EPCR 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 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. The Challenge Cup is currently contested between 18 teams; 16 of which qualify from the three main European domestic leagues (Premiership Rugby, Top 14, and United Rugby Championship). In 2023–24, two teams outside of the western Europe leagues had been invited to participate in the tournament. The Cheetahs (rugby union), Cheetahs, a South African team who won the 2023 Currie Cup Premier Division, 2023 Curr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rugby Union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an Rugby ball, oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped Goal (sports)#Structure, goalposts at both ends. Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by people regardless of gender, age or size. In 2023, there were more than 10 million people playing worldwide, of whom 8.4 million were registered players. World Rugby, previously called the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and the International Rugby Board (IRB), has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023 Currie Cup Premier Division
The 2023 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 85th edition of the Currie Cup, the premier domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. The competition was sponsored by beer brand Carling Black Label and organised by the South African Rugby Union. The tournament was played from Friday 10 March 2023 to Saturday 24 June 2023. This follows the realignment of the South African domestic rugby union calendar to dovetail with the northern hemisphere and the United Rugby Championship, which features four South African sides. The Free State Cheetahs won the tournament final 25-17 against the Pumas to claim their 7th overall Currie Cup title The competition featured an increased eight teams this season, with earning promotion into the Currie Cup Premier Division, after winning the 2022 Currie Cup First Division. Teams The eight competing teams are: Regular season Standings Tournament points in the standings were awarded to teams as follows: * 4 points for a win. * 2 points f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby () is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Leinster Branch, one of the four provincial unions that together make up the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), but is not restricted to players from that province. Leinster play their home games primarily at the 18,500-capacity RDS Arena ('the RDS') in Dublin, although larger games are played in the 51,700-capacity Aviva Stadium when the capacity of the RDS is insufficient, or during 2024 and 2025 to accommodate venue improvements at the RDS, with occasional on-off games been moved to Croke Park, home of the Gaelic Athletic Association and by some distance the List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, largest stadium in Ireland. Before moving to the RDS in 2005, Leinster's traditional home ground was Donnybrook Stadium, in Dublin 4. The province plays primarily in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cardiff Rugby
Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back to Cardiff Rugby prior to the start of the 2021–22 season. Cardiff have provided more players to the Welsh national side and British and Irish Lions than any other Welsh club. They are one of a small number of clubs to have beaten the three major Southern Hemisphere international sides. South Africa,Parry-Jones (1989), pg 63 New Zealand,Parry-Jones (1989), pg 64 and Australia. The latter have been defeated by Cardiff on six occasions. They won European Challenge Cup titles in 2010 and 2018, beating Toulon and Gloucester respectively. Cardiff most recently made the knockout stages of the European Rugby Champions Cup in 2012. Between 2005 and 2018, they also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and won the 2009 title, beating Gloucester a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Black Lion (rugby Union)
The Black Lion ( Georgian: ''Shavi Lomi'') is a professional Georgian rugby union team based in Tbilisi that competes annually in the Rugby Europe Super Cup . They also competed in the Currie Cup First Division in South Africa in 2022. Black Lion will compete in the European Challenge Cup, the second tier of European club rugby, during the 2023-24 season as an invited team along with Cheetahs. History The franchise was created in 2021 to participate in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. It is owned by the Georgian Federation, which employs the players. All the players are without clubs or playing in the Georgia league ( Didi 10). Players are made available to Didi 10 clubs when they have no obligations with their franchise, up to a limit of 4 per club. Georgian club joins into Currie Cup First Division since 2022. In Spring 2023, Black Lion toured South America, playing against the professional sides featuring in Super Rugby Americas. They defeated the club sides they faced, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup
The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 28th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition. The tournament commenced in December 2023, and concluded with the final on 24 May 2024 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England. In the final, Sharks (rugby union), Sharks beat Gloucester Rugby, Gloucester to win the cup for the first time. This is the second year that teams from South Africa can qualify, following the second United Rugby Championship season. Two teams have been invited from outside the three main European professional leagues; The Black Lion from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia are current holders of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, the third-tier competition in European rugby administered by Rugby Europe, and Cheetahs (rugby union), Cheetahs the current holder ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2020–21 European Rugby Challenge Cup
The 2020–21 European Rugby Challenge Cup is the seventh edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this was the 25th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition. The tournament began in December 2020. The final, originally scheduled to be held at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, took place on 21 May 2021 at Twickenham Stadium. On 11 January 2021 EPCR announced the competition was suspended temporarily due to new restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. A revised format to finish the tournament was announced on 24 February 2021. Teams Fourteen teams will qualified for the 2020–21 European Challenge Cup from Premiership Rugby, the Pro14 and the Top 14, as a direct result of their domestic league performance having not qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup. Although, the two South African Pro14 teams are ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Federazione Italiana Rugby
The Italian Rugby Federation () 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 the Six Nations have two seats on the council.) There are two fully professional Italian clubs that play in the United Rugby Championship, in the European Rugby Champions Cup and in the European Rugby Challenge Cup — Benetton and Zebre. There are twelve semi-professional Italian clubs that play in the Top12, four of which qualify to play in the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition to qualify to the European Rugby Challenge Cup. History On 25 July 1911 a ''Propaganda Committee'' was formed to promote the sport of rugby union in Italy. In 1928 this body became the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR). In 1934 the FIR was a founder member of the ''Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur'', now known as Rugby Europe. The FIR joined the International ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup
The 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the second edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual pan-European rugby union competition for professional clubs. It is also the 20th season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, following on from the now defunct European Challenge Cup. Due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup taking place during September and October 2015, the competition began slightly later than usual, with the first round of the group stage, on the weekend of 12/13/14/15 November 2015, and ended with the final on 13 May 2016 in Lyon. Gloucester were the 2014 1–5 champions, having beaten Edinburgh 19–13 in the final. Montpellier won the cup, defeating Harlequins in the final 26–19. Teams 20 teams qualified for the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup; a total of 18 qualified from across the Premiership, Pro12 and Top 14, as a direct result of their domestic league performance, with two coming through a play-off. The distribution of teams wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby (the European Rugby Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, Challenge Cup). The predecessor to Rugby Europe was the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA), which was established in 1934 to administer rugby union in Europe outside the authority of the International Rugby Football Board (as World Rugby was then called), and came to spread outside the continent. FIRA agreed to come under the auspices of World Rugby in the 1990s, and appended 'Association Européenne de Rugby' to its name in a return to being a European body. In 2014 the organisation was renamed Rugby Europe as part of a re-branding. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flagship analysis programmes such as ''Match of the Day'', ''Test Match Special'', ''Ski Sunday'' and ''Today at Wimbledon''. Results, analysis and coverage is also added to the #BBC Sport Online, BBC Sport website and through the BBC Red Button interactive television service. History The BBC has broadcast sport for several decades under individual programme names and coverage titles. ''Grandstand (TV programme), Grandstand'' was one of the more notable sport programmes, broadcasting sport for almost 50 years. The BBC first began to brand sport coverage as 'BBC Sport' in 1988 for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, by introducing the programme with a short animation of a globe circumnavigated by four c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |