2020–21_European_Rugby_Champions_Cup

2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup

2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup

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The 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the seventh season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (ECPR) for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. It was the 26th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

Quick Facts Tournament details, Countries ...

The tournament began on 11 December 2020. The final, originally scheduled to be held at the Stade de Marseille,[2] took place on 22 May 2021 at Twickenham Stadium.[3]

On 11 January 2021, EPCR suspended the tournament as a result of further public health restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

A revised format was announced on 24 February 2021.[5]

Teams

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the end of the previous tournament twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues would compete in the Champions Cup in a one-year exceptional basis.[6] EPCR chief Vincent Gaillard confirmed the 24-team tournament in August 2020.[7][8]

The distribution of teams is:

  • England: eight clubs
  • France: eight clubs
    • The top eight clubs in the Top 14
  • Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales: eight clubs
    • The top four sides (not including the South African sides, which are ineligible for EPCR competitions) in both conferences in the Pro14.

While the 2019–20 Top 14 season was cancelled due to COVID-19,[9] the Premiership and Pro14 resumed in August 2020.[10][11] However, the Pro14 announced in June 2020 that their European representation would be decided by standings after round 13, the final series of games before the hiatus.[12] The following teams qualified for the tournament via their league performance.

More information Premiership, Top 14 ...

Team details

Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.

Note: Placing shown in brackets, denotes standing at the end of the regular season for their respective leagues, with their end of season positioning shown through CH for Champions, RU for Runner-up and SF for losing Semi-finalist.

More information Team, Coach / Director of Rugby ...

Seeding

The twenty four teams would be broken down into two pools of twelve. Originally, four rounds of inter-pool play was to be followed by a knockout stage, featuring two-legged quarterfinals, and single leg semi-finals and final (to be held in Marseille on 22 May 2021). However at suspension of the tournament in January 2021, only two rounds of the pool stage were completed and the revised format would introduce a round of 16 following these.[5]

For the purposes of the pool draw, the clubs would be separated into tiers based on their league finishing position, and clubs from the same league in the same tier would not be drawn into the same pool. The number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league will be in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs would be in Tier 2, the number 5 and 6 ranked clubs would be in Tier 3, and the number 7 and number 8 ranked clubs would be Tier 4.

The pool stage would feature the Tier 1 teams playing the Tier 4 teams in their pool (that are not from the same league) twice in a home or away manner, while the Tier 2 and 3 clubs would follow in a similar manner.[8]

When the revised format was announced, the top eight teams from each pool would qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions Cup and teams finishing between 9th and 12th in each pool would join the Challenge Cup at the Round of 16 stage, joining eight qualifiers from the Challenge Cup pool stage. Due to the suspension in January 2021, only six weekends of play would be provided for, three less than in previous seasons.[5]

More information Tier, Rank ...

Pool stage

Main article: 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage
[[File:
Locations
|1500px|alt=Locations of teams of the 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage.
Green: Pool A; Red: Pool B.]]
Locations of teams of the 2020–21 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage.
Green: Pool A; Red: Pool B.

The draw took place on 28 October 2020 at the Maison du Sport International in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 24 teams were drawn into the two pools as follows, this also shows their opponents.[13] Fixtures were announced on 13 November 2020.

Key to colours
     Top 8 in each pool, advance to round of 16.
     Teams ranked 9th–12th in each pool advance to 2020–21 European Rugby Challenge Cup round of 16

Pool A

More information P, W ...

[14]

Pool B

More information P, W ...

[15]

Knockout stage

The knockout stage will commence with a round of 16 consisting of the top 8 ranked teams from each pool. Due to the truncation of the pool stage, a draw will be used to determine matches in both round of 16 and quarter-finals but no team will face a team from the same league in the round of 16. Teams which won both their matches and were not awarded points due to COVID cancellations would be guaranteed home advantage. Therefore, Bordeaux Bègles, Leinster, Munster, Racing 92 and Wasps will receive home advantage.

The draw for the round of 16 and quarter-finals took place on 9 March 2021 in Lausanne, Switzerland.[5]

Bracket

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals #Final
        
England Wasps 25
France Clermont 27
France Clermont 12
France Toulouse 21
Ireland Munster 33
France Toulouse 40
France Toulouse 21
France Bordeaux Bègles 9
France Bordeaux Bègles 36
England Bristol Bears 17
France Bordeaux Bègles 24
France Racing 92 21
France Racing 92 56
Scotland Edinburgh 3
France Toulouse 22
France La Rochelle 17
England Gloucester 16
France La Rochelle 27
France La Rochelle 45
England Sale Sharks 21
Wales Scarlets 14
England Sale Sharks 57
France La Rochelle 32
Ireland Leinster 23
England Exeter Chiefs 47
France Lyon 25
England Exeter Chiefs 22
Ireland Leinster 34
Ireland Leinster Bye
France Toulon

