1996–97 European Challenge Cup

The 1996–97 European Challenge Cup (also called the 1996–97 European Shield) was the inaugural year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between October 1996 and January 1997 and was won by Bourgoin with an 18–9 victory over Castres in the final at the Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers, France.^[3] Twenty-four teams took part from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Scotland and Wales, divided into four groups of six. Each team played the other teams in the group once, meaning each had five matches with either two or three on their home ground. The quarter–finals saw seven of the eight clubs coming from France, with the only non-French club being Northampton Saints.

1996–97 European Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England France Ireland Italy Romania Scotland Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	12 October 1996 – 26 January 1997
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	66
Attendance	443 (7 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Alexandre Péclier (Bourgoin) (113 points)[1]
Top try scorer(s)	Laurent Leflamand (Bourgoin) (7 tries)[2]
Final
Venue	Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers
Attendance	10,000
Champions	Bourgoin (1st title)
Runners-up	Castres Olympique
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Teams

The qualifying teams were drawn from seven countries. Generally, these were teams from the top division of domestic rugby that did not qualify to play in the Heineken Cup:

• England: 6 teams from the English Premiership
• France: 7 teams from the French Championship
• Ireland: one team representing one of the four Provinces of Ireland
• Italy: one team from the National Championship of Excellence
• Romania: one team from the National League
• Scotland: one team representing one of the four geographical districts
• Wales: 7 teams from the Welsh Premier Division

England	France	Ireland	Italy	Romania	Scotland	Wales
Bristol Gloucester London Irish Northampton Saints Orrell Sale Sharks	Agen Bordeaux-Bègles Bourgoin Castres Olympique Montferrand Narbonne Toulon	Connacht	Petrarca	Dinamo-București	Glasgow	Bridgend Dunvant Ebbw Vale Newbridge Newport Swansea Treorchy

Pool stage

Main article: 1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage

Twenty four teams participated in the pool stage of the competition; they were divided into four pools of six teams each, with each team playing the other teams in their pool once only. Matches took place between 12 October and 2 November 1996 and teams were awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw. The winner and runner-up of each pool progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament.

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Agen	5	5	0	0	20	9	+11	156	82	+74	10
Montferrand	5	4	0	1	30	8	+22	211	74	+137	8
Sale Sharks	5	3	0	2	18	14	+4	166	115	+51	6
Newport	5	2	0	3	14	19	−15	98	158	−60	4
Glasgow	5	1	0	4	15	30	−15	113	202	−89	2
Newbridge	5	0	0	5	16	33	−17	106	219	−113	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Castres Olympique	5	5	0	0	29	6	+23	207	71	+136	10
Narbonne	5	4	0	1	21	6	+15	161	90	+71	8
Dinamo-București	5	2	1	2	12	32	−20	109	213	−104	5
Bridgend	4	1	1	2	10	14	−4	94	120	−26	3
Bristol	5	1	0	4	11	12	−1	128	99	+29	2
Treorchy	4	0	0	4	10	23	−13	72	178	−106	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today

The Treorchy v Bridgend match was not played.^[4]

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Northampton Saints	5	5	0	0	28	12	+16	207	88	+119	10
Toulon	5	4	0	1	22	10	+12	164	102	+62	8
Orrell	5	2	0	3	18	22	−4	122	173	−51	4
Connacht	5	2	0	3	9	17	−8	94	131	−37	4
Dunvant	5	1	0	4	15	22	−7	106	169	−63	2
Petrarca	5	1	0	4	10	19	−9	118	148	−30	2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Bourgoin	5	5	0	0	27	4	+23	196	66	+130	10
Bordeaux-Bègles	5	3	1	1	29	13	+16	195	99	+96	7
Swansea	5	3	1	1	28	19	+9	207	138	+69	7
Gloucester	5	2	0	3	17	17	0	119	123	−4	4
Ebbw Vale	5	1	0	4	6	36	−30	48	243	−195	2
London Irish	5	0	0	5	12	30	−18	90	186	−96	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today

Qualifiers

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Castres Olympique	10	29	+136
2	Northampton Saints	10	28	+119
3	Bourgoin	10	27	+130
4	Agen	10	20	+74
Seed	Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
5	Montferrand	8	30	+137
6	Toulon	8	22	+62
7	Narbonne	8	21	+71
8	Bordeaux-Bègles	7	29	+96

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

16 November 1996

Bourgoin	17–15	Montferrand
	Report

Stade Pierre Rajon Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Patrick Robin (France)

16 November 1996

Castres Olympique	23–15	Toulon
	Report

Stade Pierre-Antoine Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Daniel Gillet (France)

16 November 1996

Northampton Saints	22–23	Narbonne
	Report

Franklin's Gardens Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Andrew Watson (England)

16 November 1996

Agen	20–15[4] (a.e.t.)	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Stade Armandie Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Didier Méné (France)

Semi-finals

5 January 1997

Bourgoin	29–6	Narbonne
	Report

Stade Pierre Rajon Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Bernard Perez (France)

5 January 1997

Castres Olympique	23–6	Agen
	Report

Stade Pierre-Antoine Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Joel Dumé (France)

Final

26 January 1997

Bourgoin	18–9	Castres Olympique
	Report

Stade de la Méditerranée Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Patrick Robin (France)

See also

• European Challenge Cup
• 1996–97 Heineken Cup