Rugby Europe Super Cup ready for a new season

Rugby Europe’s franchise competition is set to start in September, but not without some forced changes, mainly due to the absence of the Israeli franchise Tel Aviv Heat, runner-up in 2022 and 2023.

Rugby Europe's official statement shed a bit of light about why the Israelis will not take part of the upcoming season, “The competition will take place this season without the two-time runners-up, the Tel Aviv Heat, due to various logistical elements.”.

From sources close to the process, the Heat will potentially return in 2025 pending new developments in the structure of the franchise.

With no new franchise to fill the void, the 2024 Super Cup will consist of seven teams, divided into two pools: pool A with the Georgians and three-time winners Black Lion, the Portuguese Lusitanos and the Spanish Leon y Castilla Iberians. Pool B will consist of the Romanian Wolves, the Dutch Delta, the Belgians Brussels Devils and Czech Bohemia Warriors.

Unlike the previous three seasons, the 4th instalment of the Rugby Europe Super Cup will not have a Championship knockout stage, meaning the team with more points in pool A will be crowned as the champions. The three contestants will play in a double round-robin format.

Pool B will consist of a round-robin to then proceed for a one-game knockout stage to determine the final placings of each one of the contestants.

The Super Cup worked as a pathway for local talents to enjoy a higher international level of competition, preparing them up for the upcoming February-March Test Match window. Portugal’s and Georgia’s accomplishments in 2022 and 2023 were built on the back of the success of the Black Lion and Lusitanos campaign, as Tomás Appleton attested in a previous interview,

“It definitely helped us to achieve a higher level of playing quality in the national team. In the Super Cup we can play more as a team, build good attacking patterns, work on our defence, and choose the game plan that fits us better thanks to the Lusitanos and the Super Cup.”

David Gérard, Romania and Bucharest Wolves head coach, explains how the Super Cup can help the Oaks be ready for 2025 Men’s Rugby World Cup qualification, “The competition is important, but for us, the most crucial part is how it can help us to be ready for the 2025 [RWC] qualification. That’s why we chose to remain in Pool B so that we can work harder, cementing our game strategy. We need to learn how to work together and be in the best possible shape for the November tests. That’s our mentality for the new Super Cup season.”

The Super Cup kickoff is set for the 7th of September, with a regional derby between Portugal’s Lusitanos and Spain’s Castilla y León Iberians. The competition is set to be broadcast on Rugby Europe’s website with confirmation to be announced in late August.

A reminder that the three-time Super Cup winners, the Black Lion, are going to take part of the EPCR Challenge Cup until 2026, with rumours of a possible Spanish or Portuguese inclusion in the future.