2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup

The 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup was the ninth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for teams from the top five nations in European rugby and South Africa. It was the 28th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England France Ireland Scotland South Africa Wales
Tournament format(s)	Modified round-robin and knockout
Date	9 December 2022 – 20 May 2023
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	63
Attendance	1,028,422 (16,324 per match)
Highest attendance	51,711 – Leinster v La Rochelle 20 May 2023
Lowest attendance	4,800 – Castres v Exeter Chiefs 10 December 2022[a]
Tries scored	396 (6.29 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Antoine Hastoy (La Rochelle) 97 points
Top try scorer(s)	Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 6 tries
Final
Venue	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance	51,711
Champions	La Rochelle (2nd title)
Runners-up	Leinster
← 2021–22 (Previous) (Next) 2023–24 →

Dutch beer brand Heineken continued as the title sponsor of the competition, extending their deal after their previous agreement expired at the end of the 2021–22 season.^[1]

This was the first year to feature the top teams from South Africa, following the inaugural United Rugby Championship season.

The tournament commenced in December 2022. The final was held at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland on 20 May 2023.^[2] The match was a repeat of the 2022 final, with Stade Rochelais defeating Leinster for the second consecutive year.^[3]

Teams

Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues competed in the Champions Cup.

The distribution of teams was:

• England: eight clubs
  • The top eight clubs from Premiership Rugby
• France: eight clubs
  • The top eight clubs from the Top 14
• Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, Wales: eight clubs
  • The top side in each of the four regional shields from the United Rugby Championship (one Irish, one Welsh, one South African and one either Scottish or Italian), along with the remaining top four ranked clubs regardless of nation, within the league, that didn't win their respective shield.^[4] If the club that wins the championship has not qualified by the methods above then that club, the four shield winners and the remaining top three ranked clubs regardless of nation, within the league, that didn't win their respective shield will qualify.^[5]

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship
England	France	Ireland	South Africa	Scotland	Wales
Exeter Gloucester Harlequins Leicester London Irish Northampton Sale Saracens	Bordeaux-Bègles Castres Clermont La Rochelle Lyon Montpellier Racing 92 Toulouse	Leinster Munster Ulster	Bulls Sharks Stormers	Edinburgh	Ospreys

Team details

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.

Team	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity	Method of qualification
Bordeaux Bègles	Frédéric Charrier Julien Laïrle[b]	Mahamadou Diaby	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,694	Top 14 top 8 (3rd) (SF)
Bulls	Jake White	Marcell Coetzee	Loftus Versfeld Stadium	51,762	URC table rankings (4th) (RU)
Castres	Pierre-Henry Broncan	Mathieu Babillot	Stade Pierre-Fabre	12,500	Top 14 top 8 (1st) (RU)
Clermont	Christophe Urios[c]	Arthur Iturria	Stade Marcel-Michelin	19,022	Top 14 top 8 (7th)
Edinburgh	Steve Diamond[d]	Grant Gilchrist Jamie Ritchie	Edinburgh Rugby Stadium	7,800	URC Scottish/Italian Shield winner (7th) (QF)
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Jack Yeandle	Sandy Park	13,593	Premiership top 8 (7th)
Gloucester	George Skivington	Lewis Ludlow	Kingsholm Stadium	16,115	Premiership top 8 (5th)
Harlequins	Tabai Matson	Stephan Lewies	Twickenham Stoop	14,800	Premiership top 8 (3rd) (SF)
La Rochelle	Ronan O'Gara	Grégory Alldritt	Stade Marcel-Deflandre	16,000	Top 14 top 8 (5th) (QF)
Leicester Tigers	Richard Wigglesworth[e]	Hanro Liebenberg	Mattioli Woods Welford Road	25,849	Premiership top 8 (1st) (CH)
Leinster	Leo Cullen	Johnny Sexton	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700	URC Irish Shield winner (1st) (SF)
London Irish	Declan Kidney	Matt Rogerson	Gtech Community Stadium	17,250	Premiership top 8 (8th)
Lyon	Xavier Garbajosa	Jean-Marc Doussain	Matmut Stadium de Gerland	35,029	2021–22 Challenge Cup Champion
Montpellier	Philippe Saint-André	Yacouba Camara	GGL Stadium	15,697	Top 14 top 8 (2nd) (CH)
Munster	Graham Rowntree	Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park	25,600	URC table rankings (6th) (QF)
Northampton Saints	Phil Dowson	Lewis Ludlam	cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens	15,200	Premiership top 8 (4th) (SF)
Ospreys	Toby Booth	Justin Tipuric	Swansea.com Stadium	21,088	URC Welsh Shield winner (9th)
Racing 92	Laurent Travers	Henry Chavancy	Paris La Défense Arena	32,000	Top 14 top 8 (6th) (QF)
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Jono Ross	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Premiership top 8 (6th)
Saracens	Mark McCall	Owen Farrell	StoneX Stadium	10,500	Premiership top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Sharks	Sean Everitt	Thomas du Toit	Kings Park Stadium	52,000	URC table rankings (5th) (QF)
Stormers	John Dobson	Ernst van Rhyn	Cape Town Stadium	55,000	URC South African Shield winner (2nd) (CH)
Toulouse	Ugo Mola	Julien Marchand	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500	Top 14 top 8 (4th) (SF)
Ulster	Dan McFarland	Iain Henderson	Ravenhill Stadium[f]	18,196	URC table rankings (3rd) (SF)

