Teams 32 | Matches played 103 | |
Countries England
France
Ireland
Italy
Romania
Spain
Wales Tournament format(s) Round-robin and Knockout Date 28 September 2001 - 26 May 2002 Attendance 236,307 (2,294 per match) | ||
The 2001–02 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 32 teams participated, representing seven different countries.
Contents
The pool stage began when Connacht hosted Narbonne on 28 September 2001 and ended with four matches on 13 January 2002. The knockout stages followed, culminating in the final at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on 26 May 2002.
The defending champions, Englands's Harlequins, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. Sale Sharks claimed a narrow victory over Pontypridd in the final and picked up their first piece of European Club silverware.
Teams
The allocation of teams was as follows:
England: 6 teams — all teams from the Zurich Premiership that did not qualify for the 2001–02 Heineken Cup France: 10 teams — all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup Ireland: 1 team — the Irish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup Italy: 8 teams — all the teams from the Super 10 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup Romania: 1 team specially created for the competition Spain: 2 teams — drawn from the División de Honor de Rugby Wales: 4 teams — all the teams from the Celtic League that did not qualify for the Heineken CupScotland was not represented as both of its teams (Edinburgh and Glasgow) played in the Heineken Cup.
Knock-out stages
All kickoff times are local to the match location.