2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup

The 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the fifth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (ECPR) for teams from the top six nations in Europe. It is the 24th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition. This competition is the first to be sponsored by Heineken since the 2013–14 season.

2018–19 Heineken Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and knockout
Date12 October 2018 – 11 May 2019
Tournament statistics
Teams20
Matches played67
Attendance1,020,286 (15,228 per match)
Highest Attendance51,930 - Saracens v Leinster (Final)
(11 May 2019)
Lowest Attendance6,383 - Newcastle v Montpellier
(21 October 2018)
Tries scored376 (5.61 per match)
Top point scorer(s) Owen Farrell (Saracens)
89 points
Top try scorer(s) Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)
Seán Cronin (Leinster)
6 tries each
Final
VenueSt James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
Attendance51,930
Champions Saracens (3rd title)
Runners-up Leinster

The tournament started on 12 October 2018. The final, featuring the last two winners of the event, Saracens and Leinster, took place on 11 May 2019 at St James' Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with Saracens being crowned champions for the third time.

Teams

Twenty clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues competed in the Champions Cup. Nineteen of these qualified directly as a result of their league performance.

In a change to previous seasons, the play-off to decide the 20th team was not held.[2] The final place in the Champions Cup is now directly awarded in the following order:[3]

  1. Champions Cup winner, if not already qualified
  2. Challenge Cup winner, if not already qualified
  3. Challenge Cup losing finalist, if not already qualified
  4. Challenge Cup semi-finalist, if not already qualified, or the winner of a play-off between both semi-finalists, if both have not already qualified
  5. Highest ranked non-qualified club by virtue of league position from the same league as the Champions Cup winner

The distribution of teams is:

  • England: 7 clubs
  • France: 6 clubs
    • The top 6 clubs in the Top 14. (6 clubs)
  • Ireland, Scotland & Wales: 7 clubs, based on performance in the Pro14.
    • Following the inclusion of 2 South African teams into the Pro14, the tournament format and qualification process was changed.
    • The top 3 sides in each Pro14 conference (not including the South African sides, who are not eligible for European competition), automatically qualify for the Champions Cup. The previous requirement for each country (Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales) to be represented was waived beginning with this season.[2] (6 Teams)
    • The next best placed eligible team in each conference compete in a one-off play-off game to determine the 7th Pro14 team. (1 Team)

The following teams qualified for the 2018–19 tournament.

Premiership Top 14 Pro14
England France Ireland Scotland Wales

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, QF for losing Quarter-finalist, and PO for the Pro14 7th place play-off winner.

Team Coach /
Director of Rugby		 Captain Stadium Capacity Method of qualification
Bath Todd Blackadder Matt Garvey Recreation Ground 14,500 English Premiership top 6 (6th)
Cardiff Blues John Mulvihill Ellis Jenkins Cardiff Arms Park 12,125 Pro14 top three in Conference (4A)[lower-alpha 1]
Castres Christophe Urios Rodrigo Capó Ortega Stade Pierre-Fabre 12,500 Top 14 top 6 (6th) (CH)
Edinburgh Richard Cockerill Stuart McInally Murrayfield Stadium 67,144 Pro14 top three in Conference (3B) (QF)
Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter Jack Yeandle Sandy Park 12,800 English Premiership top 6 (1st) (RU)
Glasgow Warriors Dave Rennie Callum Gibbins Scotstoun Stadium 7,351 Pro14 top three in Conference (1A) (SF)
Gloucester David Humphreys Willi Heinz Kingsholm Stadium 16,115 European Rugby Challenge Cup runners-up [lower-alpha 2]
Leicester Tigers Geordan Murphy Tom Youngs Welford Road 25,849 English Premiership top 6 (5th)
Leinster Leo Cullen Jonathan Sexton RDS Arena
Aviva Stadium		 18,500
51,700		 Pro14 top three in Conference (1B) (CH)
Lyon Pierre Mignoni Julien Puricelli Stade de Gerland 25,000 Top 14 top 6 (5th) (SF)
Montpellier Vern Cotter Fulgence Ouedraogo Altrad Stadium 15,697 Top 14 top 6 (1st) (RU)
Munster Johann van Graan Peter O'Mahony Thomond Park 25,600[lower-alpha 3] Pro14 top three in Conference (2A) (SF)
Newcastle Falcons Dean Richards Will Welch Kingston Park 10,200 English Premiership top 6 (4th) (SF)
Racing 92 Laurent Labit
Laurent Travers		 Dimitri Szarzewski Paris La Défense Arena 30,681 Top 14 top 6 (2nd) (SF)
Saracens Mark McCall Brad Barritt Allianz Park 10,000[lower-alpha 4] English Premiership top 6 (2nd) (CH)
Scarlets Wayne Pivac Ken Owens Parc y Scarlets 14,870 Pro14 top three in Conference (2B) (RU)
Toulon Patrice Collazo Mathieu Bastareaud Stade Mayol 18,200 Top 14 top 6 (4th) (QF)
Toulouse Ugo Mola
Régis Sonnes		 Julien Marchand Stade Ernest-Wallon 19,500 Top 14 top 6 (3rd) (SF)
Ulster Dan McFarland Rory Best Ravenhill Stadium 18,196 Pro14 7th place play off winner [lower-alpha 5]
Wasps Dai Young Joe Launchbury Ricoh Arena 32,609 English Premiership top 6 (3rd) (SF)

