Jump to content

2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Season2008–09 European Challenge Cup
Date9 October 2008 – 25 January 2009
Qualifiers
Seed 1England London Irish
Seed 2England Northampton Saints
Seed 3England Saracens
Seed 4England Worcester Warriors
Seed 5France Brive
Seed 6England Newcastle Falcons
Seed 7Ireland Connacht
Seed 8France Bourgoin
2007–08
(Previous)
2009–10
(Next)

The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 9 October 2008 when RC Toulon hosted Northampton Saints and ended with two games on 25 January 2009.

Twenty teams participated in this phase of the competition; they were divided into five pools of four teams each, with each team playing the others home and away. Competition points were earned using the standard bonus point system. The five pool winners and the best three runners-up advanced to the knockout stage. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 22 May 2009.

Results

[edit]

The draw for the pool stages took place on 23 June 2008. The draw was conducted using the ERC European Ranking system which was based on the qualified teams' performances and participation in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup over the past four seasons.

All times are local to the game location.

Key to colours
     Winner of each pool, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses
     Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses

Pool 1

[edit]
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
England London Irish (1) 6 6 0 0 44 3 +41 300 34 +266 5 0 29
Ireland Connacht (7) 6 4 0 2 20 19 +1 159 140 +19 3 0 19
Italy Rovigo 6 1 0 5 7 25 −18 79 199 –120 0 1 5
France Dax 6 1 0 5 5 29 −24 55 220 –165 0 0 4
10 October 2008
19:00
Dax France12–30IrelandConnacht
Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax
11 October 2008
15:00
London Irish England78–3Italy Rovigo
Madejski Stadium, Reading

17 October 2008
19:00
Connacht Ireland10–27England London Irish
Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

5 December 2008
19:00
Dax France0–38England London Irish
Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax

11 December 2008
19:45
London Irish England59–7France Dax
Madejski Stadium, Reading
12 December 2008
18:30
Connacht Ireland30–3Italy Rovigo
Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

16 January 2009
19:00
Dax France22–20Italy Rovigo
Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax
17 January 2009
15:00
London Irish England75–5Ireland Connacht
Madejski Stadium, Reading

23 January 2009
18:30
Connacht Ireland49–3France Dax
Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

Pool 2

[edit]
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
England Northampton Saints (2) 6 6 0 0 37 7 +30 278 69 +209 5 0 29
England Bristol 6 3 0 3 14 21 −7 140 168 −28 1 1 14
France Montpellier 6 2 0 4 10 18 −8 101 159 −58 0 1 9
France RC Toulon 6 1 0 5 7 22 −15 84 207 −123 0 1 5
9 October 2008
20:45
Toulon France3–56England Northampton Saints
Stade Mayol, Toulon

17 October 2008
19:45
Bristol England39–11France Toulon
Memorial Ground, Bristol


13 December 2008
20:45
Toulon France30–9France Montpellier
Stade Mayol, Toulon
14 December 2008
15:00
Bristol England21–25England Northampton Saints
Memorial Ground, Bristol

16 January 2009
18:30
Toulon France19–37England Bristol
Stade Mayol, Toulon

25 January 2009
15:00
Bristol England25–14France Montpellier
Memorial Ground, Bristol

Pool 3

[edit]
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
England Worcester Warriors (4) 6 5 0 1 36 8 +28 255 94 +161 4 0 24
France Bourgoin (8) 6 3 0 3 18 11 +7 158 115 +43 1 2 15
Italy Petrarca Padova 6 3 0 3 11 28 −17 112 206 −94 0 1 13
Romania București Oaks 6 1 0 5 8 26 −18 87 197 −110 0 1 5




17 January 2009
15:00
Petrarca Padova Italy25–24France Bourgoin
Stadio Plebiscito, Padua

Pool 4

[edit]
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
France Brive (5) 6 5 0 1 33 8 +25 243 89 +154 3 1 24
England Newcastle Falcons (6) 6 4 0 2 24 8 +16 178 90 +88 2 1 19
Italy Overmach Parma 6 3 0 3 19 13 +6 165 120 +45 2 2 16
Spain El Salvador 6 0 0 6 5 52 −47 46 333 −287 0 0 0
12 October 2008
14:30
Overmach Parma Italy34–29France Brive
Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma


5 December 2008
19:30
Brive France84–6Spain El Salvador
Stade Amédée Domenech, Brive

14 December 2008
12:30
El Salvador Spain5–55France Brive
Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid

17 January 2009
19:40
Newcastle Falcons England9–10France Brive
Kingston Park, Newcastle

Pool 5

[edit]
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
England Saracens (3) 6 6 0 0 20 1 +19 200 43 +157 2 0 26
Italy Viadana 6 3 0 3 8 11 −3 120 126 −6 0 1 13
France Bayonne 6 3 0 3 9 11 −2 99 122 −23 0 0 12
France Mont-de-Marsan 6 0 0 0 4 18 −14 54 182 −128 0 1 1
10 October 2008
19:30
Bayonne France10–21Italy Viadana
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
12 October 2008
15:00
Saracens England53–3France Mont-de-Marsan
Vicarage Road, Watford

18 October 2008
19:00
Viadana Italy12–35England Saracens
Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana

6 December 2008
20:45
Bayonne France6–16England Saracens
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne

14 December 2008
15:00
Saracens England36–0France Bayonne
Vicarage Road, Watford

16 January 2009
Bayonne France33–19France Mont-de-Marsan
19:30
Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
18 January 2009
15:00
Saracens England36–19Italy Viadana
Vicarage Road, Watford

24 January 2009
19:00
Viadana Italy22–24France Bayonne
Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana

Seeding and runners-up

[edit]
Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/-
1 England London Irish 29 44 +266
2 England Northampton Saints 29 37 +209
3 England Saracens 26 20 +157
4 England Worcester Warriors 24 36 +161
5 France Brive 24 33 +154
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/-
6 England Newcastle Falcons 19 24 +88
7 Ireland Connacht 19 20 +19
8 France Bourgoin 15 18 +43
England Bristol 14 14 −28
Italy Viadana 13 8 −6

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]