    Round of 16

    Fixtures were announced on 16 March 2021.[16]

    2 April 2021
    17:30 IST
    Leinster IrelandCancelled[lower-alpha 2]France Toulon
    RDS Arena
    Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
    2 April 2021
    20:00 BST
    Gloucester England16–27France La Rochelle
    Try: Ackermann 31' c
    Con: Barton (1/1) 32'
    Pen: Barton (3/3) 2', 12', 59'    		ReportTry: Leyds 8' m
    Retière 22' c
    Con: West (1/2) 23'
    Pen: West (3/3) 17', 48', 55'
    Plisson (2/2) 65', 71'
    Kingsholm
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
    3 April 2021
    12:30 BST
    Wasps England25–27France Clermont
    Try: Odogwu 5' c
    Bassett 23' c
    Harris 54' m
    Con: Umaga (2/3) 5', 24'
    Pen: Umaga (2/2) 39', 40+2'    		ReportTry: Bézy 11' c
    Ravai 17' c
    Matsushima 80+2' c
    Con: Nanai-Williams (1/1) 12'
    Lopez (2/2) 20', 80+3'
    Pen: Lopez (2/3) 52', 67'
    Ricoh Arena
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
    3 April 2021
    15:00 IST
    Munster Ireland33–40France Toulouse
    Try: Earls (2) 24' m, 27' m
    Coombes (2) 50' c, 80' c
    Con: Carbery (1/3) 51'
    Casey (1/1) 80'
    Pen: Carbery (2/2) 14', 40+1'
    Hanrahan (1/1) 65'    		ReportTry: Lebel 42' c
    Marchand 54' c
    Dupont (2) 67' c, 76' c
    Con: Ntamack (4/4) 43', 55', 68', 77'
    Pen: Ntamack (4/6) 3', 16', 30', 75'
    Thomond Park
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
    3 April 2021
    17:30 BST
    Exeter Chiefs England47–25France Lyon
    Try: Hill (2) 14' m, 25' c
    O'Flaherty 28' c
    Devoto 38' c
    Ewers 50' c
    Penalty try 62'
    Woodburn 75' c
    Con: J. Simmonds (4/5) 27', 30', 39', 51'
    Skinner (1/1) 77'    		ReportTry: Couilloud 5' c
    Mignot 8' c
    Cretin 79' m
    Con: Wisniewski (2/3) 6', 9'
    Pen: Wisniewski (2/2) 17', 34'
    Sandy Park
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
    4 April 2021
    13:30 CET
    Racing 92 France56–3Scotland Edinburgh
    Try: Chat 25' c
    Machenaud 33' c
    Joseph 62' c
    Gogichashvili 66' c
    Thomas (2) 69' c, 74' m
    Trinh-Duc 79' c
    Con: Machenaud (2/2) 26', 34'
    Iribaren (4/5) 63', 67', 70', 80'
    Pen: Machenaud (2/3) 7', 31'
    Gibert (1/2) 56'    		ReportPen: Kinghorn (1/1) 13'
    Paris La Défense Arena
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
    4 April 2021
    16:00 CET
    Bordeaux Bègles France36–17England Bristol Bears
    Try: Jalibert 44' c
    Dweba 70' c
    Ducuing 79' c
    Con: Jalibert (1/1) 45'
    Lucu (2/2) 71', 80'
    Pen: Jalibert (5/6) 9', 15', 21', 34', 40'    		ReportTry: Purdy 6' m
    Pen: Sheedy (4/4) 13', 17', 26', 55'
    Stade Chaban-Delmas
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
    4 April 2021
    17:30 BST
    Scarlets Wales14–57England Sale Sharks
    Try: Owens 46' c
    J. Morgan 76' c
    Con: Halfpenny (2/2) 47', 76'    		ReportTry: Van der Merwe (2) 16' c, 29' c
    MacGinty 41' c
    Yarde 51' c
    Beaumont 62' c
    Quirke 77' c
    Con: MacGinty (6/6) 17', 31', 42', 53', 63', 78'
    Pen: MacGinty (5/5) 2', 25', 36', 68', 70'
    Parc y Scarlets
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

