The 2009–10 Amlin Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 14th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 8 October 2009 when Worcester Warriors hosted Montpellier and ended on 24 January 2010 with the match between Leeds Carnegie and Bourgoin.

Twenty teams participated in this phase of the competition; they were divided into five pools of four teams each, with each team playing the others home and away. Competition points were earned using the standard bonus point system. The pool winners advanced to the knockout stage, where they were joined by three entrants from the Heineken Cup pool stage. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on 23 May 2010.

Results All times are local to the game location.

{| class="wikitable" |+ Key to colours |- |bgcolor="#ccffcc"|     |Winner of each pool advances to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses.

Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Bourgoin (8) 6 5 0 1 16 6 +10 141 86 +55 2 1 23 Leeds Carnegie 6 4 0 2 19 6 +13 160 82 +78 3 0 19 Overmach Parma 6 2 0 4 5 17 −12 78 145 −67 0 0 8 București Oaks 6 1 0 5 5 16 −11 70 136 −66 0 3 7

Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Connacht (1) 6 6 0 0 28 5 +23 199 63 +136 2 0 26 Montpellier 6 4 0 2 18 10 +8 158 92 +66 2 1 19 Worcester Warriors 6 2 0 4 18 8 +10 140 83 +57 2 3 13 Olympus Madrid 6 0 0 6 4 45 −41 44 303 −269 0 0 0

Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Toulon (2) 6 5 0 1 27 7 +20 218 88 +130 3 0 23 Saracens 6 5 0 1 17 6 +11 184 83 +101 2 0 22 Castres Olympique 6 2 0 4 24 12 +12 173 127 +46 2 1 11 Rovigo 6 0 0 6 3 46 −43 41 318 −277 0 0 0

Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts London Wasps (3) 6 5 0 1 21 3 +18 176 69 +107 2 1 23 Bayonne 6 4 0 2 23 4 −19 184 73 +111 2 1 19 Racing Métro 6 3 0 3 22 7 +15 177 85 +92 2 2 16 Rugby Roma Olimpic 6 0 0 6 1 53 −52 28 338 −310 0 0 0

Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Newcastle Falcons (4) 6 5 0 1 16 6 +10 146 77 +69 2 1 23 Montauban 6 5 0 1 13 9 +4 132 96 +36 1 0 21 Albi 6 2 0 4 13 14 −1 117 137 −20 2 2 12 Petrarca Padova 6 0 0 6 9 22 −13 95 180 −85 0 1 1

Seeding Bare numbers indicate Challenge quarterfinal seeding. Numbers with "HC" indicate Heineken Cup 3rd-5th Runners-Up.

SeedsTop 4 Pool WinnersPtsTF+/−1 Connacht2628+1362 Toulon2327+1303 London Wasps2321+1084 Newcastle Falcons2316+69Non-Seeds(Worst Pool Winner and HC Runners-up)PtsTF+/−5HC Cardiff Blues1814+456HC Gloucester1712-107HC Scarlets1712-318 Bourgoin2315+55

See also European Challenge Cup 2009–10 Heineken Cup

References