Cheetahs, Georgia's Black Lion confirmed as EPCR invitation teams

The Toyota Cheetahs and Georgia’s Black Lions have been confirmed as the two invitational sides that will take part in next year’s EPCR Challenge Cup.

The Cheetahs, who played in this season’s competition, were given the best reward for their Currie Cup victory last month when it was confirmed they will be playing in Europe again.

They will be based in Amsterdam, where their orange jerseys would find a lot of favour with the locals as they face European opposition.

Black Lions will make history by becoming the first Georgian club to play in one of EPCR’s main professional tournaments.

The Toyota Cheetahs will face Oyonnax Rugby, Section Paloise, Cell C Sharks and Zebre Parma in Pool 1 with Amsterdam in the Netherlands as their agreed ‘home’ base when pitted against European opponents. Their pool stage match against the Cell C Sharks will be played in either Bloemfontein or Durban depending on the outcome of the current fixture scheduling process.

Black Lion go into Pool 3 where they will take on two former tournament winners in Gloucester Rugby and ASM Clermont Auvergne, as well as Castres Olympique and Scarlets with their two home matches staged in Tbilisi.

EPCR Chairman, Dominic McKay, said: “The inclusion of Black Lion and the return of the Toyota Cheetahs reflect a continuing commitment to widen the scope of our tournaments and to showcase new, exciting talent for fans worldwide. The Toyota Cheetahs have already enhanced the EPCR Challenge Cup with their performance last season, and we are confident that the Georgians’ passion and physicality will further raise the intensity of the tournament.”

Georgian Rugby Union President, Ioseb Tkemaladze, said: “This is a hugely important moment for Georgian rugby and for the country. We’ve all been working hard for this – on the pitch and behind the scenes – for many years. We’re grateful to EPCR for taking a lead and showing the vision that is needed to further the global development and growth of the game. My personal gratitude to Dominic McKay and his amazing team for their hard work and support.”

Toyota Cheetahs Chief Executive, Ross van Reenen, said: “We are pleased to have been invited to compete again in the EPCR Challenge Cup and after qualifying for the knockout stage last season, we believe we have the capacity to perform to a higher level in 2023/24. We are looking forward to making a big impression in Pool 1 of the tournament.”

The two clubs were offered invitations to compete following a detailed and competitive tender process during which EPCR received interest from clubs across Europe and beyond, including an impressive application from Tel Aviv Heat, Israel’s first professional club, who have been performing strongly in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. EPCR will continue to engage with Rugby Europe to discuss future plans.

Full details of the fixture schedules for the 2023/24 EPCR Challenge Cup and Champions Cup will be announced as soon as practicable, with the tournaments set to kick off with the first round of pool stage matches on the weekend of 8/9/10 December.