2015–16 European Rugby Champions–Challenge Cup Play-offs
The 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup-Challenge Cup play-off was the second play-off for entry into the top level competition of European Club rugby union, the European Rugby Champions Cup. Format Following the two-team play-off in 2014–15, an expanded, four-team format was due to be used. However, on 24 September 2014, it was announced this would instead be a three-team play-off, with the highest placed non-qualifying team taking part. To accommodate the longer season in the French Top 14, the format was announced as follows: *One team each would qualify from the Premiership and the Pro12, with each league being represented by the highest placed team not already qualified. These two teams would play in the first game, with home advantage in the match would be decided by a coin toss. In the event that the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winner was a Premiership club, and it had not automatically qualified for the Champions Cup, it would take the place allocated t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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European Rugby Champions Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues (English Premiership, French Top 14, and United Rugby Championship) or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup. Between 1995 and 2014, the equivalent competition was known as the Heineken Cup and was run by European Rugby Cup. Following disagreements between its shareholders over the structure and governance of the competition, it was taken over by EPCR and its name was changed to the European Rugby Champions Cup, without title sponsorship. Heineken returned as sponsor for the 2018–19 season, resulting in the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Worcester, England
Worcester ( ) is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is south-west of Birmingham, north-west of London, north of Gloucester and north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 Census. The River Severn flanks the western side of the city centre. It is overlooked by Worcester Cathedral. Worcester is the home of Royal Worcester, Royal Worcester Porcelain, composer Edward Elgar, Lea & Perrins, makers of traditional Worcestershire sauce, the University of Worcester, and ''Berrow's Worcester Journal'', claimed as the world's oldest newspaper. The Battle of Worcester in 1651 was the final battle of the English Civil War, during which Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army defeated Charles II of England, King Charles II's Cavalier, Royalists. History Early history The trade route past Worcester, later part of the Roman roads in Britain, Roman Ryknild Street, dates from Neolithic times. It commanded a ford crossing over the Rive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jonny May
Jonathan James May (born 1 April 1990) is a professional rugby union player for Gloucester in Premiership Rugby and for the national team. He plays as a winger and is known for his speed and try scoring. He began his senior career at Gloucester, and also played for Moseley on loan. He moved to Leicester Tigers in 2017 and returned to Gloucester in July 2020. Since making his debut in 2013 he has won 69 caps for England, and is their second top try scorer. Early life May was born in Chiseldon, Wiltshire. He studied at St Francis before he attended The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College. As a child, May spent time playing and training at Wootton Bassett RFC in their Mini & Junior teams. He then studied at Hartpury College, where he was a member of Hartpury College R.F.C., coached by Allan Lewis in a team that included future Wales and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert. Club career After joining Gloucester's rugby academy, he made his first start for Gloucester Rugby in a pre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darren Dawidiuk
Darren Dawidiuk (born 21 September 1987 in Truro) is a rugby union footballer, currently playing for Premiership Rugby outfit Bristol Bears. He plays as a hooker. Dawidiuk joined the Cornish Pirates as an Academy player in 2006 having played his youth rugby at Truro RFC, joining the city club at the age of 12, and making progress through the juniors and colts before he made a 1st team debut as a blind-side flanker in a league match against St. Ives. Dawidiuk became a member of the South West of England Rugby Academy (SWERA) based at Truro, and he also gained selection to the England Colleges team in 2005. He played for England Colleges again in 2006, and also captained the Truro College team that beat South Gloucestershire and Stroud College in the final of the British Colleges Cup competition played at Castlecroft. He made four appearances for the Cornish Pirates in his first season, and followed this with 14 in 2007–08 and 27 total appearances in 2008–2009. He also h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bill Meakes
Bill Meakes (born 23 February 1991) is an Australian professional rugby union player currently playing for Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby (MLR). He also has represented Australia in rugby sevens. His usual position is centre. Meakes was previously contracted to the Western Force in Perth and Gloucester in the English Premiership. He also played for the LA Giltinis in the MLR. Early life Meakes was born in Manly on Sydney's Northern Beaches. He attended St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill and during his final year there in 2008 was selected to represent New South Wales at the Australian Schools Rugby Championships. Rugby career Meakes played his club rugby at Northern Suburbs and then Randwick. In 2011 he played for the Australia U20 team that finished third at the IRB Junior World Championship, defeating France by 30–17 in the third place playoff. He was also capped for Australia sevens, playing in the 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series. In 2013, Meakes moved to Eng ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charlie Sharples
