EPCR Confirms Inclusion Of South African Clubs For 2022/23 Season And Beyond

In a landmark expansion of its tournaments, EPCR has confirmed that the five leading clubs from South Africa will compete in the Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup from the 2022/23 season and beyond.

The DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls, Cell C Sharks and Emirates Lions, who have qualified from the URC, will add a new layer of high-quality competition to the established order of Europe’s elite clubs.

In a further development, and in addition to the four qualifiers from the URC, the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs have been invited to participate in the 2022/23 EPCR Challenge Cup.

As well as Leinster Rugby, Ulster Rugby, Munster Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby and the Ospreys, the Cape Town-based DHL Stormers, the Vodacom Bulls from Pretoria and the Durban-based Cell C Sharks will compete in next season’s Heineken Champions Cup following impressive campaigns in the URC, while the Emirates Lions from Johannesburg and the Cheetahs will fly the flag for South Africa in the EPCR Challenge Cup.

Commenting on the major development, EPCR Chairman, Dominic McKay, said: “We are delighted to confirm that the South African clubs from will be part of our expanded tournaments from the beginning of next season."

“The (DHL) Stormers, (Vodacom) Bulls, (Cell C) Sharks and (Emirates) Lions will all bring hugely exciting southern hemisphere rugby, well-known world-class players and broad new audiences into our tournaments, and we are pleased to welcome the Cheetahs into the EPCR Challenge Cup. The steps we have taken with our stakeholder leagues and with SARU ensure that we can further develop the tournaments as the pinnacle of global club rugby.

“This is a crucial step forward in bringing to life our vision of growing the game and our own tournaments, continuing to deliver strong returns for our leagues and creating an ever-higher standard of mouthwatering matches for our fans.”

The South African clubs in the Heineken Champions Cup will be in the mix against newly-crowned winners, Stade Rochelais, who lifted the trophy for the first time in dramatic style in Marseille last weekend, as well as Lyon who also claimed a historic first European title when they won the EPCR Challenge Cup final.

The formats for next season’s Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup will be announced shortly, in conjunction with details of the Pool Draws for both tournaments which will be staged towards the end of the month.

The 2023 Finals (Heineken Champions Cup & EPCR Challenge Cup) weekend is scheduled for Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May.