European Rugby Cup

European Rugby Cup Ltd was the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments; the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. It was replaced by the European Professional Club Rugby governing body in 2014.
The inaugural Heineken Cup competition was held in 1995–96, with the second tier competition established the following season.

History

The organisation was established in 1995, in preparation for the 1995–96 season, and was headquartered in Dublin. ERC's had nine major shareholders: the six tier 1 unions and three club associations, which were all represented on the board of directors:
; Unions

; Club associations:

In 2012, Premiership Rugby and LNR, on behalf of the English and French clubs respectively, notified ERC that they would be withdrawing from the accord governing the competition, being dissatisfied with the organisation of the competition and the distribution of funding. Premiership Rugby subsequently refused to join any new agreement in which ERC remained organisers of European rugby tournaments.
On 10 April 2014 it was announced that the nine shareholders with an interest in continuing major European club competition had come to an agreement for new competitions. Under the new agreement, ERC was wound up, and a new body, European Professional Club Rugby, would be created to organise three new competitions, European Rugby Champions Cup, the European Rugby Challenge Cup, and the third tier Qualifying Competition, beginning with the 2014–15 season.

ERC Governance

The Board of ERC, which oversaw the implementation of ERC's strategy for the development of European club rugby, was made up of representatives of the six shareholder unions, league bodies and club representatives and shaped the strategy and development of ERC and the tournaments.
Reporting to and making recommendation the Board were a series of ERC Committees, focusing on the various roles of ERC as a Governing Body and Tournament Organiser and these drew on the experience and expertise of the clubs and Unions from each participation nation.
ERC Committee Structure:
– ERC Commercial Committee
– ERC Rugby Committee
– ERC Match Officials Committee
– ERC Disciplinary Committee
– ERC Finance and Audit Committee
The ERC Executive and team of 20 employees was based in the Dublin headquarters and were charged with implementing the strategy for the development of European club rugby and management of the two tournaments and of the showpiece ERC Finals weekend.

ERC European Player of the Year

Recognised as one of the most prestigious individual accolades in the game, the ERC European Player of the Year honourrd the best player of the European club rugby season from both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup tournaments.
In 2010 ERC launched the ERC15 Awards, recognising the outstanding contributors to the first decade and a half of European competition. The inaugural recipient of the ERC European Player Award, as the best player over the first 15 years of these tournaments, was Munster Rugby's Ronan O'Gara. For the 2010/11 season, ERC moved to present an annual award.
On 26 May 2014, it was announced that Steffon Armitage had been named 2014 ERC European Player of the Year.
Winners:

Ronan O'Gara – 2010

Seán O'Brien 2011

Rob Kearney 2012

Jonny Wilkinson 2013

Steffon Armitage 2014

Nick Abendanon 2015

ERC Elite Awards

To celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup, the ERC Elite Awards scheme was introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions.

