2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup

The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship (22nd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken Cup, which was Europe's top-tier competition for rugby clubs for the first nineteen years of professional European rugby union.[1] The opening round of the tournament took place on the weekend of 14/15/16 October 2016. The final took place on 13 May 2017 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.[2][3]

2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	14 October 2016 – 13 May 2017
Tournament statistics
Teams	20
Matches played	67
Attendance	1,018,026 (15,194 per match)
Highest attendance	55,272 (The Final: Saracens v Clermont)
Lowest attendance	2,500 (Zebre v Wasps)
Tries scored	363 (5.42 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Owen Farrell (Saracens) (126 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Isa Nacewa (Leinster) (7 tries)
Final
Venue	Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Champions	Saracens (2nd title)
Runners-up	Clermont

English side Saracens were the 2015–16 champions, having beaten Racing 92 of France in the 2016 final in Lyon.

Saracens retained the cup, defeating Clermont in the final 28–17.[4][5]

Teams

Twenty clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues competed in the Champions Cup. Nineteen of these qualified directly as a result of their league performance.

The distribution of teams was:

• England: 6 clubs
  • The top 6 clubs in the English Premiership. (6 clubs)
• France: 7 clubs
  • The top 6 clubs in the Top 14. (6 clubs)
  • There was a seventh club from France, after Montpellier won the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup. (1 club)
• Ireland, Italy, Scotland & Wales: 7 clubs, based on performance in the Pro12.
  • The best placed club from each nation. (4 clubs)
  • The 3 highest ranked clubs not qualified thereafter. (3 clubs)

Due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, it was decided that the play-off system that had previously decided the final team would be suspended, and that this year the winner of the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup would automatically qualify for the tournament. In the event this team had already qualified, the team's domestic league would be allocated an extra qualifying place.[6]

The following teams qualified for the 2016–17 tournament.

Aviva Premiership	Top 14	Pro 12
England	France	Ireland	Italy	Scotland	Wales
Saracens Exeter Chiefs Wasps Leicester Tigers Northampton Saints Sale Sharks	Racing 92 Toulon Clermont Montpellier Toulouse Castres Bordeaux Bègles	Connacht Leinster Ulster Munster	Zebre	Glasgow Warriors	Scarlets

This was the first time all four Irish provinces qualified for Europe's top club competition on their own merits, as Connacht's two previous appearances in the former Heineken Cup had been as a result of Leinster winning that cup the previous season.

Team details

Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team.

Note: Placing shown in brackets, denotes standing at the end of the regular season for their respective leagues, with their end of season positioning shown through CH for Champions, RU for Runner-up, SF for losing Semi-finalist and QF for losing Quarter-finalist.