    Quarter-finals

    10 April 2021
    16:00 CET
    La Rochelle France45–21England Sale Sharks
    Try: Alldritt 28' m
    Leyds 36' c
    Rhule (2) 41' c, 51' m
    Doumayrou (2) 61' c, 69' m
    Con: West (3/6) 37', 42', 62'
    Pen: West (3/4) 11', 21', 65'    		ReportTry: S. James 40+1' c
    McGuigan 76' m
    Con: MacGinty (1/2) 40+4'
    Pen: MacGinty (3/4) 9', 26', 33'
    Stade Marcel-Deflandre
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
    10 April 2021
    17:30 BST
    Exeter Chiefs England22–34Ireland Leinster
    Try: O'Flaherty (2) 2' c, 7' c
    Ewers 42' m
    Con: J. Simmonds (2/3) 3', 9'
    Pen: J. Simmonds (1/1) 47'    		ReportTry: Lowe 17' c
    Larmour (2) 28' c, 56' m
    Con: Sexton (1/1) 18'
    R. Byrne (1/2) 29'
    Pen: R. Byrne (5/5) 32', 40', 50', 65', 79'
    Sandy Park
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
    11 April 2021
    13:30 CET
    Bordeaux Bègles France24–21France Racing 92
    Pen: Jalibert (8/9) 5', 16', 22', 48', 59', 61', 74', 80+2'ReportPen: Machenaud (4/5) 2', 25', 44', 53'
    Iribaren (2/2) 67', 79'
    Drop: Gibert 14'
    Stade Chaban-Delmas
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
    11 April 2021
    16:00 CET
    Clermont France12–21France Toulouse
    Pen: Parra (4/5) 24', 28', 41', 57'ReportPen: Ntamack (7/9) 32', 39', 43', 48', 55', 61', 64', 72'
    Stade Marcel-Michelin
    Attendance: 0
    Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

    Semi-finals

    The draw for the semi-finals took place on 11 April 2021 at BT Sport's studios in London. As a result of the pandemic all matches will be held at the designated club's home ground.[2]

    1 May 2021
    16:00 CET
    Toulouse France21–9France Bordeaux Bègles
    Try: Lebel 5' m
    Dupont 71' c
    Con: Ntamack (1/2) 72'
    Pen: Ntamack (3/3) 38', 44', 64'    		ReportPen: Jalibert (3/4) 3', 20', 68'
    Stade Ernest-Wallon
    Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
    2 May 2021
    16:00 CET
    La Rochelle France32–23Ireland Leinster
    Try: Alldritt 65' c
    Skelton 73' c
    Con: West (2/2) 67', 75'
    Pen: West (5/6) 15', 32', 36', 46', 56'
    Drop: West 18'    		ReportTry: Furlong 8' c
    Byrne 77' c
    Con: Byrne (2/2) 8', 77'
    Pen: Byrne (3/4) 20', 26', 52'
    Stade Marcel-Deflandre
    Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

    Final

    Main article: 2021 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
    22 May 2021
    16:45
    La Rochelle France17–22France Toulouse
    Try: Kerr-Barlow 72' m
    Pen: West (4/6) 7', 26', 32', 40'    		ReportTry: Cruz Mallía 59' c
    Con: Ntamack (1/1) 60'
    Pen: Ntamack (5/5) 4', 10', 37', 46', 69'
    Twickenham Stadium
    Attendance: 10,000[lower-alpha 3]
    Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

    Notes

    1. Although Murrayfield's full capacity is 67,144, only the lower section of the East Stand, with a capacity of 12,464, is generally opened for Edinburgh fixtures.
    2. Toulon had one non-travelling player resulting positive to coronavirus in the week before the game, and therefore Leinster progressed to quarter-finals.[17]
    3. Capacity limited to 10,000 due to national restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

    See also

    References

    1. [1]
      "Heineken® Returns as Headline Sponsor of European Rugby Champions Cup". Heineken. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
    2. [2]
      "EPCR statement – 2021 Marseille finals and semi-final matches". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
    3. [3]
      "Twickenham Stadium to host 2021 EPCR finals". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
    4. [4]
      "EPCR tournaments temporarily suspended". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
    5. [5]
      "Revised EPCR tournament formats for 2020/21 season announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
    6. [6]
      "New EPCR dates for 2019/20 announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
    7. [7]
      "Connacht set to play in 24 team Champions Cup Rugby 2020/21". Sports News Ireland. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    8. [8]
      "New EPCR tournament formats agreed for 2020/21 season". European Professional Club Rugby. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
    9. [9]
      "Coronavirus: French Top 14 cancelled, relegation scrapped". ESPN. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    10. [10]
      "Premiership rugby return: New faces, new laws, new champions to be crowned". BBC Sport. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    11. [11]
      "Bragging rights for Zebre as Pro14 returns in Italy". RTÉ Sport. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
    12. [12]
      "Target Date Set For Guinness PRO14 Restart". Munster Rugby. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020. PRO14 Rugby has agreed that rankings for European qualification for the 2020/21 season would be decided on the Conference table positions from Round 13. This will include the points awarded to teams whose postponed games in Round 13 have been deemed 0-0 draws.
    13. [13]
      "Heineken Champions Cup Pool Draw maps out first steps on road to Marseille 2021". European Professional Club Rugby. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
    14. [14]
      "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
    15. [15]
      "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
    16. [16]
      "Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 fixture dates announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
    17. [17]
      "Leinster Rugby v RC Toulon - match result decision". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-04-02. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
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