The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 9 October 2008 when RC Toulon hosted Northampton Saints and ended with two games on 25 January 2009.

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 five pool winners and the best three runners-up advanced to the knockout stage. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 22 May 2009.

Results The draw for the pool stages took place on 23 June 2008. The draw was conducted using the ERC European Ranking system which was based on the qualified teams' performances and participation in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup over the past four seasons.

All times are local to the game location.

{| class="wikitable" |+ Key to colours |- | style="background: #ccffcc;" |      | Winner of each pool, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses |- | style="background: #ccccff;" |      | Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses

Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts London Irish (1) 6 6 0 0 44 3 +41 300 34 +266 5 0 29 Connacht (7) 6 4 0 2 20 19 +1 159 140 +19 3 0 19 Rovigo 6 1 0 5 7 25 −18 79 199 –120 0 1 5 Dax 6 1 0 5 5 29 −24 55 220 –165 0 0 4

Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Northampton Saints (2) 6 6 0 0 37 7 +30 278 69 +209 5 0 29 Bristol 6 3 0 3 14 21 −7 140 168 −28 1 1 14 Montpellier 6 2 0 4 10 18 −8 101 159 −58 0 1 9 RC Toulon 6 1 0 5 7 22 −15 84 207 −123 0 1 5

Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Worcester Warriors (4) 6 5 0 1 36 8 +28 255 94 +161 4 0 24 Bourgoin (8) 6 3 0 3 18 11 +7 158 115 +43 1 2 15 Petrarca Padova 6 3 0 3 11 28 −17 112 206 −94 0 1 13 București Oaks 6 1 0 5 8 26 −18 87 197 −110 0 1 5

Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Brive (5) 6 5 0 1 33 8 +25 243 89 +154 3 1 24 Newcastle Falcons (6) 6 4 0 2 24 8 +16 178 90 +88 2 1 19 Overmach Parma 6 3 0 3 19 13 +6 165 120 +45 2 2 16 El Salvador 6 0 0 6 5 52 −47 46 333 −287 0 0 0

Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Saracens (3) 6 6 0 0 20 1 +19 200 43 +157 2 0 26 Viadana 6 3 0 3 8 11 −3 120 126 −6 0 1 13 Bayonne 6 3 0 3 9 11 −2 99 122 −23 0 0 12 Mont-de-Marsan 6 0 0 0 4 18 −14 54 182 −128 0 1 1

Seeding and runners-up SeedPool WinnersPtsTF+/-1 London Irish2944+2662 Northampton Saints2937+2093 Saracens2620+1574 Worcester Warriors2436+1615 Brive2433+154SeedPool Runners-upPtsTF+/-6 Newcastle Falcons1924+887 Connacht1920+198 Bourgoin1518+43 – Bristol1414−28 – Viadana138−6

See also European Challenge Cup 2008–09 Heineken Cup

References