2010–11 European Challenge Cup

2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries  England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Romania
 Spain
Tournament format(s) Round-robin and Knockout
Date 7 October 2010 to 20 May 2011
Tournament statistics
Teams 23
Matches played 67
Top point scorer(s) Julien Caminati (Brive)
(97 points)
Top try scorer(s) Tom Brady (Sale)
Sam Gerber (Bayonne)
Nicolas Jeanjean (Brive)
Nick Macleod (Sale)
Pierre Rabadan (Stade Français)
James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester)
Henry Trinder (Gloucester)
(5 tries)
Final
Venue Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff
Champions England Harlequins (3rd title)
Runner-up France Stade Français
Official website http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
← 2009–10 (Previous) (Next) 2011–12 →

The 2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 15th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition, and the second to be sponsored by the British insurance company Amlin. The tournament began on 7 October 2010, with the final played on 20 May 2011 at Cardiff City Stadium, the day before the 2011 Heineken Cup Final in the same city at Millennium Stadium. A total of 23 teams from six countries participated. The competition began with 20 teams; three more teams that began their seasons in the Heineken Cup parachuted into the knockout stage. Cardiff Blues did not defend their title, as by winning the 2009–10 cup, they qualified for the 2010–11 Heineken Cup, and did not parachute into the Challenge Cup.

Harlequins claimed the title with a 19–18 win over Stade Français, becoming the first team to win the Challenge Cup three times.[1] The victory also sent Quins into the 2011–12 Heineken Cup.

Teams

The allocation of teams is as follows:

England France Ireland Italy Romania Spain

Seeding

Teams that did not qualify for the 2010-11 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 2009–10 season.

Tier 1 FranceStade Français (8) EnglandGloucester (13) EnglandSale Sharks (18) FranceBourgoin (20) EnglandHarlequins (22)
Tier 2 EnglandNewcastle Falcons (25) FranceBrive (28) Ireland Connacht (31) FranceAgen (33) ItalyCrociati Parma (37)
Tier 3 EnglandLeeds Carnegie (38) FranceMontpellier (39) FranceBayonne ItalyPetrarca Padova ItalyRovigo
Tier 4 FranceLa Rochelle ItalyCavalieri Prato EnglandExeter Chiefs RomaniaBucureşti Oaks SpainEl Salvador

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 9 June 2010.

Key to colours
     Winner of each pool advances 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
England Harlequins (4) 6 5 0 1 21 6 +15 189 84 +105 3 1 24
Ireland Connacht 6 3 0 3 19 8 +11 173 99 +74 1 2 15
France Bayonne 6 3 0 3 19 12 +7 163 116 +47 2 1 15
Italy Cavalieri Prato 6 1 0 5 8 41 −33 77 303 −226 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
France Brive (2) 6 6 0 0 34 3 +31 257 54 +203 3 0 27
England Sale Sharks 6 4 0 2 39 4 +35 279 58 +221 4 1 21
Italy Petrarca Padova 6 1 0 5 10 26 −16 88 213 −125 1 1 6
Spain El Salvador 6 1 0 5 6 56 −50 69 368 −299 0 0 4

Pool 3

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
France Montpellier (8) 6 5 0 1 10 11 −1 147 101 +46 1 0 21
England Exeter Chiefs 6 3 0 3 16 10 +6 154 113 +41 1 3 16
France Bourgoin 6 2 0 4 10 12 −2 119 130 −11 2 1 11
England Newcastle Falcons 6 2 0 4 7 10 −3 66 142 −76 0 1 9

Pool 4

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
France Stade Français (1) 6 6 0 0 29 7 +22 216 73 +143 5 0 29
England Leeds Carnegie 6 4 0 2 24 6 +18 173 88 +85 3 0 19
Romania Bucureşti Oaks 6 1 0 5 4 17 −13 74 148 −74 0 1 5
Italy Crociati Parma 6 1 0 5 3 30 −27 70 224 −154 0 1 5

Pool 5

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
France La Rochelle (3) 6 5 0 1 26 10 +16 197 91 +106 3 1 24
England Gloucester 6 4 0 2 35 7 +28 255 77 +178 3 2 21
France Agen 6 3 0 3 21 18 +3 167 158 +9 2 1 15
Italy Rugby Rovigo 6 0 0 6 6 53 −47 55 348 −293 0 0 0

Knock-out stages

Seeding

Following the end of the pool stage, the 5 pool winners were seeded alongside the top 3 2010-11 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 France Stade Français
2 France Brive
3 France La Rochelle
4 England Harlequins
5 (HC) England London Wasps
6 (HC) France Clermont
7 (HC) Ireland Munster
8 France Montpellier

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were decided based on the above seeding. All game times are local.

