European dates for next season

[MarleyWasp]

EPCR 2022/23 season dates announced

Following another scintillating weekend of Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup action as the season builds to the Finals weekend in Marseille later this month, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) is pleased to announce the 2022/23 season dates for its competitions.

Played over eight weekends, the 2022/23 Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup will kick off in December with two consecutive weekends of pool stage action, and the next pool stage rounds will take place over consecutive weekends in mid-January 2023.

The knockout stages will start on the weekend of 31 March / 1/2 April with the Round of 16 matches followed swiftly by the quarter-finals on 7/8/9 April.

The semi-finals get underway on the last weekend of April with the Finals taking place on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May 2023.

EPCR Chief Executive, Anthony Lepage, said: “We are coming to the climax of what has been a challenging season for European club rugby, and have been able to welcome fans back to stadia from the recommencement of our competitions at the beginning of April.

“We have seen the very best EPCR competitions have to offer and are building towards what will no doubt be a sensational weekend of rugby for our Finals later this month.

“As we look ahead to next season, we are pleased to announce the dates of our competitions and we will be announcing the formats in the coming weeks.”

The formats of both competitions are currently being finalised and an announcement is expected ahead of this season’s showpiece matches in Marseille on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 May. No further comment will be made at this stage.

2022/23 weekends
Round 1 – 9/10/11 December 2022
Round 2 – 16/17/18 December 2022
Round 3 – 13/14/15 January 2023
Round 4 – 20/21/22 January 2023

Round of 16 – 31 March/ 1/2 April 2023
Quarter-finals – 7/8/9 April 2023
Semi-finals – 28/29/30 April 2023
EPCR Challenge Cup final – Friday 19 May 2023
Heineken Champions Cup final – Saturday 20 May 2023

Good luck to any side with an away tie in South Africa in the Quarter Finals, having played a Last 16 game in Europe, especially as the QF weekend is Easter.

Also no mention of where the finals will be. Although the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is due to host them, this is apparently in doubt as FIFA decided it would be a really good idea to hold the World Cup slap bang in the middle of the season, meaning the Spurs Stadium may not be available.

[Neils]

As with this year it leaves little time to arrange travel if your team gets through.

[MarleyWasp]

Indeed. In 2004 we took 2,000-3,000 fans to Dublin for the semi final as we had two weeks to prepare. How many will we have this weekend? I cancelled my trip as the costs and logistics were just too difficult.

[Chunky24]

As with this year it leaves little time to arrange travel if your team gets through.

Spare a thought for Cov who beat Doncaster on Sunday to go through to the semi final of the Championship where they play Jersey this Friday!
Limited flights mean all going from Heathrow on Thursday and returning on Saturday but return is half party to Liverpool and the other half to a different airport.
You can also guess how much the RFU are chipping in towards it.

[Neils]

Indeed. In 2004 we took 2,000-3,000 fans to Dublin for the semi final as we had two weeks to prepare. How many will we have this weekend? I cancelled my trip as the costs and logistics were just too difficult.

Likewise - just bonkers

[Heathen]

The formats of both competitions are currently being finalised and an announcement is expected ahead of this season’s showpiece matches in Marseille on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 May. No further comment will be made at this stage.

2022/23 weekends
Round 1 – 9/10/11 December 2022
Round 2 – 16/17/18 December 2022
Round 3 – 13/14/15 January 2023
Round 4 – 20/21/22 January 2023

This year's pools were crap. 4 teams in the pool. Heavily weighted in favour of the top two seeded clubs. The two lowest seeded clubs never even got to play each other.

If we do qualify for the HC next season, it will probably be as one of the lower seeds. The same situation will arise again next season.

And don't even get me started on SA sides being in there.

[DGP Wasp]

Do we actually know how many teams will be in it next season?  24 teams is recent seasons, 8 from each league.  2 more from SA would make 26 which really doesn't lend itself to any kind of straightforward format, but EPCRare no strangers to over-complicated formats, so that won't stop them.

If it does stay at 24, then which 2 teams give way?  How is it remotely fair that teams embark on their domestic season with a target of 8th for European qualification only to find out a couple of games out from the end of the season that it will  be 7th.

If it's 24 teams, then PLEASE can we revert to 6 pools of 4 who play against each other home and away.  That worked when it was a 20 team competition.  The fact that there will only be 4 pool games next season means we're probably stuck with the current fudge for at least one more season.  The change came about due to scheduling challenges following the delayed 2019-20 season.  Quite why they persisted with it this season and seemingly next is a mystery.

The complicated format and the addition of the SA teams is turning me right off European rugby at the moment and I used to really look forward to our European games, even in the Challenge Cup.

[Neils]

Do we actually know how many teams will be in it next season?  24 teams is recent seasons, 8 from each league.  2 more from SA would make 26 which really doesn't lend itself to any kind of straightforward format, but EPCRare no strangers to over-complicated formats, so that won't stop them.

If it does stay at 24, then which 2 teams give way?  How is it remotely fair that teams embark on their domestic season with a target of 8th for European qualification only to find out a couple of games out from the end of the season that it will  be 7th.

If it's 24 teams, then PLEASE can we revert to 6 pools of 4 who play against each other home and away.  That worked when it was a 20 team competition.  The fact that there will only be 4 pool games next season means we're probably stuck with the current fudge for at least one more season.  The change came about due to scheduling challenges following the delayed 2019-20 season.  Quite why they persisted with it this season and seemingly next is a mystery.

The complicated format and the addition of the SA teams is turning me right off European rugby at the moment and I used to really look forward to our European games, even in the Challenge Cup.

I think the basic level will be 24 teams - 8 from each league system. However the Winner of the Challenge gets into it so how that effects our 8 when the EAs win the Challenge and the Premiership is anyone's guess. THe SA teams are part of the URC so their 3 will be at the expense of Welsh, Scottish and Italian clubs. Plus they have one going into the Challenge Cup next year.

LIke you I am losing interest in this complete fudge.

[MarleyWasp]

If the winner of the Challenge Cup gets a spot, it'll mean that the top 7 sides after us or Saracens qualify for the Champions Cup, so effectively if Saracens win it, it'll be the top 8 sides who qualify and the same if we finish in the top 8. If we finish 9th, then the 8th place side will miss out.

My understanding is that the 8 URC sides will be the top side from Ireland, Wales, South Africa, Scotland or Italy and then the next four sides in the league table who haven't already qualified. At the moment that's Leinster, Ospreys, Sharks and Glasgow as the top ranked sides from their countries and then Munster, Stormers, Ulster and the Bulls.

It may be that there are two South African sides in the Challenge Cup. With the Premiership remaining 13 teams, there are 5 Premiership, 8 URC and 6 Top 14 sides, a total of 19 teams. The rumour is that the Cheetahs will be offered a spot to make it a 20 team competition until the Premiership goes up to 14 teams.

[DGP Wasp]

The rumour is that the Cheetahs will be offered a spot to make it a 20 team competition until the Premiership goes up to 14 teams.

If Cheetahs come in, then once the Prem goes up to 14 they won't be going anywhere, so SA will be asked to round it up to 24.