Ulster Rugby vs Oyonnax

EPCR WELCOME

The pool stages are now reaching a tension-

packed conclusion with prized quarter-final places

on the line, and the streamlined format of both

tournaments, which was introduced last season,

has once again produced a series of compelling

qualification matches.

The clubs who manage to book places in the

knockout stages will hope to continue their

European journey towards the 2016 Lyon finals at

the 59,000-capacity Grand Stade de Lyon in May.

The state-of-the-art Grand Stade, which is situated

in the Parc Olympique Lyonnais to the east of

the city of Lyon, was officially opened earlier this

month, and with close to 50,000 tickets already

sold or allocated, the Champions Cup final is well

on course for a sell-out attendance.

Tickets are still selling for both the Challenge Cup

and Champions Cup finals via

epcrugby.com

and

we would encourage fans who want to experience

a unique weekend festival of elite rugby in one of

France’s finest cities to book their seats as soon

as possible.

EPCR’s tournaments are built on the rich heritage

of 20 years of outstanding European competition

and as we look forward to more great occasions

this season and in the future, I particularly want

to acknowledge the commitment of fans across

Europe – your support is greatly appreciated.

The clubs competing in the Champions Cup and

the Challenge Cup have qualified on merit from

their respective domestic leagues – the PRO12,

the Aviva Premiership Rugby and the TOP 14 – or

via a play-off.

At the conclusion of this season, there will be no

play-offs for the 20th place in the Champions Cup

with the winner of the Challenge Cup qualifying

automatically for the 2016/17 tournament.

In addition, the Challenge Cup Qualifying

Competition continues to provide important

opportunities for emerging and more established

clubs alike. Clubs from Belgium, Germany,

Portugal, Romania and Spain, along with three

representatives from Italy, are competing this

season, and two will eventually qualify for the

2016/17 Challenge Cup.

With EPCR’s Executive fully operational from its

base in Neuchatel, Switzerland, the organisation’s

commercial programme continues to gain further

momentum. Turkish Airlines were announced

as an Official Partner of the tournaments at

the start of the current season, and Tissot are

now the Official Timekeeper and Watch of the

tournaments.

These key new agreements with world-renowned

brands complement the long-standing relationship

with Official Partner, Heineken, while Canterbury

supply match officials kit, and Gilbert provide

match balls.

With first-class broadcast coverage from our TV

and radio partners – BT Sport, Sky Sports, beIN

Sports, France Televisions, Sky Italia, BBC 5Live,

Newstalk and RTE – the tournaments are in a

strong position.

Finally, I would like to wish today’s teams and

their supporters every success as the pool stage

reaches its conclusion.

Yours in rugby,

Simon Halliday

Chairman

EPCR

WELCOME MESSAGE

FROM EPCR

On behalf of tournament organiser,

EPCR, I am delighted to welcome

you to today’s Round 6 match in the

European Rugby Champions Cup.