2004–05 European Challenge Cup

2004-05 European Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries  England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Portugal
 Scotland
 Spain
Tournament format(s) Knockout
Date 23 October 2004 21 May 2005
Tournament statistics
Teams 28
Matches played 57
Attendance 177,521 (3,114 per match)
Tries scored 360 (6.32 per match)
Top point scorer(s) Paul Warwick (Connacht)
(97 points)
[1]
Top try scorer(s) Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
(9 tries)
[2]
Final
Venue Kassam Stadium, Oxford
Attendance 7,230
Champions England Sale Sharks (2nd title)
Runner-up France Pau
Official website http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
2003–04 (Previous) (Next) 2005–06

The 2004–05 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 28 teams participated, representing seven different countries.

The competition began with a series of matches on 23 October 2004 and culminated in the final at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on 21 May 2005.

As in the previous two seasons, the competition was organised in a knockout format. Teams played each other on a home and away basis, with the aggregate points winner proceeding to the next round. The final was a single leg. This was the final season with a pure knockout format; in subsequent seasons the competition reverted to a pool stage followed by a knockout.

For the third and final time, a third tier tournament was held - the European Shield. This was contested between the first round losers from the European Challenge Cup.[3] As there were only 28 teams involved, the 2 "best" 1st Round losers were reprieved and proceeded to the 2nd Round.

The defending champions, England's NEC Harlequins, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. Sale Sharks claimed a comfortable victory over Pau in the final and picked up their second piece of European Club silverware.

Teams

The allocation of teams was as follows:

England: 5 teams — all teams from the Zurich Premiership that did not qualify for the 2004–05 Heineken Cup
France: 10 teams — all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup
Ireland: 1 team — the Irish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup
Italy: 8 teams — all the teams from the Super 10 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup
Portugal: 1 team
Scotland: 1 team — the Scottish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup
Spain: 2 teams — drawn from the División de Honor de Rugby
England England France France Ireland Ireland Italy Italy Portugal Portugal Scotland Scotland Spain Spain
Leeds Tykes
London Irish
Sale Sharks
Saracens
Worcester Warriors
Agen
Auch
Bayonne
Béziers
Brive
Clermont Auvergne
Grenoble
Montpellier
Narbonne
Pau
Connacht
Catania
Gran Parma
L'Aquila
Leonessa
Overmach Parma
Petrarca Padova
Rovigo
Viadana
AA Coimbra
Borders
El Salvador
Valladolid RAC

Matches

All kickoff times are local to the match location.[4]

Round 1

1st Leg

23 October 2004
14:00
AA Coimbra Portugal 3 98 Scotland Borders
Report
23 October 2004
14:00
Worcester Warriors England 29 15 France Brive
Report
Sixways Stadium
Attendance: 4,036
23 October 2004
15:00
Gran Parma Italy 15 35 France Pau
Report
Stadio Nando Capra
Attendance: 700
23 October 2004
15:00
L'Aquila Italy 27 50 France Agen
Report
Stadio Tommaso Fattori
Attendance: 1,500
23 October 2004
15:30
Rovigo Italy 7 51 France Montpellier
Report
23 October 2004
16:00
Petrarca Padova Italy 24 57 France Béziers
Report
Stadio Plebiscito
Attendance: 200
23 October 2004
16:30
Valladolid RAC Spain 3 88 Italy Viadana
Report
Estadio Pepe Rojo
Attendance: 2,000
23 October 2004
18:00
Auch France 18 20 England London Irish
Report
Stade Patrice Brocas
Attendance: 1,500
23 October 2004
19:00
Bayonne France 21 24 England Saracens
Report
Stade Jean Dauger
Attendance: 3,800
23 October 2004
19:30
Grenoble France 9 9 England Leeds Tykes
Report
Stade Lesdiguières
Attendance: 3,000
23 October 2004
19:30
Narbonne France 25 11 Ireland Connacht
Report
23 October 2004
20:00
Leonessa Italy 0 65 France Clermont Auvergne
Report
Campo Comunale di Rugby
Attendance: 400
24 October 2004
12:30
El Salvador Spain 36 12 Italy Overmach Parma
Report
Estadio Pepe Rojo
Attendance: 1,500
24 October 2004
15:00
Catania Italy 22 31 England Sale Sharks
Report

