2007–08 European Challenge Cup pool stage

The 2007–08 European Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 12th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 8 November 2007 when Sale Sharks hosted Montpellier and ended with the Newcastle Falcons / El Salvador game on 20 January 2008.

2007–08 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Season	2007–08 European Challenge Cup
Date	8 November 2007 – 20 January 2008
Qualifiers
Seed 1	Worcester Warriors
Seed 2	Bath
Seed 3	Sale Sharks
Seed 4	Newcastle Falcons
Seed 5	Castres Olympique
Seed 6	Brive
Seed 7	Leeds Carnegie
Seed 8	Montpellier
← 2006–07 (Previous) 2008–09 → (Next)

Main article: 2007–08 European Challenge Cup

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.^[1] 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 Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester on 25 May 2008.

Results

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
Bath Rugby (2)	6	6	0	0	28	6	+22	203	65	+138	5	0	29
Auch	6	3	0	3	11	19	−8	109	147	−38	1	1	14
Albi	6	2	0	4	15	21	−6	130	177	−47	1	2	11
Overmach Parma	6	1	0	5	10	18	−8	104	157	−53	0	3	7

10 November 2007 15:00

Rugby Parma FC	23–28	Albi

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 4,000

10 November 2007 20:45

Auch	6–28	Bath

Stade Patrice Brocas Attendance: 3,562

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17 November 2007 14:15

Bath	28–0	Rugby Parma FC

Recreation Ground Attendance: 10,025

17 November 2007 19:30

Albi	30–31	Auch

La Maison des Sports Attendance: 4,767

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7 December 2007 19:00

Albi	18–26	Bath

La Maison des Sports Attendance: 4,000

8 December 2007 15:00

Rugby Parma FC	25–20	Auch

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 530

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15 December 2007 14:15

Bath	59–15	Albi

Recreation Ground Attendance: 9,282

15 December 2007 18:30

Auch	24–20	Rugby Parma FC

Stade Patrice Brocas Attendance: 1,500

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12 January 2008 15:00

Rugby Parma FC	13–31	Bath

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 1,000

12 January 2008 17:30

Auch	15–13	Albi

Stade Patrice Brocas Attendance: 3,000

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19 January 2008 14:15

Bath	31–13	Auch

Recreation Ground Attendance: 9,484

19 January 2008 19:30

Albi	26–23	Rugby Parma FC

La Maison des Sports Attendance: 4,200

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Worcester Warriors (1)	6	6	0	0	36	6	+30	245	49	+196	5	0	29
Montauban	6	3	0	3	28	12	+16	175	113	+62	3	1	16
București	6	2	1	3	7	22	−15	77	158	−81	0	0	10
Gran Parma	6	0	1	5	7	38	−31	82	259	−177	0	1	3

9 November 2007 18:30

Montauban	65–6	Gran Parma

Stade de Sapiac Attendance: 3,000

10 November 2007 14:00

București	8–18	Worcester Warriors

Arcul de Triumf Attendance: 800

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17 November 2007 15:00

Gran Parma	23–23	București

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 220

17 November 2007 15:00

Worcester Warriors	41–18	Montauban

Sixways Stadium Attendance: 6,876

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8 December 2007 13:00

București	19–17	Montauban

Bucharest Attendance: 1,000

8 December 2007 15:00

Worcester Warriors	50–0	Gran Parma

Sixways Stadium Attendance: 7,169

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14 December 2007 18:30

Montauban	34–6	București

Stade de Sapiac Attendance: 2,500

15 December 2007 15:00

Gran Parma	16–66	Worcester Warriors

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 520

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11 January 2008 18:30

Montauban	7–24	Worcester Warriors

Stade de Sapiac Attendance: 2,000

13 January 2008 14:30

București	21–20	Gran Parma

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 250

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19 January 2008 15:00

Gran Parma	17–34	Montauban

Sergio Lanfranchi Attendance: 300

19 January 2008 15:00

Worcester Warriors	46–0	București

Sixways Stadium Attendance: 6,380

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Newcastle Falcons (4)	6	5	0	1	34	3	+31	264	57	+207	3	1	24
Brive (6)	6	4	0	2	21	5	+16	179	73	+106	3	2	20
Connacht	6	3	0	3	25	10	+15	172	97	+75	2	1	15
El Salvador	6	0	0	6	3	65	−62	26	414	−388	0	0	0

