2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage

2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Season 2008–09 European Challenge Cup
Date 9 October 2008 - 25 January 2009
Qualifiers
Seed 1 England London Irish
Seed 2 England Northampton Saints
Seed 3 England Saracens
Seed 4 England Worcester Warriors
Seed 5 France Brive
Seed 6 England Newcastle Falcons
Seed 7 Ireland Connacht
Seed 8 France Bourgoin
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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

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

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 France 12 – 30 IrelandConnacht
11 October 2008
15:00
London Irish England 78 – 3 Italy Rovigo
17 October 2008
19:00
Connacht Ireland 10 – 27 England London Irish
18 October 2008
15:00
Rovigo Italy 24 – 11 France Dax
5 December 2008
19:00
Dax France 0 – 38 England London Irish
6 December 2008
15:00
Rovigo Italy 20 – 35 Ireland Connacht
11 December 2008
19:45
London Irish England 59 – 7 France Dax
12 December 2008
18:30
Connacht Ireland 30 – 3 Italy Rovigo
16 January 2009
19:00
Dax France 22 – 20 Italy Rovigo
17 January 2009
15:00
London Irish England 75 – 5 Ireland Connacht
23 January 2009
18:30
Connacht Ireland 49 – 3 France Dax

Pool 2

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 France 3 – 56 England Northampton Saints
10 October 2008
19:00
Montpellier France 33 – 15 England Bristol
17 October 2008
19:45
Bristol England 39 – 11 France Toulon
4 December 2008
20:45
Montpellier France 14 – 10 France Toulon
6 December 2008
15:00
Northampton Saints England 66 – 3 England Bristol
13 December 2008
20:45
Toulon France 30 – 9 France Montpellier
14 December 2008
15:00
Bristol England 21 – 25 England Northampton Saints
16 January 2009
18:30
Toulon France 19 – 37 England Bristol
24 January 2009
15:00
Northampton Saints England 52 – 11 France Toulon
25 January 2009
15:00
Bristol England 25 – 14 France Montpellier

Pool 3

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 Bucureşti Oaks 6 1 0 5 8 26 −18 87 197 −110 0 1 5
17 October 2008
20:30
Bourgoin France 28 – 29 Italy Petrarca Padova
5 December 2008
20:30
Bourgoin France 29 – 14 England Worcester Warriors
13 December 2008
13:00
Petrarca Padova Italy 15 – 17 Romania Bucureşti Oaks
13 December 2008
15:00
Worcester Warriors England 27 – 6 France Bourgoin
17 January 2009
15:00
Petrarca Padova Italy 25 – 24 France Bourgoin
23 January 2009
20:30
Bourgoin France 50 – 10 Romania Bucureşti Oaks

Pool 4

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
11 October 2008
18:30
Newcastle Falcons England 63 – 0 Spain El Salvador
12 October 2008
14:30
Overmach Parma Italy 34 – 29 France Brive
16 October 2008
20:45
Brive France 36 – 22 England Newcastle Falcons
19 October 2008
12:30
El Salvador Spain 21 – 59 Italy Overmach Parma
5 December 2008
19:30
Brive France 84 – 6 Spain El Salvador
6 December 2008
14:30
Overmach Parma Italy 14 – 20 England Newcastle Falcons
14 December 2008
12:30
El Salvador Spain 5 – 55 France Brive
14 December 2008
15:00
Newcastle Falcons England 21 – 16 Italy Overmach Parma
17 January 2009
14:30
Overmach Parma Italy 29 – 0 Spain El Salvador
17 January 2009
19:40
Newcastle Falcons England 9 – 10 France Brive
22 January 2009
20:45
Brive France 29 – 13 Italy Overmach Parma
25 January 2009
12:00
El Salvador Spain 14 – 43 England Newcastle Falcons

Pool 5

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 France 10 – 21 Italy Viadana
12 October 2008
15:00
Saracens England 53 – 3 France Mont-de-Marsan
17 October 2008
19:00
Mont-de-Marsan France 8 – 26 France Bayonne
18 October 2008
19:00
Viadana Italy 12 – 35 England Saracens
6 December 2008
15:30
Mont-de-Marsan France 15 – 21 Italy Viadana
6 December 2008
20:45
Bayonne France 6 – 16 England Saracens
13 December 2008
19:00
Viadana Italy 25 – 6 France Mont-de-Marsan
14 December 2008
15:00
Saracens England 36 – 0 France Bayonne
16 January 2009
Bayonne France 33 – 19 France Mont-de-Marsan
19:30
18 January 2009
15:00
Saracens England 36 – 19 Italy Viadana
23 January 2009
19:00
Mont-de-Marsan France 3 – 24 England Saracens
24 January 2009
19:00
Viadana Italy 22 – 24 France Bayonne

Seeding and runners-up

Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/-
1 England London Irish 2944+266
2 England Northampton Saints 2937+209
3 England Saracens 2620+157
4 England Worcester Warriors 2436+161
5 France Brive 2433+154
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/-
6 England Newcastle Falcons 1924+88
7 Ireland Connacht 1920+19
8 France Bourgoin 1518+43
- England Bristol 1414−28
- Italy Viadana 138−6

See also

References

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