2013–14 European Challenge Cup


The 2013–14 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 18th and final season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition. A total of 23 teams participated: 20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockout stages from the Heineken Cup. The original 20 teams represented six different countries.
The pool stage began on 10 October 2013 and ran until 19 January 2014, followed by the knockout stages. The final was originally to be held in France in May 2014, however the Federation Française de Rugby subsequently announced that they had withdrawn their application to host due to uncertainty over the availability of Stade de France. ERC invited the Heineken Cup participating countries to submit tenders for the right to host the Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup finals and three – England, Scotland and Wales – submitted bids. Cardiff was selected with the Heineken Cup Final to be held in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, 24 May 2014 and the Challenge Cup Final to be held the previous day in the Cardiff Arms Park.
The defending Challenge Cup champions, Ireland's Leinster, did not defend their crown because they earned an automatic berth in the Heineken Cup, and qualified for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup. In an all-English final, Northampton Saints defeated Bath 30–16 at the Cardiff Arms Park, to win the tournament for the second time.
On 10 April 2014, following nearly two years of negotiations, an agreement for a new European club competition structure was reached. ERC will be wound up and replaced by a new Swiss-based organising body known as European Professional Club Rugby. The European Challenge Cup will undergo a minor name change to become the European Rugby Challenge Cup. It will remain a 20 team competition, though two of these teams will come from a new competition, featuring teams from nations who do not compete in the Six Nations. The Heineken Cup will be replaced by a new top-tier competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup, which will continue to involve clubs from all of the top six European nations, but will feature 20 clubs instead of the 24 in the Heineken Cup. The new third-tier competition, to be known as the Qualifying Competition, will feature clubs from second-tier European rugby nations, plus Italian clubs that do not play in the Pro12.

Teams

The qualifying teams were
EnglandFranceItalyPortugalRomaniaWales

  • Bath
  • London Wasps
  • London Irish
  • Sale Sharks
  • Worcester Warriors
  • Newcastle Falcons
  • Biarritz Olympique
  • Bayonne
  • Stade Français
  • Grenoble
  • Bordeaux-Bègles
  • Oyonnax
  • Brive
  • Viadana
  • Calvisano
  • Cavalieri Prato
  • Mogliano
  • Lusitanos XV
  • București Wolves
  • Newport Gwent Dragons

    • Seeding

    Teams that did not qualify for the 2013–14 Heineken Cup were ordered into four tiers according to the European Rugby Club Ranking. Five pools of four teams were drawn comprising one team from each tier.
    The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2013–14 season.
    Tier 1 Biarritz Olympique Stade Français London Wasps Bath Brive
    Tier 2 London Irish Sale Sharks Newport Gwent Dragons Newcastle Falcons Viadana
    Tier 3 Bayonne Cavalieri Prato Worcester Warriors Bordeaux-Bègles Calvisano
    Tier 4 Grenoble Mogliano Oyonnax București Wolves Lusitanos XV

    Pool stage

    The draw for the pool stage took place on 5 June 2013 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The dates and times of the first 4 rounds were announced on 27 July 2013. Lusitanos XV replaced Olympus Madrid on 2 September 2013.
    Points breakdown:
    Source:

    Pool 1

    Pool 2

    Pool 3

    Pool 4

    Pool 5

    Seeding for knockout stage

    Following the end of the pool stage, the five pool winners will be seeded alongside the three 2013–14 Heineken Cup pool runners-up who failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals – designated . Teams are ranked by total number of Competition Points earned in the pool stages. If this does not separate the teams, qualification/ranking will be based on:
    Seeding as it stands
    SeedTeamPtsTF+/−
    1 Bath2834+193
    2 London Wasps2738+209
    3 Stade Français2427+127
    4 Sale Sharks2318+90
    5 Northampton Saints1711+3
    6 Harlequins1612+23
    7 Gloucester1413−1
    8 Brive2311+47

    ;Quarter-final Pairings
    A draw determined the semi-finals pairings.

    Knockout stage

    All kickoff times are local to the match location.

    Quarter-finals

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    Semi-finals

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    Final