2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup

The 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the European Rugby Champions Cup, the annual club rugby union competition run by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. It was the 27th season of pan-European professional club rugby competition.

2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Scotland  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	10 December 2021 – 28 May 2022
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	60
Attendance	843,371 (14,056 per match)
Highest attendance	42,067 - Leinster v Toulouse 14 May 2022[1]
Lowest attendance	4,000 - Sale Sharks v Ospreys 23 January 2022[lower-alpha 1]
Tries scored	396 (6.6 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Johnny Sexton (Leinster) 65 points
Top try scorer(s)	James Lowe (Leinster) 10 tries
Final
Venue	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Champions	La Rochelle (1st title)
Runners-up	Leinster
← 2020–21 (Previous) (Next) 2022–23 →

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 24-team, two pool tournament format adopted for the previous season remained.^[2]

This is the final year, under the current sponsorship deal, with Dutch beer brand Heineken, after a four-year deal was agreed starting from the 2018/19 season.^[3]

The tournament commenced in December 2021. On 28 May 2022, Stade Rochelais won the final at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France, defeating Leinster 24 points to 21.^[4][5][6]

Teams

Twenty-four clubs from the three major European domestic and regional leagues are competing in the Champions Cup.

The distribution of the teams are:

• England: eight clubs
  • The top eight clubs from Premiership Rugby
• France: eight clubs
  • The top seven clubs from the Top 14
  • Montpellier automatically qualify as Challenge Cup champions despite not finishing in the top 8.
• Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales: eight clubs
  • The top four sides in each conference from the previous season's Pro14 (now known as United Rugby Championship).

The following teams have qualified for the tournament as of 12 June 2021.

Premiership	Top 14	United Rugby Championship (Pro14)
England	France	Ireland	Scotland	Wales
Bath Bristol Bears Exeter Chiefs Harlequins Leicester Tigers Northampton Saints Sale Sharks Wasps	Bordeaux Bègles Castres Clermont La Rochelle Montpellier Racing 92 Stade Français Lyon	Connacht Leinster Munster Ulster	Glasgow Warriors	Cardiff Ospreys Scarlets

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
Bath	Stuart Hooper	Charlie Ewels	The Recreation Ground	14,509	Premiership top 8 (7th)
Bordeaux Bègles	Christophe Urios	Jefferson Poirot	Stade Chaban-Delmas	34,694	Top 14 top 8 (4th)
Bristol Bears	Pat Lam	Steve Luatua	Ashton Gate	27,000	Premiership top 8 (3rd) (SF)
Cardiff Rugby	Dai Young	Josh Turnbull	Cardiff Arms Park	12,125	Pro14 Conference B (4th)
Castres	Mauricio Reggiardo	Mathieu Babillot	Stade Pierre-Fabre	12,500	Top 14 top 8 (6th) (QF)
Clermont	Jono Gibbes	Camille Lopez	Stade Marcel-Michelin	19,022	Top 14 top 8 (5th) (QF)
Connacht	Andy Friend	Jack Carty	Galway Sportsgrounds	8,129	Pro14 Conference B (2nd)
Exeter Chiefs	Rob Baxter	Jack Yeandle Joe Simmonds	Sandy Park	13,593	Premiership top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Glasgow Warriors	Danny Wilson	Fraser Brown Ryan Wilson	Scotstoun Stadium	7,351	Pro14 Conference A (4th)
Harlequins	Billy Millard	Stephan Lewies	Twickenham Stoop	14,800	Premiership top 8 (1st) (CH)
La Rochelle	Ronan O'Gara	Grégory Alldritt	Stade Marcel-Deflandre	16,000	Top 14 top 8 (2nd) (RU)
Leicester Tigers	Steve Borthwick	Ellis Genge	Mattioli Woods Welford Road	25,849	Premiership top 8 (6th)
Leinster	Leo Cullen	Johnny Sexton	RDS Arena Aviva Stadium	18,500 51,700	Pro14 Conference A (1st) (CH)
Montpellier	Philippe Saint-André	Fulgence Ouedraogo	Altrad Stadium	15,697	2020–21 Challenge Cup Champion
Munster	Johann van Graan	Peter O'Mahony	Thomond Park	25,600	Pro14 Conference B (1st) (RU)
Northampton Saints	Chris Boyd	Lewis Ludlam	Franklin's Gardens	15,200	Premiership top 8 (5th)
Ospreys	Toby Booth	Justin Tipuric	Swansea.com Stadium	21,088	Pro14 Conference A (3rd)
Racing 92	Laurent Travers	Henry Chavancy	Paris La Défense Arena	30,681	Top 14 top 8 (3rd)
Sale Sharks	Alex Sanderson	Jono Ross	AJ Bell Stadium	12,000	Premiership top 8 (3rd) (SF)
Scarlets	Dwayne Peel	Jonathan Davies	Parc y Scarlets	14,870	Pro14 Conference B (3rd)
Stade Français	Gonzalo Quesada	Yoann Maestri	Stade Jean-Bouin	20,000	Top 14 top 8 (6th) (QF)
Toulouse	Ugo Mola	Julien Marchand	Stade Ernest-Wallon	19,500	Top 14 top 8 (1st) (CH)
Ulster	Dan McFarland	Iain Henderson	Ravenhill Stadium	18,196	Pro14 Conference A (2nd)
Wasps	Lee Blackett	Joe Launchbury	Ricoh Arena	32,609	Premiership top 8 (8th)

