Challenge Cup Draw
By Mark H
June 23 2005
The draw for the European Challenge Cup has been made this morning, and Falcons find themselves in an interesting group. The competition format has changed this season from the knockout format of previous years.
This time round, it's five groups of four teams, matches to be played on a home and away basis, with the group winners and the best three runners-up going formward to the quarter-finals in April. It's vital to win the group, as unless you are the worst group winner, you'll then get a home draw in a one-off quarter-final and stand of chance of making the semi-finals, which will be played on the home grounds of the semi-finalists drawn first and third.
So here's the draw then:-
Pool 1: Viadana (seed),
Pool 2: Agen (seed),
Pool 3:
Pool 4: The Borders (seed), Brive,
Pool 5:
Falcons then find themselves with Borders, who finished bottom of the Celtic League last season with 18 points from their 20 matches, 19 adrift of the nearest side; Brive, ninth in the French Top 16 with 66 points and beaten semi-finalists in this competition; and L'Aquila, seventh in Italy's Super 10 with 31 points, 9 points clear of the relegation position.
For those who aren't aware, Brive, European champions in 1997, are based in France's southern rugby heartland, whilst L'Aquila are in Italy's Apennine region, 93 kilometres from Rome. Borders will no doubt play their games at Galashiels and will feature Semo Setiti, late of Falcons, in their ranks.
Exact fixture dates are to be confirmed, but the weekends are 21/22/23 and 28/29/30 October, 9/10/11 and 16/17/18 December, and 13/14/15 and 20/21/22 January. The quarter finals will be played on 1/2 April, semis on 22/23 April, and the final on 20th May at a neutral venue.