Ulster Rugby vs Toulon

EPCR WELCOME

Welcome to a new chapter in European professional club rugby

This weekend’s action heralds an exciting new chapter for European professional club rugby with the opening rounds in the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup tournaments. On behalf of newly-constituted tournament organiser, EPCR, I am delighted to welcome you to today’s match which is an important milestone for the tournaments and the participant clubs. After nearly two seasons of turbulent negotiations among European club rugby’s stakeholders, we can together now look forward with confidence to a bright future for the European professional club rugby game which is so cherished by coaches, players and fans alike. And on behalf of EPCR, I want to acknowledge the patience of fans across Europe throughout this difficult process, and to thank you for your continued support of European club rugby. The new European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup tournaments are built on the rich heritage of 19 years of outstanding competition generated by the Heineken Cup and the old Challenge Cup. The enhanced and streamlined formats mean that the competing clubs in both tournaments qualify for the first time solely on merit from their respective domestic leagues - the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 and the Guinness PRO12 - or through a play-off series. With 20 clubs competing in five pools, the Champions Cup will become truly elite, and the Challenge Cup with 18 clubs from the three leading leagues, is set to become more competitive than ever before. The tournaments will also provide opportunities for emerging clubs to compete alongside some of Europe’s best through play-off series which will expand in the seasons ahead. On the commercial front, EPCR’s tournaments have already established a solid foundation from which to build.

The new TV platform will provide even more exposure for the tournaments as well as increased revenues for the professional club game. All 20 Champions Cup games will now be broadcast each weekend in Ireland, the UK and France by our partners, BT Sport, Sky Sports, beIN Sports and France Televisions, while Sky Italia will show games in Italy. Fans outside of Europe will also have the opportunity to enjoy these tournaments with IMG distributing the rights through a network of partners in established and emerging rugby markets. I am also delighted to confirm that Heineken, a long standing supporter of European club rugby, will join us on this latest chapter of the European journey as a founding partner of the new tournaments. I also welcome GILBERT as the official ball supplier and Canterbury as the provider of apparel for match officials. This season, as we celebrate 20 years of European club rugby, we hope fans from across Europe will engage with the new EPCrugby.com digital platforms and we are excited to welcome YouTube and Google+ as digital partners of the tournaments. Finally, I would like to wish all 40 clubs every success in their inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup campaigns and I’m sure we will all enjoy a compelling and exciting season as this new chapter culminates in the EPCR Finals London 2015 weekend in May. Jacques Pineau // EPCR Director General The new-commissioned European Rugby Challenge Cup and Champions Cup trophies. Watch a video about the making of the trophies on the EPCR YouTube channel.