Team	Coach / Director of Rugby	Captain	Stadium	Capacity	Method of Qualification
Bordeaux Bègles	Raphaël Ibañez	Hugh Chalmers	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,694	Top 14 top 7 (7th)
Castres	Christophe Urios	Rodrigo Capo Ortega	Stade Pierre-Antoine	11,500	Top 14 top 7 (6th) (QF)
Clermont	Franck Azéma	Damien Chouly	Stade Marcel-Michelin	19,022	Top 14 top 7 (1st) (SF)
Connacht	Pat Lam	John Muldoon	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,100	Pro12 top 7 (2nd) (CH)
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Jack Yeandle	Sandy Park	12,600	Aviva Premiership top 6 (2nd) (RU)
Glasgow Warriors	Gregor Townsend	Jonny Gray	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351	Pro 12 top Scottish team (3rd) (SF)
Leicester Tigers	Aaron Mauger (For Richard Cockerill) [lower-alpha 1]	Tom Youngs	Welford Road	25,800	Aviva Premiership top 6 (4th) (SF)
Leinster	Leo Cullen	Isa Nacewa	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700	Pro 12 top Irish team (1st) (RU)
Montpellier	Jake White	Fulgence Ouedraogo	Altrad Stadium	14,700	Challenge Cup winner, Top 14 top 7 (3rd) (SF)
Munster	Rassie Erasmus	Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park	25,600	Pro12 top 7 (6th)
Northampton Saints	Jim Mallinder	Tom Wood	Franklin's Gardens	15,500	Aviva Premiership top 6 (5th)
Racing 92	Laurent Labit Laurent Travers	Dimitri Szarzewski	Stade Yves-du-Manoir	14,400	Top 14 top 7 (4th) (CH)
Sale Sharks	Steve Diamond	Josh Beaumont	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Aviva Premiership top 6 (6th)
Saracens	Mark McCall	Brad Barritt	Allianz Park	10,000	Aviva Premiership top 6 (1st) (CH)
Scarlets	Wayne Pivac	Ken Owens	Parc y Scarlets	14,870	Pro 12 top Welsh team (5th)
Toulon	Mike Ford (For Diego Domínguez) [lower-alpha 2]	Juan Smith	Stade Mayol	15,820	Top 14 top 7 (2nd) (RU)
Toulouse	Ugo Mola	Thierry Dusautoir	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500	Top 14 top 7 (5th) (QF)
Ulster	Les Kiss	Andrew Trimble	Kingspan Stadium	18,196	Pro12 top 7 (4th) (SF)
Wasps	Dai Young	Joe Launchbury	Ricoh Arena	32,609	Aviva Premiership top 6 (3rd) (SF)
Zebre	Víctor Jiménez (For Gianluca Guidi)[lower-alpha 3]	George Biagi	Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi	5,000	Pro 12 top Italian team (11th)

Seeding

The 20 competing teams are seeded and split into four tiers, each containing 5 teams.

For the purpose of creating the tiers, clubs are ranked based on their domestic league performances and on their qualification for the knockout phases of their championships, so a losing quarter-finalist in the Top 14 would be seeded below a losing semi-finalist, even if they finished above them in the regular season.[10]

Rank	Top 14	Premiership	Pro 12
1	Racing 92	Saracens	Connacht
2	Toulon	Exeter Chiefs	Leinster
3	Clermont	Wasps	Glasgow Warriors
4	Montpellier	Leicester Tigers	Ulster
5	Toulouse	Northampton Saints	Scarlets
6	Castres	Sale Sharks	Munster
7	Bordeaux Bègles		Zebre

Based on these seedings, teams are placed into one of the four tiers, with the top seed clubs being put in Tier 1. The nature of the tier system means that a draw is needed to allocate two of the three second seed clubs to Tier 1. Exeter Chiefs and Leinster were drawn into Tier 1, meaning the remaining side - Toulon went into Tier 2. As a result of this draw, Montpellier also entered Tier 2, as the fourth seed from the league of the second seed placed in Tier 2. The other two fourth-ranked sides fell into Tier 3.[11]

The tiers are shown below. Brackets show each team's seeding and their league (for example, 1 Top 14 indicates the team was seeded 1st from the Top 14).

Tier 1	Saracens (1 AP)	Connacht (1 Pro12)	Racing 92 (1 Top 14)	Exeter Chiefs (2 AP)	Leinster (2 Pro12)
Tier 2	Toulon (2 Top 14)	Wasps (3 AP)	Glasgow Warriors (3 Pro12)	Clermont (3 Top 14)	Montpellier (4 Top 14)
Tier 3	Leicester Tigers (4 AP)	Ulster (4 Pro12)	Northampton Saints (5 AP)	Scarlets (5 Pro12)	Toulouse (5 Top 14)
Tier 4	Sale Sharks (6 AP)	Munster (6 Pro12)	Castres (6 Top 14)	Zebre (7 Pro12)	Bordeaux Bègles (7 Top 14)

The following restrictions will apply to the draw:[11]

• Each pool will consist of four clubs, one from each Tier in the draw.
• Each pool must have one from each league drawn from Tier 1,2 or 3. No pool will have a second team from the same league until the allocation of Tier 4 takes place.
• Where two PRO12 clubs compete in the same pool, they must be from different countries.

