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
Date9 December 2022 – 20 May 2023
Tournament statistics
Teams24
Matches played63
Attendance1,028,422 (16,324 per match)
Highest attendance51,711 – Leinster v La Rochelle
20 May 2023
Lowest attendance4,800 – Castres v Exeter Chiefs
10 December 2022 [a]
Tries scored396 (6.29 per match)
Top point scorer(s)France Antoine Hastoy (La Rochelle)
97 points
Top try scorer(s)Ireland Josh van der Flier (Leinster)
6 tries
Final
VenueAviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance51,711
ChampionsFrance La Rochelle (2nd title)
Runners-upIreland 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

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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
  • 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

Team details

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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.

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

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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

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[[File:|1300px|alt=Locations of European teams of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
  Red: Pool A;   Blue: Pool B.]]
Locations of European teams of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
  Red: Pool A;   Blue: Pool B.
Locations of London teams of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
  Red: Pool A;   Blue: Pool B.
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

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2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool A
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

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2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup Pool B
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

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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

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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

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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'
ReportPen: Boffelli (2/3) 43', 51'
Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Leicester
Attendance: 12,844
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportPen: Smith (3/3) 2', 34', 44'
Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
Attendance: 32,000
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Quarter-finals

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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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: Willemse 52' m
Hartzenberg 61' m
Orie 77' c
Con: Libbok (1/3) 77'
Sandy Park, Exeter
Attendance: 12,007
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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'
ReportTry: 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

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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'
ReportTry: 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)

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'
ReportTry: 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

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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'
ReportTry: 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

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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.

See also

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Notes

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  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. ^ a b 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]

References

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  1. ^ "2023 Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup Finals set for Dublin's Aviva Stadium". 19 May 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Aviva Stadium To Host 2023 Heineken Champions Cup And Challenge Cup Finals". IRFU. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Champions Cup: Leinster 26-27 La Rochelle - French side edge thriller". BBC. 20 May 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  4. ^ "URC confirms Shield trophies for winners". www.unitedrugby.com. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  5. ^ "United Rugby Championship – Summary of Rules". www.unitedrugby.com. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Bordeaux statement: Termination of Christophe Urios' contract". Rugby Pass. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Struggling French powerhouse Clermont fire Kiwi coach Gibbes". France 24. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  8. ^ Bean, Graham (9 March 2023). "Steve Diamond is Edinburgh Rugby's new head coach, with new role for Mike Blair". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Steve Borthwick: England appoint Leicester coach to replace Eddie Jones". BBC Sport. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  10. ^ Wright, Jared (19 December 2022). "Premiership: Richard Wigglesworth appointed interim head coach of Leicester Tigers". Planet Rugby. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  11. ^ Watterson, Johnny (17 December 2022). "Ulster and La Rochelle to take place at empty Aviva Stadium". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  12. ^ EPC (10 May 2022). "EPCR 2022/23 season dates announced". Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Heineken Champions Cup – Round of 16 fixture dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage". EPCR. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  14. ^ "European Professional Club Rugby - Champions Cup - Rules". EPCR. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  15. ^ Tarbouriech, Laura (6 April 2023). "Heineken Champions Cup semi-final venues". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Tournament Statistics". EPCR. Retrieved 30 April 2023.