2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup


The 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the third edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Clubs from six European nations plus one Russian club competed. It was also the 21st season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, following on from the now defunct European Challenge Cup.
Montpellier were the reigning champions, having beaten Harlequins in the final of the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup. They did not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup as a result of the win.
The first round of the group stage began on the weekend of 13/14/15/16 October 2016, and the competition ended with the final on 12 May 2017 in Edinburgh.
Stade Français won the final 25–17 against Gloucester.

Teams

20 teams qualified for the 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup; a total of 18 qualified from across the Premiership, Pro12 and Top 14, as a direct result of their domestic league performance, with two coming through a play-off. The expected distribution of teams was:
The French Top 14 had its allocation reduced by 1 place after Montpellier won the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup. This is after it was decided that, due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there would be no qualification play-off.
The following clubs qualified for the Challenge Cup.

Qualifying competition

Once again, EPCR expanded the qualifying competition.
Eight teams were split into two pools of four. Each team played the four teams in the other pool once. The winner of each pool then played a two-legged final against last year's qualifying sides, and the winners, on aggregate, took the two remaining places in the Challenge Cup.

Pool A Play-off

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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, SF for losing Semi-finalist and QF for losing Quarter-finalist.
TeamCoach /
Director of Rugby		CaptainStadiumCapacityMethod of Qualification
Bath Todd Blackadder Dave AttwoodRecreation Ground14,500Aviva Premiership 7th-11th
Bayonne Vincent Etcheto Jean MonribotStade Jean Dauger16,934Pro D2 runner-up
Benetton Treviso Kieran Crowley Alessandro ZanniStadio Comunale di Monigo6,700Pro12 bottom 5
Bristol Andy Robinson Jack LamAshton Gate Stadium27,0002015–16 RFU Championship Champion
Brive Nicolas Godignon Arnaud MélaStade Amédée-Domenech16,000Top 14 7th-12th
Cardiff Blues Danny Wilson Gethin JenkinsBT Cardiff Arms Park12,125Pro12 bottom 5
Edinburgh Alan Solomons Grant GilchristMurrayfield Stadium
New Myreside		67,144
5,500		Pro12 bottom 5
Enisey-STM Alexander Pervukhin Uldis SauliteSlava Stadium
Trud Stadium
Sochi Central Stadium		2,500
3,000
10,200		Challenge Cup Qualification Play-off
Gloucester David Humphreys Greig LaidlawKingsholm Stadium16,115Aviva Premiership 7th-11th
Grenoble Bernard Jackman Jonathan WisniewskiStade des Alpes20,068Top 14 7th-12th
Harlequins John Kingston Danny CareTwickenham Stoop14,800Aviva Premiership 7th-11th
La Rochelle Patrice Collazo
Xavier Garbajosa		 Uini AtonioStade Marcel-Deflandre15,000Top 14 7th-12th
Lyon Pierre Mignoni Julien PuricelliMatmut Stadium11,805Pro D2 Champion
Newcastle Falcons Dean Richards Will WelchKingston Park10,200Aviva Premiership 7th-11th
Newport Gwent Dragons Kingsley Jones T. Rhys ThomasRodney Parade8,800Pro12 bottom 5
Ospreys Steve Tandy Alun Wyn JonesLiberty Stadium
Millennium Stadium		20,827
74,500		Pro12 bottom 5
Pau Simon Mannix Julien PierreStade du Hameau13,819Top 14 7th-12th
Stade Français Gonzalo Quesada Sergio ParisseStade Jean-Bouin20,000Top 14 7th-12th
Timișoara Saracens Grainger Heikell Cătălin FercuStadionul Dan Păltinișanu32,972Challenge Cup Qualification Play-off
Worcester Warriors Carl Hogg Gerrit-Jan van VelzeSixways Stadium12,024Aviva Premiership 7th-11th

