# 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.
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 |
| London Wasps Sale Sharks Newcastle Falcons Worcester Warriors Exeter Chiefs Harlequins | Stade Français Perpignan Toulon Brive Agen Bayonne Lyon Bordeaux Biarritz | Cavalieri Prato Crociati Parma Petrarca Padova Rovigo | Bucharest Wolves | La Vila | Newport Gwent Dragons Scarlets |

## 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.
| 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

    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) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 5 | +28 | 241 | 43 | +198 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Worcester Warriors | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 9 | +21 | 194 | 95 | +99 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| București Wolves | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 102 | 184 | −82 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Crociati Parma | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 38 | −34 | 36 | 251 | −215 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Toulon (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 5 | +14 | 197 | 73 | +124 | 3 | 1 | 25 |
| Newcastle Falcons | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 133 | 82 | +51 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Lyon | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 143 | 114 | +29 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Petrarca Padova | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 38 | −28 | 50 | 254 | −204 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### 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) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 189 | 75 | +114 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Bayonne | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 197 | 61 | +136 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| Bordeaux Bègles | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 82 | 132 | −50 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Rovigo | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 21 | −16 | 51 | 251 | −200 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### 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) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 202 | 64 | +121 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| Perpignan | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 153 | 112 | +41 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 139 | 100 | +10 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Cavalieri Prato | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 41 | −35 | 62 | 280 | −218 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Brive (2) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 7 | +19 | 209 | 79 | +130 | 3 | 0 | 28 |
| Sale Sharks | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 8 | +23 | 225 | 96 | +129 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Agen | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 21 | +3 | 168 | 166 | +2 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| La Vila | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 51 | −45 | 64 | 325 | −261 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Knockout stage
### 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.
* 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Try: Li. Williams 58' m Pen: S. Jones (2/4) 30', 39' |
* Stade Amédée-Domenech, Brive-la-Gaillarde Attendance: 7,850 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

### 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 | 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 | |
* Parc des Sports Aguiléra, Biarritz Attendance: 8,927 Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

### Final

* 18 May 2012 20:00 BST
| Biarritz | 21–18 | Toulon |
| Pen: Yachvili (7/7) 4', 17', 24', 35', 46', 53', 73' | Report | Pen: Wilkinson (5/7) 11', 22', 31', 44', 59' Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 65' |
* Twickenham Stoop, London Attendance: 9,376 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)