Seedings and structure

For the purposes of the pool draw, the 24 clubs were separated into tiers based on their league finishing position, and clubs from the same league in the same tier were not drawn into the same pool. The number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league are in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs are in Tier 2, the number 5 and 6 ranked clubs are in Tier 3, and the number 7 and number 8 ranked clubs are in Tier 4.

In effect, each pool contains one team from each of the three leagues, from each of the four tiers.

Pool play will feature the Tier 1 teams playing the Tier 4 teams in their pool twice, home and away, while the Tier 2 and 3 clubs will follow in a similar manner. However a team will not play the relevant team from its own league i.e. the tier 1 French team will play the tier 4 English and tier 4 URC team in its pool, but will not play the tier 4 French team in its pool. Each team will therefore play four pool games over four match weekends.

As with the previous two seasons, the 24 teams will play four rounds of pool matches. These will take place from 9–18 December 2022 and 13–22 January 2023.^{[needs update]} Sixteen teams will qualify for the knockout rounds. In a change from the 2021–22 format, the round of 16 contests will take the form of a single match rather than a two-legged tie.^[12]

The eight teams from each pool with the best points will qualify for the knockout stage, a single-leg single-elimination bracket of 16 teams. Teams finishing 9th and 10th after pool play will join the Challenge Cup, also at the round of 16 stage (joining twelve qualifiers from the Challenge Cup pool stage), once more in a single-leg single-elimination bracket. Last season's home-and-away two-legged round of 16 has not been continued.

Tier	Rank	Top 14	Premiership	United Rugby Championship
1	1	Montpellier	Leicester Tigers	Stormers
	2	Castres	Saracens	Bulls
2	3	Bordeaux Bègles	Harlequins	Leinster
	4	Toulouse	Northampton Saints	Ulster
3	5	La Rochelle	Gloucester	Sharks
	6	Racing 92	Sale Sharks	Munster
4	7	Clermont	Exeter Chiefs	Edinburgh
	8	Lyon	London Irish	Ospreys

Pool stage

Exeter

Leicester

Northampton

Sale

Gloucester

London (see map below)

Clermont

Castres

Montpellier

Racing 92

La Rochelle

Toulouse

Bordeaux

Lyon

Leinster

Munster

Ulster

Edinburgh

Ospreys

Locations

Locations of European teams of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool A; Blue: Pool B.

Harlequins

Saracens

London Irish

Locations of London teams of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool A; Blue: Pool B.

Main article: 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage

Bulls

Sharks

Stormers

Locations of South African teams of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Red: Pool A; Blue: Pool B.

Teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for scoring four tries in a game, and one bonus point for losing by less than eight points.

Key to colours

	Teams ranked in the top 8 of each pool advance to 2022–23 EPCR Champions Cup round of 16.
	Teams ranked 9th and 10th in each pool advance to 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16.
	Teams ranked 11th and 12th in each pool are eliminated from 2022 to 2023 European competition.

Pool A

2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool A
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster	4	4	0	0	184	34	+150	28	5	4	0	20
Exeter Chiefs	4	3	0	1	139	68	+71	20	8	4	0	16
Sharks	4	3	0	1	119	89	+30	15	11	3	0	15
Saracens	4	3	0	1	120	94	+26	15	11	2	1	15
Edinburgh	4	3	0	1	111	85	+26	12	11	2	1	15
Harlequins	4	2	0	2	113	108	+5	16	13	3	1	12
Bulls	4	2	0	2	102	139	–37	15	19	2	0	10
Gloucester	4	2	0	2	62	140	–78	9	20	1	0	9
Lyon	4	1	0	3	115	125	–10	16	17	3	1	8
Racing 92	4	1	0	3	60	121	–61	7	18	0	1	5
Bordeaux Bègles	4	0	0	4	53	99	–46	5	13	0	2	2
Castres	4	0	0	4	56	132	–76	6	18	0	0	0
Green background (rows 1 to 8) indicates qualification places for the Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 9 to 10) indicates qualification places for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

Pool B

2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool B
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
La Rochelle	4	4	0	0	120	57	+63	15	7	2	0	18
Toulouse	4	4	0	0	110	53	+57	12	7	1	0	17
Stormers	4	3	0	1	106	68	+38	13	7	3	0	15
Leicester Tigers	4	3	0	1	116	89	+27	11	10	1	1	14
Ospreys	4	3	0	1	100	88	+12	12	10	1	1	14
Munster	4	2	0	2	73	67	+6	8	5	0	2	10
Montpellier	4	1	1	2	92	104	–12	13	13	2	1	9
Ulster	4	1	0	3	54	93	–39	7	11	1	2	7
Clermont	4	1	0	3	85	111	–26	8	12	1	1	6
Sale Sharks	4	1	0	3	74	94	–20	11	12	1	0	5
London Irish	4	0	1	3	76	115	–39	10	15	0	1	3
Northampton Saints	4	0	0	4	54	121	–67	5	16	0	1	1
Green background (rows 1 to 8) indicates qualification places for the Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 9 to 10) indicates qualification places for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

Knockout stage

The knockout stage began with the round of 16, starting on 31 March 2023, and concludes with the final on 20 May 2023.

Unlike the previous year, the round of 16 consists of a single leg of matches, consisting of the top eight ranked teams from Pool A and Pool B respectively, with the top four from each receiving home advantage.^[13]

Whilst the round of 16 follows a pre-determined format, the quarter-finals include an expected home advantage to the higher ranked team. The semi-finals are to be played at a neutral venue.

Bracket

Stade Ernest-Wallon before Toulouse v Sharks

Stade Marcel-Deflandre before La Rochelle v Saracens

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

A1

Leinster

30

B8

Ulster

15

A1

Leinster

55

B4

Leicester

24

B4

Leicester

16

A5

Edinburgh

6

A1

Leinster

41

B2

Toulouse

22

B2

Toulouse

33

A7

Bulls

9

B2

Toulouse

54

A3

Sharks

20

A3

Sharks

50

B6

Munster

35

A1

Leinster

26

B1

La Rochelle

27

B1

La Rochelle

29

A8

Gloucester

26

B1

La Rochelle

24

A4

Saracens

10

A4

Saracens

35

B5

Ospreys

20

B1

La Rochelle

47

A2

Exeter

28

A2

Exeter[g]

33

B7

Montpellier

33

A2

Exeter

42

B3

Stormers

17

B3

Stormers

32

A6

Harlequins

28

Round of 16

31 March 2023 20:00

Leicester Tigers	16–6	Edinburgh
Try: Wiese 52' c Con: Pollard (1/1) 53' Pen: Pollard (3/4) 5', 59', 71'	Report	Pen: Boffelli (2/3) 43', 51'

Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Leicester Attendance: 12,844 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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1 April 2023 13:30

Sharks	50–35	Munster
Try: Hendrikse 15' c Etzebeth 24' c Mbonambi (2) 44' c, 48' m Kok 53' c Bosch 57' c Mapimpi 63' c Con: Bosch (6/7) 17', 24', 45', 58', 64' Pen: Bosch (1/2) 4'	Report	Try: S. Daly 5' c Kilcoyne 31' c Barron 60' c Haley 68' c Wycherley 77' c Con: Crowley (5/5) 6', 33', 61', 69', 78'

Kings Park Stadium, Durban Attendance: 27,987 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