2nd Leg

29 October 2004
19:30
Borders Scotland 107 3 Portugal AA Coimbra
Report
Netherdale
Attendance: 1,450
29 October 2004
19:30
Montpellier France 59 3 Italy Rovigo
Report
Stade Sabathé
Attendance: 1,500
29 October 2004
19:45
Saracens England 36 10 France Bayonne
Report
Vicarage Road
Attendance: 4,906
29 October 2004
20:00
Leeds Tykes England 17 18 France Grenoble
Report
Headingley Stadium
Attendance: 2,805
30 October 2004
14:30
Connacht Ireland 40 21 France Narbonne
Report
Galway Sportsgrounds
Attendance: 2,000
30 October 2004
14:30
Overmach Parma Italy 36 10 Spain El Salvador
Report
30 October 2004
15:00
Béziers France 69 18 Italy Petrarca Padova
Report
30 October 2004
19:00
Pau France 31 22 Italy Gran Parma
Report
Stade du Hameau
Attendance: 3,000
30 October 2004
19:30
Agen France 59 21 Italy L'Aquila
Report
Stade Armandie
Attendance: 4,128
30 October 2004
19:30
Brive France 40 10 England Worcester Warriors
Report
Stade Amédée-Domenech
Attendance: 5,100
30 October 2004
19:30
Clermont Auvergne France 51 6 Italy Leonessa
Report
30 October 2004
19:30
Viadana Italy 59 7 Spain Valladolid RAC
Report
31 October 2004
15:00
London Irish England 42 18 France Auch
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 5,638
31 October 2004
15:00
Sale Sharks England 50 3 Italy Catania
Report
Edgeley Park
Attendance: 5,126

Aggregate Results

Key to colours
     14 winners and 2 best losers advance to 2nd Round.
     12 other teams to Shield.
Winners Match points Aggregate score Points margin Losers
Borders Scotland 4 0 205 6 199 Portugal AA Coimbra
Viadana Italy 4 0 147 10 137 Spain Valladolid RAC
Clermont Auvergne France 4 0 116 6 110 Italy Leonessa
Montpellier France 4 0 110 10 100 Italy Rovigo
Béziers France 4 0 126 42 84 Italy Petrarca Padova
Agen France 4 0 109 48 61 Italy L'Aquila
Sale Sharks England 4 0 81 25 56 Italy Catania
Pau France 4 0 66 37 29 France Bayonne
Saracens England 4 0 60 31 29 Italy Gran Parma
London Irish England 4 0 62 36 26 France Auch
Grenoble France 3 1 27 26 1 England Leeds Tykes
Brive France 2 2 55 39 16 England Worcester Warriors
Connacht Ireland 2 2 51 46 5 France Narbonne
Overmach Parma Italy 2 2 48 46 2 Spain El Salvador

Round 2

1st Leg

3 December 2004
19:30
Béziers France 12 27 France Grenoble
Report
4 December 2004
14:30
Connacht Ireland 56 3 France Montpellier
Report
Galway Sportsgrounds
Attendance: 2,200
4 December 2004
15:00
Overmach Parma Italy 19 18 England Saracens
Report
4 December 2004
18:30
Narbonne France 15 33 England Sale Sharks
Report
4 December 2004
19:00
Pau France 25 19 England London Irish
Report
Stade du Hameau
Attendance: 3,000
4 December 2004
19:30
Agen France 23 15 Italy Viadana
Report
Stade Armandie
Attendance: 3,000
4 December 2004
19:30
Brive France 57 6 Spain El Salvador
Report
Stade Amédée-Domenech
Attendance: 6,329
5 December 2004
15:00
Clermont Auvergne France 44 14 Scotland Borders
Report

