The 2013–14 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 18th and final season of the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

, Europe's second tier club

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

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 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 pre ...

. The original 20 teams represented six 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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in May 2014, however the Federation Française de Rugby subsequently announced that they had withdrawn their application to host due to uncertainty over the availability of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 The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...

. 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 The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

on Saturday, 24 May 2014 and the Challenge Cup final to be held the previous day in the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

. The defending Challenge Cup champions, Ireland's

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

, 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 Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

defeated

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

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 Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

-based organising body known as European Professional Club Rugby. The

will undergo a minor name change to become the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

. 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 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 pre ...

, 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 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

Teams

The qualifying teams were * England: 6 teams from the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup * France: 7 teams from the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup * Wales: 1 team from the

that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup * Italy: the 4 teams that finished in the top four places in the National Championship of Excellence * Portugal: one team formed to play in the Challenge Cup. ERC awarded the spot to Portugal after Olympus Rugby XV withdrew from the competition * Romania: one team that is formed every season to play in the Challenge Cup, consisting of rugby players playing in the domestic Romanian leagues

Seeding

Teams that did not qualify for the

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17–19 ...

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.

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 Lusitanos XV are a Portuguese professional rugby union representative team based in Lisbon which was created in September 2013 to compete in the 2013–14 European Challenge Cup. It was announced by the Rugby governing body ERC on 2 September t ...

replaced Olympus Madrid on 2 September 2013. : Points breakdown: :4 points for a win :2 points for a draw :1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match (TB) :1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less (LB) Source
www.ercrugby.com

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

pool runners-up who failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals – designated (HC). Teams are ranked by total number of Competition Points earned (4 for a win, 2 for a draw, etc.) in the pool stages. If this does not separate the teams, qualification/ranking will be based on: :(a) the number of tries scored in all Pool matches. :(b) aggregate points difference from all Pool matches. :(c) the Club with the fewest players sent off and / or suspended in all Pool matches. :(d) toss of a coin. Seeding as it stands ;Quarter-final Pairings * Seed 1 (ACC 1) v Seed 8 (ACC 5) * Seed 2 (ACC 2) v Seed 7 (Heineken Cup 3) * Seed 3 (ACC 3) v Seed 6 (Heineken Cup 2) * Seed 4 (ACC 4) v Seed 5 (Heineken Cup 1) 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

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:European Challenge Cup 2013–14 rugby union tournaments for clubs 2013–14 in European rugby union 2013–14 in English rugby union 2013–14 in French rugby union 2013–14 in Italian rugby union 2013–14 in Romanian rugby union 2013–14 in Welsh rugby union

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...