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1 April 2023 16:00

Stormers	32–28	Harlequins
Try: Fourie (2) 2' c, 31' m Kitshoff 9' m Willemse 50' m Engelbrecht 75' c Con: Libbok (2/5) 3', 77' Pen: Libbok (1/1) 57'	Report	Try: Dombrandt (2) 4' c, 78' c Esterhuizen 79' c Marchant 80+4' c Con: Smith (4/4) 5', 78', 79', 80+5'

Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town Attendance: 33,651 Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

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1 April 2023 17:30

Leinster	30–15	Ulster
Try: Baird 19' c Gibson-Park 53' c Porter 62' c Con: R. Byrne (3/3) 20' 54' 63' Pen: R. Byrne (3/4) 11' 25' 37'	Report	Try: Hume 26' m Herring 57' c Con: Cooney (1/1) 58' Pen: Doak (1/1) 10'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 51,700 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

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1 April 2023 18:30

La Rochelle	29–26	Gloucester
Try: Bourgarit 21' c Thomas (2) 25' m, 77' c Kerr-Barlow 45' c Con: Hastoy (3/4) 23', 46', 79' Pen: Hastoy (1/2) 5'	Report	Try: Harris 12' c Clarke 33' m Rees-Zammit 49' m Con: Twelvetrees (1/3) 13' Pen: Twelvetrees (3/4) 15', 55', 70'

Stade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

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2 April 2023 12:30

Exeter Chiefs	33–33 [g] (a.e.t.)	Montpellier
Try: Sio 22' c S. Simmonds 34' c Wyatt 55' m Iosefa-Scott 64' c Yeandle 100' c Con: J. Simmonds (4/5) 23', 35', 65', 100+1'	Report	Try: Langdon 3' c Rattez 7' m Nouchi 76' m Carbonel 93' c Con: Garbisi (2/4) 4', 95' Pen: Garbisi (2/3) 39', 53', 80+4'

Sandy Park, Exeter Attendance: 10,582 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

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2 April 2023 15:00

Saracens	35–20	Ospreys
Try: Malins (2) 40' c, 56' c Taylor 68' c Woolstencroft 79' m Con: Farrell (3/4) 40+1', 57', 69' Pen: Farrell (3/4) 9', 34', 63'	Report	Try: Collins 11' c K. Williams 22' c Con: O. Williams (2/2) 12', 24' Pen: O. Williams (2/2) 45', 52'

StoneX Stadium, London Attendance: 9,350 Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

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2 April 2023 16:00

Toulouse	33–9	Bulls
Try: Meafou 50' c Lebel 54' c Flament 64' c Con: Ramos (3/3) 51', 54', 65' Pen: Ramos (4/4) 7', 11', 17', 33'	Report	Pen: Smith (3/3) 2', 34', 44'

Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Quarter-finals

7 April 2023 20:00

Leinster	55–24	Leicester Tigers
Try: Ringrose (2) 2' c, 17' c Gibson-Park 53' c Penalty try 59' Penny 62' c O'Brien 72' c McKee 78' c Con: R. Byrne (6/6) 2', 17', 54', 63', 73', 80' Pen: R. Byrne (2/2) 32', 51'	Report	Try: Watson 38' c Cracknell 68' c Potter 75' c Con: Pollard (3/3) 40', 69', 76' Pen: Pollard (1/1) 7'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

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8 April 2023 16:00

Toulouse	54–20	Sharks
Try: Mallía (2) 37' m, 58' m Ramos (2) 47' c, 72' c Mauvaka 69' c Retière 76' c Ntamack 80' c Con: Ramos (5/7) 48', 70', 73', 77', 80+1' Pen: Ramos (3/3) 23', 32', 40+1'	Report	Try: Williams 27' c Chamberlain 55' c Con: Bosch (2/2) 28', 56' Pen: Bosch (2/3) 10', 67'

Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse Attendance: 18,628 Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

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8 April 2023 17:30

Exeter Chiefs	42–17	Stormers
Try: Wyatt 14' c Nowell 22' c Woodburn 30' c S. Simmonds 46' c Yeandle 74' c Cairns 79' c Con: J. Simmonds (6/6) 15', 22' 31', 47', 75', 80'	Report	Try: Willemse 52' m Hartzenberg 61' m Orie 77' c Con: Libbok (1/3) 77'

Sandy Park, Exeter Attendance: 12,007 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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9 April 2023 16:00

