The 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup-Challenge Cup play-off was the third play-off for entry into the top-level competition of European Club rugby union, the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec 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 pr ...

Format

Following a break to ease fixture congestion caused by the

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, the three-team play-off held in 2015–16 was expanded, and a four-team format was announced. The play-off comprised 3 matches, contested by one team from the Premiership, one from the

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, and two from the

Pro14 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 ...

. The two Pro12 teams each played one of the Premiership or Top 14 sides in a single-leg semi-final, held at the home ground of the non-Pro12 side. The winners of these matches then contested a play-off final, with the winner of this match competing in the

2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup was the fourth European Rugby Champions Cup championship (23rd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby and was the twenty-third season of pa ...

. The three losing teams all competed in the 2017–18 European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Teams

Four teams competed in the play-off, having qualified as either the highest team from each league that did not already qualify for the Champions Cup, or as the winner of the 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup. The following teams had qualified for the play-off:

Matches

A draw was held on 15 March 2017 to determine the two semi-final matches.

Semi-finals

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

were demoted to the 2017–18 European Rugby Challenge Cup ---- *

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

drop to the 2017–18 European Rugby Challenge Cup

Play-off final

The draw for the semi-finals was also used to decide that the winner of the second semi-final would have home advantage in the play-off final. *

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

qualified for the

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

played in the 2017–18 European Rugby Challenge Cup.

References