The 2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 15th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 7 October 2010 at Kingston Park in Newcastle with a match between Newcastle Falcons and Bourgoin, and was completed on 23 January 2011.
Twenty teams are participating in this competition; they are divided into five pools of four teams each, with each team playing the others home and away. Competition points are 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 on 20 May 2011 in Cardiff at Cardiff City Stadium.
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 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
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts 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
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts 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 6 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
: Bourgoin were awarded a five-point 28–0 win by the ERC after Newcastle refused to play and left before a pitch inspection on January 23.
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts 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 −54 0 1 5 Crociati Parma 6 1 0 5 3 30 −27 70 224 −137 0 1 5
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts 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
See also European Challenge Cup 2010–11 Heineken Cup
References