2015–16 European Rugby Champions–Challenge Cup play-offs

2015–16 European Rugby Champions–Challenge Cup play-offs
Event	European Rugby Champions Cup Qualification Play-off
Date	23 and 30 May 2015

The 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup-Challenge Cup play-off will be the second play-off for entry into the top level competition of European Club rugby union, the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Format

Following the two-team play-off in 2014–15, an expanded, four-team format was due to be used. However, on 24 September 2014, it was announced this would instead be a three-team play-off, with the highest placed non-qualifying team taking part.^[1]

To accommodate the longer season in the French Top 14, the format was announced as follows:

The 7th place team in the Aviva Premiership will play a single match against the 8th placed team (or highest placed team not already qualified) in the Pro12. Home advantage in the match will be decided by a coin toss. In the event that the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winner is an Aviva Premiership club, and that this club has not automatically qualified for the Champions Cup, it will take the place allocated to the 7th place team in the Premiership.^[2] As it transpired, Gloucester – who were ninth in the Aviva Premiership – qualified for the play-off, having beaten Edinburgh 19–13 in the Challenge Cup final.
The winner of that game will host the 7th placed team in the French Top 14. The winner of that game will be considered the winner of the play-off and qualify for the Champions Cup.

Gloucester became the first team to qualify for the play-off, taking the place allocated to the Aviva Premiership, when they beat Edinburgh 19-13 in the Challenge Cup final on 1 May 2015. This result meant that the 7th place team in the 2014–15 Premiership will no longer take part in the play-off, and will compete in the Challenge Cup.

Connacht qualified next, when the finished seventh in the 2014–15 Pro12 with 50 points, narrowly edging Edinburgh who had 48 points. Connacht will play Gloucester away at Gloucester's Kingsholm Stadium on Sunday 24 May 2015,^[3] with the venue having been decided earlier by a coin toss.^[4]^[5] Should Gloucester win, the second play-off match will be played at Sixways Stadium in Worcester, to avoid a clash of fixtures with a Madness concert.^[5]

Teams

League	Team	Coach	Stadium
Aviva Premiership	Gloucester	David Humphreys	Kingsholm Stadium
Guinness Pro12	Connacht	Pat Lam	Galway Sportsgrounds
Orange Top 14	Bordeaux Bègles	Raphaël Ibañez	Stade André Moga

Matches

Match 1

24 May 2015
15:30 GMT

Gloucester	40−32 (a.e.t.)	Connacht
Try: Moriarty 1' c Sharples 26' m Meakes 80' c Dawidiuk 95' m May 98' c Con: Laidlaw (3/5) 1', 80', 98' Pen: Laidlaw (2/3) 19', 43' Hook (1/1) 92'	Report	Try: J. Cooney 8' c Carty 29' c Healy (2) 60' m, 92' c Con: Carty (3/4) 9', 30', 92' Pen: Carty (2/3) 7', 79'

Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
Attendance: 7,633
Referee: Romain Poite (FFR)


FB	15	Charlie Sharples		64'
RW	14	Jonny May
OC	13	Bill Meakes
IC	12	Billy Twelvetrees (c)
LW	11	Henry Purdy		50'
FH	10	James Hook
SH	9	Greig Laidlaw
N8	8	Ross Moriarty		71'			88'
OF	7	Dan Thomas		33'	44'	65'
BF	6	Jacob Rowan
RL	5	Tom Palmer
LL	4	Tom Savage
TP	3	John Afoa	33' to 43'			88'
HK	2	Richard Hibbard		59'
LP	1	Nick Wood		65'
Replacements:
HK	16	Darren Dawidiuk		59'
PR	17	Yann Thomas		65'
PR	18	Shaun Knight		33'	44'	88'
LK	19	Elliott Stooke		71'
FL	20	Lewis Ludlow				65'	88'
SH	21	Dan Robson		64'
FH	22	Billy Burns
FB	23	Rob Cook		50'
Coach:
David Humphreys


FB	15	Tiernan O'Halloran		65'
RW	14	Fionn Carr		75'
OC	13	Robbie Henshaw
IC	12	Bundee Aki
LW	11	Matt Healy
FH	10	Jack Carty
SH	9	John Cooney		64'
N8	8	Eoin McKeon		71'
OF	7	Eoghan Masterson	55' to 65'	33'	44'
BF	6	John Muldoon (c)
RL	5	Aly Muldowney
LL	4	George Naoupu		54'
TP	3	Rodney Ah You		54'
HK	2	Tom McCartney		70'	79'	90'
LP	1	Denis Buckley	33' to 43'
Replacements:
HK	16	Dave Heffernan	94' to 100'	70'	79' to 90'
PR	17	JP Cooney		33'	44'
PR	18	Finlay Bealham		54'
LK	19	Andrew Browne		54'
FL	20	James Connolly		71'
SH	21	Ian Porter		64'
FH	22	Miah Nikora		75'
CE	23	Shane O'Leary		65'
Coach:
Pat Lam

