European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) is the governing body and organiser of the two major European

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club tournaments: the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) 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 pr ...

and the

European Rugby Challenge Cup 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 ...

. A third tournament, the

European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition The European Rugby Continental Shield (formerly the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition) was a rugby union competition, organised by European Professional Club Rugby, Rugby Europe and the Federazione Italiana Rugby, for entry int ...

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 Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby (the sport's global governing body). However, it ...

, 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 organisation was established in 2014 in

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (Fra ...

, Switzerland and is now headquartered in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

. Switzerland was chosen so as not to have the headquarters in any of the six participating countries."European Rugby Cup officials seconded to run the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup"
''Telegraph'', 9 July 2014. EPCR has nine major shareholders – the six tier 1 unions whose national teams play in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

, and the three club bodies that represent English, French and Welsh teams in their respective leagues. The inaugural competitions were held in the 2014–15 season.

History

Prior to 2014, the pan-European club competitions - the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) 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 pre ...

, 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 shareholders 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,

, the

, and the third tier Qualifying Competition, beginning with the 2014-15 season. 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 ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

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

EPCR governance

Board of Directors

EPCR is managed through a 12-person Board of Directors, which represents all shareholders, and includes an independent chairman. The nine shareholders, by country, are listed below:Future of European Rugby resolved, RFU.com
* England -

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

, Premiership Rugby Limited * France - Fédération Française de Rugby * Ireland -

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

* Italy -

Federazione Italiana Rugby The Italian Rugby Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Rugby) or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby. (All other members of ...

* Scotland -

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

* Wales -

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, o ...

* Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, Wales - PRO Rugby Championship DAC 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.

Executive committee

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. The three voting members of the executive are: * English Premiership: Marc McCafferty * Pro14: Paul McNaughton *

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

: Yann Roubert Jacques Pineau became the interim Director General of EPCR when the tournament began, and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of EPCR.Inaugural EPCR finals set for London
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.Appointments of new Director General and Independent Chairman announced - EPCR
/ref> Anthony Lepage was appointed to the role of CEO on an interim basis in October 2021 when Gaillard stepped down.

Revenue

Revenues generated by EPCR tournaments will be divided in three equal parts — one third to English clubs, one third to French clubs, and one third to Pro12 clubs, but with a minimum distribution guarantee for Pro12 clubs during the first five years."Heads of disagreement: reflections on the European rugby debacle"
Sports Pro, 11 April 2014. 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%.

European Player of the Year

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 Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster B ...

's Ronan O'Gara. Following the award, and beginning with the

2010-11 Heineken Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

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 Anthony Gerard Foley (30 October 1973 – 16 October 2016) was an Irish rugby union player and head coach of Munster. He was attached to the same squad during his professional playing career. He was a member of the Munster team that won the 2002 ...

, the former

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following t ...

head-coach.

ERC European Player of the Year (2010 - 2014)

* 2010: Ronan O'Gara (Munster Rugby) (Awarded for the previous 15 seasons) * 2011: Seán O'Brien (Leinster Rugby) * 2012: Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby) * 2013: Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) * 2014:

Steffon Armitage Steffon Armitage (born 20 September 1985) is an English professional rugby union player who currently plays for French club Stade Niçois. Early life and career Born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago in 1985, Armitage grew up in the south ...

(Toulon)

EPCR European Player of the Year (2015 - )

* 2015:

Nick Abendanon Nick Abendanon (born 27 August 1986 in Bryanston, South Africa) is a former England international rugby union player. His preferred position was full-back. He has Dutch nationality through his parents. Abendanon burst onto the scene during the ...

(Clermont) * 2016:

Maro Itoje Oghenemaro Miles "Maro" Itoje (born 28 October 1994) is an English professional rugby union player, who plays as a lock or as a blindside flanker for Gallagher Premiership club Saracens and the England national team. He signed his first pro ...

(Saracens) * 2017: Owen Farrell (Saracens) * 2018:

Leone Nakarawa Lieutenant Leone Nakarawa (born 2 April 1988) is a Fijian rugby union footballer and Olympic gold medalist. He plays as a Second-Row forward for Toulon and represents the Fijian national team in international rugby. He previously played for Gl ...

(Racing 92) * 2019: Alex Goode (Saracens) * 2020: Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) * 2021:

Antoine Dupont Antoine Dupont (born 15 November 1996) is a French professional rugby union player. He currently plays at scrum half for Toulouse in the Top 14 and captains the France national team. In 2021, Dupont won World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year. ...

(Toulouse) * 2022:

Josh van der Flier Josh van der Flier () (born 25 April 1993) is an Irish rugby union player for Leinster and Ireland. His preferred position is flanker, but plays at other positions if needed. Van der Flier is of Dutch descent through his paternal grandparents, ...

(Leinster)

EPCR Elite Awards

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 50 or more European Cup appearances

Players with 100 or more European Cup caps

Players with 50 or more European Cup caps

The EPCR Elite Awards recognise any player who has won 50 or more European Cup caps. Given the length of this list, an abridged version recognising players with over 65 caps is included. The full list can be foun
here

Players with 500 or more European Cup points

Players with 25 or more European Cup tries

References

{{European Rugby Challenge Cup European Rugby Champions Cup EPCR Challenge Cup 2014 establishments in Europe International sports bodies based in Switzerland Companies based in Neuchâtel 2014 establishments in Switzerland