| 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup | |
| Date: | 8 December 2023 – 24 May 2024 |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and knockout |
| Countries: |  France Georgia Ireland Italy South Africa |
| Teams: | 18 (pool stage) + 4 (knockout stage) |
| Champions: | Sharks |
| Count: | 1 |
| Runner-Up: | Gloucester |
| Matches: | 51 |
| Highest Attendance: | 34,761 – Sharks v Gloucester 24 May 2024 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,600 – Zebre Parma v Cheetahs 9 December 2023 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Anthony Belleau (Clermont) 81 points |
| Top Try Scorer: | Onisi Ratave (Benetton) Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks) 6 tries |
| Venue: | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London |
| Website: | EPCR Website |
| Previous Tournament: | 2022–23 EPCR Challenge Cup |
| Previous Year: | 2022–23 |
| Next Tournament: | 2024–25 EPCR Challenge Cup |
| Next Year: | 2024–25 |
The 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup was the 10th 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 28th edition of European club rugby's second-tier competition.
The tournament commenced in December 2023, and concluded with the final on 24 May 2024 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England.[1] In the final, Sharks beat Gloucester to win the cup for the first time.[2] [3]
This is the second year that teams from South Africa can qualify, following the second United Rugby Championship season. Two teams have been invited from outside the three main European professional leagues; The Black Lion from Tbilisi, Georgia are current holders of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, the third-tier competition in European rugby administered by Rugby Europe, and Cheetahs the current holders of the Currie Cup, South Africa's second tier and most historic national competition. Originally not represented in the Challenge Cup, two Irish teams, Ulster and Connacht, joined in the play-off rounds, having dropped down from the Champions Cup.
Sixteen teams qualified for the 2023–24 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 two invited sides making 18 teams.[4]
The distribution of teams are:
| Entry Point | Premiership | Top 14 | United Rugby Championship | Invited | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | France | Italy | Scotland | Wales | South Africa | Georgia | ||||||||||
| Pool stage | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | |||||||||
| Knockout stage | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | |||||||||||||
See main article: article and 2023–24 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.
The knockout stage will be played with a single-leg round of 16 matches consisting of the top four teams from each pool and the teams ranked 5th in each pool of the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. The Round of 16 will follow a pre-determined format, while the quarter-finals and semi-finals will guarantee home advantage to the higher-ranked team.
| Rank | Team | Pts | Diff | TF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pool leaders | |||||
| 1 | 17 | +88 | 21 | ||
| 2 | 17 | +47 | 9 | ||
| 3 | 15 | +60 | 19 | ||
| Pool runners-up | |||||
| 4 | 15 | +56 | 17 | ||
| 5 | 14 | +40 | 15 | ||
| 6 | 12 | –23 | 10 | ||
| Top two third placed teams | |||||
| 7 | 14 | +8 | 15 | ||
| 8 | 11 | +11 | 15 | ||
| Champions Cup teams | |||||
| 9 | 8 | –25 | 11 | ||
| 10 | Sale Sharks | 6 | –7 | 13 | |
| 11 | Connacht | 6 | –52 | 13 | |
| 12 | 5 | –59 | 12 | ||
| Third best third placed team | |||||
| 13 | 11 | +7 | 14 | ||
| Fourth placed teams | |||||
| 14 | 10 | +18 | 10 | ||
| 15 | 10 | –3 | 13 | ||
| 16 | 10 | –9 | 11 | ||
