1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage

The 1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the first season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. Matches took place between 12 October and 2 November 1996.

1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Season	1996–97 European Challenge Cup
Date	12 October 1996 – 2 November 1996
Qualifiers
Seed 1	Castres Olympique
Seed 2	Northampton Saints
Seed 3	Bourgoin
Seed 4	Agen
Seed 5	Montferrand
Seed 6	Toulon
Seed 7	Narbonne
Seed 8	Bordeaux-Bègles
1997–98 → (Next)

Main article: 1996–97 European Challenge Cup

Twenty-four teams participated in this phase 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. 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. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers, France on 26 January 1997.

Results

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 Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

12 October 1996

Agen	32–13	Newport
	Report

Stade Armandie

12 October 1996

Newbridge	38–62	Glasgow
	Report

Welfare Ground

12 October 1996

Sale Sharks	12–17	Montferrand
	Report

Heywood Road

---

16 October 1996

Agen	27–17	Montferrand
	Report

Stade Armandie

16 October 1996

Glasgow	9–29	Sale Sharks
	Report

Hughenden

16 October 1996

Newport	24–9	Newbridge
	Report

Rodney Parade

---

19 October 1996

Montferrand	76–9	Glasgow
	Report

Stade Marcel-Michelin

19 October 1996

Newbridge	13–30	Agen
	Report

Welfare Ground

19 October 1996

Sale Sharks	52–22	Newport
	Report

Heywood Road

---

26 October 1996

Agen	33–16	Sale Sharks
	Report

Stade Armandie

26 October 1996

Newbridge	12–46	Montferrand
	Report

Welfare Ground

26 October 1996

Newport	25–10	Glasgow
	Report

Rodney Parade

---

30 October 1996

Glasgow	23–34	Agen
	Report

Hughenden

2 November 1996

Montferrand	55–14	Newport
	Report

Stade Marcel-Michelin

2 November 1996

Sale Sharks	57–34	Newbridge
	Report

Heywood Road

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 Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

12 October 1996

Bridgend	23–36	Castres Olympique
	Report

Brewery Field

12 October 1996

Bristol	53–5	Treorchy
	Report

Memorial Ground

12 October 1996

Narbonne	73–22	Dinamo-București
	Report

Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié

---

16 October 1996

Bridgend	30–27	Bristol
	Report

Brewery Field

16 October 1996

Castres Olympique	67–6	Dinamo-București
	Report

Stade Pierre-Antoine

16 October 1996

Treorchy	19–26	Narbonne
	Report

The Oval, Treorchy

---

19 October 1996

Bridgend	24–24	Dinamo-București
	Report

Brewery Field

19 October 1996

Bristol	16–18	Narbonne
	Report

Memorial Ground

19 October 1996

Castres Olympique	61–17	Treorchy
	Report

Stade Pierre-Antoine

---

26 October 1996

Bristol	14–27	Castres Olympique
	Report

Memorial Ground

26 October 1996

Dinamo-București	38–31	Treorchy
	Report

Steaua Stadium

26 October 1996

Narbonne	33–17	Bridgend
	Report

Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié

---

2 November 1996

Dinamo-București	19–18	Bristol
	Report

Steaua Stadium

2 November 1996

Narbonne	11–16	Castres Olympique
	Report

Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié

2 November 1996

Treorchy	–	Bridgend
	Report

The Oval, Treorchy

• The Treorchy v Bridgend match was not played.^[1]

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 Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

12 October 1996

Connacht	34–12	Petrarca
	Report

The Sportsground

12 October 1996

Orrell	32–29	Dunvant
	Report

Edge Hall Road

12 October 1996

Toulon	29–38	Northampton Saints
	Report

Stade Mayol

---

16 October 1996

Dunvant	26–9	Connacht
	Report

Broadacre, Dunvant

16 October 1996

Northampton Saints	61–7	Orrell
	Report

Franklin's Gardens

16 October 1996

Toulon	32–23	Petrarca
	Report

Stade Mayol

---

19 October 1996

Connacht	11–31	Northampton Saints
	Report

The Sportsground

19 October 1996

Orrell	23–28	Toulon
	Report

Edge Hall Road

19 October 1996

Petrarca	49–11	Dunvant
	Report

Stadio Plebiscito

---

26 October 1996

Northampton Saints	48–32	Dunvant
	Report

Franklin's Gardens

26 October 1996

Orrell	42–25	Petrarca
	Report

Edge Hall Road

27 October 1996

Toulon	44–10	Connacht
	Report

Stade Mayol

---

2 November 1996

Connacht	30–18	Orrell
	Report

The Sportsground

2 November 1996

Dunvant	8–31	Toulon
	Report

Broadacre, Dunvant

2 November 1996

Petrarca	9–29	Northampton Saints
	Report

Stadio Plebiscito

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 Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

12 October 1996

Bourgoin	45–22	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Stade Pierre Rajon

12 October 1996

Gloucester	59–7	Ebbw Vale
	Report

Kingsholm

12 October 1996

Swansea	63–38	London Irish
	Report

St. Helen's

---

16 October 1996

Ebbw Vale	3–32	Swansea
	Report

Eugene Cross Park

16 October 1996

Gloucester	10–17	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

Kingsholm

16 October 1996

London Irish	13–34	Bourgoin
	Report

The Avenue

---

19 October 1996

Bordeaux-Bègles	32–6	London Irish
	Report

Stade André Moga

19 October 1996

Bourgoin	39–3	Ebbw Vale
	Report

Stade Pierre Rajon

19 October 1996

Swansea	62–12	Gloucester
	Report

St. Helen's

---

26 October 1996

Ebbw Vale	28–20	London Irish
	Report

Eugene Cross Park

26 October 1996

Swansea	31–31	Bordeaux-Bègles
	Report

St. Helen's

27 October 1996

Gloucester	9–24	Bourgoin
	Report

Kingsholm

---

2 November 1996

Bordeaux-Bègles	93–7	Ebbw Vale
	Report

Stade André Moga

2 November 1996

Bourgoin	54–19	Swansea
	Report

Stade Pierre Rajon

2 November 1996

London Irish	13–29	Gloucester
	Report

The Avenue

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

See also

• European Challenge Cup
• 1996–97 Heineken Cup