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2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Scotland  South Africa  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Modified round-robin and knockout
Date	8 December 2023 – 25 May 2024
Tournament statistics
Matches played	63
Attendance	1,160,390 (18,419 per match)
Highest attendance	82,300 – LeinstervNorthampton Saints 4 May 2024
Lowest attendance	6,024 – ConnachtvBordeaux 8 December 2023
Tries scored	468 (7.43 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Marcus Smith (Harlequins) 85 points
Top try scorer(s)	James Lowe (Leinster) Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux) Matthis Lebel (Toulouse) 6 tries
Final
Venue	Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Attendance	61,531
Champions	Toulouse (6th title)
Runners-up	Leinster
← 2022–23 (Previous) (Next) 2024–25 →

The 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is the tenth 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 29th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

This was the second time the tournament features the top teams from South Africa, following the second United Rugby Championship season.

The tournament commenced in May 2024. The final was held at Tottenham Hotspur StadiuminTottenham, England on 25 May 2024, and won by Toulouse for the sixth time, defeating Leinster 31–22.^[1]

Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues qualified to compete in the 2023–24 edition of the Champions Cup.

The distribution of teams is:

• England: eight clubs
  • The top eight clubs from Premiership Rugby^[a]
• 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. 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.

Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship
England	France	Ireland	South Africa	Scotland	Wales
Bath Bristol Bears[a] Exeter Chiefs Harlequins Leicester Tigers Northampton Saints Sale Sharks Saracens	Bayonne Bordeaux La Rochelle Lyon Racing 92 Stade Français Toulon Toulouse	Connacht Leinster Munster Ulster	Bulls Stormers	Glasgow Warriors	Cardiff

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(es) / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity	Method of qualification
Bayonne	Grégory Patat	Denis Marchois	Stade Jean-Dauger	14,370	Top 14 top 8 (8th)
Bath	Johann van Graan	Ben Spencer	Recreation Ground	14,509	Premiership top 8 (8th)
Bordeaux	Yannick Bru	Jefferson Poirot	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,694	Top 14 top 8 (6th) (SF)
Bristol Bears	Pat Lam	Steve Luatua	Ashton Gate Stadium	27,000	Premiership top 8 (9th)[a]
Bulls	Jake White	Marcell Coetzee	Loftus Versfeld Stadium	51,762	URC table rankings (6th) (QF)
Cardiff	Matt Sherratt	Josh Turnbull	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125	URC Welsh Shield winner (10th)
Connacht	Peter Wilkins	Jack Carty	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129	URC table rankings (7th) (SF)
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Jack Yeandle	Sandy Park	13,593	Premiership top 8 (7th)
Glasgow Warriors	Franco Smith	Kyle Steyn	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351	URC Scottish/Italian Shield winner (4th) (QF)
Harlequins	Billy Millard	Stephan Lewies	Twickenham Stoop	14,800	Premiership top 8 (6th)
La Rochelle	Ronan O'Gara	Grégory Alldritt Uini Atonio	Stade Marcel-Deflandre	16,700	Top 14 top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Leicester Tigers	Dan McKellar	Julián Montoya	Welford Road Stadium	25,849	Premiership top 8 (3rd) (SF)
Leinster	Leo Cullen	James Ryan Garry Ringrose	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700	URC Irish Shield winner (1st) (SF)
Lyon	Fabien Gengenbacher	Baptiste Couilloud Jordan Taufua	Stade de Gerland	35,029	Top 14 top 8 (3rd) (QF)
Munster	Graham Rowntree	Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park	25,600	URC table rankings (5th) (CH)
Northampton Saints	Phil Dowson	Lewis Ludlam	Franklin's Gardens	15,200	Premiership top 8 (4th) (SF)
Racing 92	Stuart Lancaster	Henry Chavancy	Paris La Défense Arena	32,000	Top 14 top 8 (5th) (SF)
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Ben Curry	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Premiership top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Saracens	Mark McCall	Owen Farrell	StoneX Stadium	10,500	Premiership top 8 (1st) (CH)
Stade Français	Laurent Labit	Paul Gabrillagues	Stade Jean-Bouin	20,000	Top 14 top 8 (4th) (QF)
Stormers	John Dobson	Salmaan Moerat	Cape Town Stadium	55,000	URC South African Shield winner (3rd) (RU)
Toulon	Pierre Mignoni	Charles Ollivon	Stade Mayol	17,500	Top 14 top 8 (7th)
Toulouse	Ugo Mola	Antoine Dupont Julien Marchand	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500	Top 14 top 8 (1st) (CH)
Ulster	Dan McFarland	Iain Henderson	Ravenhill Stadium	18,196	URC table rankings (2nd) (QF)

Notes

[[File:

Bath

Bristol

[[:File:

Bath

Bristol

Harlequins

Bulls

Teams are 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.