Seeding and draw

The twenty four teams are seeded based on their finishing position in end of season playoffs and league positions. This follows the format from the previous season with the number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs in Tier 2, the number 5 and 6 ranked clubs in Tier 3, and the number 7 and number 8 ranked clubs in Tier 4.^[7]

Tier	Rank	Top 14	Premiership	United Rugby Championship (Pro14)
1	1	Toulouse	Harlequins	Leinster
	2	La Rochelle	Exeter Chiefs	Munster
2	3	Racing 92	Bristol Bears	Ulster
	4	Bordeaux Bègles	Sale Sharks	Connacht
3	5	Clermont	Northampton Saints	Scarlets
	6	Stade Français	Leicester Tigers	Ospreys
4	7	Castres	Bath	Cardiff
	8	Montpellier	Wasps	Glasgow Warriors

The draw took place on 21 July 2021 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Pool Stage

Main article: 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage

Teams are awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, one for scoring four tries in a game, and one for losing by less than eight points.

Key to colours

	Top 8 in each pool, advance to round of 16.
	Teams ranked 9th–11th in each pool advance to 2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16

Pool A

Pool A Standings [8]
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Racing 92	4	4	0	0	126	24	+102	16	3	3	0	19
Ulster	4	4	0	0	114	96	+18	15	9	3	0	19
La Rochelle	4	3	1	0	97	64	+33	11	7	2	0	16
Leinster	4	3	0	1	198	62	+136	30	8	3	0	15
Sale Sharks	4	2	1	1	89	48	+41	13	5	1	1	12
Exeter Chiefs	4	2	0	2	127	82	+45	19	7	3	0	11
Montpellier	4	2	0	2	78	157	–79	9	23	2	0	10
Clermont	4	1	1	2	79	82	–3	8	10	0	2	8
Glasgow Warriors	4	1	0	3	82	117	–35	7	15	0	1	5
Northampton Saints	4	0	0	4	56	124	–68	6	17	0	2	2
Bath	4	0	1	3	48	148	–100	6	22	0	0	2
Ospreys	4	0	0	4	33	123	–90	3	17	0	0	0

Pool B

Pool B Standings [9]
Team v t e	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
Leicester Tigers	4	4	0	0	102	64	+38	14	7	3	0	19
Harlequins	4	4	0	0	135	101	+34	18	15	3	0	19
Munster	4	4	0	0	115	47	+68	12	5	2	0	18
Bristol Bears	4	3	1	0	108	38	+70	16	4	3	0	17
Connacht	4	1	0	3	118	104	+14	16	14	3	3	10
Bordeaux	4	1	1	2	58	54	+4	8	7	1	1	8
Toulouse	4	1	1	2	61	65	–4	8	8	1	0	7
Stade Français	4	1	1	2	63	95	–32	7	14	1	0	7
Cardiff	4	1	0	3	85	118	–33	13	16	2	1	7
Wasps	4	1	1	2	51	102	–51	6	13	0	0	6
Castres	4	0	0	4	77	91	–14	9	9	1	4	5
Scarlets	4	0	1	3	31	125	–94	4	19	0	0	2

Knockout stage

The knockout stage began across the 8/9/10 April with a home and away round of 16 matches consisting of the top eight ranked teams from each pool.