9 November 2007 19:30

Brive	15–6	Connacht

Stadium Municipal, Brive Attendance: 4,850

10 November 2007 16:30

El Salvador	10–71	Newcastle Falcons

Campo de Pepe Rojo Attendance: 4,000

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15 November 2007 19:45

Newcastle Falcons	25–19	Brive

Kingston Park Attendance: 5,140

16 November 2007 18:30

Connacht	75–8	El Salvador

Sportsground Attendance: 1,943

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7 December 2007 18:30

Connacht	16–13	Newcastle Falcons

Sportsground Attendance: 2,856

9 December 2007 15:00

Brive	71–0	El Salvador

Stadium Municipal, Brive Attendance: 2,000

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16 December 2007 12:30

El Salvador	8–40	Brive

Campo de Pepe Rojo Attendance: 3,000

16 December 2007 15:00

Newcastle Falcons	39–0	Connacht

Kingston Park Attendance: 7,426

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11 January 2008 19:00

Brive	12–19	Newcastle Falcons

Stadium Municipal, Brive Attendance: 7,500

13 January 2008 12:30

El Salvador	0–60	Connacht

Campo de Pepe Rojo Attendance: 3,500

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18 January 2008 18:30

Connacht	15–22	Brive

Sportsground Attendance: 3,544

20 January 2008 15:00

Newcastle Falcons	97–0	El Salvador

Kingston Park Attendance: 4,872

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Sale Sharks (3)	6	5	1	0	34	8	+26	244	62	+182	5	0	27
Montpellier (8)	6	4	1	1	12	14	−2	114	115	−1	1	0	19
Bayonne	6	1	0	5	16	20	−4	100	164	−64	2	2	8
Petrarca Padova	6	1	0	5	7	27	−20	73	190	−117	0	1	5

8 November 2007 19:45

Sale Sharks	49–6	Montpellier

Edgeley Park Attendance: 6,606

9 November 2007 19:30

Bayonne	37–20	Petrarca Padova

Stade Jean Dauger Attendance: 6,000

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17 November 2007 15:00

Petrarca Padova	14–53	Sale Sharks

Stadio Plebiscito Attendance: 2,850

17 November 2007 20:45

Montpellier	18–12	Bayonne

Stade Yves du Manoir, Montpell Attendance: 5,000

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8 December 2007 15:00

Petrarca Padova	13–19	Montpellier

Stadio Plebiscito Attendance: 1,000

8 December 2007 20:45

Bayonne	12–51	Sale Sharks

Stade Jean Dauger Attendance: 8,000

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13 December 2007 19:45

Sale Sharks	32–10	Bayonne

Edgeley Park Attendance: 7,285

14 December 2007 19:30

Montpellier	31–3	Petrarca Padova

Stade Yves du Manoir, Montpell Attendance: 4,200

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11 January 2008 19:45

Sale Sharks	45–6	Petrarca Padova

Edgeley Park Attendance: 6,708

12 January 2008 20:45

Bayonne	24–26	Montpellier

Stade Jean Dauger Attendance: 4,000

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19 January 2008 15:00

Petrarca Padova	17–5	Bayonne

Stadio Plebiscito Attendance: 900

19 January 2008 20:45

Montpellier	14–14	Sale Sharks

Stade Yves du Manoir, Montpell Attendance: 12,250

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Castres Olympique (5)	6	5	0	1	19	12	+7	160	105	+55	1	0	21
Leeds Carnegie (7)	6	4	0	2	18	10	+8	157	101	+56	2	1	19
Calvisano	6	2	0	4	13	29	−16	123	200	−77	1	0	9
Dax	6	1	0	5	15	14	+1	109	143	−34	1	3	7

9 November 2007 20:00

Leeds Carnegie	35–18	Castres

Headingley Stadium Attendance: 2,138

11 November 2007 15:00

Calvisano	54–19	Dax

Centro Sportivo San Michele Attendance: 1,600

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16 November 2007 20:00

Dax	20–23	Leeds Carnegie

Stade Maurice Boyau Attendance: 4,000

17 November 2007 18:00

Castres	61–28	Calvisano

Stade Pierre Antoine Attendance: 6,000

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8 December 2007 16:00

Castres	25–15	Dax

Stade Pierre Antoine Attendance: 5,400

9 December 2007 15:00

Leeds Carnegie	45–5	Calvisano

Headingley Stadium Attendance: 2,107

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15 December 2007 20:45

Dax	15–16	Castres

Stade Maurice Boyau Attendance: 3,500

16 December 2007 15:00

Calvisano	27–26	Leeds Carnegie

Centro Sportivo San Michele Attendance: 1,500

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11 January 2008 20:00

Leeds Carnegie	25–18	Dax

Headingley Stadium Attendance: 2,011

12 January 2008 15:00

Calvisano	9–27	Castres

Centro Sportivo San Michele Attendance: 1,500

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17 January 2008 20:45

Castres	13–3	Leeds Carnegie

Stade Pierre Antoine Attendance: 6,800

18 January 2008 19:00

Dax	22–0	Calvisano

Stade Maurice Boyau Attendance: 2,000

Seeding and runners-up

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/-
1	Worcester Warriors	29	36	+196
2	Bath	29	28	+138
3	Sale Sharks	27	34	+182
4	Newcastle Falcons	24	34	+207
5	Castres Olympique	21	19	+55
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/-
6	Brive	20	21	+106
7	Leeds Carnegie	19	18	+56
8	Montpellier	19	12	−1
–	Montauban	16	28	+62
–	Auch	14	11	−38

See also

• European Challenge Cup
• 2007–08 Heineken Cup