1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage

1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage
Season	1996–97 European Challenge Cup
Date	12 October 1996 – 2 November 1996
Qualifiers
Seed 1	Castres Olympique
Seed 2	Northampton Saints
Seed 3	Bourgoin
Seed 4	Agen
Seed 5	Montferrand
Seed 6	Toulon
Seed 7	Narbonne
Seed 8	Bordeaux-Bègles
1997–98 → (Next)

The 1996–97 European Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the first season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. Matches took place between 12 October and 2 November 1996.

Twenty-four teams participated in this phase of the competition; they were divided into four pools of six teams each, with each team playing the other teams in their pool once only. Teams were awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw. The winner and runner-up of each pool progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Stade de la Méditerranée in Béziers, France on 26 January 1997.

Results[]

Pool 1[]

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Agen	5	5	0	0	20	9	+11	156	82	+74	10
Montferrand	5	4	0	1	30	8	+22	211	74	+137	8
Sale Sharks	5	3	0	2	18	14	+4	166	115	+51	6
Newport	5	2	0	3	14	19	−15	98	158	−60	4
Glasgow	5	1	0	4	15	30	−15	113	202	−89	2
Newbridge	5	0	0	5	16	33	−17	106	219	−113	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

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Pool 2[]

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Castres Olympique	5	5	0	0	29	6	+23	207	71	+136	10
Narbonne	5	4	0	1	21	6	+15	161	90	+71	8
Dinamo-București	5	2	1	2	12	32	−20	109	213	−104	5
Bridgend	4	1	1	2	10	14	−4	94	120	−26	3
Bristol	5	1	0	4	11	12	−1	128	99	+29	2
Treorchy	4	0	0	4	10	23	−13	72	178	−106	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

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• The Treorchy v Bridgend match was not played.^[1]

Pool 3[]

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Northampton Saints	5	5	0	0	28	12	+16	207	88	+119	10
Toulon	5	4	0	1	22	10	+12	164	102	+62	8
Orrell	5	2	0	3	18	22	−4	122	173	−51	4
Connacht	5	2	0	3	9	17	−8	94	131	−37	4
Dunvant	5	1	0	4	15	22	−7	106	169	−63	2
Petrarca	5	1	0	4	10	19	−9	118	148	−30	2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

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Pool 4[]

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Bourgoin	5	5	0	0	27	4	+23	196	66	+130	10
Bordeaux-Bègles	5	3	1	1	29	13	+16	195	99	+96	7
Swansea	5	3	1	1	28	19	+9	207	138	+69	7
Gloucester	5	2	0	3	17	17	0	119	123	−4	4
Ebbw Vale	5	1	0	4	6	36	−30	48	243	−195	2
London Irish	5	0	0	5	12	30	−18	90	186	−96	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

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Qualifiers[]

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Castres Olympique	10	29	+136
2	Northampton Saints	10	28	+119
3	Bourgoin	10	27	+130
4	Agen	10	20	+74
Seed	Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
5	Montferrand	8	30	+137
6	Toulon	8	22	+62
7	Narbonne	8	21	+71
8	Bordeaux-Bègles	7	29	+96

See also[]

• European Challenge Cup
• 1996–97 Heineken Cup

References[]