Seeding

The twenty competing teams are seeded and split into four tiers, each containing five teams.

For the purpose of creating the tiers, clubs are ranked based on their domestic league performances and on their qualification for the knockout phases of their championships. For example, a losing quarter-finalist would be seeded below a losing semi-finalist, even if they finished above them in the regular season.[5]

Rank Top 14 Premiership Pro14
1 Castres Saracens Leinster
2 Montpellier Exeter Chiefs Scarlets
3 Racing 92 Wasps Glasgow Warriors
4 Lyon Newcastle Falcons Munster
5 Toulouse Leicester Tigers Edinburgh
6 Toulon Bath Cardiff Blues
7 Gloucester Ulster

Based on these seedings, teams are placed into one of the four tiers, with the top seed 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 and to allocate one of the three fourth seed clubs to Tier 2. The tiers are shown below. Brackets show each team's seeding and their league (for example, "1 Top 14" indicates the team was seeded 1st from the Top 14).

Tier 1 Saracens (1 Prem) Leinster (1 Pro14) Castres (1 Top 14) Scarlets (2 Pro14) Montpellier (2 Top 14)
Tier 2 Exeter Chiefs (2 Prem) Wasps (3 Prem) Glasgow Warriors (3 Pro14) Racing 92 (3 Top 14) Newcastle Falcons (4 Prem)
Tier 3 Munster (4 Pro14) Lyon (4 Top 14) Leicester Tigers (5 Prem) Edinburgh (5 Pro14) Toulouse (5 Top 14)
Tier 4 Bath (6 Prem) Cardiff Blues (6 Pro14) Toulon (6 Top 14) Ulster (Play-off Pro14) Gloucester (CC)

The following restrictions will apply to the draw:

  • Each pool will consist of four clubs, one from each Tier in the draw.
  • Each pool must have one from each league drawn from Tier 1, 2, or 3. No pool will have a second team from the same league until the allocation of Tier 4 takes place.
  • Where two Pro14 clubs compete in the same pool, they must be from different countries.

Pool stage
Main article: 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage
[[File:
Locations
|1300px|alt=Locations of teams of the 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Brown: Pool 1; Red: Pool 2; Orange: Pool 3; Yellow: Pool 4; Blue: Pool 5.]]
Locations of teams of the 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup group stage.
Brown: Pool 1; Red: Pool 2; Orange: Pool 3; Yellow: Pool 4; Blue: Pool 5.

The draw took place on 20 June 2018, in Lausanne, Switzerland.[6]

Teams in the same pool play each other twice, at home and away, in the group stage that begins on the weekend of 12–14 October 2018, and continues through to 18–20 January 2019. The five pool winners and three best runners-up progress to the quarter finals.

Teams are awarded group points based on match performances. Four points are awarded for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.[7]

In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers are used, as directed by EPCR:

  1. Where teams have played each other
    1. The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
    2. If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
    3. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
  2. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools)
    1. The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
    2. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
    3. If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
    4. If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.
Key to colours
     Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
     Three second-place teams with the highest number of points advance to quarter-finals.

