The Rugby Europe Super Cup is an annual men's rugby union club tournament organised by the continental governing body, Rugby Europe. Featuring clubs outside the traditional Six Nations strongholds of the sport, it effectively forms a third tier of European club rugby beneath the EPCR-organised European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup.[1] The first Super Cup competition took place in 2021–22.
Format
The tournament was announced as an annual event for emerging nations in Europe. Professional rugby clubs and franchise teams can take part in it. Teams are divided into two conferences: western and eastern. Each team plays every conference rival home and away. The two best teams from each conference advance to the semi-finals, where they play for a ticket to the final. In 2023 for the first time the Czech Rugby Union was involved in the European club competition with Bohemia Rugby Warriors taking part. [2]
The first competition included two Russian teams who were expelled following the invasion of Ukraine, to be replaced with teams from Romania and Georgia in the second season.
The goal of the tournament is to bridge the development gap between European countries and attract new sponsors in new markets. All 27 matches are filmed and widely broadcast on TV and digital platforms.
The plan was to expand the Super Cup to include 12 teams by 2023 and 16 teams by 2025.[3]