Pool stage

The draw took place on 29 June 2016, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Teams will play each other twice, both at home and away, in the group stage, that will begin on weekend of 14/15/16 October 2016, and continue through to 20/21/22 January 2017, before the pool winners and three best runners-up progressed to the quarter finals.

Teams will be awarded competition points, based on match result. Teams receive 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and 1 defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.[12]

In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers will be used, as directed by EPCR:

1. Where teams have played each other
   1. The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
   2. If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
   3. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
2. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools)
   1. The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
   2. If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
   3. If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
   4. If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.

Key to colours

	Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals.
	Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals.

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Munster (2)	6	5	0	1	160	64	+96	18	4	3	1	24
Glasgow Warriors (6)	6	4	0	2	160	86	+74	18	10	2	1	19
Leicester Tigers	6	2	0	4	61	190	–129	3	23	0	0	8
Racing 92	6	1	0	5	89	130	–41	12	14	1	0	5

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Wasps (5)	6	4	1	1	210	112	+98	28	13	3	1	22
Toulouse (7)	6	3	1	2	164	91	+73	22	10	2	2	18
Connacht	6	4	0	2	188	118	+70	26	15	2	0	18
Zebre	6	0	0	6	90	331	−241	11	49	0	0	0

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Saracens (3)	6	5	1	0	181	87	+94	20	6	2	0	24
Toulon (8)	6	3	0	3	120	100	+20	12	10	2	2	16
Scarlets	6	2	1	3	141	154	–13	11	15	0	1	11
Sale Sharks	6	1	0	5	66	167	–101	7	19	0	0	4

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster (4)	6	4	1	1	227	87	+140	31	10	4	1	23
Montpellier	6	3	0	3	120	149	–29	15	15	2	2	16
Castres	6	2	1	3	144	147	–3	15	20	1	1	12
Northampton Saints	6	2	0	4	91	199	−108	10	26	1	0	9

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Clermont (1)	6	5	0	1	211	131	+80	26	18	5	1	26
Bordeaux Bègles	6	3	0	3	118	120	–2	11	13	1	1	14
Exeter Chiefs	6	2	0	4	110	146	–36	13	16	2	2	12
Ulster	6	2	0	4	131	173	–42	16	19	1	1	10

Ranking of pool leaders and runners-up

Rank	Pool Leaders	Pts	Diff	TF
1	Clermont	26	+80	26
2	Munster	24	+96	18
3	Saracens	24	+94	20
4	Leinster	23	+140	31
5	Wasps	22	+98	28
Rank	Pool Runners–up	Pts	Diff	TF
6	Glasgow Warriors	19	+74	18
7	Toulouse	18	+73	20
8	Toulon	16	+20	12
9	Montpellier	16	–29	15
10	Bordeaux Bègles	14	–2	11

Knock-out stage

Format

The eight qualifiers are ranked according to their performance in the pool stage and compete in the quarter-finals which will be held on the weekend of 31 March, 1/2 April 2017. The four top teams will host the quarter-finals against the four lower teams in a 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 format.

The semi-finals will played on the weekend of 22/23 April 2017. In lieu of the draw that used to determine the semi-final pairing, EPCR announced that a fixed semi-final bracket would be set in advance, and that the home team would be designated based on "performances by clubs during the pool stages as well as the achievement of a winning a quarter-final match away from home". Semi-final matches must be played at a neutral ground in the designated home team's country.

