From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
2008–09 European Challenge Cup
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | 2008–09 European Challenge Cup |
| imagesize | 100px |
| caption | Official logo |
| countries | England |
| France | |
| Ireland | |
| Italy | |
| Romania | |
| Spain | |
| tournament format | Round-robin and Knockout |
| date | 9 October 2008 to 22 May 2009 |
| teams | 20 |
| matches | 67 |
| top point scorer | Stephen Myler (Northampton) |
| (133 points) | |
| top try scorer | Chris Ashton (Northampton) |
| (7 tries) | |
| venue | Twickenham Stoop |
| attendance2 | 9,260 |
| champions | ENG Northampton Saints |
| count | 1 |
| runner-up | France Bourgoin |
| website | https://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/ |
| previous year | 2007–08 |
| previous tournament | 2007–08 European Challenge Cup |
| next year | 2009–10 |
| next tournament | 2009–10 Amlin Challenge Cup |
France Ireland Italy Romania Spain (133 points) (7 tries) | runner-up = France Bourgoin
The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup was the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 22 May 2009, in which Northampton Saints defeated Bourgoin 15–3. With the win, the Saints not only claimed the trophy, but also won a berth in the 2009–10 Heineken Cup.
Teams
Seven French teams competed instead of the normal eight, as a French team, Toulouse, progressed farther in the previous year's Heineken Cup than any English or Italian team.
Other nations had their usual number of participants: England six, Italy four, Ireland one, Spain one and Romania one.
| ENG England | FRA France | Ireland Ireland | ITA Italy | ROM Romania | ESP Spain |
|---|
Pool stage
Main article: 2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage
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.
:{| class="wikitable"
| + 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG London Irish (1) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | +41 | 300 | 34 | +266 | 5 | 0 | **29** |
| Ireland Connacht (7) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 159 | 140 | +19 | 3 | 0 | **19** |
| ITA Rovigo | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 25 | −18 | 79 | 199 | –120 | 0 | 1 | **5** |
| FRA Dax | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 29 | −24 | 55 | 220 | –165 | 0 | 0 | **4** |
Pool 2
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG Northampton Saints (2) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 7 | +30 | 278 | 69 | +209 | 5 | 0 | **29** |
| ENG Bristol | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 140 | 168 | −28 | 1 | 1 | **14** |
| FRA Montpellier | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 101 | 159 | −58 | 0 | 1 | **9** |
| FRA RC Toulon | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 84 | 207 | −123 | 0 | 1 | **5** |
Pool 3
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG Worcester Warriors (4) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 8 | +28 | 255 | 94 | +161 | 4 | 0 | **24** |
| FRA Bourgoin (8) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 158 | 115 | +43 | 1 | 2 | **15** |
| ITA Petrarca Padova | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 28 | −17 | 112 | 206 | −94 | 0 | 1 | **13** |
| ROM București Oaks | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 26 | −18 | 87 | 197 | −110 | 0 | 1 | **5** |
Pool 4
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA Brive (5) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 8 | +25 | 243 | 89 | +154 | 3 | 1 | **24** |
| ENG Newcastle Falcons (6) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 178 | 90 | +88 | 2 | 1 | **19** |
| ITA Overmach Parma | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 165 | 120 | +45 | 2 | 2 | **16** |
| ESP El Salvador | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 52 | −47 | 46 | 333 | −287 | 0 | 0 | **0** |
Pool 5
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG Saracens (3) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | +19 | 200 | 43 | +157 | 2 | 0 | **26** |
| ITA Viadana | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 120 | 126 | −6 | 0 | 1 | **13** |
| FRA Bayonne | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 99 | 122 | −23 | 0 | 0 | **12** |
| FRA Mont-de-Marsan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 | −14 | 54 | 182 | −128 | 0 | 1 | **1** |
Seeding and runners-up
| Seed | Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/- | Seed | Pool Runners-up | Pts | TF | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **1** | ENG **London Irish** | 29 | 44 | +266 | |||||
| **2** | ENG **Northampton Saints** | 29 | 37 | +209 | |||||
| **3** | ENG **Saracens** | 26 | 20 | +157 | |||||
| **4** | ENG **Worcester Warriors** | 24 | 36 | +161 | |||||
| **5** | FRA **Brive** | 24 | 33 | +154 | |||||
| **6** | ENG **Newcastle Falcons** | 19 | 24 | +88 | |||||
| **7** | Ireland **Connacht** | 19 | 20 | +19 | |||||
| **8** | FRA **Bourgoin** | 15 | 18 | +43 | |||||
| – | ENG Bristol | 14 | 14 | −28 | |||||
| – | ITA Viadana | 13 | 8 | −6 |
Knockout stage
Unlike the Heineken Cup, the Challenge Cup did not conduct a semi-final draw at the time (such a draw would be instituted for the 2009–10 edition). The top half of the draw matched the 1 and 8 seeds in one quarter-final, and the 4 and 5 seeds in the other, and the bottom half matched 2 against 7 and 3 against 6; the higher (lower-numbered) seeds all play at home. The knockout stage was not reseeded after the quarter-finals. Home advantage for the semi-finals was awarded to the highest remaining seed in each half of the draw. Home advantage in the final went to the top remaining seed.
Quarter-finals
S. Armitage 80+2' m Con: D. Armitage (1/2) Pen: D. Armitage (5/6) 11', 16', 31', 40', 71' Drop: Kennedy (1/1) 79' Nicolas 77' c Con: Parra (2/2) Pen: Parra (4/5) 6', 37', 59', 63' Drop: Boyet (2/4) 28', 72'
Sanderson 22' c Grove 52' m Con: Jones (3/4) Pen: Jones (1/1) 9' Con: Palisson (1/2) Pen: Goode (1/1) 17' Palisson (1/1) 66'
Ansbro 74' m Reihana 79' c Mayor 80' m Con: Myler (1/2) Everitt (1/2) Pen: Myler (6/6) 16', 24', 37', 45', 55', 65' Con: Keatley (1/1) Pen: Keatley (1/1) 19' Drop: Keatley (1/1) 29'
Barritt 30' c Con: Jackson (2/2) Pen: Jackson (5/5) 15', 23', 53', 65', 68' Drop: Jackson (1/1) 38' Dowson 79' m Pen: May (1/1) 9'
Semi-finals
Con: Myler (1/1) Pen: Myler (2/2) 7', 13' Drop: Myler (1/1) 74' Con: Jackson (1/1) Pen: Jackson (2/2) 5', 52'
Con: Parra (1/1) Pen: Parra (4/4) 10', 43', 52', 58' Drop: Boyet (1/1) 60' Pen: Carlisle (2/2) 28', 35'
Final
References
- "European Challenge Cup – Key Tournament Rules". European Rugby Cup.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 2008–09 European Challenge Cup — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report