2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup

The 2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup was the third edition of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, an annual rugby union competition for professional clubs and franchises outside the three major leagues of European rugby. This edition of the Rugby Europe Super Cup featured one new addition to the competition, the Bohemia Rugby Warriors from the Czech Republic, who in turn replaced RC Batumi of Georgia, the team that participated in the previous edition of the tournament. For the first time, eight separate nations were represented in the competition.[1]

2023 Rugby Europe Super Cup
Tournament details
Countries Belgium
 Czech Republic
 Georgia
 Israel
 Netherlands
 Portugal
 Romania
 Spain
Date4 November – 22 December 2023
Tournament statistics
Teams8
Matches played20
Attendance6,664 (333 per match)
Tries scored153 (7.65 per match)
Final
ChampionsGeorgia (country) Black Lion (3rd title)
Runners-upIsrael Tel Aviv Heat
← 2022 (Previous)
(Next) 2024 →

The Black Lion Tbilisi from Georgia, as winners of the 2022 edition are also competing by invitation in the second tier European Challenge Cup, the first time the winner of the Super Cup has been integrated into the professional EPCR competition.

Teams edit

Nation Stadium Head coach Captain
Home stadium Capacity Location
  Black Lion Avchala Stadium 2,500 Tbilisi   Levan Maisashvili Merab Sharikadze
  Bohemia Rugby Warriors [fr] Markéta Stadium 10,000 Prague   Antonín Brabec Patrik Prucha
  Brussels Devils [fr] Stade Communal de Soignies 1,000 Soignies   Sébastien Guns Robin Vermeersch
  Castilla y León Iberians Estadio Pepe Rojo 5,000 Valladolid   Miguel Velasco Mario Pichardie
  Delta NRCA Stadium 10,000 Amsterdam   Gareth Gilbert Vikas Meijer
  Lusitanos Estádio Nacional 500 Lisbon   Sébastien Bertrank Tomás Appleton
  Romanian Wolves Arena Zimbrilor 2,300 Baia Mare   Eugen Apjok Nicolaas Immelman
  Tel Aviv Heat Tsirio Stadium*
National Rugby Center*
13,331
3,000
Limassol*
Budapest*
  Kevin Musikanth Prince ǃGaoseb

* Owing to the ongoing war in Israel, Tel Aviv Heat's home matches were played in Cyprus and Hungary

Group stage edit

The format was mildly rejigged from previous seasons with a 'major' and 'minor' group, rather than two geographical pools, although the distribution was roughly north (Group B) and south (Group A).

The 'major' group, Group A contained the four highest seeds, three of whom qualify for the semi finals. The 'minor' group, Group B, contained the teams ranked 5th to 8th, and the winner of that group became the fourth semi finalist. The aim was to ensure relative competitiveness across the competition.

Tel Aviv Heat played both of its home fixtures outside Israel due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Key to colours
     Advances to the Grand Finals Semi-Finals
     Advances to the Ranking Finals Semi-Finals

Group A edit

Pos. Team Games Points Tries TBP LBP Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff For Against Diff
1   Black Lion 3 3 0 0 90 46 +44 13 6 +7 2 0 14
2   Tel Aviv Heat 3 2 0 1 96 72 +24 14 8 +6 2 1 11
3   Castilla y León Iberians 3 1 0 2 57 90 -33 8 13 -5 0 0 4
4   Lusitanos 3 0 0 3 36 71 -35 3 11 -8 0 1 1
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win – 4 points | Draw – 2 points | At least 3 more tries than opponent – 1 point | Loss within 7 points – 1 point

Round 1 edit

4 November 2023
16:00 GET (UTC+04)
(1 TBP) Black Lion  39–19  Castilla y León Iberians
Report
Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi
Attendance: n/a
Referee:   Cristian Șerban
4 November 2023
15:00 WET (UTC+00)
Lusitanos  23–31  Tel Aviv Heat (1 TBP)
Report
Estádio Nacional, Lisbon
Attendance: n/a
Referee:   Ian Kenny

Round 2 edit

11 November 2023
15:00 WET (UTC+00)
Lusitanos  0–22  Black Lion (1 TBP)
Report
Estádio Nacional, Lisbon
Attendance: 300
Referee:   Keane Davsion
12 November 2023
12:00 CET (UTC+01)
Castilla y León Iberians  20–38  Tel Aviv Heat (1 TBP)
Report
Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid
Attendance: 500
Referee:   Shota Tevzadze

Round 3 edit

18 November 2023
19:00 EEST (UTC+02)
(1 LBP) Tel Aviv Heat  27–29  Black Lion
Report
Tsirio Stadium, Limassol
Attendance: 0
Referee:   Luc Ramos
19 November 2023
12:30 CET (UTC+01)
Castilla y León Iberians  18–13  Lusitanos (1 LBP)
Report
Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid
Attendance: n/a
Referee:   Saba Abulashvili

