# 2008–09 European Challenge Cup

The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup was the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 22 May 2009, in which Northampton Saints defeated Bourgoin 15–3. With the win, the Saints not only claimed the trophy, but also won a berth in the 2009–10 Heineken Cup.

## Teams

Seven French teams competed instead of the normal eight, as a French team, Toulouse, progressed farther in the previous year's Heineken Cup than any English or Italian team.
Other nations had their usual number of participants: England six, Italy four, Ireland one, Spain one and Romania one.
| England | France | Ireland | Italy | Romania | Spain |
| Bristol London Irish Newcastle Falcons Northampton Saints Saracens Worcester Warriors | Bayonne Brive Bourgoin Montpellier Toulon Mont-de-Marsan Dax | Connacht | Overmach Parma Petrarca Padova Rovigo Viadana | București Oaks | El Salvador |

## Pool stage

The draw for the pool stages took place on 23 June 2008. The draw was conducted using the ERC European Ranking system which was based on the qualified teams' performances and participation in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup over the past four seasons.
    Key to colours   Winner of each pool, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses   Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance 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 |
| London Irish (1) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | +41 | 300 | 34 | +266 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Connacht (7) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 159 | 140 | +19 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| Rovigo | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 25 | −18 | 79 | 199 | –120 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Dax | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 29 | −24 | 55 | 220 | –165 | 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 |
| Northampton Saints (2) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 7 | +30 | 278 | 69 | +209 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Bristol | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 140 | 168 | −28 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Montpellier | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 101 | 159 | −58 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| RC Toulon | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 22 | −15 | 84 | 207 | −123 | 0 | 1 | 5 |

### Pool 3

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Worcester Warriors (4) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 8 | +28 | 255 | 94 | +161 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Bourgoin (8) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 158 | 115 | +43 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Petrarca Padova | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 28 | −17 | 112 | 206 | −94 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| București Oaks | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 26 | −18 | 87 | 197 | −110 | 0 | 1 | 5 |

### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Brive (5) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 8 | +25 | 243 | 89 | +154 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| Newcastle Falcons (6) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 178 | 90 | +88 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| Overmach Parma | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 165 | 120 | +45 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| El Salvador | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 52 | −47 | 46 | 333 | −287 | 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 |
| Saracens (3) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | +19 | 200 | 43 | +157 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| Viadana | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 120 | 126 | −6 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Bayonne | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 99 | 122 | −23 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Mont-de-Marsan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 | −14 | 54 | 182 | −128 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## Seeding and runners-up

| Seed | Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/- |
| 1 | London Irish | 29 | 44 | +266 |
| 2 | Northampton Saints | 29 | 37 | +209 |
| 3 | Saracens | 26 | 20 | +157 |
| 4 | Worcester Warriors | 24 | 36 | +161 |
| 5 | Brive | 24 | 33 | +154 |
| Seed | Pool Runners-up | Pts | TF | +/- |
| 6 | Newcastle Falcons | 19 | 24 | +88 |
| 7 | Connacht | 19 | 20 | +19 |
| 8 | Bourgoin | 15 | 18 | +43 |
| – | Bristol | 14 | 14 | −28 |
| – | Viadana | 13 | 8 | −6 |

## Knockout stage

Unlike the Heineken Cup, the Challenge Cup did not conduct a semi-final draw at the time (such a draw would be instituted for the 2009–10 edition). The top half of the draw matched the 1 and 8 seeds in one quarter-final, and the 4 and 5 seeds in the other, and the bottom half matched 2 against 7 and 3 against 6; the higher (lower-numbered) seeds all play at home. The knockout stage was not reseeded after the quarter-finals. Home advantage for the semi-finals was awarded to the highest remaining seed in each half of the draw. Home advantage in the final went to the top remaining seed.

### Quarter-finals

* 9 April 2009 19:30
| London Irish | 30–32 | Bourgoin |
| Tries: Mapusua 56' c S. Armitage 80+2' m Con: D. Armitage (1/2) Pen: D. Armitage (5/6) 11', 16', 31', 40', 71' Drop: Kennedy (1/1) 79' | Report | Tries: Forest 42' c Nicolas 77' c Con: Parra (2/2) Pen: Parra (4/5) 6', 37', 59', 63' Drop: Boyet (2/4) 28', 72' |
* Madejski Stadium, Reading Attendance: 6,455 Referee: Peter Allen (Scotland)
* 11 April 2009 13:00
| Worcester Warriors | 29–18 | Brive |
| Tries: Garvey (2) 11' c, 72' c Sanderson 22' c Grove 52' m Con: Jones (3/4) Pen: Jones (1/1) 9' | Report | Tries: Cooke (2) 35' m, 44' c Con: Palisson (1/2) Pen: Goode (1/1) 17' Palisson (1/1) 66' |
* Sixways Stadium, Worcester Attendance: 4,323 Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
* 11 April 2009 15:00
| Northampton Saints | 42–13 | Connacht |
| Tries: Best 71' c Ansbro 74' m Reihana 79' c Mayor 80' m Con: Myler (1/2) Everitt (1/2) Pen: Myler (6/6) 16', 24', 37', 45', 55', 65' | Report | Try: Ofisa 52' c Con: Keatley (1/1) Pen: Keatley (1/1) 19' Drop: Keatley (1/1) 29' |
* Franklin's Gardens, Northampton Attendance: 9,119 Referee: Romain Poite (France)
* 12 April 2009 15:00
| Saracens | 32–13 | Newcastle Falcons |
| Tries: Johnston 26' c Barritt 30' c Con: Jackson (2/2) Pen: Jackson (5/5) 15', 23', 53', 65', 68' Drop: Jackson (1/1) 38' | Report | Tries: Williams 58' m Dowson 79' m Pen: May (1/1) 9' |
* Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 7,711 Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)

### Semi-finals

* 1 May 2009 19:45
| Northampton Saints | 16–13 | Saracens |
| Try: Reihana 30' c Con: Myler (1/1) Pen: Myler (2/2) 7', 13' Drop: Myler (1/1) 74' | Report | Try: Penney 73' c Con: Jackson (1/1) Pen: Jackson (2/2) 5', 52' |
* Franklin's Gardens, Northampton Attendance: 11,073 Referee: Romain Poite (France)
* 2 May 2009 13:30
| Bourgoin | 22–11 | Worcester Warriors |
| Try: Levast 62' c Con: Parra (1/1) Pen: Parra (4/4) 10', 43', 52', 58' Drop: Boyet (1/1) 60' | Report | Try: Benjamin 78' m Pen: Carlisle (2/2) 28', 35' |
* Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin Attendance: 8,200 Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

### Final

* 22 May 2009 19:45
| Northampton Saints | 15–3 | Bourgoin |
| Pen: Myler (5/5) 9', 20', 38', 48', 69' | Report | Pen: Parra (1/1) 33' |
* Twickenham Stoop, London Attendance: 9,260 Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)