The 2025–26 EPCR Challenge Cup, known colloquially as the 2025-26 European Challenge Cupwill be the twelfth edition of the

EPCR 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 ...

, an annual second-tier

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition for professional clubs competing in elite European competition. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 30th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition. The final will played at in San Mamés Stadium,

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

. The English team,

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

, are the reigning champions, and therefore qualified for the 2025–26 European Rugby Champions Cup as a consequence. As they also have a top four domestic finish, the team will not initially defend their title, although they may theoretically join at the knockout phase.

Teams

Sixteen teams qualified for the 2025–26 EPCR Challenge Cup from

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

, 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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

and the

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 ...

as a direct result of their domestic league performance having not qualified for the Champions Cup. Two further sides received invitations, South Africa's

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

and Georgia's

Black Lion Black Lion, Black Lions, or Blacklions may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Black Lion, Hammersmith, a London pub * Black Lion, Kilburn, a London pub * Black Lion Records, a British jazz record company * Black Lions Films, associated wi ...

. The distribution of teams are: * England: two teams ** Teams in the 2025–26 Premiership season that did not qualify for the 2025–26 Champions Cup. * France: six teams ** Teams taking part in the 2025–26 Top 14 season that did not qualify for the 2025–26 Champions Cup. *

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

: one team ** one team, invited,

* Ireland, Italy, South Africa and Wales: eight teams ** Eight teams in the

2025–26 United Rugby Championship The 2025–26 United Rugby Championship will be the 25th season of the professional rugby union competition currently known as the United Rugby Championship, the highest level domestic club rugby competition in South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Wa ...

season that did not qualify for the 2025–26 Champions Cup. This season, these consist of three teams from Wales (

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

, and

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

), two from Ireland (

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

and

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht B ...

), two from Italy ( Benetton and

Zebre Parma Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

), and one from South Africa (

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

). No Scottish team enters at the pool stage. * South Africa: one further team ** One team, invited, the South African team,

, playing their home games in the Netherlands. At the knockout stage, a further four teams will enter the competition from the 2025-26 European Rugby Champions Cup.

Team details

Draw

The 2025/26 EPCR Challenge Cup will see the 18 competing clubs drawn into three pools of six. Like previous seasons, the three pools will be made up of six teams, however clubs from the same nation, cannot be in the same pool, apart from France who will have two French teams in each pool - though they will not face each other in the pool stage, and there cannot be more than three teams from the United Rugby Championship in the same pool.

Pool stage

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:European Rugby Challenge Cup 2025–26 rugby union tournaments for clubs 2025–26 in English rugby union 2025–26 in French rugby union 2025–26 in Irish rugby union 2025–26 in Italian rugby union 2025–26 in Scottish rugby union 2025–26 in Welsh rugby union 2026 in South African rugby union 2025 in South African rugby union 2025-26