Match 2

31 May 2015
17:00 GMT

Gloucester	22−23	Bordeaux Bègles
Try: Purdy 15' c Con: Laidlaw (1/1) 16' Pen: Laidlaw (5/6) 2', 10', 24', 32', 70'	Report	Try: Talebula (2) 37' c, 56' c Con: Bernard (2/2) 39', 58' Pen: Bernard (2/2) 28', 35' Drop: Bernard (1/1) 80'

Sixways Stadium, Worcester
Attendance: 5,447
Referee: Leighton Hodges (WRU)


FB	15	Rob Cook
RW	14	Charlie Sharples
OC	13	Bill Meakes		66'
IC	12	Billy Twelvetrees (c)
LW	11	Henry Purdy
FH	10	James Hook
SH	9	Greig Laidlaw
N8	8	Ross Moriarty
OF	7	Jacob Rowan		58'
BF	6	Sione Kalamafoni		45'	56'	71'
RL	5	Tom Palmer
LL	4	Tom Savage
TP	3	John Afoa	45' to 55'
HK	2	Richard Hibbard		59'
LP	1	Nick Wood		58'
Replacements:
HK	16	Darren Dawidiuk		59'
PR	17	Yann Thomas		58'
PR	18	Shaun Knight		45'	56'
LK	19	Elliott Stooke				71'
N8	20	Dan Thomas		58'
SH	21	Callum Braley
FH	22	Billy Burns
FB	23	Steve McColl		66'
Coach:
David Humphreys


FB	15	Lionel Beauxis		46'
RW	14	Metuisela Talebula
OC	13	Félix Le Bourhis
IC	12	Julien Rey
LW	11	Blair Connor
FH	10	Pierre Bernard
SH	9	Heini Adams		56'
N8	8	Peter Saili
OF	7	Hugh Chalmers		45'	56'
BF	6	Louis-Benoît Madaule (c)		56'
RL	5	Berend Botha		36'
LL	4	Jandré Marais
TP	3	Patrick Toetu		40'
HK	2	Ole Avei		69'
LP	1	Jefferson Poirot	45' to 55'		56'	71'
Replacements:
HK	16	Clément Maynadier		69'
PR	17	Jean-Baptiste Poux		45'		71'
PR	18	Francisco Gómez Kodela		40'
LK	19	Adam Jaulhac		36'
N8	20	Matthew Clarkin		56'
SH	21	Yann Lesgourgues		56'
CE	22	Jayden Spence
FB	23	Baptiste Serin		46'
Coach:
Raphaël Ibañez

Bordeaux Bègles qualify for the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup. Gloucester and Connacht will compete in the 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup

References

↑ Revised playoff format agreed - EPCRugby.com
↑ Key 2015/16 EPCR dates and Champions Cup play-offs
↑ "Connacht lose but make Champions Cup play-off". RTE. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015. Connacht will now play Gloucester away at Kingsholm next Sunday, with the winner of that tie playing the French Top 14 seventh-placed side for a spot in next year's Champions Cup.
↑ Mike Brown (2 May 2015). "Gloucester's Champions Cup play-off home advantage to be settled by Twickenham coin toss". Gloucester Citizen. Retrieved 17 May 2015. The coin toss will take place during coverage of the Champions Cup final between Clermont Auvergne and Toulon at Twickenham.
1 2 Andrew Baldock, Press Association (6 May 2015). "Gloucester drawn at home in first Champions Cup play-off but Madness concert will prevent them playing at Kingsholm again if they win". Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 May 2015. Gloucester win coin toss for home advantage in Champions Cup play-off. ... Gloucester have secured home advantage in the first play-off fixture to secure a European Champions Cup spot next season - but a Madness concert could hinder their chances of qualifying should they progress. ... 'We are delighted to have won the toss to stage the first fixture, and now look forward to seeing who we will meet in that game,' Gloucester chief executive Stephen Vaughan told the club's official website.'Should we win that match, and no-one is taking anything for granted, we have had to make contingency plans for the second play-off game, and that contingency would be for us to play at Sixways Stadium in Worcester.

European Rugby Champions Cup

Organised by European Professional Club Rugby
Formerly the Heineken Cup, organised by European Rugby Cup

2015–16 teams

Heineken Cup
(1995-2014)

Seasons	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

Pool Stages	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

Finals	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Champions Cup
(2014-present)

Seasons	2014–15 2015–16

Pool stages	2014–15 2015–16

Finals	2015 2016

Qualification play-off

European Rugby Challenge Cup

Organised by European Professional Club Rugby
Formerly the European Challenge Cup, organised by European Rugby Cup

2015–16 teams

European Challenge Cup
(1996-2014)

Seasons	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

Pool Stages	1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14

European Shield	2002–03 2003–04 2004–05

European Rugby Challenge Cup
(2014-present)

Seasons	2014–15 2015–16

Pool stages	2014–15 2015–16

Qualification play-offs

Qualifying Competition

2014–15 2015–16

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