Pool 1
Team
 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Leinster (3) 65012048811627104125
Toulouse (7) 65011491361316151021
Bath 6114115152–3714191310
Wasps 6015134190–921326114

[8]

Pool 2
Team
 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Munster (5) 641113872661492121
Exeter Chiefs 62131241042018112214
Castres 630397142–4511161114
Gloucester 6204122163–411522009

[9]

Pool 3
Team
 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Saracens (1) 66001858110423104028
Glasgow Warriors (8) 64021471192819163019
Cardiff Blues 6204138174–3619222010
Lyon 600687183–961023000

[10]

Pool 4
Team
 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Racing 92 (2) 65011961217526155126
Ulster (6) 6501131128318162022
Scarlets 6105145170–251823127
Leicester Tigers 6105115168–531422217

[11]

Pool 5
Team
 P W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts
Edinburgh (4) 6501154837116112123
Montpellier 63031581164221113116
Toulon 6204134180–4616211110
Newcastle Falcons 6204102169–671020019

[12]

Ranking of pool leaders and runners-up
Rank Pool leaders Pts Diff TF
1 Saracens2810423
2 Racing 92267526
3 Leinster2511627
4 Edinburgh237116
5 Munster216614
Rank Pool runners–up Pts Diff TF
6 Ulster22318
7 Toulouse211316
8 Glasgow Warriors192819
9 Montpellier164221
10 Exeter Chiefs142018

Knock-out stage

Format

The eight qualifiers are ranked according to their performance in the pool stage and compete in the quarter-finals which will be held on the weekend of 28–31 March 2019. The four top teams will host the quarter-finals against the four lower teams in a 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 format.

The semi-finals were played on the weekend of 19–21 April 2019. As in recent seasons, a fixed semi-final bracket was set in advance. Beginning this season, the higher-seeded team received home country/venue advantage for each semi-final, regardless of whether they won their quarter-final at home or on the road.[13] Also new for this season was the EPRC's use of discretion to allow semi-finals to be played at a qualified club's home venue.[14]

The winners of the semi-finals contested the final, at St James' Park, on 11 May 2019.

Bracket
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Saracens 56
8 Glasgow Warriors 27
1 Saracens 32
5 Munster 16
4 Edinburgh 13
5 Munster 17
1 Saracens 20
3 Leinster 10
3 Leinster 21
6 Ulster 18
3 Leinster 30
7 Toulouse 12
2 Racing 92 21
7 Toulouse 22

Quarter-finals
30 March 2019
12:45 GMT UTC+0
Edinburgh (4) 13–17 (5) Munster
Try: Dean 26' c
Con: Van der Walt (1/1) 27'
Pen: Van der Walt (2/2) 35', 50'
 Report Try: Earls (2) 18' c, 70' c
Con: Carbery (1/1) 19'
Bleyendaal (1/1) 71'
Pen: Bleyendaal (1/1) 46'
Murrayfield Stadium
Attendance: 36,358
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (FFR)
30 March 2019
15:15 GMT UTC+0
Saracens (1) 56–27 (8) Glasgow Warriors
Try: Williams (2) 4' c, 48' c
Strettle (2) 25' m, 56' c
Barritt 29' c
George 62' c
Tompkins 70' c
Con: Lozowski (6/7) 5', 30', 49', 57', 63', 71'
Pen: Lozowski (3/3) 14', 42', 54'
 Report Try: Price 1' c
G. Horne 66' c
M. Fagerson 80' c
Con: Hastings (3/3) 2', 67', 80'+2
Pen: Hastings (2/2) 32', 37'
Allianz Park
Attendance: 10,997
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
30 March 2019
17:45 GMT UTC+0
Leinster (3) 21–18 (6) Ulster
Try: R. Byrne 10' m
A. Byrne 53' c
Con: R. Byrne (1/2) 54'
Pen: R. Byrne (3/4) 30', 34', 71'
 Report Try: Treadwell 5' c
Marshall 63' m
Con: Cooney (1/2) 6'
Pen: Cooney (2/2) 21', 38'
Aviva Stadium
Attendance: 51,700
Referee: Romain Poite (FFR)
31 March 2019
16:15 CEST UTC+2
Racing 92 (2) 21–22 (7) Toulouse
Try: Thomas 18' c
Chat 73' m
Con: Machenaud (1/2) 19'
Pen: Machenaud (3/4) 13', 48', 54'
 Report Try: Dupont (2) 6' c, 35' c
Médard 30' m
Con: Holmes (1/1) 7'
Ntamack (1/2) 36'
Pen: Ramos (1/1) 67'
Paris La Défense Arena
Attendance: 26,092
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)

