# 2009–10 Amlin Challenge Cup pool stage

The 2009–10 Amlin Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 14th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 8 October 2009 when Worcester Warriors hosted Montpellier and ended on 24 January 2010 with the match between Leeds Carnegie and Bourgoin.
Twenty teams participated in this phase of the competition; they were divided into five pools of four teams each, with each team playing the others home and away. Competition points were earned using the standard bonus point system. The pool winners advanced to the knockout stage, where they were joined by three entrants from the Heineken Cup pool stage. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on 23 May 2010.

## Results

All times are local to the game location.
    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 |
| Bourgoin (8) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 141 | 86 | +55 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| Leeds Carnegie | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 6 | +13 | 160 | 82 | +78 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Overmach Parma | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 17 | −12 | 78 | 145 | −67 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| București Oaks | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 70 | 136 | −66 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
* 9 October 2009 19:30
| Bourgoin | 29–19 | Leeds Carnegie |
* Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin
* 10 October 2009 13:00
| București Oaks | 21–9 | Overmach Parma |
* Stadionul Naţional de Rugby, Bucharest
* 17 October 2009 13:00
| București Oaks | 19–21 | Bourgoin |
* Stadionul Naţional de Rugby, Bucharest
* 18 October 2009 15:00
| Leeds Carnegie | 32–13 | Overmach Parma |
* Headingley, Leeds
* 12 December 2009 13:00
| București Oaks | 6–10 | Leeds Carnegie |
* Stadionul Naţional de Rugby, Bucharest
* 12 December 2009 14:00
| Overmach Parma | 14–9 | Bourgoin |
* Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma
* 17 December 2009 19:30
| Bourgoin | 31–10 | Overmach Parma |
* Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin
* 20 December 2009 15:00
| Leeds Carnegie | 47–0 | București Oaks |
* Headingley, Leeds
* 14 January 2010 19:30
| Bourgoin | 33–15 | București Oaks |
* Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin
* 16 January 2010 14:30
| Overmach Parma | 16–38 | Leeds Carnegie |
* Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma
* 23 January 2010 14:30
| Overmach Parma | 16–9 | București Oaks |
* Stadio XXV Aprile, Parma
* 24 January 2010 15:00
| Leeds Carnegie | 9–18 | Bourgoin |
* Headingley, Leeds

### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Connacht (1) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 5 | +23 | 199 | 63 | +136 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| Montpellier | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 158 | 92 | +66 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| Worcester Warriors | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 140 | 83 | +57 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Olympus Madrid | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 45 | −41 | 44 | 303 | −269 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* 8 October 2009 19:45
| Worcester Warriors | 17–22 | Montpellier |
* Sixways Stadium, Worcester
* 9 October 2009 18:30
| Connacht | 46–6 | Olympus Madrid |
* Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway
* 16 October 2009 20:00
| Montpellier | 19–22 | Connacht |
* Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier
* 17 October 2009 16:30
| Olympus Madrid | 5–38 | Worcester Warriors |
* Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid
* 11 December 2009 20:00
| Montpellier | 57–24 | Olympus Madrid |
* Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier
* 11 December 2009 15:00
| Worcester Warriors | 21–26 | Connacht |
* Sixways Stadium, Worcester
* 18 December 2009 19:00
| Connacht | 19–7 | Worcester Warriors |
* Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway
* 19 December 2009 16:00
| Olympus Madrid | 6–42 | Montpellier |
* Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid
* 15 January 2010 19:00
| Connacht | 20–10 | Montpellier |
* Galway Sportsgrounds, Galway
* 16 January 2010 15:00
| Worcester Warriors | 54–3 | Olympus Madrid |
* Sixways Stadium, Worcester
* 22 January 2010 20:00
| Montpellier | 8–3 | Worcester Warriors |
* Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier
* 23 January 2010 16:00
| Olympus Madrid | 0–66 | Connacht |
* Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid

### Pool 3

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Toulon (2) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 7 | +20 | 218 | 88 | +130 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Saracens | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 184 | 83 | +101 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| Castres Olympique | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 12 | +12 | 173 | 127 | +46 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Rovigo | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 46 | −43 | 41 | 318 | −277 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* 9 October 2009 19:00
| Castres Olympique | 17–33 | Toulon |
* Stade Pierre-Antoine, Castres
* 11 October 2009 15:00
| Saracens | 36–12 | Rovigo |
* Vicarage Road, Watford
* 15 October 2009 20:45
| Toulon | 31–23 | Saracens |
* Stade Mayol, Toulon
* 17 October 2009 15:00
| Rovigo | 11–76 | Castres Olympique |
* Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo
* 11 December 2009 19:00
| Castres Olympique | 9–23 | Saracens |
* Stade Pierre-Antoine, Castres
* 11 December 2009 19:30
| Toulon | 73–3 | Rovigo |
* Stade Mayol, Toulon
* 19 December 2009 20:00
| Saracens | 18–14 | Castres Olympique |
* Vicarage Road, Watford
* 20 December 2009 14:00
| Rovigo | 7–30 | Toulon |
* Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo
* 14 January 2010 19:45
| Saracens | 28–9 | Toulon |
* Vicarage Road, Watford
* 15 January 2010 19:00
| Castres Olympique | 47–0 | Rovigo |
* Stade Pierre-Antoine, Castres
* 23 January 2010 15:00
| Rovigo | 8–56 | Saracens |
* Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo
* 23 January 2010 20:45
| Toulon | 42–10 | Castres Olympique |
* Stade Mayol, Toulon

### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| London Wasps (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 3 | +18 | 176 | 69 | +107 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| Bayonne | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 4 | −19 | 184 | 73 | +111 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| Racing Métro | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 7 | +15 | 177 | 85 | +92 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Rugby Roma Olimpic | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 53 | −52 | 28 | 338 | −310 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* 9 October 2009 19:30
| Bayonne | 61–3 | Rugby Roma Olimpic |
* Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
* 11 October 2009 15:00
| London Wasps | 18–13 | Racing Métro |
* Adams Park, High Wycombe
* 17 October 2009 15:00
| Rugby Roma Olimpic | 0–57 | London Wasps |
* Stadio delle Tre Fontane, Rome
* 17 October 2009 20:45
| Racing Métro | 16–20 | Bayonne |
* Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
* 12 December 2009 15:00
| London Wasps | 22–18 | Bayonne |
* Adams Park, High Wycombe
* 12 December 2009 20:45
| Racing Métro | 62–0 | Rugby Roma Olimpic |
* Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
* 17 December 2009 20:45
| Bayonne | 3–12 | London Wasps |
* Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
* 19 December 2009 14:30
| Rugby Roma Olimpic | 3–53 | Racing Métro |
* Stadio delle Tre Fontane, Rome
* 14 January 2010 20:00
| London Wasps | 50–16 | Rugby Roma Olimpic |
* Adams Park, High Wycombe
* 16 January 2010 20:45
| Bayonne | 27–14 | Racing Métro |
* Stade Jean Dauger, Bayonne
* 21 January 2010 20:45
| Racing Métro | 19–17 | London Wasps |
* Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
* 23 January 2010 14:30
| Rugby Roma Olimpic | 6–55 | Bayonne |
* Stadio delle Tre Fontane, Rome

### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Newcastle Falcons (4) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 146 | 77 | +69 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| Montauban | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 132 | 96 | +36 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| Albi | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 117 | 137 | −20 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Petrarca Padova | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 22 | −13 | 95 | 180 | −85 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
* 9 October 2009 20:00
| Albi | 7–17 | Montauban |
* Stadium Municipal, Albi
* 10 October 2009 15:00
| Petrarca Padova | 27–29 | Newcastle Falcons |
* Stadio Plebiscito, Padua
* 16 October 2009 20:30
| Montauban | 27–10 | Petrarca Padova |
* Stade Sapiac, Montauban
* 18 October 2009 15:00
| Newcastle Falcons | 45–3 | Albi |
* Kingston Park, Newcastle
* 10 December 2009 19:45
| Newcastle Falcons | 17–6 | Montauban |
* Kingston Park, Newcastle
* 12 December 2009 15:00
| Petrarca Padova | 16–35 | Albi |
* Stadio Plebiscito, Padua
* 18 December 2009 20:30
| Montauban | 24–19 | Newcastle Falcons |
* Stade Sapiac, Montauban
* 20 December 2009 14:00
| Albi | 38–16 | Petrarca Padova |
* Stadium Municipal, Albi
* 15 January 2010 20:00
| Albi | 14–16 | Newcastle Falcons |
* Stadium Municipal, Albi
* 16 January 2010 15:00
| Petrarca Padova | 23–31 | Montauban |
* Stadio Plebiscito, Padua
* 22 January 2010 19:30
| Montauban | 27–20 | Albi |
* Stade Sapiac, Montauban
* 22 January 2010 20:00
| Newcastle Falcons | 20–3 | Petrarca Padova |
* Kingston Park, Newcastle

## Seeding

* Bare numbers indicate Challenge quarterfinal seeding.
* Numbers with "HC" indicate Heineken Cup 3rd-5th Runners-Up.
| Seeds | Top 4 Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 1 | Connacht | 26 | 28 | +136 |
| 2 | Toulon | 23 | 27 | +130 |
| 3 | London Wasps | 23 | 21 | +108 |
| 4 | Newcastle Falcons | 23 | 16 | +69 |
| Non-Seeds | (Worst Pool Winner and HC Runners-up) | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 5HC | Cardiff Blues | 18 | 14 | +45 |
| 6HC | Gloucester | 17 | 12 | -10 |
| 7HC | Scarlets | 17 | 12 | -31 |
| 8 | Bourgoin | 23 | 15 | +55 |