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Challenge Cup 2023/24 Thread
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Points: 17595 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GPR - Rochester Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2023 at 8:30am
Having been to Clermont once before I would fancy a trip to Castres.
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NobbySosban View Drop Down
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Points: 6253 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NobbySosban Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2023 at 5:01pm
Really not clear on how the Pool opponents are decided from any of the EPCR blurb. Confused

They talk about avoiding inter-URC matches where possible, which would suggest Castres, ASM, Glaws & 'Invitee 2', 2 Home & 2 Away. However, Dragons have 2 other URC teams in their Pool, so I guess will have to play one of them. 

Not sure the EPCR explainer really helps:

Originally posted by EPCR EPCR wrote:

The fixture schedules for both tournaments with dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage will be announced as soon as possible. Fixtures will be determined using an algorithm which will take into consideration the outcome of today’s draws, league calendar restrictions, individual club calendar restrictions and broadcast requirements.
  Wacko
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Points: 20997 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Eastern outpost Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2023 at 5:08pm
Originally posted by GPR - Rochester GPR - Rochester wrote:

Having been to Clermont once before I would fancy a trip to Castres.
Had good trips to both. Probably pick Clermont every time in a straight choice, however the centre of Castres is lovely and I remember they had a brilliant Saturday market.

Will await the weekend order of who/where we play with interest, despite the element of farce in how the slimmed down pool stages work.
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.
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Personally would love a trip to Clermont over the others
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Points: 20997 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Eastern outpost Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2023 at 5:55pm
Originally posted by bydder bydder wrote:

Personally would love a trip to Clermont over the others
I’m hoping to meet up with LeMarseillais at our match, whether at theirs or ours.
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.
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When do they announce the fixtures dates?
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Points: 11126 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ap sior Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2023 at 7:12pm
Originally posted by sreve19 sreve19 wrote:

When do they announce the fixtures dates?

Below are the dates,

2023/24 weekends
Round 1 – 8/9/10 December 2023
Round 2 – 15/16/17 December 2023
Round 3 – 12/13/14 January 2024
Round 4 – 19/20/21 January 2024
Round of 16 – 5/6/7 April 2024
Quarter-finals – 12/13/14 April 2024
Semi-finals – 3/4/5 May 2024
EPCR Challenge Cup final – Friday 24 May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Champions Cup final – Saturday 25 May 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
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Points: 20997 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Eastern outpost Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2023 at 8:09pm
Who and which weekends we play are known mid August, iirc. Don’t think that will be which day & time, although hopefully it will tell us home or away.
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.
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Mr Lee91 View Drop Down
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Originally posted by NobbySosban NobbySosban wrote:

Really not clear on how the Pool opponents are decided from any of the EPCR blurb. Confused

They talk about avoiding inter-URC matches where possible, which would suggest Castres, ASM, Glaws & 'Invitee 2', 2 Home & 2 Away. However, Dragons have 2 other URC teams in their Pool, so I guess will have to play one of them. 

Not sure the EPCR explainer really helps:

Originally posted by EPCR EPCR wrote:

The fixture schedules for both tournaments with dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage will be announced as soon as possible. Fixtures will be determined using an algorithm which will take into consideration the outcome of today’s draws, league calendar restrictions, individual club calendar restrictions and broadcast requirements.
  Wacko

Can’t remember where I saw it but they explained intra-league fixtures would only happen in 2 of the challenge cup groups where there are 3 URC teams in the group.

For us it’s simple, we don’t play Edinburgh and play the other 4.

They didn’t say how they were going to work the 3 URC team groups.
But looking at it 1 URC team are going to have to play the other 2 in the group, so I think 1 will be paired with Newcastle and 1 will be paired with ‘Invitee 2’ for fixture scheduling.
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The EPCR are now a joke, it has to be said. Do I need to expand? This competition is not really a competition, it's a series of exhibition matches with some random luck deciding who makes the KO rounds.
It's so depressing how really bad the URC and EPCR have become. 

And as if by some magic coincidence, the income each club gets from competing in both those competitions has dropped by £1m/yr since pre-covid levels. 

Despite the best efforts of JayZ's ROC nation
We're still still here, but I wish we were in an Anglo-Welsh
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Originally posted by Wasp Wasp wrote:

The EPCR are now a joke, it has to be said. Do I need to expand? This competition is not really a competition, it's a series of exhibition matches with some random luck deciding who makes the KO rounds.
It's so depressing how really bad the URC and EPCR have become. 

And as if by some magic coincidence, the income each club gets from competing in both those competitions has dropped by £1m/yr since pre-covid levels. 

Despite the best efforts of JayZ's ROC nation
It must be the French who are stopping a return to the old format of pools of 4, home and away fixtures. URC and English clubs would surely be grateful for an extra home fixture. 
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Mr Lee91 View Drop Down
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Points: 651 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mr Lee91 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 June 2023 at 12:34am
The state of rugby should scream at EPCR that things need to change ASAP.

My preferred solution is for 3 competitions of 16 teams.
4 groups of 4, H&A round robin, Top 2 qualify for knockouts, Bonus! 3rd & 4th progress to Plate knockouts.

3 comps x 16 teams = 48 teams
16 URC, 14 FFR, 10 ENG, 8 tier 2 nations teams(GEO, POR, ROM, SPA etc)

Qualifying
ECC 1   Current Champions qualify and earn extra space for their league
            Top 5(6) URC/PREM/TOP14
            Current ECC 1 Plate winners take one of their leagues spots if not already qualified
            Current ECC 2 Champions take one of their leagues spots if not already qualified

ECC 2   Current ECC 2 Champions earn extra space for their league
            Next best 5(6) URC/PREM/TOP14
            Current ECC 2 Plate winners take one of their leagues spots if not already qualified
            Current ECC 3 Champions Qualify/take one of their leagues spots if not already qualified

ECC 3   Remaining teams URC/PREM/TOP14 
            Top 8 European teams - New annual Qualifying Tournament(first season only)
                                             - Current bottom 4 EU teams re-enter tournament for following                                                                season (2nd season onwards)

The Plate competitions are added because of the difficulty to qualify and to get everyone a taste of knockout rugby and a chance of silverware, especially the new EU teams.

The basics are simple enough
No cross table guessing for qualifying
Plate competitions stop dead rubbers in the last group round, which has historically been an issue
Adding the other nations in and giving them ways into higher competition and then staying there is obviously great for developing nations 

Is this too difficult to understand?
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cymraes View Drop Down
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Points: 726 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cymraes Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 July 2023 at 12:21pm
So it's Tiblisi. No direct flights from UK. Perhaps Scarlets could charter plane with room for fans?
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Points: 8530 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fscarlet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 July 2023 at 12:40pm
Originally posted by cymraes cymraes wrote:

So it's Tiblisi. No direct flights from UK. Perhaps Scarlets could charter plane with room for fans?

We might not be playing them away.
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True but fancy a trip there!
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Points: 20997 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Eastern outpost Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 July 2023 at 2:11pm
Originally posted by cymraes cymraes wrote:

True but fancy a trip there!
How much is half a litre of beer there?Wink
In a world where you can be anything – Be Kind.
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