The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th edition of the

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 i ...

, an annual second-tier

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 orig ...

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 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur in North London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the List of football stadium ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. In the final,

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

beat

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

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 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

season. Two teams have been invited from outside the three main European professional leagues;

The Black Lion 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. Blac ...

from Tbilisi,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

are current holders of the

Rugby Europe Super Cup The Rugby Europe Super Cup is an annual men's rugby union club tournament organised by the continental governing body, Rugby Europe. Featuring clubs outside the traditional Six Nations strongholds of the sport, it effectively forms a third tier ...

, the third-tier competition in European rugby administered by

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 ...

, and

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

the current holders of the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

, South Africa's second tier and most historic national competition. Originally not represented in the Challenge Cup, two Irish teams,

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

, joined in the play-off rounds, having dropped down from the Champions Cup.

Teams

Sixteen teams qualified for the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup from

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

, the

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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

and the

as a direct result of their domestic league performance having not qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup. Plus two invited sides making 18 teams. The distribution of teams are: * England: two teams ** Remaining teams in the 2023–24 Premiership Season that do not qualify for the

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is the tenth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for teams from the top five nations in European rugby an ...

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

had previously qualified but replaced

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

in the

following London Irish's suspension from the Premiership * France: six teams ** Teams taking part in the

2023–24 Top 14 season The 2023–24 Top 14 competition is the 125th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Format The top six teams at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice ...

that did not qualify for the Champions Cup * Georgia, Italy, Scotland, Wales, South Africa: ten teams ** Eight teams qualified from Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa through the United Rugby Championship. Ireland are not represented. ** Two teams invited, one each from South Africa and Georgia.

Team details

Pool stage

Teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by less than eight points.

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Knockout stage

The knockout stage was played with a single-leg round of 16 matches consisting of the top four teams from each pool and the teams ranked 5th in each pool of the

. The Round of 16 followed a pre-determined format, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals guaranteed home advantage to the higher-ranked team.

Seeding

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:European Rugby Challenge Cup 2023–24 rugby union tournaments for clubs 2023–24 in English rugby union 2023–24 in French rugby union 2023–24 in Irish rugby union 2023–24 in Italian rugby union 2023–24 in Scottish rugby union 2023–24 in Welsh rugby union 2023 in South African rugby union 2024 in South African rugby union 2023-24