[5] For the 2014–15 season, this took the form of 2 two-legged play-off matches, with the aggregate winner of each taking one of the two Rugby Europe spots in the draw, and it involved the 2 best teams from Italy's Top12, plus a Romanian and Georgian selections.

The teams are ranked based on domestic league performance the previous season, and arranged into three tiers.

The competition has been dominated by English and French clubs since it was first introduced in 1996, reflecting the historical depth of those two leagues.

The Challenge Cup began as the 'European Conference' (later renamed the European Shield) in 1996 with 24 teams from England, France, Italy, Romania, Scotland and Wales divided into four groups of six.

All seven of the French teams made it to the quarter-finals with English club Northampton Saints filling the other berth.

The semi-final draw was an all-English and all-French affair to leave Harlequins and Narbonne contesting the first final on English soil.

Harlequins ended French dominance of the European Shield, defeating RC Narbonne 27–26 after extra time in the final.

For the first time there were two Spanish club teams (Valladolid RAC and UC Madrid) and Romania was represented.

For the first time, a Welsh team, Pontypridd, made it to the final but Sale Sharks emerged victorious, coming from behind to win 25–22 at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford.

This involved 32 clubs from eight nations, half of them seeded and drawn against an un-seeded team on a home and away basis.

The name Parker Pen Shield was now applied to a reprechage knock-out tournament for those teams that did not qualify for the second round of the Challenge Cup.

London Wasps beat Bath 48–30 to win the renamed Parker Pen Challenge Cup at the Madejski Stadium, Reading.

In 2003–04, the Welsh Rugby Union voted to create regions to play in the Celtic League and represent Wales in European competition.

Harlequins won the cup with a 27–26 last-second victory over Montferrand at the Madejski Stadium to become the first side to win the tournament twice.

The competition reverted to being a league format followed by knock-out phase with five pools of four teams and home and away matches.

Beaten 2007 finalists Bath won the 2007–08 tournament after beating fellow English club Worcester Warriors in the final in Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester.

[16] Northampton Saints won the last edition of the European Challenge Cup in 2014, beating Bath 30–16 in the final.

[19] The 2023–24 competition saw a new precedent set, with the Sharks of South Africa becoming the first team from outside of Europe to lift the Challenge Cup after an historic 36-22 victory over Gloucester.

[20] Following the introduction of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, organisers decided to introduce a Champions League-style sponsorship system, including 3–5 principal partners, in lieu of one title sponsor.

For Australia, Europe (unsold markets), and Southeast Asia, all matches of the EPCR package (both Champions and Challenge Cups) available on Rugby Pass.