The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union competition for European clubs whose countries compete in the Six Nations Championship. Introduced in 2014, the competition replaced the Heineken Cup, which had been run by European Rugby Cup (ERC) since 1995, following disagreements between its shareholders over the structure and governance of the competition.

It is organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), with teams qualifying via their final positions in their respective national/cross-border leagues (Premiership, Top 14, and Pro14). The winners of the first final were French team Toulouse, who beat Welsh side Cardiff 21–18 after extra time.

20 teams initially compete in five separate pools. The top eight teams from the pools progress to the knockout stage. If the score in a knockout match is a draw after 80 minutes of regular play, an additional 20-minute period of play, called extra time, is added. If the score remains tied, an additional 10 minutes of sudden-death extra time are played, with the first team to score points immediately declared the winner. If no team is able to break the tie during extra time, the winner is ultimately decided by a penalty shootout. As well as the first final, the 2005 final between French teams Toulouse and Stade Français went to extra time, which Toulouse won 18–12.

Toulouse are the most successful team in the history of the tournament, with six wins. Leinster have won the competition four times, while Toulon and Saracens are third with three wins each. Toulon are the only team to have won three consecutive tournaments, from 2013 to 2015. Three teams have played in more than one final and failed to win any of them – Clermont and Racing 92 three times each, and Biarritz and Stade Français twice each. No teams from Scotland and Italy have ever progressed to the final.

The 2017–18 final was held in Bilbao, marking the first time that the final was contested in a country without a team participating in the competition. The 2020–21 final was relocated from Marseille to London. and the 2021–22 final was held in Marseille instead.

Finals +Key Match was won during extra time § Team also won domestic league

SeasonWinnersScoreRunners-upVenueAttendanceRefereeHeineken Cup era1995–96 Toulouse§21–18 Cardiff Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff21,800 David McHugh 1996–97 Brive28–9 Leicester Tigers41,664 Derek Bevan 1997–98 Bath19–18 Brive Parc Lescure, Bordeaux36,500 Jim Fleming 1998–99 Ulster21–6 Colomiers Lansdowne Road, Dublin49,000 Clayton Thomas 1999–00 Northampton Saints9–8 Munster Twickenham Stadium, London68,441 Joël Dumé 2000–01 Leicester Tigers§34–30 Stade Français Parc des Princes, Paris44,000 David McHugh 2001–02 Leicester Tigers§15–9 Munster Millennium Stadium, Cardiff74,600 Joël Jutge 2002–03 Toulouse22–17 Perpignan Lansdowne Road, Dublin28,600 Tony Spreadbury 2003–04 London Wasps§27–20 Toulouse Twickenham Stadium, London73,057 Alain Rolland 2004–05 Toulouse18–12 Stade Français Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh51,326 Chris White 2005–06 Munster23–19 Biarritz Millennium Stadium, Cardiff74,5342006–07 London Wasps25–9 Leicester Tigers Twickenham Stadium, London81,076 Alan Lewis 2007–08 Munster16–13 Toulouse Millennium Stadium, Cardiff74,500 Nigel Owens 2008–09 Leinster19–16 Leicester Tigers Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh66,5232009–10 Toulouse21–19 Biarritz Stade de France, Saint-Denis78,962 Wayne Barnes 2010–11 Leinster33–22 Northampton Saints Millennium Stadium, Cardiff72,456 Romain Poite 2011–12 Leinster42–14 Ulster Twickenham Stadium, London81,774 Nigel Owens 2012–13 Toulon16–15 Clermont Aviva Stadium, Dublin50,198 Alain Rolland 2013–14 Toulon§23–6 Saracens Millennium Stadium, Cardiff67,586Champions Cup era2014–15 Toulon24–18 Clermont Twickenham Stadium, London56,622 Nigel Owens2015–16 Saracens§21–9 Racing 92 Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon58,0172016–17 Saracens28–17 Clermont Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh55,2722017–18 Leinster§15–12 Racing 92 San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao52,282 Wayne Barnes 2018–19 Saracens§20–10 Leinster St James' Park, Newcastle51,930 Jérôme Garcès 2019–20 Exeter Chiefs§31–27 Racing 92 Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol 0 Nigel Owens 2020–21 Toulouse§22–17 La Rochelle Twickenham Stadium, London10,000 Luke Pearce 2021–22 La Rochelle24–21 Leinster Stade Vélodrome, Marseille59,682 Wayne Barnes 2022–23 La Rochelle27–26 Leinster Aviva Stadium, Dublin51,711 Jaco Peyper 2023–24 Toulouse§31–22 Leinster Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London61,531 Matthew Carley 2024–25 Bordeaux Bègles28–20 Northampton Saints Millennium Stadium, Cardiff70,225 Nika Amashukeli 2025–26 Bordeaux Bègles41–19 Leinster San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao52,327 Karl Dickson

Performances By club ClubChampionsRunners-upFinalsYears as championsYears as runners-up Toulouse 6281995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2020–21, 2023–242003–04, 2007–08 Leinster 4592008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2017–182018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2025–26 Saracens 3142015–16, 2016–17, 2018–192013–14 Toulon 3032012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15— Leicester Tigers 2352000–01, 2001–021996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09 Munster 2242005–06, 2007–081999–00, 2001–02 La Rochelle 2132021–22, 2022–232020–21 Wasps 2022003–04, 2006–07— Bordeaux Bègles 2022024–25, 2025–26— Northampton Saints 1231999–002010–11, 2024–25 Brive 1121996–971997–98 Ulster 1121998–992011–12 Bath 1011997–98— Exeter Chiefs 1012019–20— Clermont033—2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17 Racing 92033—2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20 Stade Français022—2000–01, 2004–05 Biarritz022—2005–06, 2009–10 Cardiff011—1995–96 Colomiers011—1998–99 Perpignan011—2002–03

Player of the Match Award The following players have been named the Player of the Match in European cup finals since 2005:

Final Player Team 2005 Yannick Jauzion Toulouse 2006 Peter Stringer Munster 2007 Fraser Waters Wasps 2008 Alan Quinlan Munster 2009 Rocky Elsom Leinster 2010 William Servat Toulouse 2011 Johnny Sexton Leinster 2012 Seán O'Brien Leinster 2013 Mathieu Bastareaud Toulon 2014 Craig Burden Toulon 2015 Ali Williams Toulon 2016 Maro Itoje Saracens 2017 Billy Vunipola Saracens 2018 James Ryan Leinster 2019 Brad Barritt Saracens 2020 Joe Simmonds Exeter 2021 Romain Ntamack Toulouse 2022 Dillyn Leyds La Rochelle 2023 Grégory Alldritt La Rochelle 2024 Antoine Dupont Toulouse 2025 Maxime Lucu Bordeaux Bègles

Notes

References

External links Official website