EPCR Challenge Cup 26/27: everything you need to know including format change, new bonus point system and more
Edinburgh kick off their latest European rugby campaign with Toulon the visitors to the Hive on Friday night.
The latest edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup gets underway this weekend as teams from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, South Africa and Georgia begin their bid for European rugby’s second biggest club prize.
This year marks the 13th edition of the tournament with Edinburgh Rugby representing Scotland. They begin their campaign at home to French side Toulon on Friday night.
Ahead of that match we’ve taken a look at the latest changes to the competition structure, identified the key dates and more. Here is everything you need to know about the 2026/27 EPCR Challenge Cup:
EPCR Challenge Cup 2026/27 format explained
The 2026/27 Challenge Cup begins with 18 clubs taking part representing England’s PREM, France’s Top 14, the URC and two guest clubs in Black Lion of Georgia and the Cheetahs from Bloemfontein, South Africa. The teams are split into three pools of six.
From there the clubs play four matches, two at home and two away, against sides not from their domestic league competitions. Once all fixtures have been played the top four teams in each pool qualify for the knockout stages and are joined by four teams who drop down from the Investec Champions Cup following the conclusion of that competition’s pool stage.
The top two teams in each pool earn home draws for the Round of 16 along with the two third placed teams with the best records. They play one of the other third placed team who did not earn a home tie, one of the four forth placed teams or one of four teams who drop down from the Champions Cup.
Finishing with as strong a record as possible in the pool stage also rewards sides with home advantage throughout the later knockout stages. The clubs are ranked based on their records in pool stage qualifying with the number one team having home advantage all the way to the semi-finals should they reach that stage while the final is of course played at a neutral venue.
Format changes for 2026/27 EPCR Challenge Cup as new bonus point system introduced
The main change to the format of the 2026/27 Challenge Cup concerns the try scoring bonus point system. Previously bonus points were rewarded for scoring four or more tries in a match but the new rule, which is also implemented in France’s Top 14, will see teams only given a try scoring bonus point for scoring three tries more than their opponents in a match at full time.
2026/27 EPCR Challenge Cup key dates and final venue
Here are the dates for the 2026/27 EPCR Challenge Cup:
- Round 1 - 16/17/18 October 2026
- Round 2 - 11/12/13 December 2026
- Round 3 - 8/9/10 January 2027
- Round 4 - 15/16/17 January 2027
- Round of 16 - 2/3/4 April 2027
- Quarter-Finals - 9/10/11 April 2027
- Semi-Finals - 30 April / 1/2 May 2027
- EPCR Challenge Cup Final: Friday 21 May 2027
The final will be played at the 59,186-seat OL Stadium in Lyon, France.
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