The draw for the pool stage took place on 21 June 2023.^[4] Unlike the previous season, the format consisted of four pools with six teams in each. The rules of the draw stipulated that the 2022–23 champions of the three European domestic leagues (Saracens, Toulouse and Munster) and the 2022–23 Champions Cup winners (La Rochelle) would each be drawn into separate pools. The remaining 20 teams were then drawn at random, with the only condition being that no more than two teams from the same domestic league could be placed into each pool.

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool A
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Bordeaux (4)	4	3	0	1	172	83	+89	26	11	4	1	17
Bulls (6)	4	3	0	1	132	102	+30	16	16	2	1	15
Lyon (11)	4	2	0	2	121	123	–2	18	16	3	1	12
Saracens (13)	4	2	0	2	125	142	–17	17	20	2	0	10
Connacht (11CC)	4	1	0	3	88	140	–52	13	19	2	0	6
Bristol Bears	4	1	0	3	80	128	–48	11	19	1	0	5
Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool B
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Toulouse (1)	4	4	0	0	178	69	+109	26	10	4	0	20
Harlequins (5)	4	3	0	1	151	109	+42	22	16	3	0	15
Bath (9)	4	3	0	1	124	102	+22	18	14	3	0	15
Racing 92 (16)	4	1	0	3	116	117	–1	17	16	2	2	8
Ulster (12CC)	4	1	0	3	88	147	–59	12	22	1	0	5
Cardiff	4	0	0	4	80	193	–113	11	28	2	1	3
Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool C
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Northampton Saints (3)	4	4	0	0	137	75	+62	18	10	2	0	18
Exeter Chiefs (8)	4	3	0	1	87	99	–12	13	14	1	0	13
Glasgow Warriors (12)	4	2	0	2	77	63	+14	12	8	1	1	10
Munster (14)	4	1	1	2	93	93	0	13	10	2	1	9
Bayonne (9CC)	4	1	1	2	82	107	–25	11	16	1	1	8
Toulon	4	0	0	4	60	99	–39	7	16	0	2	2
Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool D
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster (2)	4	4	0	0	123	53	+70	17	5	3	0	19
Stormers (7)	4	3	0	1	102	99	+3	12	12	2	0	14
La Rochelle (10)	4	2	0	2	111	73	+38	13	9	2	2	12
Leicester Tigers (15)	4	2	0	2	84	122	–38	10	16	1	0	9
Sale Sharks (10CC)	4	1	0	3	103	110	–7	13	14	1	1	6
Stade Français	4	0	0	4	56	122	–66	8	17	0	2	2
Green background (rows 1 to 2) indicates qualification places for a home Champions Cup round of 16. Blue background (rows 3 to 4) indicates other teams qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16. Yellow background (row 5) indicates qualification place for the Challenge Cup round of 16. Plain background (row 6) indicates elimination from 2023–24 European competition. Starting table — source: European Professional Club Rugby

The knockout stage will begin with the round of 16, starting on 5 April 2024, and concludes with the final on 25 May 2024.

Like in 2022/23 the round of 16 will consist of a single leg match, consisting of the top four ranked teams from each Pool respectively. All clubs will thereafter be ranked in descending order based firstly on their ranking in their pool and subsequently on the number of match points they have accumulated, to create an overall ranking from 1 to 16. The pool winners will be ranked 1 to 4, the second-placed clubs will be ranked 5 to 8, the third-placed clubs will be ranked 9 to 12, and the fourth-placed clubs will be ranked 13 to 16.

Whilst the round of 16 follows a pre-determined format, the quarter-finals will see home advantage given to the higher ranked team based on a pre-determined match-up. The semi-finals are to be played at a neutral venue, with the higher ranked team having home country advantage.

