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2011–12 European Challenge Cup

Field	Value
name	2011–12 Amlin Challenge Cup
imagesize	100px
caption	Official logo
countries	England
France
Italy
Romania
Spain
Wales
tournament format	Round-robin and knockout
date	10 November 2011 to 18 May 2012
teams	23
matches	67
attendance	344547
tries	365
top point scorer	Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
(96 points)
top try scorer	Morgan Turinui (Stade Français)
(6 tries)
venue	Twickenham Stoop, London
attendance2	9,376
champions	FRA Biarritz
count	1
runner-up	FRA Toulon
website	https://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
previous year	2010–11
previous tournament	2010–11 European Challenge Cup
next year	2012–13
next tournament	2012–13 European Challenge Cup

France Italy Romania Spain Wales (96 points) (6 tries) | runner-up = FRA Toulon

The 2011–12 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 16th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition. The tournament began with two matches on 10 November 2011 and ended with the final on 18 May 2012 at the Twickenham Stoop in London. A total of 23 teams from six countries participated—20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockout stages from the Heineken Cup. In an all-French final, Biarritz claimed their first Challenge Cup, defeating Toulon 21–18. The Basque club claimed a place in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, which will be their 13th consecutive appearance in Europe's top club competition.

The defending Challenge Cup champions, England's Harlequins, did not initially have a chance to defend their crown because they had earned an automatic berth in the Heineken Cup. However, Quins parachuted into the knockout stage of this season's Challenge Cup, losing to Toulon in the quarter-finals. All four semi-finalists were from France, equalling the achievement of 1996–97 and 1998–99.

Teams

Teams that parachuted in from the Heineken Cup are in italics.

England	France	Italy	Romania	Spain	Wales

Seeding

Teams that did not qualify for the 2011–12 Heineken Cup were ordered into four tiers according to the European Rugby Club Ranking. Five pools of four teams were drawn comprising one team from each tier.

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4
FRA Stade Français (8)	FRA Perpignan (9)	ENG London Wasps (14)	FRA Toulon (19)
WAL Newport Gwent Dragons (26)	FRA Brive (27)	ENG Newcastle Falcons (28)	ENG Worcester Warriors (29)
ITA Petrarca Padova	ITA Crociati Parma	ITA Rugby Rovigo	FRA Agen
ITA Cavalieri Prato	FRA Lyon	FRA Bordeaux-Bègles	ROM Bucharest Wolves

Pool stage

Main article: 2011–12 European Challenge Cup pool stage

:{| class="wikitable"

+ Key to colours
Winner of each pool advances to quarterfinals.
Seed # in parentheses.
}

Pool 1

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	Pts
FRA Stade Français (1)	6	6	0	33	5	+28	241	43	+198	5	29
ENG Worcester Warriors	6	4	2	30	9	+21	194	95	+99	4	20
ROM București Wolves	6	2	4	12	27	−15	102	184	−82	2	10
ITA Crociati Parma	6	0	6	4	38	−34	36	251	−215	0	0

Pool 2

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
FRA Toulon (3)	6	5	1	26	5	+14	197	73	+124	3	1	25
ENG Newcastle Falcons	6	4	2	18	9	+9	133	82	+51	2	0	18
FRA Lyon	6	3	3	16	11	+5	143	114	+29	1	1	14
ITA Petrarca Padova	6	0	6	3	38	−28	50	254	−204	0	0	0

Pool 3

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
ENG London Wasps (4)	6	5	1	21	7	+14	189	75	+114	4	0	24
FRA Bayonne	6	5	1	10	3	+7	197	61	+136	2	0	22
FRA Bordeaux Bègles	6	2	4	9	14	−5	82	132	−50	1	1	10
ITA Rovigo	6	0	6	5	21	−16	51	251	−200	0	1	1

Pool 4

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
ENG Exeter Chiefs (8)	6	5	1	22	4	+18	202	64	+121	2	1	23
FRA Perpignan	6	4	2	17	9	+8	153	112	+41	2	0	18
WAL Newport Gwent Dragons	6	3	3	16	7	+9	139	100	+10	2	1	15
ITA Cavalieri Prato	6	0	6	6	41	−35	62	280	−218	0	0	0

Pool 5

Team	P	W	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	Pts
FRA Brive (2)	6	6	0	26	7	+19	209	79	+130	3	28
ENG Sale Sharks	6	4	2	31	8	+23	225	96	+129	4	20
FRA Agen	6	2	4	24	21	+3	168	166	+2	2	10
ESP La Vila	6	0	6	6	51	−45	64	325	−261	0	0

Knockout stage

Seeding

Following the end of the pool stage, the 5 pool winners were seeded alongside the top 3 2011–12 Heineken Cup pool runners-up who failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

(HC) Means a team has entered the competition from the Heineken Cup

Seed	Team
1	FRA Stade Français
2	FRA Brive
3	FRA Toulon
4	ENG London Wasps
5 (HC)	FRA Biarritz
6 (HC)	ENG Harlequins
7 (HC)	WAL Scarlets
8	ENG Exeter Chiefs

Quarter-finals

To be played on the weekend of 5–8 April 2012.

Williams 79' m

Lapeyre 60' c Armitage 73' m Giteau (1/2) Giteau (1/1) 52'

Davis 66' c van Staden 40' c

Semi-finals

This is the fifth time that one country has supplied all four semi-finalists: they were all French in 1996–97 and 1998–99, and all English in the 2005–06 and 2007–08 seasons.

Turinui 60' c

Final

References

Jenkins, Graham. (18 May 2012). "Biarritz edge Toulon for euro glory". ESPN Scrum.
"Gwlad! Rugby Online Chat". Forum.gwladrugby.com.
(2012-01-19). "ERC : Amlin Challenge Cup : Pools : Pool Tables". Ercrugby.com.
"Amlin Challenge Cup Fixtures: Knock-out Stages". European Rugby Cup.
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