2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup

Teams

• England: 6
• * Any teams, excluding the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winner, finishing between 7th-11th position in the Aviva Premiership.
• * The champion of the 2014–15 Greene King IPA Championship.
• * There was a sixth club from England, after Gloucester lost the play-off series for entry into the European Rugby Champions Cup.
• France: 7
• * Any teams finishing between 8th-12th position in the Top 14.
• * The champion, and the winner of the promotion play-off, from the [2014–15 Rugby 2014–15 Rugby Pro D2 season|Pro D2 season|Pro D2].
• Ireland, Italy, Scotland & Wales: 5 teams
• * Any teams that did not qualify for the European Rugby Champions Cup, or the play-off, through the Guinness Pro12.
• * There was a 5th team from Pro12, after Connacht were defeated by Gloucester in the first round of the Champions Cup play-off.
• Other European Nations: 2 teams
• * Two teams qualified through the 2014–15 Qualifying Competition, which took place alongside the Challenge Cup and Champions Cup competitions.

Champions Cup play-off

Aviva Premiership	Top 14	Pro 12
Qualifying Competition In December 2014, EPCR announced an expanded format for the qualifying competition. Six teams were to compete in two pools of three. Each team played the other once, either home or away. The winner of each pool then played a two-legged final against last year's qualifying sides, and the winners, on aggregate, took the two remaining places in the Challenge Cup. Pool 1 play-off ----Calvisano won the play-off 52–24 on aggregate, and qualified for the Challenge Cup. Pool 2 play-off ----Enisey-STM won the play-off 63–32 on aggregate, and competed in the Challenge Cup Team details Below is the list of coaches, captain and stadiums with their method of qualification for each team. Note: Placing shown in brackets, denotes standing at the end of the regular season for their respective leagues, with their end of season positioning shown through CH for Champions, RU for Runner-up, SF for losing Semi-finalist and QF for losing Quarter-finalist. Team Coach / Director of Rugby Captain Stadium Capacity Method of Qualification Seeding The 20 competing teams were seeded and split into four tiers; seeding was based on performance in their respective domestic leagues. Where promotion and relegation is in effect in a league, the promoted team was seeded last, or by performance in the lower tier. So, Pau – who were Pro D2 champions – will be seeded above Agen – who qualified through the Pro D2 play-off. Rank Top 14 Premiership Pro 12 Qualifying Competition 1 Pool stage The draw took place on 17 June 2015. Teams will play each other twice, both at home and away, in the group stage, that will begin on weekend of 12/13/14/15 November 2015, and continued through to 21/22/23/24 January 2016, before the pool winners and three best runners-up progressed to the quarter-finals. Teams will be awarded competition points, based on match result. Teams receive 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw, 1 attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and 1 defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer. In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers will be used, as directed by EPCR: Where teams have played each other # The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams. # If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches. # If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches. Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition # The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage. # If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage. # If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage. # If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking. Winner of each pool, advanced to quarter-finals. Three highest-scoring second-place teams advanced to quarter-finals. Pool winners and runners-up rankings Rank Pool Winners Pts TF +/− 1 Knock-out stage The eight qualifiers were ranked according to performance in the pool stages, and competed in the quarter-finals, which were held on the weekend of 8/9/10 April 2016. The four top seeds hosted the quarter-finals against the lower seeds, in a 1v8, 2v7, 3v6 and 4v5 format. The semi-finals were played on the weekend of 22/23/24 April 2016. In lieu of the draw that was used to determine the semi-final pairing, EPCR announced that a fixed semi-final bracket would be set in advance, and that home advantage would be awarded to a side based on "performances by clubs during the pool stages as well as the achievement of a winning a quarter-final match away from home". Home advantage was awarded as follows: The winners of the semi-finals would contest the final, at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, on 13 May 2016. Attendances Does not include final as this is held at a neutral venue. Club Home Games Total Average Highest Lowest % Capacity