| 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup | |
| Date: | 9 December 2022 – 19 May 2023 |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and knockout |
| Countries: |  France Ireland Italy South Africa |
| Teams: | 18 |
| Champions: | Toulon |
| Count: | 1 |
| Runner-Up: | Glasgow Warriors |
| Matches: | 51 |
| Highest Attendance: | 31,514 - Glasgow Warriors v Toulon 19 May 2023 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 200 - Cheetahs v Scarlets 17 December 2022 200 - Cheetahs v Pau 22 January 2023 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Sam Costelow (Scarlets) 62 points |
| Top Try Scorer: | Johnny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors) Jiuta Wainiqolo (Toulon) 7 tries |
| Venue: | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
| Website: | EPCR Website |
| Previous Tournament: | 2021–22 European Rugby Challenge Cup |
| Previous Year: | 2021–22 |
| Next Tournament: | 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup |
| Next Year: | 2023–24 |
The 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 9th edition of the EPCR Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Including the predecessor competition, the original European Challenge Cup, this is the 27th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.
The tournament commenced in December 2022, and concluded with the final on 19 May 2023 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, which was contested between Glasgow Warriors (their first European final) and Toulon who made their fourth appearance in a European final.
This was the first year that teams from South Africa could qualify, following the inaugural United Rugby Championship season, with Johannesburg-based Lions making their inaugural appearance in European club rugby.[1] In addition, another South African team, the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs franchise, formerly of the URC predecessor competition the Pro14, had been invited to enter, having been excluded from European competition during their Pro14 tenure.[2]
Seventeen teams qualified for the 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup from Premiership Rugby, the Top 14 and the United Rugby Championship as a direct result of their domestic league performance having not qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup. Plus one invited sides making 18 teams.
The distribution of teams were:
| Team | Coach / Director of Rugby | Captain | Stadium | Capacity | Method of qualification | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entering at Pool stage | |||||||
| Bath | Johann van Graan | Ben Spencer | align=center | 14,509 | Premiership 9th–13th (13th) | ||
| Bayonne | Grégory Patat | Antoine Battut | Stade Jean-Dauger | align=center | 18,069 | Pro D2 Champions | |
| Benetton | Marco Bortolami | Dewaldt Duvenage Michele Lamaro | Stadio Comunale di Monigo | align=center | 6,700 | URC bottom 8 (13th) | |
| Bristol Bears | Pat Lam |  Steve Luatua | Ashton Gate Stadium | align=center | 27,000 | Premiership 9th–13th (10th) | |
| Brive | Patrice Collazo | Saïd Hireche | Stade Amédée-Domenech | align=center | 13,979 | Top 14 bottom 6 (12th) | |
| Cardiff | Dai Young | Josh Turnbull | Cardiff Arms Park | align=center | 12,125 | URC bottom 8 (14th) | |
| Cheetahs | Hawies Fourie | Victor Sekekete | Free State Stadium | align=center | 46,000 | Invited team | |
| Connacht |  Andy Friend | Jack Carty | Galway Sportsgrounds | align=center | 8,129 | URC bottom 8 (11th) | |
| Dragons | Harrison Keddie Will Rowlands | align=center | 8,700 | URC bottom 8 (15th) | |||
| Glasgow Warriors | Franco Smith | Kyle Steyn | align=center | 7,351 | URC bottom 8 (8th) | ||
| Lions | Ivan van Rooyen | Reinhard Nothnagel | Ellis Park Stadium | align=center | 62,567 | URC bottom 8 (12th) | |
| Newcastle Falcons | Dave Walder | Will Welch | Kingston Park | align=center | 10,200 | Premiership 9th–13th (12th) | |
| Pau | Sébastien Piqueronies | Lucas Rey | Stade du Hameau | align=center | 18,324 | Top 14 bottom 6 (10th) | |
| Perpignan | Patrick Arlettaz | Mathieu Acebes | Stade Aimé Giral | align=center | 14,593 | Top 14 bottom 6 (13th) | |
| Scarlets | Dwayne Peel | Jonathan Davies | Parc y Scarlets | align=center | 14,870 | URC bottom 8 (10th) | |
| Stade Francais |  Gonzalo Quesada | Romain Briatte | Stade Jean-Bouin | align=center | 20,000 | Top 14 bottom 6 (11th) | |
| Toulon | Pierre Mignoni | Charles Ollivon | Stade Mayol | align=center | 18,200 | Top 14 bottom 6 (8th) | |
| Zebre | Fabio Roselli | Dave Sisi | Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi | align=center | 5,000 | URC bottom 8 (16th) | |
| Entering at Knockout Stage (transferred from Champions Cup) | |||||||
| Clermont | Christophe Urios | Arthur Iturria | Stade Marcel-Michelin | align=center | 19,022 | Champions Cup Pool B 9th–10th (9th) | |
| Lyon | Xavier Garbajosa | Jean-Marc Doussain | Matmut Stadium de Gerland | align=center | 35,029 | Champions Cup Pool A 9th–10th (9th) | |
| Racing 92 | Laurent Travers | Henry Chavancy | Paris La Défense Arena | align=center | 32,000 | Champions Cup Pool A 9th–10th (10th) | |
| Sale Sharks | Alex Sanderson | Jono Ross | AJ Bell Stadium | align=center | 12,000 | Champions Cup Pool B 9th–10th (10th) | |
See main article: article and 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup pool stage. Teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by less than eight points.
| Top 6 in each pool, advance to round of 16. |
The knockout stage was played across 31 March/1/2 April with a single leg round of 16 matches consisting of the top six ranked teams from each pool and the teams ranked 9th and 10th in each pool of the 2022–23 European Rugby Champions Cup (Clermont, Lyon, Racing 92 and Sale Sharks denoted by * in the bracket). The Round of 16 followed a pre-determined format, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals always guaranteed home advantage to the higher ranked team.
The last-16 were dominated by clubs from Top 14 (eight) and the United Rugby Championship (six), with only two English clubs reaching the knockout stages - both eliminated in the first play-off round along with the only Irish team, Connacht, while both South African clubs departed by the quarter-finals. Treviso became the first Italian side to reach a European semi-final, as three URC teams from three different countries(Italy, Scotland and Wales) reached the final four along with French giant Toulon.
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The higher-ranked club gained home stadium advantage, however, in the event that a South African team had been the higher ranked side, the game would have been located in Europe.
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Note: Flags to the left of player names indicate national team as has been defined under World Rugby eligibility rules, or primary nationality for players who have not yet earned international senior caps. Players may hold one or more non-WR nationalities.
Source:[4]
| Rank | Player | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Costelow | Scarlets | 62 |
| 2 | Rhys Priestland | Cardiff | 57 |
| 3 | George Horne | Glasgow | 47 |
| 4 | Dan Biggar | Toulon | 39 |
| 5 |  AJ MacGinty | Bristol | 38 |
Source:[4]
| Rank | Player | Club | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Matthews | Glasgow | 7 |
| 2 | Josh Adams | Cardiff | 6 |
| Jiuta Wainiqolo | Toulon | ||
| Steff Evans | Scarlets | ||
| 5 | Rhyno Smith | Benetton | 5 |