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
Season	2008–09 European Challenge Cup
Date	9 October 2008 – 25 January 2009
Qualifiers
Seed 1	London Irish
Seed 2	Northampton Saints
Seed 3	Saracens
Seed 4	Worcester Warriors
Seed 5	Brive
Seed 6	Newcastle Falcons
Seed 7	Connacht
Seed 8	Bourgoin
← 2007–08 (Previous) 2009–10 → (Next)

Main article: 2008–09 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. 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
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

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17 October 2008 19:00

Connacht	10–27	London Irish

Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

18 October 2008 15:00

Rovigo	24–11	Dax

Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

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5 December 2008 19:00

Dax	0–38	London Irish

Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax

6 December 2008 15:00

Rovigo	20–35	Connacht

Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

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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

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16 January 2009 19:00

Dax	22–20	Rovigo

Stade Maurice Boyau, Dax

17 January 2009 15:00

London Irish	75–5	Connacht

Madejski Stadium, Reading

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23 January 2009 18:30

Connacht	49–3	Dax

Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway

24 January 2009 15:00

Rovigo	9–23	London Irish

Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

Pool 2

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

9 October 2008 20:45

Toulon	3–56	Northampton Saints

Stade Mayol, Toulon

10 October 2008 19:00

Montpellier	33–15	Bristol

Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier

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17 October 2008 19:45

Bristol	39–11	Toulon

Memorial Ground, Bristol

18 October 2008 19:45

Northampton Saints	51–7	Montpellier

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton

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4 December 2008 20:45

Montpellier	14–10	Toulon

Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier

6 December 2008 15:00

Northampton Saints	66–3	Bristol

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton

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13 December 2008 20:45

Toulon	30–9	Montpellier

Stade Mayol, Toulon

14 December 2008 15:00

Bristol	21–25	Northampton Saints

Memorial Ground, Bristol

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15 January 2009 20:45

Montpellier	24–28	Northampton Saints

Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier

16 January 2009 18:30

Toulon	19–37	Bristol

Stade Mayol, Toulon

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24 January 2009 15:00

Northampton Saints	52–11	Toulon

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton

25 January 2009 15:00

Bristol	25–14	Montpellier

Memorial Ground, Bristol

Pool 3

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

11 October 2008 15:00

Petrarca Padova	6–55	Worcester Warriors

Stadio Plebiscito, Padua

12 October 2008 16:30

București Oaks	10–21	Bourgoin

Stadionul Naţional de Rugby, Bucharest

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17 October 2008 20:30

Bourgoin	28–29	Petrarca Padova

Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin

19 October 2008 16:30

București Oaks	17–53	Worcester Warriors

Stadionul Naţional de Rugby, Bucharest

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5 December 2008 20:30

Bourgoin	29–14	Worcester Warriors

Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin

7 December 2008 13:00

București Oaks	14–20	Petrarca Padova

Stadionul Naţional de Rugby, Bucharest

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13 December 2008 13:00

Petrarca Padova	15–17	București Oaks

Stadio Plebiscito, Padua

13 December 2008 15:00

Worcester Warriors	27–6	Bourgoin

Sixways Stadium, Worcester

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17 January 2009 15:00

Petrarca Padova	25–24	Bourgoin

Stadio Plebiscito, Padua

17 January 2009 15:00

Worcester Warriors	38–19	București Oaks

Sixways Stadium, Worcester

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23 January 2009 20:30

Bourgoin	50–10	București Oaks

Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin

24 January 2009 15:00

Worcester Warriors	68–17	Petrarca Padova

Sixways Stadium, Worcester

Pool 4

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

11 October 2008 18:30

Newcastle Falcons	63–0	El Salvador

Kingston Park, Newcastle

12 October 2008 14:30

Overmach Parma	34–29	Brive

Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma

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16 October 2008 20:45

Brive	36–22	Newcastle Falcons

Stade Amédée Domenech, Brive

19 October 2008 12:30

El Salvador	21–59	Overmach Parma

Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid

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5 December 2008 19:30

Brive	84–6	El Salvador

Stade Amédée Domenech, Brive

6 December 2008 14:30

Overmach Parma	14–20	Newcastle Falcons

Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma

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14 December 2008 12:30

El Salvador	5–55	Brive

Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid

14 December 2008 15:00

Newcastle Falcons	21–16	Overmach Parma

Kingston Park, Newcastle

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17 January 2009 14:30

Overmach Parma	29–0	El Salvador

Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma

17 January 2009 19:40

Newcastle Falcons	9–10	Brive

Kingston Park, Newcastle

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22 January 2009 20:45

Brive	29–13	Overmach Parma

Stade Amédée Domenech, Brive

25 January 2009 12:00

El Salvador	14–43	Newcastle Falcons

Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid

Pool 5

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

12 October 2008 15:00

Saracens	53–3	Mont-de-Marsan

Vicarage Road, Watford

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17 October 2008 19:00

Mont-de-Marsan	8–26	Bayonne

Stade Guy Boniface, Mont-de-Marsan

18 October 2008 19:00

Viadana	12–35	Saracens

Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana

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6 December 2008 15:30

Mont-de-Marsan	15–21	Viadana

Stade Guy Boniface, Mont-de-Marsan

6 December 2008 20:45

Bayonne	6–16	Saracens

Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne

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13 December 2008 19:00

Viadana	25–6	Mont-de-Marsan

Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana

14 December 2008 15:00

Saracens	36–0	Bayonne

Vicarage Road, Watford

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16 January 2009

Bayonne	33–19	Mont-de-Marsan
	19:30

Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne

18 January 2009 15:00

Saracens	36–19	Viadana

Vicarage Road, Watford

---

23 January 2009 19:00

Mont-de-Marsan	3–24	Saracens

Stade Guy Boniface, Mont-de-Marsan

24 January 2009 19:00

Viadana	22–24	Bayonne

Stadio Luigi Zaffanella, Viadana

Seeding and runners-up

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

• European Challenge Cup
• 2008–09 Heineken Cup