1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage

The 1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the first season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. Matches took place between 12 October and 2 November 1996.

1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Season1996–97 European Challenge Cup
Date12 October 1996 – 2 November 1996
Qualifiers
Seed 1France Castres Olympique
Seed 2England Northampton Saints
Seed 3France Bourgoin
Seed 4France Agen
Seed 5France Montferrand
Seed 6France Toulon
Seed 7France Narbonne
Seed 8France Bordeaux-Bègles
1997–98
(Next)

Twenty-four teams participated in this phase 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. 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. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers, France on 26 January 1997.

Results

edit

Pool 1

edit
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff Pts
  Agen 5 5 0 0 20 9 +11 156 82 +74 10
  Montferrand 5 4 0 1 30 8 +22 211 74 +137 8
  Sale Sharks 5 3 0 2 18 14 +4 166 115 +51 6
  Newport 5 2 0 3 14 19 −15 98 158 −60 4
  Glasgow 5 1 0 4 15 30 −15 113 202 −89 2
  Newbridge 5 0 0 5 16 33 −17 106 219 −113 0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today
Points breakdown:
*2 points for a win
*1 point for a draw
12 October 1996
Agen  32–13  Newport
Report
Stade Armandie




30 October 1996
Glasgow  23–34  Agen
Report
Hughenden

Pool 2

edit
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff Pts
  Castres Olympique 5 5 0 0 29 6 +23 207 71 +136 10
  Narbonne 5 4 0 1 21 6 +15 161 90 +71 8
  Dinamo-București 5 2 1 2 12 32 −20 109 213 −104 5
  Bridgend 4 1 1 2 10 14 −4 94 120 −26 3
  Bristol 5 1 0 4 11 12 −1 128 99 +29 2
  Treorchy 4 0 0 4 10 23 −13 72 178 −106 0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today
Points breakdown:
*2 points for a win
*1 point for a draw




  • The Treorchy v Bridgend match was not played.[1]

Pool 3

edit
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff Pts
  Northampton Saints 5 5 0 0 28 12 +16 207 88 +119 10
  Toulon 5 4 0 1 22 10 +12 164 102 +62 8
  Orrell 5 2 0 3 18 22 −4 122 173 −51 4
  Connacht 5 2 0 3 9 17 −8 94 131 −37 4
  Dunvant 5 1 0 4 15 22 −7 106 169 −63 2
  Petrarca 5 1 0 4 10 19 −9 118 148 −30 2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today
Points breakdown:
*2 points for a win
*1 point for a draw

16 October 1996
Toulon  32–23  Petrarca
Report
Stade Mayol

19 October 1996
Orrell  23–28  Toulon
Report
Edge Hall Road

27 October 1996
Toulon  44–10  Connacht
Report
Stade Mayol

Pool 4

edit
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff Pts
  Bourgoin 5 5 0 0 27 4 +23 196 66 +130 10
  Bordeaux-Bègles 5 3 1 1 29 13 +16 195 99 +96 7
  Swansea 5 3 1 1 28 19 +9 207 138 +69 7
  Gloucester 5 2 0 3 17 17 0 119 123 −4 4
  Ebbw Vale 5 1 0 4 6 36 −30 48 243 −195 2
  London Irish 5 0 0 5 12 30 −18 90 186 −96 0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-08-20 at archive.today
Points breakdown:
*2 points for a win
*1 point for a draw




Qualifiers

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

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "European Challenge Cup 1996/7". BBC. 13 April 2004. Retrieved 21 August 2013.