2001–02 European Challenge Cup

Template:Infobox European Cup Rugby season 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.

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.

Template:Flagicon England	Template:Flagicon France	Template:Flagicon Ireland	Template:Flagicon Italy	Template:Flagicon Romania	Template:Flagicon Spain	Template:Flagicon 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

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
Template:Flagicon Ebbw Vale (7)	6	4	0	2	15	10	5	153	90	63	8
Template:Flagicon Agen	6	4	0	2	25	13	12	199	119	80	8
Template:Flagicon Montauban	6	4	0	2	16	9	7	146	123	23	8
Template:Flagicon 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
Template:Flagicon Pau (4)	6	6	0	0	27	3	24	217	63	154	12
Template:Flagicon Colomiers	6	4	0	2	32	9	23	259	105	154	8
Template:Flagicon Petrarca Padova	6	2	0	4	14	26	−12	114	223	−109	4
Template:Flagicon UC Madrid	6	0	0	6	8	43	−35	90	289	−199	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive 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
Template:Flagicon Pontypridd (8)	6	4	0	2	12	7	5	139	87	52	8
Template:Flagicon Leeds Tykes	6	4	0	2	21	15	6	188	154	34	8
Template:Flagicon Béziers	6	2	0	4	15	19	−4	136	187	−51	4
Template:Flagicon Overmach Parma	6	2	0	4	11	18	−7	127	162	−35	4
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive 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
Template:Flagicon Sale Sharks (3)	6	6	0	0	40	7	33	286	79	207	12
Template:Flagicon Connacht	6	3	0	3	15	17	−2	157	140	17	6
Template:Flagicon Narbonne	6	3	0	3	13	9	4	128	111	17	6
Template:Flagicon Rugby Roma	6	0	0	6	7	42	−35	57	298	−241	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive 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
Template:Flagicon Bristol Shoguns (6)	6	5	0	1	21	12	9	189	115	74	10
Template:Flagicon Neath	6	4	0	2	16	13	3	160	131	29	8
Template:Flagicon Viadana	6	2	0	4	13	25	−12	120	210	−90	4
Template:Flagicon Bourgoin	6	1	0	5	19	19	0	160	173	−13	2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive 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
Template:Flagicon London Irish (5)	6	5	1	0	37	8	29	284	85	199	11
Template:Flagicon Dax	6	4	1	1	42	9	33	306	119	187	9
Template:Flagicon L'Aquila	6	2	0	4	11	34	−23	107	239	−132	4
Template:Flagicon Valladolid RAC	6	0	0	6	7	46	−39	53	307	−254	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive 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
Template:Flagicon Gloucester (2)	6	6	0	0	47	9	38	362	62	300	12
Template:Flagicon La Rochelle	6	4	0	2	21	14	7	161	177	−16	8
Template:Flagicon Caerphilly	6	2	0	4	18	38	−20	170	281	−111	4
Template:Flagicon Gran Parma	6	0	0	6	11	36	−25	104	277	−173	0
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive 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
Template:Flagicon Saracens (1)	6	6	0	0	64	7	57	435	66	369	12
Template:Flagicon Bordeaux-Bègles	6	4	0	2	53	15	38	354	117	237	8
Template:Flagicon Dinamo București	6	1	0	5	15	58	−43	102	403	−301	2
Template:Flagicon Bologna	6	1	0	5	9	61	−52	93	398	−305	2
Source : www.ercrugby.com Template:Webarchive Points breakdown: *2 points for a win *1 point for a draw

Seeding

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

Knockout stage

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

See also

• European Challenge Cup
• 2001-02 Heineken Cup