Rank	Team	Pts	Diff	TF
Pool leaders
1	Toulouse	20	+109	26
2	Leinster	19	+70	17
3	Northampton Saints	18	+62	18
4	Bordeaux	17	+89	26
Pool runners-up
5	Harlequins	15	+42	22
6	Bulls	15	+30	16
7	Stormers	14	+3	12
8	Exeter Chiefs	13	–12	13
Pool third place
9	Bath	15	+22	18
10	La Rochelle	12	+38	13
11	Lyon	12	–2	18
12	Glasgow Warriors	10	+14	12
Pool fourth place
13	Saracens	10	–17	17
14	Munster	9	0	13
15	Leicester Tigers	9	–38	10
16	Racing 92	8	–1	17

	Round of 16					Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	1	Toulouse	31
	16	Racing 92	7
						1	Toulouse	64
						8	Exeter Chiefs	26
	8	Exeter Chiefs	21
	9	Bath	15
											1	Toulouse	38
											5	Harlequins	26
	4	Bordeaux	45
	13	Saracens	12
						4	Bordeaux	41
						5	Harlequins	42
	5	Harlequins	28
	12	Glasgow Warriors	24
																1	Toulouse	31
																2	Leinster	22
	2	Leinster	36
	15	Leicester Tigers	22
						2	Leinster	40
						10	La Rochelle	13
	7	Stormers	21
	10	La Rochelle	22
											2	Leinster	20
											3	Northampton Saints	17
	3	Northampton Saints	24
	14	Munster	14
						3	Northampton Saints	59
						6	Bulls	22
	6	Bulls	59
	11	Lyon	19

Harlequins (5)	28–24	(12) Glasgow Warriors
Try: Esterhuizen 22' c M. Smith 33' c Murley 40+1' c Riley 75' c Con: M. Smith (4/4) 24', 34', 40+2', 77'	Report	Try: Cummings 2' c Matthews 49' c Horne 52' c Con: Horne (3/3) 3', 50', 53' Pen: Horne (1/1) 59'

Bulls (6)	59–19	(11) Lyon
Try: De Klerk (2) 12' c, 77' m Papier (2) 20' c, 53' c Coetzee 27' c Vermaak 33' c Le Roux 48' m Kriel 67' c C. Smith 71' c Con: Goosen (5/6) 13', 21', 28', 34', 54' C. Smith (2/3) 69', 72'	Report	Try: Page-Relo 30' c Penalty try 46' Abrahams 55' m Con: Jackson (1/2) 31'

Stormers (7)	21–22	(10) La Rochelle
Try: Jantjies 27' c Hartzenberg 79' m Con: Libbok (1/2) 29' Pen: Libbok (3/3) 3', 22', 45'	Report	Try: Penverne 49' c Alldritt 61' c Sclavi 68' m Con: Hastoy (2/3) 49', 62' Pen: Hastoy (1/1) 54'

Exeter Chiefs (8)	21–15	(9) Bath
Try: Vintcent 23' c Fisilau 55' c Roots 65' c Con: Slade (3/3) 23', 56', 66'	Report	Try: du Toit 20' m Hill 27' c Con: Spencer (1/2) 28' Pen: Spencer (1/1) 48'

Bordeaux (4)	45–12	(13) Saracens
Try: Garcia (2) 36' c, 48' c Depoortère (2) 60' c, 66' c Bielle-Biarrey (2) 63' c, 75' c Con: Lucu (4/4) 37', 48', 62', 64' Garcia (2/2) 67', 76' Pen: Lucu (1/1) 29'	Report	Try: Lewington 71' m Willis 78' c Con: Goode (1/2) 80'

Leinster (2)	36–22	(15) Leicester Tigers
Try: Gibson-Park (3) 12' c, 23' m, 29' c Henshaw 49' c Conan 71' c Con: R. Byrne (3/4) 13', 30', 50' H. Byrne (1/1) 72' Pen: R. Byrne (1/1) 9'	Report	Try: Pollard 4' c Cronin 45' m Clare 75' c Con: Pollard (2/3) 5', 76' Pen: Pollard (1/1) 28'

Northampton Saints (3)	24–14	(14) Munster
Try: Ramm 9' c Freeman 35' c Hendy (2) 60' m, 72' Con: Smith (2/4) 10', 36'	Report	Try: O'Brien 14' c Haley 27' c Con: Crowley (2/2) 15', 28'

