2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage

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.

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)

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

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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

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  London Irish (1) 6 6 0 0 44 3 +41 300 34 +266 5 0 29
  Connacht (7) 6 4 0 2 20 19 +1 159 140 +19 3 0 19
  Rovigo 6 1 0 5 7 25 −18 79 199 –120 0 1 5
  Dax 6 1 0 5 5 29 −24 55 220 –165 0 0 4
10 October 2008
19:00
Dax  12–30 Connacht
Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax
11 October 2008
15:00
London Irish  78–3  Rovigo
Madejski Stadium, Reading


5 December 2008
19:00
Dax  0–38  London Irish
Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax

11 December 2008
19:45
London Irish  59–7  Dax
Madejski Stadium, Reading
12 December 2008
18:30
Connacht  30–3  Rovigo
Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

16 January 2009
19:00
Dax  22–20  Rovigo
Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax

23 January 2009
18:30
Connacht  49–3  Dax
Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

Pool 2

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Northampton Saints (2) 6 6 0 0 37 7 +30 278 69 +209 5 0 29
  Bristol 6 3 0 3 14 21 −7 140 168 −28 1 1 14
  Montpellier 6 2 0 4 10 18 −8 101 159 −58 0 1 9
  RC Toulon 6 1 0 5 7 22 −15 84 207 −123 0 1 5

17 October 2008
19:45
Bristol  39–11  Toulon
Memorial Ground, Bristol


13 December 2008
20:45
Toulon  30–9  Montpellier
Stade Mayol, Toulon

16 January 2009
18:30
Toulon  19–37  Bristol
Stade Mayol, Toulon

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

Pool 3

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





Pool 4

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Brive (5) 6 5 0 1 33 8 +25 243 89 +154 3 1 24
  Newcastle Falcons (6) 6 4 0 2 24 8 +16 178 90 +88 2 1 19
  Overmach Parma 6 3 0 3 19 13 +6 165 120 +45 2 2 16
  El Salvador 6 0 0 6 5 52 −47 46 333 −287 0 0 0
12 October 2008
14:30
Overmach Parma  34–29  Brive
Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma





Pool 5

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


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

14 December 2008
15:00
Saracens  36–0  Bayonne
Vicarage Road, Watford

18 January 2009
15:00
Saracens  36–19  Viadana
Vicarage Road, Watford

Seeding and runners-up

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

See also

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References

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