The European Rugby Association (ERA) :
The new European Rugby Association (ERA) is a group of 3 professional men's rugby union leagues involving teams through out all of Europe, but predominately England, France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, & Italy. The two Leagues will be called the Champions League (or Level-A) & the Challenge League (or Level-B).
The two leagues were founded in 1995 as the Heineken Cup & in 1996 as the European Challenge Cup respectively. In this revised version, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) will still organize & govern the two leagues. However, the number of teams per league is still 20, with the number of games also having increased to 18 with no bye weeks except for the June International Test Window.
This version of the ERA is essentially is just the Aviva Premiership, Top14, & Pro14 all merged into two leagues at the top of a now European-wide pyramid, along with promotion & relegation (i.e. the leagues that are below Aviva Premiership, Top14, & Pro14 will remain the same).
The European Rugby Development Association (ERDA) is essentially just a revised version of the Continental Shield that serves a developmental tool for the ERA to develop players (& countries) outside of the traditional rugby talent pool.
The two leagues were founded in 1995 as the Heineken Cup & in 1996 as the European Challenge Cup respectively. In this revised version, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) will still organize & govern the two leagues. However, the number of teams per league is still 20, with the number of games also having increased to 18 with no bye weeks except for the June International Test Window.
This version of the ERA is essentially is just the Aviva Premiership, Top14, & Pro14 all merged into two leagues at the top of a now European-wide pyramid, along with promotion & relegation (i.e. the leagues that are below Aviva Premiership, Top14, & Pro14 will remain the same).
The European Rugby Development Association (ERDA) is essentially just a revised version of the Continental Shield that serves a developmental tool for the ERA to develop players (& countries) outside of the traditional rugby talent pool.