It's home stadium advantage for the Challenge Cup.
Home country only for Champions Cup.

When Connacht were in the semi-final against Toulon a few years ago, the final was to be played at a neutral venue.

They announced that if Toulon won the semi, then the Final would be held in Marseilles (as was the case and they were beaten by Cardiff).

If Connacht won the semi - then the Final would have been held at Kingsholm in Gloucester; which is about 70 miles from both the other two semi finalists, Cardiff and Wasps (who were at High Wycombe at the time).

This was explained away by saying this was "to support the second tier competition in France and England" - which happened to be the two countries where every single one of the previous 15 finals had been held. Don't hold your breath.

Connacht hotel -€227 for Fri & Sat of Semi weekend

Just checked prices on hotels in Galway for the Semi and Jury's were looking at 388 for two nights. Thats not a runner

EPCR confirms Connacht guaranteed home advantage in the semi-final if they win their Q/F -

www.epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychallengec...457.php#.VqdhjkbyCNg

Seriously, lads, the team's good results and performance are adversely affecting the standard of conspiracy theory and general paranoia on this forum. We need to up our collective game.

menacethedenis wrote: You're wasting your time rummaging around that website Pinky. They'll just change it to suit the Anglo-Franco axis of evil anyway. Their hijacking of the European competitions is the greatest example of English/French clandestine cooperation since the Normandy landings. Wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if our home advantage semi-final disappears into the aether should we progress.

I generally don't believe people are competent enough to manage conspiracies, but clearly money and large squads talk, hence the domination of French and English clubs, especially the English. Two interesting snippets this week, Toulon's letter to premiership to join as there is no salary cap; part of an ongoing battle with the League in France....and Saracens financial results, over £3m loss, an improvement on 2014, but now over £40m in debt. Salaries up 13%! Nigel still willing to finance it, but it's not if, it's when, as the business model is unsustainable in long run....see Biarritz! No good for us in the meanwhile, but a sign of things to come.?

You're wasting your time rummaging around that website Pinky. They'll just change it to suit the Anglo-Franco axis of evil anyway. Their hijacking of the European competitions is the greatest example of English/French clandestine cooperation since the Normandy landings. Wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if our home advantage semi-final disappears into the aether should we progress.

Fair enough, but that rule is not mentioned anywhere on the website from what I can see:
www.epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychampionscup/rules.php
I'm sure it probably is in their full rulebook in the back of the Absinthe Cabinet in Neuchatel, but as long as they keep publishing incomplete rules, they leave themselves wide open to accusations of corruption and making up rules.
Watching the games yesterday, the drama was totally diminished by the fact that the commentators on BT didn't have a clue what the rules were.
If Ospreys had scored one more point, they would have been top of the 3 on points diff and probably would have had legitimate grounds to assume they were going through.
How hard would it be for them to publish the complete rules on the website?
They did the same thing last year with the playoffs and all that craic.

pinky wrote: It doesn't really matter at this stage as they're both out and it doesn't affect seedings anymore, but does anyone know why Bordeaux ended up second and Ospreys third?
I had a look in the rules section and it doesn't say anything about how to break up a three way tie, but it more or less implies that it's done on points difference, which is why Exeter (-3) went through. But why do Bordeaux (-14) end up ahead of Ospreys (-4)?
Another secret made-up rule?

No, literal interpretation of the rule

In accordance with the Tournament Rules, the rankings in the pool are then decided by the results of the matches between the three clubs.

Exeter Chiefs and Bordeaux-Begles both earned 11 match points from the matches, and the Ospreys earned 10 match points from the matches.

As the match points totals of the Exeter Chiefs and Bordeaux-Begles were equal, the order in which they were deemed to have finished in the pool was decided by the aggregate points difference from matches played between the three clubs.

Exeter Chiefs' points difference from the matches was +12 and Bordeaux-Begles' points difference from the matches was – 5.

It doesn't really matter at this stage as they're both out and it doesn't affect seedings anymore, but does anyone know why Bordeaux ended up second and Ospreys third?
I had a look in the rules section and it doesn't say anything about how to break up a three way tie, but it more or less implies that it's done on points difference, which is why Exeter (-3) went through. But why do Bordeaux (-14) end up ahead of Ospreys (-4)?
Another secret made-up rule?

Imagine the headache they would have had if Parra had taken the last pen :woohoo:
ALL 4 teams of the pool with 16 pts, with Exeter above Bordeaux,, Bordeaux above Ospreys, Spreys above Clermont, and Clermont above Exeter, on head-to-head difference !!! I think that might have ended on general aggregate difference, and Clermont would have gone through!!! Thank you Parra and the staff for this huge mistake, glad for Exeter, Steenson and Whitten!

EPCR don't seem to know their own rules:
www.epcrugby.com/matchcentre/32415.php
They claim Brive were denied top spot by the Newcastle victory, but sure they were still two tries short.
They were still uncomfortably close and my no LBP prediction fell short but FFS, how are we supposed to figure out the rules if they can't do it themselves?

I remember thinking when I first saw this months back that 5th & 6th seeds didn't have it too bad off. Win a manageble away qf and you're guaranteed a home semi. Sure won't Bruce be happy to see the Clan?

Someone save that webpage before they change the rules again

epcrugby.com/europeanrugbychallengecup/rules.php

Actually there is a need for correction. I was under this assumption also but going by the rules of the EPC site.

If the clubs ranked 8 and 5 win their QFs, the club ranked 5 will have home venue advantage

Basically we win v Grenoble we get a home semi-final either way.

no correction needed