Ulster Rugby vs Leicester Tigers

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The pool stages of the European Rugby
Champions Cup and the European Rugby
Challenge Cup are set to reach a tension-
packed conclusion with prized quarter-final
places in both tournaments on the line.
On behalf of tournament organisers, EPCR, I
am delighted to welcome you to this evening’s
match and I would like to thank all clubs,
coaches, players and supporters across Europe
- for their support.
The enhanced and streamlined formats of both
tournaments look set to produce a battle for
qualification which will be even more compelling
and dramatic than what we have come to
expect.
Under the new 20 club format, the five pool
winners and the three best runners-up will
qualify for the knockout stages with the four
highest-ranked pool toppers earning home
quarter-finals. The revised Challenge Cup sees
all eight quarter-finalists coming from within
that tournament, giving the competing clubs an
even greater incentive going into the final Pool
rounds.
In parallel to this weekend’s top-tier action
an expanded Qualifying Competition for next
season’s Challenge Cup is also under way
providing opportunities for emerging clubs from
Russia, Spain and Portugal, and a pathway
for more established clubs from the Italian
Eccellenza.
Off the pitch, EPCR’s headquarters in
Neuchatel, Switzerland is now operational while
on the commercial front, EPCR’s tournaments
have already established a solid foundation on
which to build.
The TV platform is providing even more
exposure for the tournaments as well as
increased revenues for the professional club
game. All 10 Champions Cup games are now
broadcast each weekend in the UK, France and
Ireland by our partners, BT Sport, Sky Sports,
beIN Sports and France Televisions, while Sky
Italia are covering games in Italy.
Our thanks to Heineken, a long-standing
supporter of European club rugby, who are a
founding partner of the new tournaments, and
also to GILBERT, our official ball supplier, and
to Canterbury who provide apparel for match
officials.
This season, as we celebrate 20 years of
European club rugby, we hope fans from across
Europe will engage with
digital platforms which include Google+ and
YouTube as new tournament digital partners.
Finally, I would like to wish this evening’s teams
every success for these vital concluding pool
fixtures and for the remainder of the season
which will culminate in the London 2015 finals
weekend at the beginning of May.
Jacques Pineau // EPCR Director General
EPCR WELCOME