Seeding

The 20 competing teams were seeded and split into four tiers; seeding was based on performance in their respective domestic leagues. Where promotion and relegation is in effect in a league, the promoted team was seeded last, or by performance in the lower tier.
RankTop 14PremiershipPro 12Qualifying Competition
1 Brive Harlequins Cardiff Blues Enisey-STM
2 La Rochelle Gloucester Ospreys Timișoara Saracens
3 Grenoble Bath Edinburgh
4 Pau Worcester Warriors Newport Gwent Dragons
5 Stade Français Newcastle Falcons Treviso
6 Lyon Bristol
7 Bayonne

Teams were taken from a league in order of rank and put into a tier. A draw was used to allocate two second seeds to Tier 1; the remaining team went into Tier 2. This allocation indirectly determined which fourth-seeded team entered Tier 2, while the others entered Tier 3.
Given the nature of the Qualifying Competition, a competition including developing rugby nations and Italian clubs not competing in the Pro12, Rugby Europe 1 and Rugby Europe 2 were automatically included in Tier 4, despite officially being ranked 1/2 from that competition.
The brackets show each team's seeding and their league.
Tier 1 Harlequins Cardiff Blues Brive Ospreys La Rochelle
Tier 2 Gloucester Bath Edinburgh Grenoble Worcester Warriors
Tier 3 Pau Newport Gwent Dragons Newcastle Falcons Treviso Stade Français
Tier 4 Bristol Lyon Bayonne Enisey-STM Timișoara Saracens

The following restrictions applied to the draw:
The draw took place on 29 June 2016, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Teams played each other twice, both at home and away, in the group stage, that began on weekend of 13/14/15/16 October 2016, and continued through to 19/20/21/22 January 2017, before the pool winners and three best runners-up progressed to the quarter finals.
Teams were awarded competition points, based on match result. Teams received 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and 1 defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.
In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers were used, as directed by EPCR:
  1. Where teams have played each other
  2. # The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
  3. # If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
  4. # If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
  5. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition
  6. # The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
  7. # If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
  8. # If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
  9. # If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.
Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals.
Cannot advance to the quarter-finals.

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Pool 5

Pool winners and runners-up rankings

Knock-out stage

Format

The eight qualifiers were ranked according to performance in the pool stages, and compete in the quarter-finals, which was held on the weekend of 30/31 March, 1/2 April 2017. The top four teams hosted the quarter-finals against the lower teams in a 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 format.
The semi-finals were played on the weekend of 21/22/23 April 2017. In lieu of the draw that used to determine the semi-final pairing, EPCR announced that a fixed semi-final bracket would be set in advance, and that home advantage would be awarded to a side based on "performances by clubs during the pool stages as well as the achievement of a winning a quarter-final match away from home".
Home advantage was awarded as follows:
The winners of the semi-finals contested the final at Murrayfield on 12 May 2017.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Attendances

ClubHome
Games		TotalAverageHighestLowest% Capacity
Bath449,57012,39313,25711,67785%
Bayonne38,7032,9015,0051,49817%
Benetton Treviso34,1001,3671,90070025%
Bristol328,9889,66313,1407,55936%
Brive311,5003,8335,0002,50024%
Cardiff Blues321,7527,2517,5696,96060%
Edinburgh420,1055,0265,4894,05529%
Enisey-ETM32,8009331,50030018%
Gloucester439,3679,84211,2069,26561%
Grenoble320,6076,8697,0036,75442%
Harlequins329,6929,89711,8208,23067%
La Rochelle456,91014,22815,00013,12395%
Lyon327,4729,15712,0806,50077%
Newcastle Falcons310,4483,4833,5513,39034%
Newport Gwent Dragons311,7663,9224,1263,54446%
Ospreys433,5048,37612,1276,98630%
Pau323,6357,8789,2126,05057%
Stade Francais431,3637,84110,1756,51139%
Timișoara Saracens26,5003,2503,5003,00010%
Worcester Warriors320,4746,8257,2096,09757%