Charlie Sharples (born 17 August 1989) is a former English rugby union footballer, who last played in the Aviva Premiership for Gloucester. He plays as a wing. Sharples was born in Hong Kong. As a former Gloucestershire district athlete, Sharples ran a time of 11.30 seconds over the 100m distance at the age of 17. He also ran 40m in a time of 4.82 seconds at the England RWC training camp in 2011, the fastest time recorded in the England squad. He made his début for Gloucester during the 2007/08 season coming on as a substitute against London Irish at Kingsholm. He made his first start for Gloucester against Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park. Sharples was dual registered with Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ... for both the 2007–08 and 2008-09 seasons. Sharpl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ross Moriarty
Ross Moriarty (born 18 April 1994) is an international rugby union player, who currently plays for Dragons RFC and Wales as a flanker. Personal life Moriarty was born in St Helens, Merseyside while his father, former Wales international Paul Moriarty, was in the north of England playing rugby league. Moriarty is also the nephew of former Wales international captain Richard Moriarty. He was educated at Glyncollen Primary School and Morriston Comprehensive School in Swansea, Wales. He took up rugby union at the age of ten playing for Swansea Schools and West Wales Schools. He also played his junior rugby at Gorseinon RFC Club career Moriarty made his debut for Gloucester on 10 November 2012 against the Ospreys, his age-grade team in the LV= Cup. He did not play for Gloucester regularly in his first season however, but was a regular with Hartpury RFC, where he was a student. On 27 November 2017, Moriarty decided to leave Gloucester to join Welsh region Dragons in the Pro14 on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term 'GMT' is also used as Western European Time, one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom. English speakers often use GMT as a synonym for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For navigation, it is considered equivalent to UT1 (the modern form of mean solar time at 0° longitude); but this meaning can differ from UTC by up to 0.9s. The term GMT should thus not be used for purposes that require precision. Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stade André Moga
Stade André Moga is a sports stadium in Bègles, France. It hosts the home matches of Union Bordeaux Bègles, a rugby union team who play in the Top 14 competition. The Stadium is part of the Delphin Loche sporting complex which is composed of two playing fields and a Basque Pelota wall and court. History Built in the early 1920s on a field called Musard, the stadium is still unofficially called Musard Stadium. Officially named Andre Moga in honor of a former player and club president, the stadium holds up to 7000 seats but has a full capacity of 10,000 spectators. See also *List of rugby league stadiums by capacity The following is a list of stadiums at which rugby league is played, ordered by seating capacity. Currently all stadiums with a capacity of 5,000 or more which are the regular home venue of a club or national team, or are the regular hosts of a maj ... * List of rugby union stadiums by capacity References External links stadium-attendances.com Sports venue ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Raphaël Ibañez
Raphaël Ibañez (born 17 February 1973) is a retired French rugby union footballer. A hooker, he represented the France national team 98 times, and as captain 41 times. After a career in club rugby management, he became Team Manager for France in 2020. Early life Ibañez was born in Dax, Landes. He began his playing career in his home town of Dax before moving to Perpignan and Castres. Club career After his first international retirement following the 2003 World Cup, he moved to Saracens. In 2005 he moved to Wasps on a two-year deal. In the first match of the following season, he was made captain as replacement for the injured Lawrence Dallaglio. He was also heavily responsible for London Wasps' win in the 2007 Heineken Cup final, playing in the same side as fellow Six Nations captain Phil Vickery. Wasps beat long-time rivals Leicester at Twickenham and Ibanez scored one of Wasps's tries. The following season he also started as Wasps won the 2007–08 Premiership Final i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2014–15 Top 14 Season
The 2014–15 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2013–14 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this season, Lyon and La Rochelle in place of the two relegated teams, Perpignan and Biarritz Olympique. Home-and-away play began on 16 August 2014 and ended on 23 May 2015. This was followed by a playoff stage involving the top six teams, culminating in the final on 13 June 2015. Teams Competition format The top six teams at the end of the regular season (after all the teams played one another twice, once at home, once away) enter a knockout stage to decide the ''Champions of France''. This consists of three rounds: the teams finishing third to sixth in the table play quarter-finals (hosted by the third and fourth placed teams). The winners then face the top two teams in the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in the final at Stade de France. The LNR uses a slightly d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Galway Sportsgrounds
The Sportsground, also known as The Galway Sportsgrounds and the Galway Greyhound Stadium and the Connacht Rugby Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Galway, Ireland. It opened in 1927, with the playing of a football match and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches and greyhound racing since that time. It is used as a base by Connacht Rugby for training and hosting matches at all levels. Greyhound racing takes place on Friday and Saturday evenings. The stadium has been leased on a long term basis to the Greyhound Racing Ireland who run the greyhound meetings at the Stadium. It is co-leased to Connacht Rugby who use it as their home stadium to play rugby union matches in the Pro14 and European competitions. Rugby Union Up until 2011, the regular capacity of The Sportsground was 5,500. The stadium was modified and extended in 2011, and again in 2016, instigated by the success of Connacht Rugby. The facilities include the: * Main Stand – which has enclosed corporate f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |