ERC Rugby Committee – ERC Match Officials Committee – ERC Disciplinary Committee – ERC Finance and Audit Committee
The ERC Executive and team of 20 employees was based in the Dublin headquarters and were charged with implementing the strategy for the development of European club rugby and management of the two tournaments and of the showpiece ERC Finals weekend. [3]
Recognised as one of the most prestigious individual accolades in the game, the ERC European Player of the Year honourrd the best player of the European club rugby season from both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup tournaments.
In 2010 ERC launched the ERC15 Awards, recognising the outstanding contributors to the first decade and a half of European competition. The inaugural recipient of the ERC European Player Award, as the best player over the first 15 years of these tournaments, was Munster Rugby's Ronan O'Gara. For the 2010/11 season, ERC moved to present an annual award. [4]
Steffon Armitage, from Toulon, was named ERC European Player of the Year in 2014. [5] [6]
Winners: [7]
Ronan O'Gara (Munster Rugby) – 2010 (Awarded for the previous 15 seasons)
Seán O'Brien (Leinster Rugby) 2011
Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby) 2012
Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) 2013
Steffon Armitage (Toulon) 2014
Nick Abendanon (Clermont) 2015
To celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup, the ERC Elite Awards scheme was introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions.
Team [8] | Appearances |
---|---|
Munster | 138 |
Toulouse | |
Leinster | 128 |
Leicester Tigers | 124 |
Scarlets [n 1] | 117 |
Ulster | |
Cardiff Blues [n 2] | 114 |
Edinburgh | 103 |
Benetton | 96 |
Biarritz Olympique | 92 |
Glasgow Warriors | 91 |
Northampton Saints | 83 |
Perpignan | 81 |
Stade Français | 79 |
London Wasps | 78 |
Montferrand/Clermont Auvergne | 76 |
Bath | 72 |
Ospreys | 69 |
Harlequins | 68 |
Castres Olympique | 64 |
Gloucester | |
Saracens | 56 |
|
Player [9] | Club(s) | Appearances |
---|---|---|
Cian Healy | Leinster | 111 |
Moonan O'Gara | Munster | 110 |
Gordon D′Arcy | Leinster | 104 |
John Hayes | Munster | 101 |
Peter Stringer | Munster, Saracens, Bath | 100 |
Player [11] | Club(s) | Points |
---|---|---|
Ronan O'Gara | Munster | 1,365 |
Stephen Jones | Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets (2nd stint) | 869 |
Dimitri Yachvili | Biarritz | 661 |
Diego Domínguez | Milan, Stade Français | 645 |
David Humphreys | Ulster | 564 |
Neil Jenkins | Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors | 502 |
David Skrela | Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne | 500 |
Player [12] | Club(s) | Tries |
---|---|---|
Vincent Clerc | Toulouse | 35 |
Brian O'Driscoll | Leinster | 33 |
Dafydd James | Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues | 29 |
Shane Horgan | Leinster | 27 |
Gordon D'Arcy | Leinster | 26 |
Geordan Murphy | Leicester Tigers | 25 |
Delon Anthony Armitage is a rugby union coach and former player who played at wing or fullback for Lyon OU and is capped for England. He also occasionally played centre. Armitage started out at London Irish and Toulon. He sometimes did place kicking, mainly from a distance or if the regular kicker was unable to take it. He left Toulon at the end of the 2015/2016 season to join French Top 14 side Lyon. He retired at the end of the 2018/2019 season.
Steffon Armitage is an English professional rugby union player who currently plays for French club Stade Niçois.
The 2009–10 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 14th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started on 8 October 2009 at Sixways Stadium in Worcester with Worcester Warriors hosting Montpellier, and ended with the final at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on 23 May 2010. The reigning champions were Northampton Saints, who did not defend their title as they qualified for the 2009–10 Heineken Cup. Cardiff Blues won the trophy after a 28–21 win against Toulon.
The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 with the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium where Leinster beat Northampton Saints 33 – 22.
The 2010–11 Heineken Cup pool stage was the first stage of the current season of the Heineken Cup, Europe's top competition for rugby union clubs. It involved 24 teams competing for eight quarter-final berths; the quarter-finalists will then participate in a knockout tournament that will ultimately end with the final on 21 May 2011 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm.
The 2002–03 European Challenge Cup was the 7th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 32 teams participated, representing eight countries.
The 2003–04 European Challenge Cup was the 8th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 28 teams participated, representing seven countries. This was the first year of the competition following the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales. With the reduction of Welsh teams from nine to five, and with all teams participating in the 2003-04 Heineken Cup, there were no Welsh teams in the 2003–04 Parker Pen Challenge Cup.
The 2011–12 Heineken Cup pool stage was the first stage of the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, Europe's top competition for rugby union clubs. It involved 24 teams competing for eight quarter-final berths, awarded to the winners of each of six pools plus the two top-ranked second-place teams. The nest three best runners-up were parachuted into the Amlin Challenge Cup.
The 2011–12 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 16th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition. The tournament began with two matches on 10 November 2011 and ended with the final on 18 May 2012 at the Twickenham Stoop in London. A total of 23 teams from six countries participated—20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockout stages from the Heineken Cup. In an all-French final, Biarritz claimed their first Challenge Cup, defeating Toulon 21–18. The Basque club claimed a place in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, which will be their 13th consecutive appearance in Europe's top club competition.
The 2012–13 Heineken Cup was the 18th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The tournament began with two pool matches on 12 October 2012 and ended with the final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 18 May 2013.
The 2013 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, the 18th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 18 May 2013 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, kicking off at 5 pm. The all-French game was won by Toulon, defeating Clermont 16–15.
The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.
The 2013–14 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 18th and final season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition. A total of 23 teams participated: 20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockout stages from the Heineken Cup. The original 20 teams represented six countries.
The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
The 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup was the first season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby, and the 20th season of professional European rugby union in total. It replaced the Heineken Cup as Europe's top-tier competition for rugby clubs. The competition got underway on the weekend of 17 October 2014 with the first round of the pool stage, and ended with the final on 2 May 2015 at Twickenham Stadium, London, England.
The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception in 1996 to 2014, it was known as the European Challenge Cup and governed by European Rugby Cup (ERC). Following disagreements in the structure of the tournament's format and division of revenue, the English and French leagues withdrew to form the EPCR, which organized the Challenge Cup and the Champions Cup since the 2014–15 season.
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. A third tournament, the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition 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.
The 2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the first European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twentieth European club rugby final in general, as the competition replaces the Heineken Cup.
The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship, the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken Cup, which was Europe's top-tier competition for rugby clubs for the first nineteen years of professional European rugby union. The opening round of the tournament took place on the weekend of 14/15/16 October 2016. The final took place on 13 May 2017 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.
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