Bracket

	Round of 16							Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	A1	Racing 92	22	33	55
	B8	Stade Français	9	22	31
								A1	Racing 92	41
								A5	Sale Sharks	22
	B4	Bristol Bears	10	29	39
	A5	Sale Sharks	9	35	44
													A1	Racing 92	13
													A3	La Rochelle	20
	A3	La Rochelle	31	31	62
	B6	Bordeaux	13	23	36
								A3	La Rochelle	31
								A7	Montpellier	19
	B2	Harlequins	26	33	59
	A7	Montpellier	40	20	60
																		La Rochelle		24
																		Leinster		21
	B1	Leicester Tigers	29	27	56
	A8	Clermont	10	17	27
								B1	Leicester Tigers	14
								A4	Leinster	23
	A4	Leinster	26	56	82
	B5	Connacht	21	20	41
													A4	Leinster	40
													B7	Toulouse	17
	B3	Munster	8	26	34
	A6	Exeter Chiefs	13	10	23
								B3	Munster	24 (2)
								B7	Toulouse (p)	24 (4)
	A2	Ulster	26	23	49
	B7	Toulouse	20	30	50

Round of 16

First leg

8 April 2022 20:00 IST

Connacht	21–26	Leinster
Try: Porch 2' m Fifita 60' c Con: Carty (1/2) 61' Pen: Carty (3/3) 33', 40'+4, 45'	Report	Try: Lowe (2) 22' c, 26' m Keenan 52' m Con: Sexton (1/3) 23' Pen: Sexton (2/2) 18', 37' Byrne (1/1) 76'

Galway Sportsgrounds Attendance: 8,126[10] Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

9 April 2022 13:00 BST

Sale Sharks	9–10	Bristol Bears
Pen: du Preez (3/4) 4', 9', 77'	Report	Try: Radradra 71' c Con: Sheedy (1/1) 72' Pen: Sheedy (1/1) 25'

AJ Bell Stadium Attendance: 4,672 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

9 April 2022 14:00 CET

Bordeaux	13–31	La Rochelle
Try: Woki 50' m Mori 67' m Pen: Lucu (1/1) 9'	Report	Try: Rhule 21' c Danty 53' m Penalty try 63' Con: West (1/2) 22' Pen: West (4/4) 9', 38' 48', 71'

Stade Chaban-Delmas Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

9 April 2022 16:15 CET

Toulouse	20–26	Ulster
Try: Meafou 6' c Ntamack 79' c Con: Ramos (2/2) 7', 79' Pen: Ramos (1/2) 40'	Report	Try: Baloucoune (3) 12' c, 44' m, 66' c Warwick 58' c Con: Cooney (3/4) 13', 59', 66'

Le Stadium Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

9 April 2022 17:30 BST

Exeter Chiefs	13–8	Munster
Try: Hogg 5' m Vermeulen 37' m Drop: Hogg (1/1) 65'	Report	Try: S. Daly 66' m Pen: Healy (1/1) 56'

Sandy Park Attendance: 10,307 Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

9 April 2022 18:30 CET

Stade Français	9–22	Racing 92
Pen: Segonds (2/2) 37', 40+2' Sánchez (1/2) 70'	Report	Try: Fickou 60' c Con: Le Garrec (1/1) 60' Pen: Le Garrec (5/6) 14', 20', 23', 30', 76'

Stade Jean-Bouin Attendance: 12,500 Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

10 April 2022 14:00 CET

Montpellier	40–26	Harlequins
Try: N'Gandebe 21' c Mercer (2) 31' c, 38' c Reinach 34' m Lamositele 41' m Con: Garbisi (3/5) 22', 32', 39' Pen: Garbisi (1/2) 47' Pollard (2/2) 74', 80'	Report	Try: Hammond 40' m Esterhuizen 61' c Marchant 65' c Lynagh 78' c Con: Smith (3/4) 62', 66', 79'

Altrad Stadium Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

10 April 2022 16:15 CET

Clermont	10–29	Leicester Tigers
Try: Tiberghien 12' c Con: Parra (1/1) 14' Pen: Parra (1/1) 27'	Report	Try: Genge 18' m Montoya 32' m Van Poortvliet 45' m Saumaki 52' c Potter 64' c Con: Ford (2/5) 53', 65'

Stade Marcel-Michelin Attendance: 15,328 Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Second leg

