2001–02 European Challenge Cup

The 2001–02 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 32 teams participated, representing seven countries.

2001–02 Parker Pen Shield
Tournament details
Countries	England France Ireland Italy Romania Spain Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	28 September 2001 - 26 May 2002
Tournament statistics
Teams	32
Matches played	103
Attendance	236,307 (2,294 per match)
Tries scored	709 (6.88 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ludovic Mercier (Gloucester) (112 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Alexandre Bouyssie (Bordeaux-Bègles) Darragh O'Mahony (Saracens) (9 tries)
Final
Venue	Kassam Stadium, Oxford
Attendance	12,000
Champions	Sale Sharks (1st title)
Runners-up	Pontypridd

The pool stage began when Connacht hosted Narbonne on 28 September 2001 and ended with four matches on 13 January 2002. The knockout stages followed, culminating in the final at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on 26 May 2002.

The defending champions, Englands's Harlequins, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. Sale Sharks claimed a narrow victory over Pontypridd in the final and picked up their first piece of European Club silverware.

Teams

The allocation of teams was as follows:

England: 6 teams — all teams from the Zurich Premiership that did not qualify for the 2001–02 Heineken Cup

France: 10 teams — all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Ireland: 1 team — the Irish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Italy: 8 teams — all the teams from the Super 10 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Romania: 1 team specially created for the competition

Spain: 2 teams — drawn from the División de Honor de Rugby

Wales: 4 teams — all the teams from the Celtic League that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Scotland was not represented as both of its teams (Edinburgh and Glasgow) played in the Heineken Cup.

England	France	Ireland	Italy	Romania	Spain	Wales
Bristol Shoguns Gloucester Leeds Tykes London Irish Sale Sharks Saracens	Agen Béziers Bordeaux-Bègles Bourgoin Colomiers Dax La Rochelle Montauban Narbonne Pau	Connacht	Bologna Gran Parma L'Aquila Overmach Parma Petrarca Padova Rugby Roma Rovigo Viadana	Dinamo București	UC Madrid Valladolid RAC	Caerphilly Ebbw Vale Neath Pontypridd

Pool stage

Main article: 2001–02 Parker Pen Shield pool stage

Key to colours

Winner of each pool, 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	Pts
Ebbw Vale (7)	6	4	0	2	15	10	5	153	90	63	8
Agen	6	4	0	2	25	13	12	199	119	80	8
Montauban	6	4	0	2	16	9	7	146	123	23	8
Rovigo	6	0	0	6	8	32	−24	78	244	−166	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw
Ebbw Vale, Agen and Montauban finished on the same Competition Points. In head-to-head matches Ebbw Vale beat Agen 68–30 on aggregate, having won one game and lost the other Ebbw Vale beat Montauban 31–24 on aggregate, having won one game and lost the other Agen beat Montauban 60–41 on aggregate, having won one game and lost the other hence Ebbw Vale top the table

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Pau (4)	6	6	0	0	27	3	24	217	63	154	12
Colomiers	6	4	0	2	32	9	23	259	105	154	8
Petrarca Padova	6	2	0	4	14	26	−12	114	223	−109	4
UC Madrid	6	0	0	6	8	43	−35	90	289	−199	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Pontypridd (8)	6	4	0	2	12	7	5	139	87	52	8
Leeds Tykes	6	4	0	2	21	15	6	188	154	34	8
Béziers	6	2	0	4	15	19	−4	136	187	−51	4
Overmach Parma	6	2	0	4	11	18	−7	127	162	−35	4
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw
Pontypridd and Leeds finished on the same Competition Points. In head-to-head matches, Pontypridd beat Leeds 55–46 on aggregate, having won one game and lost the other.
Béziers and Overmach Parma finished on the same Competition Points. In head-to-head matches, Béziers beat Overmach Parma 63–60 on aggregate, having won one game and lost the other.

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Sale Sharks (3)	6	6	0	0	40	7	33	286	79	207	12
Connacht	6	3	0	3	15	17	−2	157	140	17	6
Narbonne	6	3	0	3	13	9	4	128	111	17	6
Rugby Roma	6	0	0	6	7	42	−35	57	298	−241	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Bristol Shoguns (6)	6	5	0	1	21	12	9	189	115	74	10
Neath	6	4	0	2	16	13	3	160	131	29	8
Viadana	6	2	0	4	13	25	−12	120	210	−90	4
Bourgoin	6	1	0	5	19	19	0	160	173	−13	2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Pool 6

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
London Irish (5)	6	5	1	0	37	8	29	284	85	199	11
Dax	6	4	1	1	42	9	33	306	119	187	9
L'Aquila	6	2	0	4	11	34	−23	107	239	−132	4
Valladolid RAC	6	0	0	6	7	46	−39	53	307	−254	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Pool 7

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Gloucester (2)	6	6	0	0	47	9	38	362	62	300	12
La Rochelle	6	4	0	2	21	14	7	161	177	−16	8
Caerphilly	6	2	0	4	18	38	−20	170	281	−111	4
Gran Parma	6	0	0	6	11	36	−25	104	277	−173	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Pool 8

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Saracens (1)	6	6	0	0	64	7	57	435	66	369	12
Bordeaux-Bègles	6	4	0	2	53	15	38	354	117	237	8
Dinamo București	6	1	0	5	15	58	−43	102	403	−301	2
Bologna	6	1	0	5	9	61	−52	93	398	−305	2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Archived 2013-02-15 at archive.today Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Seeding

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/-
1	Saracens	12	64	+369
2	Gloucester	12	47	+300
3	Sale Sharks	12	40	+207
4	Pau	12	27	+154
5	London Irish	11	37	+199
6	Bristol Shoguns	10	21	+74
7	Ebbw Vale	8	15	+63
8	Pontypridd	8	12	+52

Knockout stage

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

Quarter-finals

25 January 2002 19:05

Gloucester	46–11	Ebbw Vale
	Report

Kingsholm Attendance: 6,816

25 January 2002 19:30

Sale Sharks	25–20	Bristol Shoguns
	Report

Heywood Road Attendance: 3,607

26 January 2002 19:30

Pau	9–38	London Irish
	Report

Stade du Hameau Attendance: 8,000

27 January 2002 15:00

Saracens	15–17	Pontypridd
	Report

Vicarage Road Attendance: 4,604

Semi-finals

27 April 2002 17:30

London Irish	27–33	Pontypridd
	Report

Kassam Stadium Attendance: 7,882

28 April 2002 14:00

Gloucester	27–28	Sale Sharks
	Report

Franklin's Gardens Attendance: 5,785

Final

26 May 2002 14:00

Pontypridd	22–25	Sale Sharks
	Report

Kassam Stadium Attendance: 12,000

See also

• European Challenge Cup
• 2001-02 Heineken Cup