Semi-finals
20 April 2019
15:15 BST UTC+1
Saracens (1) 32–16 (5) Munster
Try: Rhodes 42' c
B. Vunipola 72' c
Con: Farrell (2/2) 43', 73'
Pen: Farrell (6/7) 1', 17', 26', 40' , 47', 53'
 Report Try: Sweetnam 60' c
Con: Hanrahan (1/1) 62' c
Pen: Bleyendaal (2/2) 9', 30'
Murray (1/1) 36'
Ricoh Arena[15]
Attendance: 16,235
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
21 April 2019
15:15 IST UTC+1
Leinster (3) 30–12 (7) Toulouse
Try: Lowe 13' c
McGrath 25' c
Fardy 52' c
Con: Sexton (3/3) 14', 27', 54'
Pen: Sexton (2/2) 10', 65'
R. Byrne (1/1) 77'
 Report Pen: Ramos (3/3) 5', 30', 44'
Ntamack (1/1) 59'
Aviva Stadium[15]
Attendance: 42,916
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

Final
Main article: 2019 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
11 May 2019
17:00 BST UTC+1
Saracens (1) 20–10 Leinster
Try: Maitland 40'+2 c
B. Vunipola 66' c
Con: Farrell (2/2) 40'+4, 67'
Pen: Farrell (2/2) 38', 58'
 Report Try: Furlong 31' c
Con: Sexton (1/1) 33'
Pen: Sexton (1/1) 3'
St James' Park, Newcastle
Attendance: 51,930
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (FFR)

Attendances
  • Does not include the attendance at the final as it takes place at a neutral venue.
Club Home
Games		 Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity
Bath340,02013,34014,42912,28492%
Cardiff Blues328,2079,40212,0186,69278%
Castres328,3949,4659,7469,04876%
Edinburgh462,01915,50536,3586,80323%
Exeter Chiefs336,31112,10412,74911,76295%
Glasgow Warriors322,0537,3517,3517,351100%
Gloucester337,39812,46615,5009,99377%
Leicester Tigers358,88719,62920,14618,83276%
Leinster5171,42534,28551,70018,05592%
Lyon337,89512,63213,03112,19751%
Montpellier326,1738,72410,4507,80056%
Munster371,20523,73526,27621,86192%
Newcastle Falcons320,2516,7507,1746,38366%
Racing 92470,21617,55426,09213,16857%
Saracens[lower-alpha 6]555,76011,15216,2358,52882%
Scarlets323,5727,8578,0877,42153%
Toulon338,10712,70213,57211,43970%
Toulouse353,34317,78118,75416,73791%
Ulster342,11814,03916,84212,12477%
Wasps344,82214,94116,00213,59946%

[16]

Player scoring
  • Appearance figures also include coming on as substitutes (unused substitutes not included).

Season records
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See also

Notes
  1. Cardiff qualified as Third in Conference A of the Pro14, the Cheetahs, were ineligible for European Rugby Competitions.
  2. Gloucester qualified as Challenge Cup winners Cardiff qualified via the Pro14.
  3. Thomond Park's official capacity is 25,600 but can be expanded up to 26,276 with temporary seating.
  4. Allianz Park typically has a capacity of 10,000 but this can be raised to 15,000 with temporary seating.
  5. Ulster, as 4th eligible team in Conference B, beat the 4th eligible team in Conference A, the Ospreys, for the 7th qualification position from the Pro14.
  6. Saracens attendance figures include semi-final 'home game' played at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

References
  1. "Heineken® Returns as Headline Sponsor of European Rugby Champions Cup". Heineken. 4 June 2018.
  2. http://www.epcrugby.com/news/35907.php
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-05-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. the winner of both European competitions from last year, Leinster and Cardiff Blues having already qualified through a top 6 finish in the Pro14
  5. http://archive.ercrugby.com/news/28791.php Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine ERCRugby.com. Accessed 8 June 2014
  6. "2018/19 Pool Draws produce top-quality fixtures". epcrugby.com. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  7. "Champions Cup Rules". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  8. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  9. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  10. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  11. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  12. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  13. "Heineken Champions Cup semi-finals". EPCR. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  14. "Heineken Champions Cup semi-final venues". EPCR. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  15. "Heineken Champions Cup semi-final details". EPCR. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  16. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 21 April 2019.
  17. "Player Statistics". EPCR. 11 May 2019.
  18. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most points in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  19. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most tries in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  20. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most conversions in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  21. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most penalties in a match (Team)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  22. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most points in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  23. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most tries in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  24. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most conversions in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
  25. "European Rugby Champions Cup 18/19 Most penalties in a match (Player)". Rugby Statbunker. 11 May 2019.
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