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1996–97 European Challenge Cup

Field	Value
name	1996–97 European Challenge Cup
imagesize	100px
caption	Official logo
countries	England
France
Ireland
Italy
Romania
Scotland
Wales
tournament format	Round-robin and knockout
date	12 October 1996 – 26 January 1997
teams	24
matches	66
top point scorer	Alexandre Péclier (Bourgoin)
(113 points)
top try scorer	Laurent Leflamand (Bourgoin)
(7 tries)
venue	Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers
attendance2	10,000
champions	FRA Bourgoin
count	1
runner-up	FRA Castres Olympique
website	https://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
next year	1997–98
next tournament	1997–98 European Challenge Cup

France Ireland Italy Romania Scotland Wales

20 + 30 + 18 + 14 + 15 + 16
29 + 21 + 12 + 10 + 11 + 10
28 + 22 + 18 + 9 + 15 + 10
27 + 29 + 28 + 17 + 6 + 12
1 + 4 + 3 + 4
2 + 2
0 (113 points) (7 tries) | runner-up = FRA Castres Olympique

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. 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.

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

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
FRA Agen	5	5	0	0	20	9	+11	156	82	+74	10
FRA Montferrand	5	4	0	1	30	8	+22	211	74	+137	8
ENG Sale Sharks	5	3	0	2	18	14	+4	166	115	+51	6
WAL Newport	5	2	0	3	14	19	−15	98	158	−60	4
SCO Glasgow	5	1	0	4	15	30	−15	113	202	−89	2
WAL Newbridge	5	0	0	5	16	33	−17	106	219	−113	0
Source : [www.ercrugby.com](https://archive.today/20130820235208/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/amlinchallengecup/pools/index.php?includeref=478&season=1996-1997)

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
FRA Castres Olympique	5	5	0	0	29	6	+23	207	71	+136	10
FRA Narbonne	5	4	0	1	21	6	+15	161	90	+71	8
ROM Dinamo-București	5	2	1	2	12	32	−20	109	213	−104	5
WAL Bridgend	4	1	1	2	10	14	−4	94	120	−26	3
ENG Bristol	5	1	0	4	11	12	−1	128	99	+29	2
WAL Treorchy	4	0	0	4	10	23	−13	72	178	−106	0
Source : [www.ercrugby.com](http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/amlinchallengecup/pools/index.php?includeref=478&season=1996-1997)

The Treorchy v Bridgend match was not played.

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
ENG Northampton Saints	5	5	0	0	28	12	+16	207	88	+119	10
FRA Toulon	5	4	0	1	22	10	+12	164	102	+62	8
ENG Orrell	5	2	0	3	18	22	−4	122	173	−51	4
Ireland Connacht	5	2	0	3	9	17	−8	94	131	−37	4
WAL Dunvant	5	1	0	4	15	22	−7	106	169	−63	2
ITA Petrarca	5	1	0	4	10	19	−9	118	148	−30	2
Source : [www.ercrugby.com](http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/amlinchallengecup/pools/index.php?includeref=478&season=1996-1997)

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
FRA Bourgoin	5	5	0	0	27	4	+23	196	66	+130	10
FRA Bordeaux-Bègles	5	3	1	1	29	13	+16	195	99	+96	7
WAL Swansea	5	3	1	1	28	19	+9	207	138	+69	7
ENG Gloucester	5	2	0	3	17	17	0	119	123	−4	4
WAL Ebbw Vale	5	1	0	4	6	36	−30	48	243	−195	2
ENG London Irish	5	0	0	5	12	30	−18	90	186	−96	0
Source : [www.ercrugby.com](http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/amlinchallengecup/pools/index.php?includeref=478&season=1996-1997)

Qualifiers

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

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

"Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". [[European Rugby Cup]].
"Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". [[European Rugby Cup]].
(1997). "Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98". Headline Book Publishing.
(13 April 2004). "European Challenge Cup 1996/7". [[BBC]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

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