The draw to decide the Pools for the 2011/12 Amlin Challenge Cup. will take place in ERC’s offices on Wednesday, 15th June.
For the purposes of the draw the 20 qualified teams will be divided into four Tiers of five teams each, based on the ERC European Rankings system and on ERC tournament participation over the past four seasons. The teams from each Tier level will then be kept apart in the draw for the Pools.
AMLIN Challenge Cup 2011/12 Teams and Tiers:
TIER 1:
Stade Français Paris, Perpignan, London Wasps, Toulon, Sale Sharks
TIER 2:
Newport Gwent Dragons, Brive, Newcastle Falcons, Worcester Warriors, Bayonne
TIER 3:
Petrarca Padova, Crociati Parma, Rugby Rovigo, Agen, Exeter Chiefs
TIER 4:
I Cavalieri Prato, Lyon, Bordeaux-Bègles, Invite 1 – Bucharest Wolves (Romania), Invite 2 – Club Rugby La Vila Comunidad Valencia (Spain)
AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP POOL DRAW FORMAT
Key Principles
There are 20 participating clubs from six countries who will be drawn into five Pools of four teams each.
For the purpose of the draw the 20 qualified and invited teams will be divided into four Tiers of five teams.
The Tiers are based on the ERC European Rankings system over the past four seasons in the Heineken Cup and the knock-out stages of the AMLIN Challenge Cup, and also on participation in the Pool stages of the AMLIN Challenge Cup over the same four season period.
Each Pool will have one team from each of the four Tier levels.
No two teams from the same country will be drawn in the same Pool, except for the sixth, seventh and eight clubs from France who will be drawn into Pools with another French team.
Draw Format
The draw will have four stages starting with the allocation of five teams from Tier 1 and then moving to the next Tier.
During each Tier allocation a team will be drawn and then a Pool number for that team will be drawn from the available Pool options.
Allocation of Tier 1 – All five top Tier teams will be drawn into the five Pool spots available.
Allocation of Tier 2, 3 and 4 – For each Tier allocation the teams will be drawn starting with the teams from the country with the highest number of teams participating in the tournament.
Therefore the order of allocation in each Tier will be teams from France, England, Italy and Wales.
The invited teams from Romania and Spain are in the bottom Tier and will be drawn last.
To avoid having two teams from the same country in the same Pool, teams may be required to be allocated to available Pool spots automatically during the course of the Draw.
As there are eight clubs from France and five Pools, in Tiers 3 and 4 the three French clubs in those Tiers will be drawn into Pools containing French teams.
As there are five clubs from England and five Pools each Pool which will contain only one other English club.
European Rankings are available on www.ercrugby.com/europeanrankings
ROUND 1 – 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 November, 2011
ROUND 2 – 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 November, 2011
ROUND 3 – 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 December, 2011
ROUND 4 – 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 December, 2011
ROUND 5 – 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 January, 2012
ROUND 6 – 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 January, 2012
QUARTER-FINALS – 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 April, 2012
SEMI-FINALS – 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 April, 2012
FINAL – 18 / 19 / 20 May, 2012
For the purposes of the draw the 20 qualified teams will be divided into four Tiers of five teams each, based on the ERC European Rankings system and on ERC tournament participation over the past four seasons. The teams from each Tier level will then be kept apart in the draw for the Pools.
AMLIN Challenge Cup 2011/12 Teams and Tiers:
TIER 1:
Stade Français Paris, Perpignan, London Wasps, Toulon, Sale Sharks
TIER 2:
Newport Gwent Dragons, Brive, Newcastle Falcons, Worcester Warriors, Bayonne
TIER 3:
Petrarca Padova, Crociati Parma, Rugby Rovigo, Agen, Exeter Chiefs
TIER 4:
I Cavalieri Prato, Lyon, Bordeaux-Bègles, Invite 1 – Bucharest Wolves (Romania), Invite 2 – Club Rugby La Vila Comunidad Valencia (Spain)
AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP POOL DRAW FORMAT
Key Principles
There are 20 participating clubs from six countries who will be drawn into five Pools of four teams each.
For the purpose of the draw the 20 qualified and invited teams will be divided into four Tiers of five teams.
The Tiers are based on the ERC European Rankings system over the past four seasons in the Heineken Cup and the knock-out stages of the AMLIN Challenge Cup, and also on participation in the Pool stages of the AMLIN Challenge Cup over the same four season period.
Each Pool will have one team from each of the four Tier levels.
No two teams from the same country will be drawn in the same Pool, except for the sixth, seventh and eight clubs from France who will be drawn into Pools with another French team.
Draw Format
The draw will have four stages starting with the allocation of five teams from Tier 1 and then moving to the next Tier.
During each Tier allocation a team will be drawn and then a Pool number for that team will be drawn from the available Pool options.
Allocation of Tier 1 – All five top Tier teams will be drawn into the five Pool spots available.
Allocation of Tier 2, 3 and 4 – For each Tier allocation the teams will be drawn starting with the teams from the country with the highest number of teams participating in the tournament.
Therefore the order of allocation in each Tier will be teams from France, England, Italy and Wales.
The invited teams from Romania and Spain are in the bottom Tier and will be drawn last.
To avoid having two teams from the same country in the same Pool, teams may be required to be allocated to available Pool spots automatically during the course of the Draw.
As there are eight clubs from France and five Pools, in Tiers 3 and 4 the three French clubs in those Tiers will be drawn into Pools containing French teams.
As there are five clubs from England and five Pools each Pool which will contain only one other English club.
European Rankings are available on www.ercrugby.com/europeanrankings
ROUND 1 – 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 November, 2011
ROUND 2 – 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 November, 2011
ROUND 3 – 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 December, 2011
ROUND 4 – 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 December, 2011
ROUND 5 – 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 January, 2012
ROUND 6 – 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 January, 2012
QUARTER-FINALS – 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 April, 2012
SEMI-FINALS – 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 April, 2012
FINAL – 18 / 19 / 20 May, 2012
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