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This weekend’s action heralds an exciting
new chapter for European professional club
rugby with the opening rounds in the inaugural
European Rugby Champions Cup and
European Rugby Challenge Cup tournaments.
On behalf of newly-constituted tournament
organiser, EPCR, I am delighted to welcome
you to today’s match which is an important
milestone for the tournaments and the
participant clubs.
After nearly two seasons of turbulent
negotiations among European club rugby’s
stakeholders, we can together now look forward
with confidence to a bright future for the
European professional club rugby game which
is so cherished by coaches, players and fans
alike.
And on behalf of EPCR, I want to acknowledge
the patience of fans across Europe throughout
this difficult process, and to thank you for your
continued support of European club rugby.
The new European Rugby Champions Cup and
Challenge Cup tournaments are built on the rich
heritage of 19 years of outstanding competition
generated by the Heineken Cup and the old
Challenge Cup.
The enhanced and streamlined formats mean
that the competing clubs in both tournaments
qualify for the first time solely on merit from
their respective domestic leagues - the Aviva
Premiership, the Top 14 and the Guinness
PRO12 - or through a play-off series.
With 20 clubs competing in five pools, the
Champions Cup will become truly elite, and
the Challenge Cup with 18 clubs from the
three leading leagues, is set to become more
competitive than ever before. The tournaments
will also provide opportunities for emerging
clubs to compete alongside some of Europe’s
best through play-off series which will expand in
the seasons ahead.
On the commercial front, EPCR’s tournaments
have already established a solid foundation
from which to build.
Welcome to a new chapter in
European professional club rugby
The new TV platform will provide even more
exposure for the tournaments as well as
increased revenues for the professional club
game. All 20 Champions Cup games will now
be broadcast each weekend in Ireland, the
UK and France by our partners, BT Sport, Sky
Sports, beIN Sports and France Televisions,
while Sky Italia will show games in Italy. Fans
outside of Europe will also have the opportunity
to enjoy these tournaments with IMG distributing
the rights through a network of partners in
established and emerging rugby markets.
I am also delighted to confirm that Heineken,
a long standing supporter of European club
rugby, will join us on this latest chapter of the
European journey as a founding partner of the
new tournaments. I also welcome GILBERT as
the official ball supplier and Canterbury as the
provider of apparel for match officials.
This season, as we celebrate 20 years of
European club rugby, we hope fans from across
Europe will engage with the new EPCrugby.com
digital platforms and we are excited to welcome
YouTube and Google+ as digital partners of the
tournaments.
Finally, I would like to wish all 40 clubs every
success in their inaugural European Rugby
Champions Cup and Challenge Cup campaigns
and I’m sure we will all enjoy a compelling and
exciting season as this new chapter culminates
in the EPCR Finals London 2015 weekend in
May.
Jacques Pineau
//
EPCR Director General
The new-commissioned European Rugby
Challenge Cup and Champions Cup trophies.
Watch a video about the making of the
trophies on the EPCR YouTube channel.
EPCR WELCOME