2011–12 European Challenge Cup

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.[1]

2011–12 Amlin Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Italy
 Romania
 Spain
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and knockout
Date10 November 2011 to 18 May 2012
Tournament statistics
Teams23
Matches played67
Attendance344,547 (5,142 per match)
Tries scored365 (5.45 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
(96 points)
Top try scorer(s)Morgan Turinui (Stade Français)
(6 tries)
Final
VenueTwickenham Stoop, London
Attendance9,376
Champions Biarritz (1st title)
Runners-up Toulon

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
  • Bucharest Wolves

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.[2]

Tier 1 Stade Français (8) Perpignan (9) London Wasps (14) Toulon (19) Sale Sharks (22)
Tier 2 Newport Gwent Dragons (26) Brive (27) Newcastle Falcons (28) Worcester Warriors (29) Bayonne
Tier 3 Petrarca Padova Crociati Parma Rugby Rovigo Agen Exeter Chiefs
Tier 4 Cavalieri Prato Lyon Bordeaux-Bègles Bucharest Wolves Club Rugby La Vila Comunidad Valencia

Pool stage
Main article: 2011–12 European Challenge Cup pool stage
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
Stade Français (1) 6600335+2824143+1985029
Worcester Warriors 6402309+2119495+994020
București Wolves 62041227−15102184−822010
Crociati Parma 6006438−3436251−215000

Pool 2
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Toulon (3) 6501265+1419773+1243125
Newcastle Falcons 6402189+913382+512018
Lyon 63031611+5143114+291114
Petrarca Padova 6006338−2850254−204000

Pool 3
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
London Wasps (4) 6501217+1418975+1144024
Bayonne 6501103+719761+1362022
Bordeaux Bègles 6204914−582132−501110
Rovigo 6006521−1651251−200011

Pool 4
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Exeter Chiefs (8) 6501224+1820264+1212123
Perpignan 6402179+8153112+412018
Newport Gwent Dragons 6303167+9139100+102115
Cavalieri Prato 6006641−3562280−218000

Pool 5
Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
Brive (2) 6600267+1920979+1303028
Sale Sharks 6402318+2322596+1294020
Agen 62042421+3168166+22010
La Vila 6006651−4564325−261000

[3]

Knock-out stages

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 Stade Français
2 Brive
3 Toulon
4 London Wasps
5 (HC) Biarritz
6 (HC) Harlequins
7 (HC) Scarlets
8 Exeter Chiefs

Quarter-finals

To be played on the weekend of 5–8 April 2012.[4]

5 April 2012
20:45 CEST
Stade Français 22–17 Exeter Chiefs
Try: Camara 43' m
Williams 79' m
Pen: Dupuy (4/4) 29', 40', 47', 55'
 Report[5] Try: Naqelevuki 68' m
Pen: Mieres (4/5) 21', 27', 36', 49'
Stade Charléty, Paris
Attendance: 4,693
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
6 April 2012
20:45 CEST
Toulon 37–8 Harlequins
Try: Tillous-Borde 34' c
Lapeyre 60' c
Armitage 73' m
Con: Wilkinson (1/1)
Giteau (1/2)
Pen: Wilkinson (5/5) 5', 8', 14', 18' 30'
Giteau (1/1) 52'
 Report[6] Try: Care 70' m
Pen: Clegg (1/1) 11'
Stade Mayol, Toulon
Attendance: 12,762
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
7 April 2012
12:30 BST
London Wasps 23–26 Biarritz
Try: Wade 63' c
Davis 66' c
Con: Robinson (2/2)
Pen: Robinson (3/3) 12', 21', 39'
 Report[7] Try: Balshaw 22' c
van Staden 40' c
Con: Yachvili (2/2)
Pen: Yachvili (4/4) 28', 54', 61', 75'
Adams Park, High Wycombe
Attendance: 4,308
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
8 April 2012
20:45 CEST
Brive 15–11 Scarlets
Pen: Swanepoel (5/8) 15', 36', 46', 50', 79'
 Report[8] Try: Li. Williams 58' m
Pen: S. Jones (2/4) 30', 39'

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.

27 April 2012
20:55 CEST
Toulon 32–29 Stade Français
Try: Armitage 2' m
Pen: Wilkinson (7/11) 31', 40', 42', 50', 55', 63', 67'
Drop: Wilkinson (2/3) 46', 79'
 Report[9] Try: Bonneval 12' c
Turinui 60' c
Con: Plisson (2/2)
Pen: Plisson (3/5) 15', 26', 37'
Drop: Plisson (2/2) 21', 68'
Stade Mayol, Toulon
Attendance: 12,404
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
28 April 2012
16:00 CEST
Biarritz 19–0 Brive
Try: Traille 29' c
Con: Yachvili (1/1)
Pen: Yachvili (4/5) 17', 23', 67', 71'
 Report[10]

Final
18 May 2012
20:00 BST
Biarritz 21–18 Toulon
Pen: Yachvili (7/7) 4', 17', 24', 35', 46', 53', 73'
 Report[11] Pen: Wilkinson (5/7) 11', 22', 31', 44', 59'
Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 65'
Twickenham Stoop, London
Attendance: 9,376
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
gollark: I think they do have somewhat less international travel than the UK does, but yes.
gollark: Also, arrested? NZ must have had much more enforcing enforcement than we did.
gollark: I meant talking about it on discord or facebook or something, but sure.
gollark: But perhaps this could be mitigated with technology.
gollark: This is unfortunately unrealistic due to interactions with other people *directly*.

References
  1. Jenkins, Graham (18 May 2012). "Biarritz edge Toulon for euro glory". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  2. "Gwlad! Rugby Online Chat". Forum.gwladrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  3. "ERC : Amlin Challenge Cup : Pools : Pool Tables". Ercrugby.com. 2012-01-19. Archived from the original on 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  4. "Amlin Challenge Cup Fixtures: Knock-out Stages". European Rugby Cup. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  5. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  6. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  7. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  8. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  9. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  10. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  11. "Home". www.ercrugby.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
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