Home country advantage will be awarded as follows:[12]

Winner of QF Semi-Final 1 (Home v Away) 1 4 1 v 4 1 5 5 v 1 8 4 8 v 4 8 5 5 v 8

Winner of QF Semi-Final 2 (Home v Away) 3 2 2 v 3 3 7 7 v 3 6 2 6 v 2 6 7 6 v 7

The winners of the semi-finals will contest the final, at Murrayfield, on 13 May 2017.[3]

Bracket

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	3	Saracens	38
	6	Glasgow Warriors	13
						Saracens		26
						Munster		10
	2	Munster	41
	7	Toulouse	16
											Saracens		28
											Clermont		17
	1	Clermont	29
	8	Toulon	9
						Clermont		27
						Leinster		22
	4	Leinster	32
	5	Wasps	17

Quarter-finals

1 April 2017 15:15

Leinster (4)	32–17	(5) Wasps
Try: Nacewa 14' m Conan 33' c Henshaw 40' c McFadden 73' c Con: Sexton (3/4) 34', 40', 75' Pen: Sexton (2/2) 6', 48'	Report[13]	Try: Wade 52' c Gopperth 59' c Con: Gopperth (2/2) 53', 61' Pen: Gopperth (1/1) 31'

Aviva Stadium Attendance: 50,266 Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

1 April 2017 17:45

Munster (2)	41–16	(7) Toulouse
Try: J. Ryan 4' c Stander 47' m Sweetnam 75' c Conway 79' c Con: Bleyendaal (3/4) 4', 77', 80' Pen: Bleyendaal (5/5) 9', 26', 42', 52', 74'	Report[14]	Try: Perez 54' c Con: Doussain (1/1) 55' Pen: Doussain (3/3) 19', 31', 40'

Thomond Park Attendance: 26,200 Referee: JP Doyle (RFU)

2 April 2017 13:00

Saracens (3)	38–13	(6) Glasgow Warriors
Try: Ashton (2) 31' m, 78' c Bosch 59' c Barritt 73' c Con: Farrell (3/4) 59', 73', 78' Pen: Farrell (4/4) 9', 15', 27', 70'	Report[15]	Try: Jones 48' m Wilson 80' m Pen: Russell (1/1) 11'

Allianz Park Attendance: 15,000[a 1] Referee: Jérôme Garcès (FFR)

2 April 2017 16:15

Clermont (1)	29–9	(8) Toulon
Try: Nakaitaci 61' c Penaud 80' c Con: Parra (2/2) 61', 80' Pen: Parra (4/4) 5', 29', 45', 78' Drop: Lopez (1/1) 71'	Report[17]	Pen: Halfpenny (3/3) 21', 34', 58'

Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin Attendance: 18,873 Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

1. Due to European Rugby rules regarding minimum capacity for knockout matches, Saracens home ground Allianz Park was expanded from 10,000 to 15,000 using temporary seating to enable them to host their quarter final fixture.[16]

Semi-finals

22 April 2017 15:15

Munster	10–26	Saracens
Try: Stander 80' c Con: Keatley (1/1) 80' Pen: Bleyendaal (1/2) 7'	Report[18]	Try: M. Vunipola 54' c Wyles 70' c Con: Farrell (2/2) 55', 72' Pen: Farrell (4/4) 17', 35', 64', 75'

Aviva Stadium Attendance: 51,300 Referee: Romain Poite (FFR)

23 April 2017 16:00

Clermont	27–22	Leinster
Try: Yato 4' c Strettle 15' m Con: Parra (1/2) 6' Pen: Parra (2/3) 10', 57' Lopez (1/1) 72' Drop: Lopez (2/2) 64', 76'	Report[19]	Try: Ringrose 68' c Con: Sexton (1/1) 69' Pen: Sexton (5/5) 41'+3, 44', 49', 54', 79'

Matmut Stadium de Gerland Attendance: 40,024 Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

Final

13 May 2017 17:00

Saracens	28–17	Clermont
Try: Ashton 12' m Kruis 21' c Goode 72' c Con: Farrell (2/3) 22', 73' Pen: Farrell (3/3) 50', 57', 78'	Report[20]	Try: Lamerat 26' c Abendanon 51' c Con: Parra (2/2) 27', 53' Pen: Parra (1/1) 60'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 55,272 Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

Attendances

• Does not include final as they are played at a neutral venue.