2nd Leg

10 December 2004
19:30
Grenoble France 38 26 France Béziers
Report
Stade Lesdiguières
Attendance: 2,000
10 December 2004
19:30
Montpellier France 19 14 Ireland Connacht
Report
Stade Sabathé
Attendance: 1,000
10 December 2004
19:45
Sale Sharks England 25 10 France Narbonne
Report
Edgeley Park
Attendance: 5,854
11 December 2004
14:30
Viadana Italy 22 17 France Agen
Report
Stadio Luigi Zaffanella
Attendance: 2,000
11 December 2004
16:30
El Salvador Spain 23 45 France Brive
Report
Estadio Pepe Rojo
Attendance: 1,300
12 December 2004
14:00
Borders Scotland 23 34 France Clermont Auvergne
Report
Netherdale
Attendance: 1,400
12 December 2004
14:30
London Irish England 19 16 France Pau
Report
Madejski Stadium
Attendance: 5,391
12 December 2004
15:00
Saracens England 52 6 Italy Overmach Parma
Report
Vicarage Road
Attendance: 5,391

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Quarter-final Match points Aggregate score Points margin Eliminated from competition
Brive France 4 0 102 29 73 Spain El Salvador
Clermont Auvergne France 4 0 78 37 41 Scotland Borders
Sale Sharks England 4 0 58 25 33 France Narbonne
Grenoble France 4 0 65 38 27 France Béziers
Connacht Ireland 2 2 70 22 48 France Montpellier
Saracens England 2 2 70 25 45 Italy Overmach Parma
Pau France 2 2 41 38 3 England London Irish
Agen France 2 2 40 37 3 Italy Viadana

Quarter-finals

1st Leg

7 January 2005
19:30
Grenoble France 21 26 Ireland Connacht
Report
Stade Lesdiguières
Attendance: 2,700
7 January 2005
19:45
Sale Sharks England 34 18 France Agen
Report
Edgeley Park
Attendance: 4,866
8 January 2005
19:30
Pau France 25 21 France Clermont Auvergne
Report
Stade du Hameau
Attendance: 3,000
9 January 2005
15:00
Saracens England 19 6 France Brive
Report
Vicarage Road
Attendance: 4,201

2nd Leg

14 January 2005
19:30
Clermont Auvergne France 26 25 France Pau
Report
15 January 2005
14:00
Connacht Ireland 19 3 France Grenoble
Report
Galway Sportsgrounds
Attendance: 2,500
15 January 2005
19:30
Agen France 17 15 England Sale Sharks
Report
Stade Armandie
Attendance: 3,500
16 January 2005
15:00
Brive France 31 16 England Saracens
Report
Stade Amédée-Domenech
Attendance: 6,000

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Semi-final Match points Aggregate score Points margin Eliminated from competition
Connacht Ireland 4 0 45 24 21 France Grenoble
Sale Sharks England 2 2 49 35 14 France Agen
Pau France 2 2 50 47 3 France Clermont Auvergne
Brive France 2 2 37 35 2 England Saracens

Semi-finals

1st Leg

2 April 2005
13:00
Connacht Ireland 18 25 England Sale Sharks
Report
Galway Sportsgrounds
Attendance: 5,800
3 April 2005
14:00
Pau France 37 16 France Brive
Report
Stade du Hameau
Attendance: 2,000

2nd Leg

23 April 2005
19:15
Brive France 27 13 France Pau
Report
Stade Amédée-Domenech
Attendance: 5,000
24 April 2005
13:00
Sale Sharks England 59 9 Ireland Connacht
Report
Edgeley Park
Attendance: 6,456

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Final Match points Aggregate score Points margin Eliminated from competition
Sale Sharks England 4 0 84 27 57 Ireland Connacht
Pau France 2 2 50 43 7 France Brive

Final

21 May 2005
12:45
Sale Sharks England 27 3 France Pau
Try: Hodgson (2) 24' c, 68' m
Titterrell 36' c
Cueto 56' m
Con: Hodgson (2/4)
Pen: Hodgson (1) 3'
Report Pen: Beauxis (1) 30'
Kassam Stadium, Oxford
Attendance: 7,230
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

See also

References

  1. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  2. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  3. "Challenge Cup European Champions". ERC. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  4. "Challenge Cup Fixtures". ERC. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
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