7 April 2011
20.45
La Rochelle France 13 – 23 France Clermont
Try: Goosen 63' c
Con: Goosen (1/1)
Pen: Goosen (2/4) 7', 17'
 Report Try: Rougerie 13' c
Murimurivalu 71' c
Con: James (2/2)
Pen: James (3/6) 3', 28', 76'
8 April 2011
20.45
Stade Français France 32 - 28 France Montpellier
Try: Southwell 26' c
Rabadan 30' m
Penalty try 53' c
Burban 59' c
Con: Dupuy (1/2)
Beauxis (2/2)
Pen: Beauxis (2) 50', 67'
 Report Try: Chkhaidze 9' c
Con: Paillaugue (1/1)
Pen: Paillaugue (3) 7', 12' 21'
Lagarde (4) 35', 48', 61', 63'
Stade Charléty, Paris
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
8 April 2011
19.45
Harlequins England 32 - 22 England London Wasps
Try: Care 1' c
Fa'asavalu 4' c
Con: Evans (2/2)
Pen: Evans (5/5) 28', 35', 40', 46', 59'
Drop: Evans 76'
 Report Try: Jewell 11' c
Lindsay 51' c
Haughton 71' m
Con: Walder (2/3)
Drop: Walder 24'
Twickenham Stoop, London
Attendance: 8,565
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
9 April 2011
14.00
Brive France 37 - 42 Ireland Munster
Try: Uys 17' c
Estebanez 20' c
Palisson 70' c
Perry 80' c
Con: Belie (4/4) 17',20',80',70'
Pen: Belie 10',36',45'
 Report Try: Howlett (2) 1' c, 22' c
Earls (2) 4' c, 46' c
Stringer 50' c
Con: O'Gara (4/5)
Pen: O'Gara (3/3) 53', 66', 68'

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals of both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup took place after the Pool 6 Heinieken Cup match between London Wasps and Toulouse on 23 January 2011. The draw was conducted in the Sky Sports booth by Ieuan Evans and Jean-Pierre Lux, Chairman of ERC, at Adams Park, High Wycombe.

In last season's Challenge Cup, any semi-final that involved a club that started the season in the Challenge Cup and a club that started in the Heineken Cup would be hosted by the club that started in the Challenge Cup. This rule was abandoned for 2010–11; the home club in each semi-final is now determined strictly by the draw.

29 April 2011
20:45
Stade Français France 29 – 25 France Clermont
Try: Arias 21' c
Boussès 65' c
Con: Beauxis (2/2)
Pen: Beauxis (5/7) 12', 27', 32', 36', 56'
 Report Try: Pisi 16' c
Russell 48' c
Cudmore 76' m
Con: Parra (2/3)
Pen: Parra (2/5) 14', 46'
Stade Charléty, Paris
Attendance: 6,712
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
30 April 2011
13:00
Munster Ireland 12 – 20 England Harlequins
Try: Jones 40' c
Howlett 78' m
Con: O'Gara (1/2)
 Report Try: Robson 9' c
Care 34' c
Con: Evans (1/1)
Care (1/1)
Pen: Clegg (2/2) 49', 59'
Thomond Park, Limerick
Attendance: 24,907
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Final

The final of the Amlin Challenge Cup took place at Cardiff City Stadium on 20 May 2011. Harlequins won the trophy for the third time with a 19-18 victory over Stade Francais.[2][3]

20 May 2011
19.45
Harlequins England 19 – 18 France Stade Français
Try: Camacho 76' c
Con: Evans (1/1)
Pen: Evans (4/5) 6', 16', 27', 66'
 Report Pen: Beauxis (4/5) 12', 32', 46', 57'
Drop: Bastareaud (1/1) 47'
Rodríguez (1/2) 72'
Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 12,236
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Individual statistics

Top points scorers

Player Team Points
France Julien Caminati France Brive 97
New Zealand Nick Evans England Harlequins 94
Ireland Ian Keatley Ireland Connacht 71
France Raphaël Lagarde France Montpellier 65
England Freddie Burns England Gloucester 64
Wales Nick Macleod England Sale Sharks 58
France Lionel Beauxis France Stade Français 53
England Rob Miller England Sale Sharks 48
England Ryan Davis England Exeter Chiefs 47
South Africa Greg Goosen France La Rochelle 47

[4]

Top try scorers

Player Team Tries
England Tom Brady England Sale Sharks 5
South Africa Sam Gerber France Bayonne 5
France Nicolas Jeanjean France Brive 5
Wales Nick Macleod England Sale Sharks 5
France Pierre Rabadan France Stade Français 5
England James Simpson-Daniel England Gloucester 5
England Henry Trinder England Gloucester 5
France Julien Caminati France Brive 4
France Jonathan Elgoyhen France Brive 4
Samoa Henry Fa'afili England Leeds 4

[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Harlequins 19-18 Stade Francais". BBC Sport. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Quins claim Challenge Cup glory". espnscrum. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Harlequins 19 Stade Francais 18". Daily Telegraph. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". European Rugby Cup. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  5. ↑ "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". European Rugby Cup. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
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