European Rugby Cup Ltd (or ERC) was the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments: the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. It was replaced by the European Professional Club Rugby governing body in 2014.
The inaugural Heineken Cup competition was held in 1995–96, with the second-tier competition established the following season.
History The organisation was established in 1995, in preparation for the 1995–96 season, and was headquartered in Dublin. ERC's had nine major shareholders: the six tier 1 unions and three club associations, which were all represented on the board of directors:
Unions
Rugby Football Union Fédération Française de Rugby Irish Rugby Football Union Scottish Rugby Union Welsh Rugby Union Federazione Italiana Rugby
Club associations
Premiership Rugby Ligue Nationale de Rugby Regional Rugby Wales
In 2012, Premiership Rugby and LNR, on behalf of the English and French clubs respectively, notified ERC that they would be withdrawing from the accord governing the competition, being dissatisfied with the organisation of the competition and the distribution of funding. Premiership Rugby subsequently refused to join any new agreement in which ERC remained organisers of European rugby tournaments.
In April 2014 the nine shareholders with an interest in continuing major European club competition came to an agreement for new competitions. Under the new agreement, ERC was wound up, and a new body, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), was created to organise three new competitions, European Rugby Champions Cup, the European Rugby Challenge Cup, and the third tier Qualifying Competition, beginning with the 2014–15 season.http://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/featured-post/15722/european-rugby-statement/ European Rugby Statement, The Rugby Paper, 10/4/14
ERC Governance The Board of ERC, which oversaw the implementation of ERC's strategy for the development of European club rugby, was made up of representatives of the six shareholder unions, league bodies and club representatives and shaped the strategy and development of ERC and the tournaments.
Reporting to and making recommendation the Board were a series of ERC Committees, focusing on the various roles of ERC as a Governing Body and Tournament Organiser and these drew on the experience and expertise of the clubs and Unions from each participation nation.
ERC Committee Structure: – ERC Commercial Committee – ERC Rugby Committee – ERC Match Officials Committee – ERC Disciplinary Committee – ERC Finance and Audit Committee
The ERC Executive and team of 20 employees was based in the Dublin headquarters and were charged with implementing the strategy for the development of European club rugby and management of the two tournaments and of the showpiece ERC Finals weekend.
ERC European Player of the Year Recognised as one of the most prestigious individual accolades in the game, the ERC European Player of the Year honoured the best player of the European club rugby season from both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup tournaments.
In 2010 ERC launched the ERC15 Awards, recognising the outstanding contributors to the first decade and a half of European competition. The inaugural recipient of the ERC European Player Award, as the best player over the first 15 years of these tournaments, was Munster Rugby's Ronan O'Gara. For the 2010/11 season, ERC moved to present an annual award.
Steffon Armitage, from Toulon, was named ERC European Player of the Year in 2014.
Winners: Ronan O'Gara (Munster Rugby) – 2010 (Awarded for the previous 15 seasons) Seán O'Brien (Leinster Rugby) 2011 Rob Kearney (Leinster Rugby) 2012 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon) 2013 Steffon Armitage (Toulon) 2014 Nick Abendanon (Clermont) 2015
ERC Elite Awards To celebrate the 10th anniversary season of the Heineken Cup, the ERC Elite Awards scheme was introduced to recognise the most prominent teams and players of the competitions.
Teams with 50 or more appearances Team Appearances Munster 138 Toulouse Leinster 128 Leicester Tigers 124 Scarlets 117 Ulster Cardiff Blues 114 Edinburgh 103 Benetton 96 Biarritz Olympique 92 Glasgow Warriors 91 Northampton Saints 83 Perpignan 81 Stade Français 79 London Wasps 78 Montferrand/Clermont Auvergne 76 Bath 72 Ospreys 69 Harlequins 68 Castres Olympique 64 Gloucester Saracens 56
Players with 100 or more Heineken Cup caps Player Club(s) Appearances Cian Healy Leinster 111 Ronan O'Gara Munster 110 Gordon D′Arcy Leinster 104 John Hayes Munster 101 Peter Stringer Munster, Saracens, Bath 100
Players with 50 or more Heineken Cup caps