La Rochelle	24–10	Saracens
Try: Kerr-Barlow (2) 33' c, 58' m Con: Hastoy (1/2) 34' Pen: Hastoy (4/5) 1', 4', 23', 68'	Report	Try: Mawi 65' c Con: Farrell (1/1) 65' Pen: Farrell (1/1) 21'

Stade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Semi-finals

Both semi-finals will be played in Europe and the highest-ranked clubs from the pool stage has country advantage. If a South African team had been ranked higher, the game would still have been located in Europe.^[15]

29 April 2023 15:00

Leinster	41–22	Toulouse
Try: Conan (2) 16' c, 20' c Sheehan 26' c van der Flier 57' c Jenkins 63' c Con: R. Byrne (5/5) 18', 22', 27', 58', 64' Pen: R. Byrne (2/2) 4', 12'	Report	Try: Ahki 8' c Meafou 34' c Willis 80'+2 m Con: Ramos (2/3) 9', 34' Pen: Ramos (1/1) 55'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 46,823 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

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30 April 2023 16:00

La Rochelle	47–28	Exeter Chiefs
Try: Rhule (2) 8' c, 43' c Seuteni 22' c Alldritt 31' m Kerr-Barlow (2) 38' c, 67' c Bourgarit 52' c Con: Hastoy (6/7) 10', 23', 39', 44', 54', 68'	Report	Try: S. Simmonds 5' c Iosefa-Scott 58' c Woodburn 69' c Yeandle 74' c Con: J. Simmonds (4/4) 6', 58', 70', 75'

Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux Attendance: 41,204 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Final

Main article: 2023 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

20 May 2023 16:45 IST (UTC+01)

Leinster	26–27	La Rochelle
Try: Sheehan (2) 1' c, 11' m O'Brien 5' m Con: Byrne (1/3) 2' Pen: Byrne (3/3) 23', 30', 46'	Report	Try: Danty 19' c Seuteni 37' c Colombe 71' c Con: Hastoy (3/3) 20', 38', 72' Pen: Hastoy (2/2) 43', 49'

Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 51,711 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Leading scorers

Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.

Most points As of 30 April 2023 Source:[16] Rank Player Club Points 1 Antoine Hastoy La Rochelle 85 2 Ross Byrne Leinster 81 3 Thomas Ramos Toulouse 70 4 Curwin Bosch Sharks 65 5 Joe Simmonds Exeter Chiefs 55 6 Handre Pollard Leicester Tigers 48 7 Owen Farrell Saracens 40

Most tries As of 30 April 2023 Source:[16] Rank Player Club Tries 1 Josh van der Flier Leinster 6 2 Sam Simmonds Exeter Chiefs 5 Tawera Kerr-Barlow La Rochelle 4 Pierre Bourgarit La Rochelle 4 Gavin Coombes Munster Elliot Daly Saracens Thomas Darmon Montpellier Ben Earl Saracens André Esterhuizen Harlequins Deon Fourie Stormers Jaden Hendrikse Sharks Garry Ringrose Leinster

See also

• 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup

Notes

1. The lowest attendance does not include the match between Ulster and La Rochelle on 17 December 2022, which was played behind closed doors, due to the fixture's forced relocation to a neutral venue.
2. Christophe Urios was sacked as head coach of Bordeaux Bègles in November 2022. His assistants, Frédéric Charrier and Julien Laïrle, took over as joint interim head coaches for the rest of the season.^[6]
3. Jono Gibbes was sacked as head coach of Clermont in January 2023. His assistants took charge of their final pool stage match, with Christophe Urios appointed to take over as the new head coach as of the end of the pool stage.^[7]
4. Mike Blair was the head coach of Edinburgh until March 2023, having taken charge of the club's pool stage fixtures, before he stepped down to transition into the role of attack coach. Steve Diamond was then appointed to take on head coaching duties for the remainder of the season, from the position of lead rugby consultant.^[8]
5. Steve Borthwick was the head coach of Leicester until 19 December 2022, when he departed the club to take up the role of England head coach.^[9] Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth was then appointed as the Tigers interim head coach until the end of the season.^[10]
6. Ulster were also forced to play one home game at the Aviva Stadium behind closed doors during the pool stages, due to the pitch at Ravenhill being frozen.^[11]
7. Exeter Chiefs advanced to the quarter-finals after the scores were tied at the end of extra time, due to the try count-back rule, having outscored Montpellier by five tries to four.^[14]