Rugby Europe Super Cup
The Rugby Europe Super Cup is an annual men's rugby union club tournament organised by the continental governing body, Rugby Europe. Featuring clubs outside the traditional Six Nations strongholds of the sport, it effectively forms a third tier of European club rugby beneath the EPCR-organised European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup.[1] The first Super Cup competition took place in 2021–22.
| Sport | Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2021 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Country | Belgium Czech Republic Georgia Israel Netherlands Portugal Romania Spain |
| Holders | Black Lion (3rd title) (2023) |
| Website | www |
Format
The tournament was announced as an annual event for emerging nations in Europe. Professional rugby clubs and franchise teams can take part in it. Teams are divided into two conferences: western and eastern. Each team plays every conference rival home and away. The two best teams from each conference advance to the semi-finals, where they play for a ticket to the final. For the first time, the Czech Rugby Union was involved in the European club competition with Bohemia Rugby Warriors taking part. [2]
| Group A | Joined | Group B | Joined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lion | Georgia | 2021–22 | Brussels Devils | Belgium | 2021–22 |
| Castilla y León Iberians | Spain | 2021–22 | Delta | Netherlands | 2021–22 |
| Lusitanos XV | Portugal | 2021–22 | Romanian Wolves | Romania | 2022 |
| Tel Aviv Heat | Israel | 2021–22 | Bohemia Rugby Warriors | Czech Republic | 2023 |
The first competition included two Russian teams who were expelled following the invasion of Ukraine, to be replaced with teams from Romania and Georgia in the second season.
| Former teams | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Batumi RC | Georgia | 2022 |
| Lokomotiv Penza | Russia | 2021–22 |
| Yenisey-STM | 2021–22 | |
The goal of the tournament is to bridge the development gap between European countries and attract new sponsors in new markets. All 27 matches are filmed and widely broadcast on TV and digital platforms.
The plan was to expand the Super Cup to include 12 teams by 2023 and 16 teams by 2025.[3]
Finals
| Year | Final | Third place match | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Host | 3rd place | Score | 4th place | |||
| 2021–22 | Lisbon | Black Lion | 17–14 | Lusitanos XV | — | |||||
| 2022 | Tbilisi | Black Lion | 29–17 | Tel Aviv Heat | ||||||
| 2023 | Tbilisi | Black Lion | 27–17 | Tel Aviv Heat | Amsterdam | Romanian Wolves | 41–17 | Castilla y León Iberians | ||
Performances by team
| Team | Winners | Runner-up | 3rd place | 4th place | 5th place | 6th place | 7th place | 8th place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lion | 3 (2021–22, 2022, 2023) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tel Aviv Heat | — | 2 (2022, 2023) | 1 (2021–22) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lusitanos XV | — | 1 (2021–22) | 1 (2022) | — | 1 (2023) | — | — | — |
| Castilla y León Iberians | — | — | 2 (2021–22, 2022) | 1 (2023) | — | — | — | — |
| Romanian Wolves | — | — | 1 (2023) | — | — | — | 1 (2022) | — |
| Brussels Devils | — | — | — | — | 1 (2022) | 1 (2023) | 1 (2021–22) | — |
| The Delta | — | — | — | — | 1 (2021–22) | — | 2 (2022, 2023) | — |
| Yenisey-STM | — | — | — | — | 1 (2021–22) | — | — | — |
| Lokomotiv Penza | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 (2021–22) | — |
| Bohemia Rugby Warriors | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 (2023) |
Number of participating clubs by country
The following is a list of clubs that have played or will be playing in the Rugby Europe Super Cup group stage.
| Nation | No. | Clubs | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia (2) | 3 | Black Lion | 2021-22, 2022, 2023 |
| 1 | RC Batumi | 2022 | |
| Russia (2) | 1 | Lokomotiv Penza | 2021-22 |
| 1 | Yenisey-STM | 2021-22 | |
| Portugal (1) | 3 | Lusitanos | 2021-22, 2022, 2023 |
| Israel (1) | 3 | Tel Aviv Heat | 2021-22, 2022, 2023 |
| Spain (1) | 3 | Castilla y León Iberians | 2021-22, 2022, 2023 |
| Netherlands (1) | 3 | Delta | 2021-22, 2022, 2023 |
| Belgium (1) | 3 | Brussels Devils | 2021-22, 2022, 2023 |
| Romania (1) | 2 | Romanian Wolves | 2022, 2023 |
| Czech Republic (1) | 1 | Bohemia Rugby Warriors | 2023 |
References
- "Rugby Europe launch The Super Cup". Rugby Europe. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
- "Rugby Europe has confirmed the details of the third season of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, its club competition for the emerging rugby unions in Europe". rugbyeurope.eu. 2023-07-06. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- "A new dawn for Israeli rugby". Jerusalem Post. 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-27.