Group B edit

Pos. Team Games Points Tries TBP LBP Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff For Against Diff
1   Romanian Wolves 3 3 0 0 167 17 +150 25 3 +22 3 0 15
2   Brussels Devils 3 2 0 1 89 82 +7 14 9 +5 2 0 10
3   Delta 3 1 0 2 91 72 +19 11 12 -1 1 0 5
4   Bohemia Rugby Warriors 3 0 0 3 17 193 -176 2 28 -26 0 0 0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:
Win – 4 points | Draw – 2 points | At least 3 more tries than opponent – 1 point | Loss within 7 points – 1 point

Round 1 edit

4 November 2023
19:00 CET (UTC+01)
(1 TBP) Brussels Devils  41–12  Delta
Report
Stade Communal de Soignies, Soignies
Attendance: 582
Referee:   Mike English
5 November 2023
14:00 EET (UTC+02)
(1 TBP) Romanian Wolves  76–7  Bohemia Rugby Warriors
Report
Arena Zimbrilor, Baia Mare
Attendance: 1,000
Referee:   Eugeniu Procopi

Round 2 edit

10 November 2023
19:30 CET (UTC+01)
Delta  5–31  Romanian Wolves (1 TBP)
Report
NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
Attendance: 300
Referee:   Saba Abulashvili
11 November 2023
14:00 CET (UTC+01)
Bohemia Rugby Warriors  10–43  Brussels Devils (1 TBP)
Report
Markéta Stadium, Prague
Attendance: n/a
Referee:   Iñigo Atorrasagasti

Round 3 edit

16 November 2023
19:00 CET (UTC+01)
Bohemia Rugby Warriors  0–74  Delta (1 TBP)
Report
Markéta Stadium, Prague
Attendance: 732
Referee:   Ethan Glass
18 November 2023
20:30 CET (UTC+01)
Brussels Devils  5–60  Romanian Wolves (1 TBP)
Report
Nelson Mandela Stadium, Brussels
Attendance: 650
Referee:   Paulo Duarte

Ranking Finals edit

 
Fifth place semi-finalsFifth place Final
 
      
 
3 December – Soignies
 
 
  Delta8
 
16 December – Amsterdam
 
  Lusitanos53
 
  Lusitanos (a.e.t.)46
 
2 December – Amsterdam
 
  Brussels Devils29
 
  Brussels Devils44
 
 
  Bohemia Rugby Warriors10
 
Seventh place final
 
 
16 December – Amsterdam
 
 
  Delta55
 
 
  Bohemia Rugby Warriors3

Semi-finals edit

2 December 2023
19:00 CET (UTC+01)
Brussels Devils  44–10  Bohemia Rugby Warriors
Report
Stade Communal de Soignies, Soignies
Attendance: 250
Referee:   Alexandru Ionescu
3 December 2023
12:45 CET (UTC+01)
Delta  8–53  Lusitanos
Report
NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
Attendance: 100
Referee:   Ethan Glass

7th place final edit

16 December 2023
15:00 CET (UTC+01)
Delta  55–3  Bohemia Rugby Warriors
Report
NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
Attendance: 150
Referee:   Paulo Duarte

5th place final edit

16 December 2023
12:00 CET (UTC+01)
Lusitanos  46–29 (a.e.t.)  Brussels Devils
Report
NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
Attendance: 150
Referee:   Iñigo Atorrasagasti

Grand Finals edit

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
2 December – Tbilisi
 
 
  Black Lion41
 
22 December – Tbilisi
 
  Castilla y León Iberians0
 
  Black Lion27
 
2 December – Budapest
 
  Tel Aviv Heat17
 
  Tel Aviv Heat31
 
 
  Romanian Wolves6
 
Bronze final
 
 
16 December – Amsterdam
 
 
  Castilla y León Iberians17
 
 
  Romanian Wolves41

Semi-finals edit

2 December 2023
14:00 GET (UTC+04)
Black Lion  41–0  Castilla y León Iberians
Report
Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi
Attendance: 800
Referee:   Ru Campbell
2 December 2023
13:30 CET (UTC+01)
Tel Aviv Heat  31–6  Romanian Wolves
Report
National Rugby Center, Budapest
Attendance: 500
Referee:   Andrew Cole

Bronze final edit

16 December 2023
18:00 CET (UTC+01)
Castilla y León Iberians  17–41  Romanian Wolves
Report
NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam
Attendance: 150
Referee:   Sulkhan Chikhladze

Cup Final edit

22 December 2023
15:00 GET (UTC+04)
Black Lion  27–17  Tel Aviv Heat
Report
Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi
Attendance: 1,500
Referee:   Andrew Cole

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Rugby Europe has confirmed the details of the third season of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, its club competition for the emerging rugby unions in Europe". 6 July 2023.