15 April 2022 17:30 IST

Leinster	56–20	Connacht
Try: Gibson-Park 10' c Henshaw (2) 17' c, 41' c Furlong 27' c Lowe (4) 35' c, 54' c, 64' c, 80' c Con: Sexton (6/6) 11', 17', 28', 35', 42', 56' R. Byrne (2/2) 66', 80'	Report	Try: O'Halloran 45' m Arnold 61' m Papali'i 69' c Con: Carty (1/3) 70' Pen: Carty (1/2) 1'

Aviva Stadium Attendance: 32,604[11] Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

15 April 2022 20:00 BST

Bristol Bears	29–35	Sale Sharks
Try: Thacker 48' c Morahan (2) 53' c, 77' m Joyce 62' c Con: Sheedy (3/4) 49', 53', 63' Pen: Sheedy (1/2) 20'	Report	Try: de Jager 31' c Van der Merwe 40' c Roebuck 41' c Ross 74' m Con: R. du Preez (3/4) 31', 40+1', 41' Pen: R. du Preez (3/3) 23', 65', 72'

Ashton Gate Attendance: 13,840 Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

16 April 2022 12:30 BST

Harlequins	33–20	Montpellier
Try: Jones 1' c Dombrandt 14' c Marchant 29' c Lynagh (2) 38' c, 75' m Con: Smith (4/5) 2', 16', 30', 39'	Report	Try: Reilhac 11' c Tisseron 33' c Con: Foursans-Bourdette (2/2) 12', 34' Pen: Foursans-Bourdette (1/1) 27' Pollard (1/2) 55'

Twickenham Stoop Attendance: 14,800 Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

16 April 2022 15:00 IST

Munster	26–10	Exeter Chiefs
Try: Carbery 25' c de Allende 72' c Con: Carbery (2/2) 26', 72' Pen: Carbery (4/4) 5', 16', 59', 64'	Report	Try: S. Maunder 10' m Vermeulen 48' m

Thomond Park Attendance: 21,125 [12] Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

16 April 2022 16:00 CET

La Rochelle	31–23	Bordeaux
Try: West 41' c Alldritt 47' c Kerr-Barlow 54' c Botia 68' c Con: West (4/4) 42', 48', 55', 68' Pen: West (1/2) 20'	Report	Try: Massé 52' c Mori 76' c Con: Lucu (1/1) 52' Garcia (1/1) 77' Pen: Lucu (2/3) 15', 37' Garcia (1/1) 64'

Stade Marcel-Deflandre Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

16 April 2022 17:30 BST

Leicester Tigers	27–17	Clermont
Try: Liebenberg 8' c Scott 49' m Penalty try 61' Steward 65' m Con: Ford (1/2) 9' Pen: Ford (1/1) 45'	Report	Try: Raka 57' c Lee 68' c Con: Parra (2/2) 58', 69' Pen: Lopez (1/1) 16'

Mattioli Woods Welford Road Attendance: 22,722 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

16 April 2022 20:00 IST

Ulster	23–30	Toulouse
Try: McIlroy (2) 10' c, 37' c Con: Cooney (2/2) 11', 39' Pen: Cooney (3/3) 18', 52', 68'	Report	Try: Ramos 21' c Ntamack 26' c Dupont 74' c Con: Ramos (3/3) 22', 27', 75' Pen: Ramos (3/3) 1', 13', 63'

Ravenhill Stadium Attendance: 18,196 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

17 April 2022 16:30 CET

Racing 92	33–22	Stade Français
Try: Penalty try 34' Thomas (2) 43' c, 78' m Lauret 72' m Con: Le Garrec (1/3) 44' Pen: Le Garrec (3/3) 19', 30', 55'	Report	Try: Veainu 5' c Lapegue (2) 21' m, 37' c Con: Sánchez (2/3) 5', 38' Pen: Sánchez (1/1) 13'

Paris La Défense Arena Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

Quarter-finals

Munster	24–24 (a.e.t.)	Toulouse
Try: Kendellen 9' c Earls 38' c Haley 43' c Con: Carbery (3/3) 9', 39', 44' Pen: Carbery (1/3) 56'	Report	Try: Ntamack 11' c Lebel (2) 25' c, 66' c Con: Ramos (3/3) 12', 26', 66' Pen: Ramos (1/1) 75'
	Penalties
Murray Y Healy N Carbery Y Murray N Healy N	2–4	Y Dupont Y Ramos Y Ntamack Y Dupont