Toulouse (1)	31–7	(16) Racing 92
Try: Mauvaka 5' m Lebel 33' m Costes 55' c Ahki 68' c Roumat 80' c Con: Kinghorn (3/5) 56', 69', 80+2'	Report	Try: Ben Arous 74' c Con: Tedder (1/1) 75'

Bordeaux (4)	41–42	(5) Harlequins
Try: Lucu 19' m Buros 24' c Depoortère 42' c Bielle-Biarrey 59' c Tambwe (2) 64' c, 75' m Con: Lucu (4/6) 25', 43', 60', 65' Pen: Lucu (1/1) 52'	Report	Try: Porter (2) 2' c, 29' c Penalty try 8' W. Evans 40' c Dombrandt 56' c Green 71' c Con: Smith (5/5) 3', 30', 42', 58', 73'

Leinster (2)	40–13	(10) La Rochelle
Try: Lowe (2) 16', 60' Gibson-Park 37' Baird 42' Sheehan 56' Con: Byrne (3/4) 18', 38', 43' Pen: Byrne (3/3) 7', 27', 31'	Report	Try: Penverne 40' Con: Hastoy 40' Pen: Hastoy (2/2) 19', 28'

Northampton Saints (3)	59–22	(6) Bulls
Try: Ramm 10’ Lawes 15’ Sleightholme 20’ Mitchell (2) 24’, 67' Coles 40’ Ramm 47' Dingwall 50' Augustus 72' Con: Smith (7/9) 11', 16', 21', 25', 41', 51', 68'	Report	Try: Hanekom 13' Van der Merwe 31' De Klerk 35' Con: Smith (2/3) 14', 36' Pen: Smith (2/3) 17'

Toulouse (1)	64–26	(8) Exeter Chiefs
Try: Ntamack 7' Willis 31' Kinghorn (2) 47', 55' Ahki (2) 50', 74' Dupont 57' Cruz Mallía (2) 66', 78' Con: Kinghorn (5/5) 8', 32', 48', 52', 56' Ramos (3/4) 58', 68', 75' Pen: Kinghorn 20'	Report	Try: Roots 16' Wimbush 61' Con: Slade (2/2) 17', 62' Pen: Slade (4/4) 5', 12', 28', 43'

Leinster (2)	20–17	(3) Northampton Saints
Try: Lowe (3) 10' c, 14' m, 43' m Con: R. Byrne (1/3) 11' Pen: R. Byrne (1/1) 29'	Report	Try: Hendy 58' c Seabrook 74' c Con: Smith (2/2) 59', 74' Pen: Smith (1/1) 39'

Toulouse (1)	38–26	(5) Harlequins
Try: Lebel 3' m Mauvaka 17' c Flament 26' m Dupont (2) 32' c, 36' c Cruz Mallía 67' c Con: Kinghorn (3/5) 20', 34', 37' Ramos (1/1) 69'	Report	Try: Smith 13' c Evans 23' m Murley 45' c Green 52' c Con: Smith 14', 46', 53'

Leinster	22–31 (a.e.t.)	Toulouse
Try: Van der Flier 93' Con: Frawley (1/1) 97' Pen: Byrne (4/5) 18', 43', 46', 65' Frawley (1/1) 77'	Report	Try: Lebel 82' Con: Ramos (1/1) 84' Pen: Kinghorn (4/5) 4', 7', 36', 57' Ramos (4/5) 70', 88', 92', 95'

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 [edit] As of 25 May 2024 Source:[5] Rank Player Club Points 1 Marcus Smith Harlequins 85 2 Thomas Ramos Toulouse 77 3 Fin Smith Northampton Saints 72 4 Antoine Hastoy Stade Rochelais 64 5 Blair Kinghorn Toulouse 59

Most tries [edit] As of 25 May 2024 Source:[5] Rank Player Club Tries 1 James Lowe Leinster 6 Louis Bielle-Biarrey Bordeaux Matthis Lebel Toulouse 4 Romain Buros Bordeaux 5 Andre Esterhuizen Harlequins Jamison Gibson-Park Leinster Peato Mauvaka Toulouse Antoine Dupont Toulouse Thaakir Abrahams Lyon

• 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup