The two showpiece matches, representing the pinnacle of elite European club rugby, will occur in the Irish capital on Friday, 19 May and Saturday, 20 May 2023.
International brewing giant Heineken will continue as title sponsors of the Heineken Champions Cup, marking an extension of a long-standing association with Europe’s elite club competition, which features the leading lights of the Gallagher Premiership in England, France’s TOP 14 and the United Rugby Championship which has representatives from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and South Africa.
Heineken’s close connection with the tournament spans nearly 30 years since rugby embraced professionalism in 1995, and the Heineken Champions Cup Final has been staged three times previously at the Aviva Stadium, formerly Lansdowne Road.
The 2023 Finals, which will also be supported by EPCR’s Official Logistics Partner DHL and newly-announced Official Hotels Partner IHG Hotels & Resorts, return to Dublin after a decade when RC Toulon defeated ASM Clermont Auvergne to lift the famous silverware for the first time in 2013.
Dominic McKay, EPCR Chairman, said: “Following extensive discussions with all stakeholders, including the Aviva Stadium, Dublin City Council and the IRFU, we are delighted to be bringing the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup Finals back to Dublin next May.
“The ground has a strong association with EPCR, having staged three finals over the years, and we are very much looking forward to returning to Dublin.”
The reason for shifting:
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will no longer host the 2023 European finals after scheduling issues forced a switch to the Aviva Stadium.
Tournament organisers have acted due to complications caused by the Premier League finishing later than usual because of the 2022 football World Cup, as well as the 2023 Rugby World Cup altering the sport’s European calendar.
The Referees for this year:
The referee appointments have been confirmed for the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup finals, with England’s Wayne Barnes and Luke Pearce selected to take charge of the deciders, respectively.
This will be Barnes’s third Heineken Champions Cup final, having previously refereed the 2010 and 2018 deciders. He will be the man in the middle for the meeting of Leinster Rugby and Stade Rochelais at the Stade Vélodrome on Saturday week, 28 May.
His assistants will be Matthew Carley and Christophe Ridley, with Tom Foley working as the television match official and Stefano Marrama as Citing Commissioner.
Pearce, who will oversee the clash of Lyon and RC Toulon at the Stade Vélodrome, has been appointed for his second European final, having refereed last season’s Heineken Champions Cup decider.