7 May 2022 15:00 IST

Aviva Stadium Attendance: 40,479[13] Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

7 May 2022 18:30 CEST

La Rochelle	31–19	Montpellier
Try: Priso 12' c Vito 22' c Botia 47' m Con: West (2/3) 13', 23' Pen: West (4/4) 17', 64', 69', 78'	Report	Try: Thomas 28' c Reilhac 41' c Mercer 53' m Con: Foursans-Bourdette (2/3) 30', 42'

Stade Marcel-Deflandre Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

7 May 2022 17:30 BST

Leicester Tigers	14–23	Leinster
Try: Ashton 45' c Dolly 78' c Con: Ford (2/2) 46', 78'	Report	Try: Van der Flier 14' c Henshaw 19' c Con: Sexton (2/2) 16', 20' Pen: Sexton (2/2) 3', 36' Byrne (1/1) 65'

Mattioli Woods Welford Road Attendance: 19,066 Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

8 May 2022 16:00 CEST

Racing 92	41–22	Sale Sharks
Try: Thomas 41' c Russell 49' c Imhoff 68' m Spring 79' c Con: Le Garrec (2/3) 42', 50' Machenaud (1/1) 80' Pen: Le Garrec (5/6) 11', 14', 47', 62', 67'	Report	Try: Tuilagi 40' c Van der Merwe 54' c B. Curry 73' m Con: R. du Preez (2/3) 40+1', 55' Pen: R. du Preez (1/2) 22'

Paris La Défense Arena Attendance: 9,356 Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Semi-finals

14 May 2022 15:00 IST

Leinster	40–17	Toulouse
Try: Lowe (2) 14' c, 49' c Van der Flier 19' c Keenan 78' c Con: Sexton (3/3) 16', 20', 51' Byrne (1/1) 79' Pen: Sexton (3/3) 4', 12', 33' Byrne (1/1) 73'	Report	Try: Dupont 6' c Tolofua 65' c Con: Ramos (2/2) 7', 65' Pen: Ramos (1/1) 24'

Aviva Stadium Attendance: 42,067[1] Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

15 May 2022 16:00 CEST

Racing 92	13–20	La Rochelle
Try: Vakatawa 25' c Con: Le Garrec (1/1) 27' Pen: Le Garrec (2/3) 2', 50'	Report	Try: Alldritt 40+2' m Penalty try 52' West 80' m Pen: West (1/3) 32'

Stade Bollaert-Delelis Attendance: 15,522 [14] Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Final

Main article: 2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final

28 May 2022 17:45

La Rochelle	24–21	Leinster
Try: Rhule 9' c Bourgarit 60' c Retière 79' c Con: West (3/3) 11', 61', 80' Pen: West (1/1) 41'	Report	Pen: Sexton (6/6) 4', 8', 22', 40+2', 47', 53' R. Byrne (1/1) 64'

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 59,682 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

See also

• 2021–22 EPCR Challenge Cup

Notes

1. When crowds were in attendance

References

1. "Sublime Leinster dethrone Toulouse to march into Champions Cup final". the42. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
2. "Twickenham Stadium to host 2021 EPCR finals". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
3. "EPCR confirms Heineken Champions Cup title sponsorship – SportsPro Media". www.sportspromedia.com. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
4. "EPCR statement – 2021 Marseille finals and semi-final matches". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
5. "Key 2021/22 EPCR dates announced". European Professional Club Rugby. 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
6. "Ronan O'Gara leads La Rochelle to first Champions Cup title with stunning last-gasp victory over Leinster". The 42. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
7. "2021–22 Heineken Cup format and qualifiers confirmed". Scarlets Rugby. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
8. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
9. "Pool Tables". Heineken Champions Cup. EPCR. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
10. "Connacht 21-26 Leinster: Hosts cause Leo Cullen's side all sorts of problems as Lowe steals the show". irish mirror. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
11. Glennon, Michael (15 April 2022). "Lowe lays waste to Connacht as Leinster let loose". RTE. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
12. "Munster Rugby Fixtures & Results". Munster Rugby. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
13. "Munster Lose Place-Kicking Competition As Toulouse Advance". Munster Rugby. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
14. "Coupe d'Europe: La Rochelle, en dominant le Racing 92, s'offre une deuxième finale de suite". La Croix. 15 May 2022.