EPCR HAVE CONFIRMED that a total of five South African teams will compete across the 2022/23 Heineken Champions and Challenge Cups.
The Stormers, Bulls and Sharks have booked their place in next season’s Champions Cup having qualified through the United Rugby Championship, while fellow URC side the Lions are set to feature in the Challenge Cup.
And in a further development, the Cheetahs have now been invited to participate in the 2022/23 Challenge Cup.
The Cheetahs previously competed in the Pro14 between 2017 and 2020, but lost their place in the league when former Super Rugby sides the Bulls, Lions, Stormers and Sharks joined the new-look URC last year, a decision which did not sit well with the Bloemfontein-based franchise.
The Cheetahs have been actively looking for a European competition to enter since.
And the club have now been invited to join next year’s Challenge Cup tournament, joining the Lions in European club rugby’s second-tier competition.
SARU Chief Executive, Jurie Roux, said: “Our five franchise teams will now play in two new territories against opponents we’ve never played before.
“We’ve already experienced the intensity of the URC, and now we’ll also face the top clubs from England and France. We would like to thank all stakeholders who have been involved in the negotiation process – the Board and staff of EPCR, the URC, Premiership Rugby and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby.
“A big word of thanks also to the Cheetahs for their patience. I’m sure they can’t wait to face international opposition again, and we’re very grateful to have them included in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
“Ever since we’ve made the decision to align with the northern hemisphere, our aim was to play in the EPCR competitions. As we’ve seen during the inaugural season of the URC, the rugby is of the highest standard and our top players definitely benefited from this move.
“We now have an opportunity to also start rubbing shoulders with the top clubs from England and France in two other competitions that have caught the imagination of rugby supporters around the globe for more than two decades.”
The formats for next season’s Champions and Challenge Cups are due to be announced later this month, when the details of the pool draws for both tournaments are also set to be confirmed.
Next year’s European finals will be played at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, with the Challenge Cup final taking on place on Friday, 19 May, and the Champions Cup decider on Saturday, 20 May.
- Originally published at 09.00
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