2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup
The 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the 2024–25 Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for professional clubs. It was the 30th season of the pan-European professional club rugby competition and the second season in which Investec are named as title sponsors. For the first time since its 1995 founding (as the Heineken Cup), no Welsh teams are playing in the ERCC, as none of them finished in the top seven of the 2023–24 United Rugby Championship. The final will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Toulouse entered the competition as defending champions, seeking a record-extending seventh title, but fell in the semi final to French rivals Bordeaux Bègles. Leinster, beaten finalists in the past three editions, sought a record fourth consecutive final, and to become the second team af ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Round-robin Tournament
A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Merriam Co), p.1980. A round-robin contrasts with an elimination tournament, wherein participants are eliminated after a certain number of wins or losses. Terminology The term ''round-robin'' is derived from the French term ('ribbon'). Over time, the term became idiomized to ''robin''. In a ''single round-robin'' schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a ''double round-robin''. The term is rarely used when all participants play one another more than twice, and is never used when one participant plays others an unequal number of times, as is the case in almost all of the major North American professional sports leagues. In the United Kingdom, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023–24 United Rugby Championship
The 2023–24 United Rugby Championship was the 23rd season of the professional rugby union competition known as the United Rugby Championship, and the third season under that name. It began on 21 October 2023 and ended on 22 June 2024. The reigning and defending champions were Munster, who defeated Stormers in the 2023 final. Glasgow Warriors claimed the 2023–24 championship, defeating the Bulls in the grand final for their second overall championship. Format The season consisted of 21 rounds: 18 rounds of regular season play, followed by three rounds of play-offs. The winner of each Shield was determined solely from the games played amongst the teams within their regional pool, mirroring the format of the old Interprovincial Championship in Ireland. There were four regional pools: The Irish Shield pool (featuring the four Irish teams), the Welsh Shield pool (featuring the four Welsh teams), the South African Shield pool (featuring the four South African teams), and the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home matches at Sandy Park, a purpose-built facility on the outskirts of the city. They have been known by the name Chiefs since 1999. The club was promoted to the Premiership Rugby, Premiership for the first time in 2010. Since promotion, the Chiefs have become one of the leading clubs in the Premiership, winning the championship title twice, in 2016–17 Premiership Rugby, 2016–17 and 2019–20 Premiership Rugby, 2019–20 respectively, and reaching a further four finals. In October 2020, the Chiefs won the 2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup, Champions Cup, the top prize in European club rugby union, defeating French club Racing 92 in the final. Exeter are the only club to win the top four tiers of English rugby, winning the Pre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bristol Bears
Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 1888; between 1921 and 2014, home matches were played at the Memorial Stadium (Bristol), Memorial Ground, and have since been played at Ashton Gate Stadium in the south-west of the city. The current head coach Pat Lam was appointed in 2017. In the 2024-25 Premiership Rugby, 2024–25 season Bristol finished 4th, losing in the play off semi-finals, entitling them to compete in the 2025-26 European Rugby Champions Cup. In 2018, the club rebranded as Bristol Bears; between 2001 and 2005 the club were known as Bristol Shoguns due to a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi. Bristol won the 1982–83 John Player Cup, 1983 John Player Cup and have also won England's second division four times, most recently in 2017–18 RFU Championship, 2017–18. I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ospreys (rugby Union)
The Ospreys (), formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys ''www.walesonline.co.uk'', accessed 22 October 2020 is one of the four professional teams from . They compete in the and in European Professional Club Rugby ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries. The Championship is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership Rugby, Premiership and the French Top 14), the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the highest-level continental club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup, Challenge Cup. Since 2022–23 South African teams have been eligible to qualify for European competitions. Name The tournamen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sharks (rugby Union)
The Sharks (known as the Hollywoodbets Sharks as they are their title sponsor) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and are eligible to compete in either the Investec Champions Cup or EPCR Challenge Cup depending on qualification. They previously competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020. The team also competes in the Currie Cup as the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV The Sharks reached the Super Rugby final on four occasions—once as Natal in 1996, and three times as the Sharks in 2001, 2007, and 2012—though they never won the title. To date, their best performance in the United Rugby Championship is reaching the semi-finals in the 2024-25 URC Season and winning the South African conference shield in the same season. In May 2024, they won their first major competition by winning the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup, becoming the first South African team to win a European trophy. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup
The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 28th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition. The tournament commenced in December 2023, and concluded with the final on 24 May 2024 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England. In the final, Sharks (rugby union), Sharks beat Gloucester Rugby, Gloucester to win the cup for the first time. This is the second year that teams from South Africa can qualify, following the second United Rugby Championship season. Two teams have been invited from outside the three main European professional leagues; The Black Lion from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia are current holders of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, the third-tier competition in European rugby administered by Rugby Europe, and Cheetahs (rugby union), Cheetahs the current holder ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup
The 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup is the tenth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for teams from the top five nations in European rugby and South Africa. It was the 29th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition. This was the second time the tournament features the top teams from South Africa, following the second United Rugby Championship season. The tournament commenced in May 2024. The final was held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Tottenham, England on 25 May 2024, and won by Toulouse for the sixth time, defeating Leinster 31–22. Teams Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues qualified to compete in the 2023–24 edition of the Champions Cup. The distribution of teams is: * England: eight clubs ** The top eight clubs from Premiership Rugby * France: eight clubs ** The top eight clubs from the Top 14 * Ireland, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023–24 Top 14 Season
The 2023–24 Top 14 competition is the 125th French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). 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 the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The LNR uses a slightly different bonus points system from that used in most other rugby competitions. It trialled a new system in 2007–08 explicitly designed to prevent a losing team from earning more than one bonus point in a match, a system that also made it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. LNR chose to continue with this system for subs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2023–24 Premiership Rugby
The 2023–24 Premiership Rugby is the 37th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition and the sixth to be sponsored by Gallagher. The competition was broadcast by TNT Sports for the eleventh year of their broadcast deal, with six league season games and the final also simulcast free-to-air by ITV. Highlights of each weekend's games were shown on ITV, with extended highlights on TNT Sports. This was the first season to be aired on TNT Sports since it rebranded from BT Sport in July 2023. The reigning champions entering the season are Saracens, who claimed their 6th league title after winning the 2023 final. No team was promoted from the 2022–23 RFU Championship, as the champions were not able to satisfy the eligibility criteria required to enter the league. Rule changes The 2023–24 season is set to be the final year under the current Premiership competition structure, before a planned 're-launch' taking place ahead of the 2024–25 season. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sport In Europe
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate. Main events * European Games * European Championship * European Para Championships * European Championships (multi-sport event) * European Youth Olympic Festival * European Para Youth Games Region events * Mediterranean Games * Games of the Small States of Europe and Championship * Commonwealth Games and Championship (Commonwealth of Nations) * CIS Games ( 2021 CIS Games - 2023 CIS Games) (Commonwealth of Independent States) * Island Games * Balkan Games and Championship * Black Sea Games and Championship * European Union Championship * Alpe Adriatic Championship * Nord ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |