2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup
| 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Countries |  Toulon |
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The 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the sixth edition of the
The tournament began in November 2019. The final took place on 16 October at the Stade Maurice David in Aix-en-Provence.[1]
Teams
20 teams will qualify for the 2019–20 European Challenge Cup; 18 will qualify from
- England: Five teams
- Any teams finishing between 7th and 11th position in Premiership Rugby that do not qualify for the Champions Cup (Sale Sharks (7th) qualified for the Champions Cup and therefore did not take part in the Challenge Cup)).
- The champion of the RFU Championship.
- France: Eight teams
- Italy, Scotland, Wales: six teams
- Five teams from the Pro14, excluding the South African teams, that do not qualify for the 2019-20 European Champions Cup
- One team from Italy qualified through the Continental Shield
- Russia: one team
- One team from Russia qualified through the Continental Shield
No team from Ireland will participate in the competition as all four clubs have qualified for the 2019-20 European Champions Cup.
The following clubs have qualified for the Challenge Cup.
| Premiership | Top 14 | Pro14 | Qualifying Competition | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England
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 France
|
 Italy
|
 Scotland
|
 Wales
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Italy
|
 Russia
|
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Qualifying competition
Six teams were split into two pools of three to compete in the pool stage of the European Rugby Continental Shield. Each team played the other two teams in its pool twice on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each pool faced each other in a two-legged play-off for a place in the Challenge Cup.
A further place was awarded to the winner of a two-legged playoff between the two sides competing in the 2018–19 Challenge Cup.
Qualifying play-offs
| 30 March 2019 |
Stadio San Michele, Calvisano Attendance: 1,200 |
| 30 March 2019 |
Dan Păltinișanu Stadium, Timișoara Attendance: 970 |
| 20 April 2019 |
Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo |
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.
Seeding
The 20 competing teams will be seeded and split into four tiers; seeding is based on performance in their respective domestic leagues. Where promotion and relegation is in effect in a league, the promoted team is seeded last, or (if multiple teams are promoted) by performance in the lower competition.[3]
| Rank | Top 14 | Premiership | Pro 14 | Continental Shield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Castres |
Wasps |
Scarlets |
Enisey-STM
|
| 2 | Stade Français |
Bristol Bears |
Cardiff Blues |
Calvisano
|
| 3 | Toulon |
Worcester Warriors |
Edinburgh |
|
| 4 | Bordeaux Bègles |
Leicester Tigers |
Dragons |
|
| 5 | Pau |
London Irish |
Zebre |
|
| 6 | Agen |
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| 7 | Bayonne |
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| 8 | Brive |
Based on these seedings, teams are placed into one of the four tiers, with the top-seeded clubs being put in Tier 1. The nature of the tier system means that a draw is needed to allocate two of the three second-seed clubs to Tier 1. The fourth-seed team from the same domestic league as the second-seed team which was put in Tier 2 will also be placed in Tier 2. Brackets show each team's seeding and their league. e.g. 1 Top 14 indicates the team was the top seed from the Top 14.
Given the nature of the Continental Shield, a competition including developing rugby nations and Italian clubs not competing in the Pro14, the qualifying teams from this competition are automatically included in Tier 4.
| Tier 1 | Wasps (1 Prem)
|
Scarlets (1 Pro14)
|
Castres (1 Top 14)
|
Stade Français (2 Top 14)
|
Cardiff Blues (2 Pro14)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 2 | Bristol Bears (2 Prem)
|
Worcester Warriors (3 Prem)
|
Edinburgh (3 Pro14)
|
Toulon (3 Top 14)
|
Leicester Tigers (4 Prem)
|
| Tier 3 | Bordeaux Bègles (4 Top 14)
|
Dragons (4 Pro14)
|
London Irish (5 Prem)
|
Zebre (5 Pro14)
|
Pau (5 Top 14)
|
| Tier 4 | Agen (6 Top 14)
|
Bayonne (7 Top 14)
|
Brive (8 Top 14)
|
Enisey-STM (CS 1)
|
Calvisano (CS 2)
|
Pool stage
Green: Pool 1; 
Red: Pool 2; 
Orange: Pool 3; 
Yellow: Pool 4; 
