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| 2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
 European challenge cup 2010-11 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Countries |  England France Ireland Italy Romania Spain |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin andKnockout |
| 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 | Harlequins (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Stade Français |
The2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 15th season of theEuropean Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier clubrugby union competition, and the second to be sponsored by the British insurance companyAmlin. The tournament began on 7 October 2010, with the final played on 20 May 2011 atCardiff City Stadium, the day before the2011 Heineken Cup Final inthe same city atMillennium Stadium. A total of 23 teams from six countries participated. The competition began with 20 teams; three more teams that began their seasons in theHeineken Cup parachuted into the knockout stage.Cardiff Blues did not defend their title, as by winning the2009–10 cup, they qualified for the2010–11 Heineken Cup, and did not parachute into the Challenge Cup.
Harlequins claimed the title with a 19–18 win overStade Français, becoming the first team to win the Challenge Cup three times.[1] The victory also sent Quins into the2011–12 Heineken Cup.
The allocation of teams is as follows:
| England | France | Ireland | Italy | Romania | Spain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams that did not qualify for the2010–11 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'sEuropean Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2009–10 season.
| Tier 1 | Stade Français (8) | Gloucester (13) | Sale Sharks (18) | Bourgoin (20) | Harlequins (22) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 2 | Newcastle Falcons (25) | Brive (28) | Connacht (31) | Agen (33) | Crociati Parma (37) |
| Tier 3 | Leeds Carnegie (38) | Montpellier (39) | Bayonne | Petrarca Padova | Rovigo |
| Tier 4 | La Rochelle | Cavalieri Prato | Exeter Chiefs | București Oaks | El Salvador |
The draw for the pool stage took place on 9 June 2010.
| Winner of each pool advances to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses. |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlequins (4) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 6 | +15 | 189 | 84 | +105 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| Connacht | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 173 | 99 | +74 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Bayonne | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 163 | 116 | +47 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Cavalieri Prato | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 41 | −33 | 77 | 303 | −226 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 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 | 34 | 3 | +31 | 257 | 54 | +203 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
| Sale Sharks | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 4 | +35 | 279 | 58 | +221 | 4 | 1 | 21 |
| Petrarca Padova | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 26 | −16 | 88 | 213 | −125 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| El Salvador | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 56 | −50 | 69 | 368 | −299 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montpellier (8) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 147 | 101 | +46 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| Exeter Chiefs | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 154 | 113 | +41 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| Bourgoin | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 119 | 130 | −11 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Newcastle Falcons | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 66 | 142 | −76 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 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 | 29 | 7 | +22 | 216 | 73 | +143 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Leeds Carnegie | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 6 | +18 | 173 | 88 | +85 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| București Oaks | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 17 | −13 | 74 | 148 | −74 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Crociati Parma | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 30 | −27 | 70 | 224 | −154 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Rochelle (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 10 | +16 | 197 | 91 | +106 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| Gloucester | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 7 | +28 | 255 | 77 | +178 | 3 | 2 | 21 |
| Agen | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 167 | 158 | +9 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Rugby Rovigo | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 53 | −47 | 55 | 348 | −293 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Following the end of the pool stage, the 5 pool winners were seeded alongside the top 32010–11 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 | Stade Français |
| 2 | Brive |
| 3 | La Rochelle |
| 4 | Harlequins |
| 5 (HC) | London Wasps |
| 6 (HC) | Clermont |
| 7 (HC) | Munster |
| 8 | Montpellier |
The quarter-finals were decided based on the above seeding. All game times are local.
| 7 April 2011 20.45 |
| La Rochelle | 13–23 | 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' |
| Stade Marcel-Deflandre,La Rochelle Attendance: 8,500 Referee:George Clancy (Ireland) |
| 8 April 2011 20.45 |
| Stade Français | 32–28 | 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 | 32–22 | 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 | 37–42 | 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' |
| Stade Amédée-Domenech,Brive-la-Gaillarde Attendance: 8,500 Referee:Dave Pearson (England) |
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 byIeuan Evans andJean-Pierre Lux, Chairman of ERC, atAdams 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 | 29–25 | 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 | 12–20 | 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) |
The final of theAmlin Challenge Cup took place atCardiff 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 | 19–18 | 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) |
