First Edition Of Rugby World Club Cup Gets Unanimous Approval
Cardiff's Principality Stadium hosted this season's EPCR Challenge Cup and Investec Champions Cup finals ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Three leagues – the United Rugby Championship, the Top 14, and the English Premiership – as well as seven Unions from the EPCR Board and General Assembly have unanimously approved the 2028 first edition of the Rugby World Club Cup.
The Investec Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup will continue to be protected, with the Rugby World Club Cup elevating professional club rugby competitions every four years. EPCR Chairman Dominic McKay says, ‘It promises to be box office’.
As the 30th season of EPCR competitions continues to bring the rugby party to Cardiff, McKay has confirmed the unanimous agreement from across leagues and Unions to deliver a first Rugby World Club Cup in 2028.
McKay spoke ahead of the EPCR Challenge Cup final, in which Bath Rugby beat Lyon Olympique Universitaire, 37-12, to lift their first EPCR trophy in 17 years.
With the very best of European club rugby on display over the weekend at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, culminating in today’s Investec Champions Cup final between Northampton Saints and Union Bordeaux-Bègles, McKay reflected on the future of the competitions and the green light given to the tournament – mooted for the last few years – to decide the best club in the world.
“It’s great to be in Cardiff celebrating the 30th season of the Investec Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup,” he said.
“We’ve had some great discussions over the course of the weekend talking about the future of our sport, and particularly some exciting projects that relate to EPCR. One of those projects is the Rugby World Club Cup.
“This is something we’ve spoken about at EPCR for the last two or three years – we’ve been trying to work our way through this project to see if we can deliver it.
“And over the last few days we’ve had great meetings with our Board, great meetings with our General Assembly, who represent the three leagues and stakeholders from seven Unions, and everyone is unanimous about wanting to deliver a World Club Cup – through EPCR.”
The tournament organisers of the Investec Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup, which will continue to take place, will deliver the Rugby World Club Cup project.
Sixteen teams will qualify – eight from the Investec Champions Cup, and the remainder drawn from Super Rugby Pacific and Japan.