Player Club(s) Appearances Ronan O'Gara Munster 110 John Hayes Munster 101 Peter Stringer Munster, Saracens, Bath 100 Gordon D'Arcy Leinster 98 Munster 96 Leo Cullen Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Leinster (2nd stint) 92 Shane Horgan Leinster 87 Brian O'Driscoll Leinster Clément Poitrenaud Toulouse Anthony Foley Munster 86 David Wallace Munster Nathan Hines Edinburgh, Perpignan, Leinster, Clermont Auvergne 85 Jean Bouilhou Toulouse 84 Marcus Horan Munster Stephen Jones Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets (2nd stint) Fabien Pelous Dax, Toulouse 81 Martyn Williams Pontypridd, Cardiff, Cardiff Blues Yannick Jauzion Colomiers, Toulouse 79 Alan Quinlan Munster 78 Sylvain Marconnet Stade Français, Biarritz 76 Paul O'Connell Munster Julien Peyrelongue Biarritz 75 Ian Gough Pontypridd, Newport, Newport Gwent Dragons, Ospreys 74 Geordan Murphy Leicester Tigers Malcolm O'Kelly Leinster Jean-Baptiste Poux Toulouse William Servat Toulouse Vincent Clerc Toulouse 73 Allan Jacobsen Edinburgh 72 Martin Castrogiovanni Calvisano, Leicester Tigers 71 Cédric Heymans Brive, Toulouse Shane Jennings Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Leinster (2nd stint) Jérôme Thion Montferrand, Perpignan, Biarritz Vernon Cooper Llanelli, Scarlets 70 Florian Fritz Bourgoin, Toulouse Simon Shaw London Wasps Martin Corry Leicester Tigers 69 Louis Deacon Leicester Tigers 68 Girvan Dempsey Leinster George Chuter Saracens, Leicester Tigers 67 John Kelly Munster Grégory Lamboley Toulouse Nicolas Mas Perpignan Chris Paterson Edinburgh, Gloucester, Edinburgh (2nd stint) Jamie Heaslip Leinster 66 Adam Jones Neath, Ospreys Duncan Jones Neath, Ospreys Eoin Reddan Munster, London Wasps, Leinster David Skrela Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne Chris Wyatt Llanelli, Scarlets, Bourgoin Ben Kay Leicester Tigers 65 Julien Bonnaire Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne 64 Yannick Bru Toulouse Nicolas Brusque Pau, Biarritz Romain Millo-Chluski Toulouse Dimitri Yachvili Biarritz 63 Benoît August Stade Français, Biarritz 62 Mick O'Driscoll Munster, Perpignan, Munster (2nd stint) Iestyn Thomas Ebbw Vale, Llanelli, Scarlets Shane Byrne Leinster, Saracens 61 Reggie Corrigan Leinster Thierry Dusautoir Biarritz, Toulouse Dougie Hall Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors 60 Dafydd James Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues Gethin Jenkins Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues Benjamin Kayser Stade Français, Leicester Tigers, Stade Français (2nd stint), Castres Olympique, Clermont Auvergne Christian Labit Toulouse, Northampton Saints Gareth Thomas Cardiff, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Toulouse, Cardiff Blues Andrew Trimble Ulster Iain Balshaw Bath, Gloucester, Biarritz 59 Steve Borthwick Bath, Saracens Frédéric Michalak Toulouse, Toulon Lewis Moody Leicester Tigers, Bath Graham Rowntree Leicester Tigers Perry Freshwater Leicester Tigers, Perpignan 58 Salvatore Perugini L'Aquila, Calvisano, Toulouse, Aironi Trevor Brennan Leinster, Toulouse 57 Victor Costello Leinster Justin Fitzpatrick Ulster, Castres Olympique, Ulster (2nd stint) David Humphreys Ulster Jonathan Thomas Swansea, Ospreys Shane Williams Neath, Ospreys Roger Wilson Ulster, Northampton Saints, Ulster (2nd stint) Joe Worsley London Wasps Philippe Bidabé Biarritz 56 Simon Easterby Llanelli, Scarlets Anthony Horgan Munster Gavin Thomas Bath, Ospreys, Scarlets, Newport Gwent Dragons David Auradou Stade Français 55 Serge Betsen Biarritz, London Wasps Tommy Bowe Ulster, Ospreys, Ulster (2nd stint) Robin McBryde Llanelli, Scarlets Yannick Nyanga Béziers, Toulouse Shaun Payne Swansea, Munster Frankie Sheahan Munster Damien Traille Pau, Biarritz Garan Evans Llanelli, Scarlets 54 Denis Hickie Leinster Benoît Lecouls Toulouse, Biarritz, Toulouse (2nd stint) Tom Voyce Bath, London Wasps, Gloucester Paddy Wallace Ulster Jason White Glasgow, Sale Sharks, Clermont Auvergne Isaac Boss Ulster, Leinster 53 Lawrence Dallaglio London Wasps Austin Healey Leicester Tigers Alex King London Wasps, Clermont Leon Lloyd Leicester Tigers, Gloucester Mauro Bergamasco Petrarca, Benetton Treviso, Stade Français, AironiZebre 52 Kelly Brown Borders, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens Pieter de Villiers Stade Français Vincent Debaty Perpignan, Clermont Auvergne Imanol Harinordoquy Pau, Biarritz Olympique Deiniol Jones Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues Rob Kearney Leinster Eric Miller Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Ulster, Leinster (2nd stint) Aurélien Rougerie Clermont Auvergne Rimas Álvarez Kairelis Perpignan 51 Peter Buxton Newport, Gloucester Lee Byrne Scarlets, Ospreys, Clermont Auvergne Ben Cohen Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks John Davies Neath, Llanelli, Scarlets Martin Johnson Leicester Tigers Al Kellock Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors Scott Murray Saracens, Edinburgh, Montauban, Castres Olympique Brendan Williams Petrarca, Benetton Treviso Nicolas Durand Béziers, Perpignan, Racing Métro 92, Toulon, Perpignan (2nd stint) 50 Ross Ford Borders, Edinburgh Gary Longwell Ulster Sonny Parker Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Ospreys Julien Pierre Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne Matthew Rees Celtic Warriors, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues
Players with 500 or more Heineken Cup points
Player Club(s) Points Ronan O'Gara Munster 1,365 Stephen Jones Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets (2nd stint) 869 Dimitri Yachvili Biarritz 661 Diego Domínguez Milan, Stade Français 645 David Humphreys Ulster 564 Neil Jenkins Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors 502 David Skrela Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne 500
Players with 25 or more Heineken Cup tries
Player Club(s) Tries Vincent Clerc Toulouse 35 Brian O'Driscoll Leinster 33 Dafydd James Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues 29 Shane Horgan Leinster 27 Gordon D'Arcy Leinster 26 Geordan Murphy Leicester Tigers 25
References