Club	Home Games	Total	Average	Highest	Lowest	% Capacity
Bordeaux Bègles	3	63,399	21,133	21,196	21,071	61%
Castres	3	23,745	7,915	8,405	7,040	69%
Clermont[lower-alpha 4]	5	112,802	22,560	40,024	17,201	95%
Connacht	3	21,788	7,263	8,091	5,607	90%
Exeter Chiefs	3	29,693	9,898	10,671	9,143	79%
Glasgow Warriors	3	22,053	7,351	7,351	7,351	100%
Leicester Tigers	3	62,606	20,869	24,213	19,048	81%
Leinster	4	120,325	30,081	50,266	13,890	85%
Montpellier	3	26,839	8,946	11,260	10,679	61%
Munster[lower-alpha 5]	5	154,900	30,980	51,300	25,600	100%
Northampton Saints	3	42,895	14,298	15,151	13,645	92%
Racing 92	3	23,554	7,851	9,233	5,449	56%
Sale Sharks	3	19,835	6,612	9,402	4,275	55%
Saracens	4	42,830	10,708	15,000	8,746	95%
Scarlets	3	22,591	7,530	8,579	6,521	51%
Toulon	3	38,396	12,799	14,103	11,978	81%
Toulouse	3	36,607	12,202	14,206	10,378	47%
Ulster	3	48,083	16,028	16,843	14,924	88%
Wasps	3	41,313	13,771	17,248	10,701	42%
Zebre	3	8,500	2,833	3,000	2,500	57%

[21]

See also

• 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup

Notes

1. Richard Cockerill began the tournament as Leicester Tigers head coach, but was replaced with Aaron Mauger on 2 January 2017 after Cockerill was sacked by the Tigers.[7]
2. Diego Domínguez began the tournament as Toulon's head coach, but was replaced with Mike Ford on 24 October 2016.[8]
3. Gianluca Guidi began the tournament as Zebre head coach, but on mutual agreement with the club and himself, left his post as head coach on 17 January 2017. He was replaced with Víctor Jiménez.[9]
4. Figures include semi-final 'home game' played at the Matmut Stadium de Gerland in Lyon.
5. Figures include semi-final 'home game' played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

References

1. Inaugural EPCR finals set for London Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Key 2016/17 European club rugby dates". epcrugby.com.
3. "Lyon to host 2016 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals with Edinburgh chosen for 2017". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-13. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
4. "Clermont Auvergne 17-28 Saracens: European Champions Cup final – as it happened". Guardian. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
5. "Saracens 28-17 Clermont: Sarries win thriller to retain Champions Cup". Daily Telegraph. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
6. "Key 2015/16 EPCR dates and Champions Cup play-offs". epcrugby.com.
7. "Richard Cockerill: Leicester Tigers sack director of rugby". Planet Rugby. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
8. "Mike Ford: Ex-Bath head coach named Toulon boss". Planet Rugby. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
9. "RESCISSO CONSENSUALMENTE IL CONTRATTO TRA LE ZEBRE RUGBY E L'HEAD COACH GIANLUCA GUIDI" [Press Release Zebre]. Zebre (in Italian). Zebre Rugby srl. 21 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2014-06-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ERCRugby.com. Accessed 8 June 2014
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13. "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
14. "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
15. "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
16. "Saracens hope to stage Champions Cup quarter-final at Allianz Park - Mark McCall". Belfast Telegraph. 16 January 2017.
17. "European Rugby Champions Cup (EPCR)". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
18. "REPORT: Saracens march on to BT Murrayfield". www.epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
19. "PREVIEW: Leinster chasing Champions Cup history". www.epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-24. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
20. "REPORT: Saracens claim Champions Cup glory in thriller". www.epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
21. "European Rugby Champions Cup 16/17 Home attendance". Rugby Statbunker. 23 April 2017.