Teams with 50 or more appearances

Players with 100 or more Heineken Cup caps

Players with 50 or more Heineken Cup caps

Player	Club	Appearances
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	110
John Hayes	Munster	101
Peter Stringer	Munster, Saracens, Bath	100
Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	98
	Munster	96
Leo Cullen	Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Leinster	92
Shane Horgan	Leinster	87
Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster	87
Clément Poitrenaud	Toulouse	87
Anthony Foley	Munster	86
David Wallace	Munster	86
Nathan Hines	Edinburgh, Perpignan, Leinster, Clermont Auvergne	85
Jean Bouilhou	Toulouse	84
Marcus Horan	Munster	84
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets	84
Fabien Pelous	Dax, Toulouse	81
Martyn Williams	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Cardiff Blues	81
Yannick Jauzion	Colomiers, Toulouse	79
Alan Quinlan	Munster	78
Sylvain Marconnet	Stade Français, Biarritz	76
Paul O'Connell	Munster	76
Julien Peyrelongue	Biarritz	75
Ian Gough	Pontypridd, Newport, Newport Gwent Dragons, Ospreys	74
Geordan Murphy	Leicester Tigers	74
Malcolm O'Kelly	Leinster	74
Jean-Baptiste Poux	Toulouse	74
William Servat	Toulouse	74
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	73
Allan Jacobsen	Edinburgh	72
Martin Castrogiovanni	Calvisano, Leicester Tigers	71
Cédric Heymans	Brive, Toulouse	71
Shane Jennings	Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Leinster	71
Jérôme Thion	Montferrand, Perpignan, Biarritz	71
Vernon Cooper	Llanelli, Scarlets	70
Florian Fritz	Bourgoin, Toulouse	70
Simon Shaw	London Wasps	70
Martin Corry	Leicester Tigers	69
Louis Deacon	Leicester Tigers	68
Girvan Dempsey	Leinster	68
George Chuter	Saracens, Leicester Tigers	67
John Kelly	Munster	67
Grégory Lamboley	Toulouse	67
Nicolas Mas	Perpignan	67
Chris Paterson	Edinburgh, Gloucester, Edinburgh	67
Jamie Heaslip	Leinster	66
Adam Jones	Neath, Ospreys	66
Duncan Jones	Neath, Ospreys	66
Eoin Reddan	Munster, London Wasps, Leinster	66
David Skrela	Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne	66
Chris Wyatt	Llanelli, Scarlets, Bourgoin	66
Ben Kay	Leicester Tigers	65
Julien Bonnaire	Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne	64
Yannick Bru	Toulouse	64
Nicolas Brusque	Pau, Biarritz	64
Romain Millo-Chluski	Toulouse	64
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	63
Benoît August	Stade Français, Biarritz	62
Mick O'Driscoll	Munster, Perpignan, Munster	62
Iestyn Thomas	Ebbw Vale, Llanelli, Scarlets	62
Shane Byrne	Leinster, Saracens	61
Reggie Corrigan	Leinster	61
Thierry Dusautoir	Biarritz, Toulouse	61
Dougie Hall	Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors	60
Dafydd James	Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues	60
Gethin Jenkins	Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues	60
Benjamin Kayser	Stade Français, Leicester Tigers, Stade Français, Castres Olympique, Clermont Auvergne	60
Christian Labit	Toulouse, Northampton Saints	60
Gareth Thomas	Cardiff, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Toulouse, Cardiff Blues	60
Andrew Trimble	Ulster	60
Iain Balshaw	Bath, Gloucester, Biarritz	59
Steve Borthwick	Bath, Saracens	59
Frederic Michalak	Toulouse, Toulon	59
Lewis Moody	Leicester Tigers, Bath	59
Graham Rowntree	Leicester Tigers	59
Perry Freshwater	Leicester Tigers, Perpignan	58
Salvatore Perugini	L'Aquila, Calvisano, Toulouse, Aironi	58
Trevor Brennan	Leinster, Toulouse	57
Victor Costello	Leinster	57
Justin Fitzpatrick	Ulster, Castres Olympique, Ulster	57
David Humphreys	Ulster	57
Jonathan Thomas	Swansea, Ospreys	57
Shane Williams	Neath, Ospreys	57
Roger Wilson	Ulster, Northampton Saints, Ulster	57
Joe Worsley	London Wasps	57
Philippe Bidabé	Biarritz	56
Simon Easterby	Llanelli, Scarlets	56
Anthony Horgan	Munster	56
Gavin Thomas	Bath, Ospreys, Scarlets, Newport Gwent Dragons	56
David Auradou	Stade Français	55
Serge Betsen	Biarritz, London Wasps	55
Tommy Bowe	Ulster, Ospreys, Ulster	55
Robin McBryde	Llanelli, Scarlets	55
Yannick Nyanga	Béziers, Toulouse	55
Shaun Payne	Swansea, Munster	55
Frankie Sheahan	Munster	55
Damien Traille	Pau, Biarritz	55
Garan Evans	Llanelli, Scarlets	54
Denis Hickie	Leinster	54
Benoît Lecouls	Toulouse, Biarritz, Toulouse	54
Tom Voyce	Bath, London Wasps, Gloucester	54
Paddy Wallace	Ulster	54
Jason White	Glasgow, Sale Sharks, Clermont Auvergne	54
Isaac Boss	Ulster, Leinster	53
Lawrence Dallaglio	London Wasps	53
Austin Healey	Leicester Tigers	53
Alex King	London Wasps, Clermont	53
Leon Lloyd	Leicester Tigers, Gloucester	53
Mauro Bergamasco	Petrarca, Benetton Treviso, Stade Français, Aironi Zebre	52
Kelly Brown	Borders, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens	52
Pieter de Villiers	Stade Français	52
Vincent Debaty	Perpignan, Clermont Auvergne	52
Imanol Harinordoquy	Pau, Biarritz Olympique	52
Deiniol Jones	Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues	52
Rob Kearney	Leinster	52
Eric Miller	Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Leinster	52
Aurélien Rougerie	Clermont Auvergne	52
Rimas Álvarez Kairelis	Perpignan	51
Peter Buxton	Newport, Gloucester	51
Lee Byrne	Scarlets, Ospreys, Clermont Auvergne	51
Ben Cohen	Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks	51
John Davies	Neath, Llanelli, Scarlets	51
Martin Johnson	Leicester Tigers	51
Al Kellock	Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors	51
Scott Murray	Saracens, Edinburgh, Montauban, Castres Olympique	51
Brendan Williams	Petrarca, Benetton Treviso	51
Nicolas Durand	Béziers, Perpignan, Racing Métro 92, Toulon, Perpignan	50
Ross Ford	Borders, Edinburgh	50
Gary Longwell	Ulster	50
Sonny Parker	Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Ospreys	50
Julien Pierre	Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne	50
Matthew Rees	Celtic Warriors, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues	50

Players with 500 or more Heineken Cup points

Player	Club	Points
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	1,365
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets	869
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	661
Diego Domínguez	Milan, Stade Français	645
David Humphreys	Ulster	564
Neil Jenkins	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors	502
David Skrela	Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne	500

Players with 25 or more Heineken Cup tries

Player	Club	Tries
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	35
Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster	33
Dafydd James	Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues	29
Shane Horgan	Leinster	27
Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	26
Geordan Murphy	Leicester Tigers	25

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